Talk:Latvia

message: The ministry of justice, which publishes reports on the topic, writes here in report for 2012  that it is problematic to ascertain number of religious people. In particular the number of catholics comes from here where they calculate it based on number of children baptized in 2007 (they claim that for last 50 years about the same number has been baptized every year). And the number of Lutherans reported has been questioned by members of that church  because it somehow nearly doubled from 2010 to 2011, although in reality there wasn't large number of people suddenly joining the faith ~~Xil (talk) 20:34, 29 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Religion - questionable data? 

message: At this point the intro part of the article is really getting cluttered up. 
It contains an unreasonable amount of wikipedia links (66, if my count is right) and dozens of non-essential technical terms/concepts that really have no business being in the lead part of the article. It's difficult to read, as the terms are mostly just stringed together with no added context. That, on the other hand, makes people skip the entire section altogether, which is arguably not a very effective way of providing a general idea about Latvia, its history, culture, politics, etc.
I'd like to hear out other people's opinions on this before re-writing it, as I genuinely don't want to have an edit war on my hands. :) Nameyxe (talk) 09:55, 25 November 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: As of now, the section still seems overlinked; I now counted 65 links in the text, not including the infobox and other templates. ◅ Sebastian 10:30, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reworking the lead section 

message: The article claime that 
: Approximately 27,700 species of flora and fauna have been registered in Latvia.
This was changed today to 30,000.   I could not find either number in the reference Nature and Environment given in the footnote.   I found the number 27,700 in several places: 
* http://www.padva.lv/en/about-latvia/  - (this text may be taken literally from wikipedia, or conversely)
* http://www.australia.com/en/facts/plants.html - 27700 also seems to be the number of plant species in Australia.  
That is strange.   (I am not necessarily claiming that this number is wrong, but we need a source.) 
--Austrian (talk) 15:55, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: added back the claim with source in Latvian. --Edgars2007 (talk/contribs) 20:19, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
replies: text:     It now says 30,000 again. Personally, I don't find that so strange, though, since it's just more rounded. ◅ Sebastian 10:34, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  number of species 

message: Does anyone know sources for how Latvia got its name? I know it's from the Latgalian tribes. But how was it decided in 1918 to name the country Latvia? Because that name as a region did not exist before - there were Livonia and Courland, etc. So there must have been a documented decision process somewhere. It's easy for Estonia and Lithuania, because those names existed for geopolitical regions since the early middle ages. But really hard to figure out how "Latvia" was decided on. For example why not Livonia? SørenKierkegaard (talk) 15:07, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: I am not certain that it is possible to find a documented decision process. The term Latvia (Latvija) was not something they invented for the occasion. Have a look at Dievs, svētī Latviju!, the Latvian national anthem, and you will se the term was used in 1873 by Kārlis Baumanis. Talk/♥фĩłдωəß♥\Work 17:08, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

text: It was unofficial name, promoted by first Latvian nationalists in 19th century, describing area where ethnic Latvians lived . --Minnekon (talk) 00:12, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  Yes I ended up with the Young Latvians movement but by then they already had the name. Found no sources for how "Latvians" itself got to be widely used - had to have been before 1850 then. As an example, in Estonia it's clearly defined and known that the word "Estonians" was promoted by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and there are also many sources for how he promoted it. Couldnt find a similar source for the word "Latvians". 21:30, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  Nobody knows how / by whom the word "Latvia" was promoted to become used by the nation? SørenKierkegaard (talk) 21:31, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  "Pirmais bija Juris Alunāns, kurš 1857. gadā laikrakstā "Inland” ieteica lietot nosaukumu "Latva"." In latvian wiki exactly this question has page: https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvijas_nosaukums (Google translate to english seems ~ok - to gain base understanding of source material)195.147.206.144 (talk) 04:58, 8 August 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: The problem is that there is no reliable source for that attribution to Juris Alunāns. Wikipedia is strictly WP:NOR, ergo it isn't encyclopaedic content. To simply draw on the Latvian article is a contravention of 'Wikipedia is not a reliable source'. --Iryna Harpy (talk) 05:28, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

text: While New Latvians(Jaunlatvieši) have popularized Latvija, I suspect that the original source might have been from the ancient name of Latava - alternative name to Tālava(or vice versa - who knows). So, it is quite new term, while based on earlier historical name - similarly to "Latvian flag" description from the same Tālava region. GrimDawn (talk) 22:54, 13 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  History of the term "Latvia"? 

message: Currently, the  section simply jumps from "Lettigallia" and "Lethia" to “Latvija”, without any consideration for the letter “v”. ◅ Sebastian 10:48, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: While New Latvians(Jaunlatvieši) have popularized Latvija, I suspect that the original source might have been from the ancient name of Latava - alternative name to Tālava(or vice versa - who knows). So, it is quite new term, while based on earlier historical name - similarly to "Latvian flag" description from the same Tālava region. GrimDawn (talk) 22:54, 13 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  How did the “v” get in the name? 

message: The link for the Latvian Union Party goes to the old and, as of 2001, defunct Latvian Union Party which was a centre-left party. The one being referred to is commonly known as the Union Party (found under the disambiguation for "Latvian Union Party"), is centre-right and should be the one that the link leads to, as there is seemingly nonconnection between the two. CritCee (talk) 19:41, 11 August 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Latvian Union Party - Politics - Political Culture 

message: Background information...   ... this is clearly historically controversial what's the best step forward?.Moxy- 02:09, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: The main issue with including it in the infobox in the way it was done is that Russian has no official status, but including it like that suggests it's an official recognised minority language. I would suggest the best way to deal with it would be to add to the language-related note, stating that X% of the population speak Russian as a first language, but it has no official status. In the meantime, I've restored what appears to be the stable version of this section of the infobox. Number 57 03:12, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text:  I agree with the proposed solution above. We can make it clear that the language is not an officially recognized language by the state but still include it as a non-official, main minority language. Per one of the sources, in the Latvian capital Riga, 55% of the population speaks russian as their first language. It seems odd to not include any mention of russian under languages for Latvia, when it's clearly a prominent language. The downside is that since no other languages besides latvian are officially recognized by the latvian state, then where do we draw the line? If we're listing russian, should we also list all other minority languages, even down to the 0.01% prevalence? This is why only "official minority languages" are usually used in wikipedia infoboxes. But I tend to think that for Latvia's case, the sheer prevalence of Russian in daily life, especially in the capital, would argue that we should make an exception and mention russian on the infobox. Because Latvia is also one of the few countries that gives no official status to any other language besides the main one, so the regular infobox approach that is used elsewhere on wikipedia doesn't really apply very well here. --Blomsterhagens (talk) 03:38, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text:  Comment - just so you know, there is no source that would regularly publish data on the first languages of inhabitants of Latvia, this used to be a census question, but the last census surveying people took place in 2011 and from then it has been planned to take a census by thoroughly examining data in government databases, plus even in 2011 they asked about what language people speak at home most (this doesn't necessarily mean it is their native language), so the latest real data on this would be 2000 census. ~~Xil (talk) 04:22, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text:  How about adding an explanatory note to “Recognized languages” in the infobox with the gist of the above? ◅ Sebastian 09:52, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Russian language in infobox 

message: In the Economy section: 
Change: 
The economic crisis of 2009 proved earlier assumptions that the fast-growing economy was heading for implosion of the economic bubble, because it was driven mainly by growth of domestic consumption, financed by a serious increase of private debt, as well as a negative foreign trade balance. The prices of real estate, which were at some points growing by approximately 5% a month, were long perceived to be too high for the economy, which mainly produces low-value goods and raw materials.
to 
The economic crisis of 2009 proved earlier assumptions that the fast-growing economy was heading for implosion of the economic bubble, because it was driven mainly by growth of domestic consumption, financed by a serious increase of private debt, as well as a negative foreign trade balance. The prices of real estate, which rose 150% from 2004 to 2006, was a significant contributor to the economic bubble.
Reason: Adding a citation to general housing markets, removing what feels like a weasel-word claim that the housing prices were "perceived" (by who?) to be too high. EducatedRedneck (talk) 12:36, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: WP:BRD (B). — xaosflux Talk 18:29, 16 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 6 April 2022 

message: I thought is was Victor Von Doom? 89.243.82.38 (talk) 20:53, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Wikipedia is not a forum. (CC) Tbhotch™ 23:02, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Current ruler of Latvia 

message: In the Economy section: Add citation. Change
 
Privatisation in Latvia is almost complete. Virtually all of the previously state-owned small and medium companies have been privatised, leaving only a small number of politically sensitive large state companies. The private sector accounted for nearly 68% of the country's GDP in 2000.[[[Wikipedia:Citation needed|citation needed]]]
to
Privatisation in Latvia is almost complete. Virtually all of the previously state-owned small and medium companies have been privatised, leaving only a small number of politically sensitive large state companies. The private sector accounted for 70% of the country's GDP in 2006. 
 
EducatedRedneck (talk) 13:00, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 13:21, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 8 June 2022 

message: Change "Kristaps Porziņģis, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks, Dāvis Bertāns, who plays for the Washington Wizards," to "Kristaps Porziņģis, who plays for the Washington Wizards, Dāvis Bertāns, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks,".
As of 2022, Kristaps Porzingis plays for the Washington Wizards. Davis Bertans plays for the Dallas Mavericks.
MedsMans (talk) 02:46, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: TGHL ↗ 🍁 19:57, 30 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Protected edit request 

message: New Saeima speaker 87.110.64.33 (talk) 16:28, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 16:35, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi. Please update the Saeima Speaker in the infobox. Today new Saeima speaker was elected. Here is the official Saeima website. https://www.saeima.lv/lv/aktualitates/saeimas-zinas/31579-saeimas-priekssedetaja-amata-ievelets-edvards-smiltens  RufusLV (talk) 19:22, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 1 November 2022 

message: Update the speaker of Saeima. It's no longer Ināra Mūrniece, now the speaker is Edvards Smiltēns. Source: Official Saeima website.  https://www.saeima.lv/lv/aktualitates/saeimas-zinas/31579-saeimas-priekssedetaja-amata-ievelets-edvards-smiltens RufusLV (talk) 17:11, 3 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 3 November 2022 

message: Almost a month has passed since the Speaker of Saeima has changed and the page still hasn't been updated! It's no longer Ināra Mūrniece, now the speaker is Edvards Smiltēns. Source: Official Saeima website. https://www.saeima.lv/lv/aktualitates/saeimas-zinas/31579-saeimas-priekssedetaja-amata-ievelets-edvards-smiltens Remove the Extended protection! RufusLV (talk) 19:15, 30 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 30 November 2022 

message: Speaker of the Saeima is Edvards Smiltēns right now. Luvigas36437 (talk) 19:04, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Lemonaka (talk) 15:29, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Here: https://www.saeima.lv/lv/aktualitates/saeimas-zinas/31579-saeimas-priekssedetaja-amata-ievelets-edvards-smiltens Luvigas36437 (talk) 18:50, 28 December 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: This source and others confirm this, so I've updated it. Valenciano (talk) 20:58, 28 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 26 December 2022 

message: Dinamo Riga no longer plays in the KHL after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They now play in the domestic league. Please edit this paragraph in the Sports section. 83.83.9.167 (talk) 22:16, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: (CC) Tbhotch™ 04:04, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dinamo Riga 

message: i don’t know where or how it should be done, but i feel it kind of strange that nowhere in the article is the fact that latvia is leading in murder rate by a large margin in all of europe mentioned or why that is. 46.182.188.5 (talk) 14:33, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: If you have reliable sources to back that up ... then simply add the missing content supported by those sources. Vsmith (talk) 19:25, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Probably because it's not true. Russia and Ukraine have a far higher homicide rate. Valenciano (talk) 13:18, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  murder rate 

message: In the first paragraph, the sentence "Latvians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts; and speak Latvian, one of the only two[a] surviving Baltic languages" contains a misused semicolon that should be deleted. 37.169.51.149 (talk) 19:44, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Silikonz💬 23:16, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 22 January 2023 

message: Latvia belonged to the Russian Empire NOT to the German Empire! Vluebben (talk) 10:12, 8 March 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. M.Bitton (talk) 13:04, 8 March 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I think they meant, re: infobox "Independence from Germany and the Soviet Union", it's only the Soviet Union. The interim so-called Duchy never existed as a recognized state or as a legal part of Germany. VєсrumЬа ►TALK 01:54, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 8 March 2023 

message: The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:
* 
Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 15:09, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion 

message: I would suggest to add the edit of "Latvia has not ratified the istanbul convention despite a very high rate of domestic violence against in the country. Te deputy leader of the governing faction does point the main issue being "indiference":
link: https://eng.lsm.lv/article/politics/saeima/25.04.2023-little-support-for-istanbul-convention-in-latvian-parliament.a506265/ 80.233.164.94 (talk) 07:04, 27 April 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Istanbul convention & human rights 

message: Latvia has gdp (nominal) per capita 25,136$ 90.128.13.243 (talk) 20:58, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. M.Bitton (talk) 20:59, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: https://www.statista.com/statistics/377200/gross-domestic-product-gdp-per-capita-in-latvia/ 90.128.13.243 (talk) 21:05, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

text: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita     You can also see it here. 21k was in 2021, now we are living in 2023 90.128.13.243 (talk) 21:07, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

text: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Latvia Also here it’s written 90.128.13.243 (talk) 21:13, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 10 May 2023 

message: Data about gdp (nom) per capita in this page is old (2021) - 21,482$ In 2023 it’s - 25,136$
please make changes. I also add trustable sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/377200/gross-domestic-product-gdp-per-capita-in-latvia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Latvia 90.128.13.243 (talk) 20:07, 11 May 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. In fact, none of those sources are WP:RS. Izno (talk) 22:21, 12 May 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  GDP (nominal) per capita in 2023 

message: change the president from Egils Levits to Edgars Rinkēvičs
85.254.74.26 (talk) 19:13, 1 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done. Levits remains the president until 8 July 2023. We will change it then. Valenciano (talk) 19:19, 1 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 1 June 2023 

message: Change "president of latvia" from Egīls Levits to Edgars Rinkēvičš 2A03:EC00:B17D:C6CE:0:0:0:2 (talk) 17:22, 5 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: this can wait until he assumes office on the 8th of this month. M.Bitton (talk) 18:19, 5 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 5 July 2023 

message: Edgars Rinkēvičš has been sworn in. Sources: govermemt websites 195.80.104.35 (talk) 07:17, 8 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  New president 

message: Remove the following sentence from ‘culture’ section:”At this time, songs often made fun of the characteristics of Soviet life and were concerned about preserving Latvian identity.” 2A01:4B00:8567:B500:382E:F2C4:1690:D62B (talk) 06:38, 12 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: no explanation was given for the proposed content removal. M.Bitton (talk) 12:50, 12 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 12 July 2023 

message: Kristaps Porzingis no longer plays for the Washington wizards. He plays for the Boston Celtics 2601:153:983:D70:E830:60BE:433C:EE5E (talk) 13:51, 16 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: ULPS (talk) 16:02, 16 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 16 July 2023 

message: There are links that don't exist. Awesomeboy122 (talk) 18:16, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 18 September 2023 

message: Please change:
Fighting continued sporadically between Sweden and Poland until the Truce of Altmark in 1629.
To:
Fighting continued sporadically between Sweden and Poland until the Truce of Altmark in 1629. Emixolydian (talk) 20:47, 4 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Lewcm Talk to me! 10:35, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 4 December 2023 

message: Post-Soviet. 79.191.153.61 (talk) 05:56, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: The UN classifies Latvia as in northern Europe ([1] [2] [3]). Please get a WP:Consensus by starting a discussion before requesting this change. Lewcm Talk to me! 10:34, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

text: So sorry to say however any anonymous IP and non-extended-confirmed users cannot comment at all in any talk page of the Extended Protected article...only are allowed to make edit request. See WP:ARBECR --- Cat12zu3 (talk) 05:21, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Latvia is Eastern Europe, not Northern 

message: In the "History" section and "Since joining the EU in 2004" subsection there is the following sentence: "After years of debates, Latvia ratified the EU Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, otherwise known as the Istanbul Convention in November 2023.". This sentence is factually correct, however it's unreferenced, so someone who can edit the page should add a reference like this: 
Thank you in advance, and have a nice day!
90.131.144.65 (talk) 17:31, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: ARandomName123 (talk)Ping me!  22:48, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unreferenced sentence in "History" 

message: In the location of history, Around 3000 BC, the proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.[20] The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals.[21] By 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia: Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians (in Latvian: kurši, latgaļi, sēļi and zemgaļi), as well as the Finnic tribe of Livonians (lībieši) speaking a Finnic language.[citation needed] 
On the location of citation needed https://doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2021.12.2.02 should be added as it follows what is needed to finish the citation. AmanjLife23 (talk) 20:38, 13 February 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: – Isochrone (T) 13:33, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 13 February 2024 

message: Request to add Mass media in Latvia under Latvia#Culture. 203.149.142.34 (talk) 11:11, 18 February 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done for now: Please propose text to go with the link, a headline by itself will appear incongruous. Goldsztajn (talk) 12:12, 23 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 18 February 2024 

message: Change it to semi-protected 50.194.156.161 (talk) 22:48, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Protection