More than 27,800 persons in Canada claimed at least some Latvian ancestry in the 2006 census, a 23 percent increase from five years earlier, according to data prepared by country’s national statistical agency.

However, the number of Canadians whose only ancestry is Latvian dropped almost 12 percentage points during the same period.

Based on a one-in-five sample of Canada’s population, some 7,720 persons reported Latvian as their only ethnic background, while another 20,150 said Latvian was one of their ethnicities, data from the 2006 Canadian census show.

The data on ethnic origin were released in April by Statistics Canada. The numbers are calculated from answers provided by the 20 percent of Canadian residents who completed the so-called “long form” of census questions.

In the 2001 census, a total of 22,610 persons told the census that they have at least some Latvian blood.

Of those, almost 39.3 percent said Latvian was their only ancestry. By comparison, the 2006 census showed single ancestry had dropped to about 27.7 percent of the total.

In the 2006 census, Ontario accounted for 16,630 persons of Latvian descent, or almost 60 percent of the total. While the province remained the place with the most persons of Latvian ancestry, it lost ground from the 2001 census, when Ontario could claim more than 64 percent of total.

British Columbia had the second-highest number of persons with Latvian origins—4,100 (14.7 percent). Alberta had 2,865 (10.2 percent), Quebec had 1,750 (about 6 percent) and Manitoba had 1,320 (4.7 percent).

Alberta’s high ranking may be related to pre-World War II migration. Areas such as Medicine Hat once were home to small communities of Latvian immigrants. Of the persons in Alberta claiming Latvian ancestry, 81.3 percent also claimed at least one other ethnicity. By comparison, overall in Canada, 72.3 percent of those claiming Latvian ancestry also claimed at least one other ethnic origin. In Ontario, just 66 percent claimed multiple ancestries.

Every other province and territory recorded at least some persons of Latvian ancestry. Saskatchewan had 380; Nova Scotia, 375; New Brunswick, 160; Northwest Territories, 150; Newfoundland and Labrador, 65; Yukon Territory, 40; Prince Edward Island, 30; and Nunavut, 10.

More than 200 different ethnicities were reported in the 2006 census, according to Statistics Canada. Persons with Estonian ancestry totaled 23,930, while Lithuanians numbered 46,690.

It won’t be just folks in Latvia going Aug. 22 to their favorite local bridge to light lanterns in honor of Latvia’s 90th anniversary. Latvians in Ireland and Peru will be doing the same, says a Ministry of Defense spokeswoman.

The event, “Gaismas tilti” (Bridges of Light), is being coordinated by the ministry as part of the year-long “Iededzies par Latviju!” project. Across Latvia, residents are invited to go to a bridge at 21:00 hours to light lanterns. The date, Aug. 22, is 90 days before Independence Day, Nov. 18.

In Ireland, the Latvian Association for Latvians in Ireland (Latviešu apvienība latviešiem Īrijā, or LALI) is calling on community members to congregate at 21:00 hours at the Flower Hill Road bridge in Navan, about 50 kilometers northwest of Dublin. Lanterns will be placed on the bridge and participants will hear dedications from “Gaismas tilts” ambassadors, including writer Nora Ikstena, folklorist Ilga Reizniece, director Māra Ķimele, artist Imants Lancmans, stylist Žanna Dubska and conductor Māris Sirmais.

Instructions for making lanterns are available on LALI’s Web site, www.latviesi.org

In Lima, Peru, the small Latvian community will gather to light lanterns at 21:00 hours in Parque República de Letonia, a park in the Miraflores district named for Latvia. President Valdis Zatlers dedicated the park during a May visit to Peru. The park, at Calle Ocharán and the Malecón de Miraflores, overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

About 200 bridges in 146 municipalities in Latvia will be sites for the “Gaismas tilts” event, according to Līga Ivanova, regional media coordinator for the Ministry of Defense. Further information about the event is available by visiting www.lv90.lv.

Rīga earned the second-highest number of votes in six weeks of online balloting and will claim one of the most expensive slots in the new World Edition of the popular Monopoly board game, Massachusetts-based manufacturer Hasbro Inc. has announced.

While Baltic Avenue has been one of the cheaper properties in the classic version of the board game, Rīga will join Montréal in the top-priced dark blue property group in Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition, the gamemaker announced.

A total of 22 world cities will be represented in the new edition. According to Hasbro, more than 5.6 million votes were cast for 70 world cities, which determined 20 of the 22 cities featured in the game. A number Web sites in Latvia and abroad provided links to the Monopoly site in an effort to boost votes for Rīga.

The World Edition will go on sale Aug. 26 in more than 50 countries and in 37 different languages.

Besides Montréal and Rīga, the cities on the game board—in the order of ballot results—will be Cape Town, Belgrade, Paris, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, New York, Sydney, Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome, Toronto, Kyiv (Kiev), Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo, Taipei, Gdynia (Gdansk). The last two won a write-in contest and will represent the least expensive properties.

Voting took place during a six-week period earlier this year.

“We hope that fans of the world’s most popular board game will enjoy buying, selling and trading real estate from around the globe in the new Monopoly game that they created with their votes,” Helen Martin, Hasbro’s vice president of global marketing, said in a press release. “We are thrilled that the first-ever global game board includes an interesting mix of cities that showcases the dynamic cultures, sights and history of the planet.”