page_title: Latgale
section_title: Name
hierarchical_section_title: Latgale / History / Name
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of historical regions of Latvia, together are shown ethnographic groups of latvians. Română: Regiunile istorice ale Letoniei, împreună cu grupurile culturale letone; Curlanda (Kurzeme), Semigalia (Zemgale) și Selonia. Vidzeme Latgalia (Latgale)
context_page_description: Latgale is one of the four historical and cultural regions of Latvia recognised in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia. It is the easternmost region north of the Daugava River. While most of Latvia is historically Lutheran, Latgale is predominantly Roman Catholic: 65.3% according to a 2011 survey. There is also a strong Eastern Orthodox minority, of which 13.8% are Russian Orthodox Christians and 10.0% are Old Believers.
  The region has a large population of ethnic Russians, especially in Daugavpils, the largest city in the region and the location of the region's only public university, the University of Daugavpils. Many of the Russians who lived in Latgale before Soviet rule are Old Believers. Rēzekne, often called the heart of Latgale, Krāslava, and Ludza are other large towns in the region, which also has a Belarusian minority. There is also a significant Polish minority. As part of the Polotsk and Vitebsk guberniyas, the region was part of the Pale of Settlement and had a very large Jewish population – but many of the Jews perished in WW2 and most of the remainder emigrated.
context_section_description: Historically, several different forms of the name Latgalia have been used.
  Other names for the region include Lettigallia, Latgallia, and Latgola.
  The people are called latgalieši in Latvian (as distinct from latgaļi, which refers to the ancient tribe, though some modern Latgalians prefer latgaļi) – latgalīši in Latgalian, sometimes latgali – Latgalians, Latgallians, or Lettigalls in English, and are sometimes referred to as čangaļi (sometimes derogatory – the reference is to a novel, and Latgalians often call other Latvians "čiuļi"). The term latgalieši dates only to the early 20th century, and before that Latgalians were long referred to as Latvians or Inflantians (Latgalian: latvīši, inflantīši).
  Since 2004, use of the Latgalian language has been the subject of Europe's biggest sociolinguistic/ethnolinguistic poll and study, conducted by the Rēzekne Augstskola and the Centre d'Étude Linguistiques Pour l'Europe.
  As of 2011 97,600 people in the region spoke Latgalian language, which is a standardised form of local varieties of High Latvian dialect.
caption: Historical regions of Latvia, together with Latvian cultural groups; Latgale in green
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