Livonians

Livonians

Flag of the Livonians
Total population
c. 432–616
Regions with significant populations
Latvia (Livonian Coast)
Latvia	166 (2021)[1][2][3]
Ukraine	235 (2002)[4]
Estonia	15 (2021)[5]
Russia	7 (2002)[6]
United States	2 (2018)
Languages
Livonian, Latvian
Religion
Lutheranism
Related ethnic groups
Other Baltic Finns Especially Finns, Estonians, Setos, Võros, Votians and Izhorians

The Livonians, or Livs,^[7] are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and Finnish. Initially, the last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013, making Livonian a dormant language.^[8] In 2020, it was reported that newborn Kuldi Medne had once again become the only living person who speaks Livonian as their first language.^[9] As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language.

Historical, social and economic factors, together with an ethnically dispersed population, have resulted in the decline of Livonian identity, with only a small group surviving in the 21st century. In 2011, there were 250 people who claimed Livonian ethnicity in Latvia.^[3]