Irish welfare data show Latvians top 25,000

Andris Straumanis | 

While official census figures show about 14,000 people from Latvia now living in Ireland, new Ministry of Welfare data put the number at more than 25,000.

From May 2004, when Latvia joined the European Union, through the end of June 2007, a total of 25,471 people from Latvia have obtained Personal Public Service Numbers, according to the welfare ministry’s Department of Social and Family Affairs. The numbers are used in transactions between individuals and the government.

Residents of Poland who are now in Ireland have been the most active in obtaining their PPS numbers, with a total of 223,233. They are followed by Lithuanians, who number 51,813. Estonians total 5,730.

Through the first half of this year, 2,457 people from Latvia have obtained PPS numbers, an average of almost 410 per month. Through the first half of 2006, a total of 4,364 had obtained the numbers, or an average of about 727 per month. From January through June of 2005, a total of 4,966 people from Latvia registered for PPS numbers, an average of nearly 828 per month.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Marriage is on upswing in Latvia, data show

Andris Straumanis | 

Although about half of marriages in Latvia continue to end in divorce, the number of people “tying the knot” has grown steadily in recent years, according to data analyzed by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB).

A total of 14,616 marriages were registered in Latvia in 2006, a 16.5 percent increase over 2005, the government agency announced Aug. 10. Not since 1993 have so many marriages been recorded.

In 1990, the year before Latvia regained its independence, a total of 23,619 marriages were recorded. But the following year a decline already was noticeable, with 22,337 marriages recorded. The numbers continue to tumble to 1996, when just 9,634 marriages were recorded.

A low point was reached in 2000 with 9,211 marriages, however, since then the number has steadily increased.

Many marriages end in divorce, but the number has been decreasing in recent years, according to CSB data. In 2000, for example, for every 1,000 marriages there were 666 divorces, or a divorce rate of 66.6 percent. Last year, when a total of 7,249 divorces were registered, the rate was 49.6 percent.

In Latvia, the risk of divorce is highest in the fourth and fifth years of marriage, the CSB said. If a couple can survive that long, the risk of divorce decreases until the next big test, which appears to come in the 14th through 16th years of marriage.

Other data announced by the CSB show that:

  • For about 70 percent of couples in Latvia, it is their first marriage. In 2006 marriages, it was the first time for 71.8 percent of men and 73.2 percent of women.
  • People in their 20s are the most likely marriage prospects. In 2006 marriages, men in their 20s represented 50.3 percent of their total, while women in their 20s represented 58.8 percent of their total.
  • July, August and September continue to be the most popular months for marriage.
  • An increasing number of children are born to unmarried couples. Last year, 43.3 percent of babies were born to unmarried couples, compared to 2000, when the figure was 40 percent.
  • About a third of all marriages in Latvia are between different ethnic groups, but are especially high among ethnic minorities. Last year, 21.7 percent of ethnic Latvian men and 19.9 percent of ethnic Latvian women married someone from another ethnic group. Among ethnic Russians, 41 percent of men and 45.6 percent of women married someone from another ethnic group. By comparison, among ethnic Ukrainians in Latvia, 95.7 percent of men and 95.4 percent of women married outside their group.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Latvian churches abroad well represented on the Web

Daina Grosa | 

Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church in Sydney

The Web site of the Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church in Sydney provides Bible quotes and the church newsletter.

Latvians who have ended up in other parts of the world, either voluntarily or involuntarily have more often than not established their communities with the focal point being the church. In many cities the church community has founded Latvian schools, camps, folk dancing groups and other organizations. Over the years the role of the church as the hub may have changed slightly but its primary role—as the place for Latvians to be able to go and worship God in the style that they are accustomed to—has remained to this day. Even if congregation numbers are dwindling, the communities will still do their utmost to support a pastor and ensure that regular services are offered to those who wish to attend.

Dozens of Latvian churches are scattered around the world and a sizeable proportion of them have a Web site informing congregation members and the wider community of their work. Quickly skimming through the sites you get a good insight into what each community values and deems important informationwise. But it is important to bear in mind that the flashiest or most professionally designed and structured church Web site does not necessarily mean the congregation is a more caring community and the pastor is far better than others. It just may mean the congregation has steered its funds towards other service-oriented priorities. By the same token, a site that takes pride in mentioning recent christenings, shows plenty of photos featuring happy occasions in the church calendar and provides directions on how to get to the church may be a more outreach-focused church than one that focuses on the history and origins of the congregation. Each bit of information is important but in a balanced way. Nor does it necessarily mean that if the information on a particular church is in English and Latvian that the church is less focused on the Latvian language in services.

Here’s a quick summary of features on some church Web sites. By no means have we tried to list every bit of information available—or every site. Most of the sites are in Latvian, but some provide English content as well.

In Australia, the Web site of the Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church in Sydney provides Bible quotes for certain times of need, as well as a downloadable church newsletter. The site also notes all sermons are recorded on compact disc and can be ordered from the pastor.  The Church of the Holy Cross in Melbourne also has both its newsletter and monthly bulletin available for downloading and informs of the latest events and service calendar.

In Canada, St. Andrew’s Congregation in Toronto, has a few newsletters available for download as well as a video of the African Childrens Choir that recently performed at the church. We experienced some difficulty viewing and downloading these files because we were not using a Windows computer and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

In the United Kingdom, visit the Web site of the United London Latvian Lutheran Church and you won’t have an excuse for missing the next service: A popup message reminds visitors. The site allows vistors to download the latest newsletter and MP3 files of sermons and songs. A link takes visitors to a forum where they can discuss church-related and broader Latvian issues.

In the United States, the New York Latvian Ev. Lutheran Congregation takes pride in its various church properties as well as the summer camp in the Catskill Mountains. The church Web site provides information and photographs of these properties. The site also has MP3 audio files of various services by various pastors in 2007. Visitors also can download a membership application form and a donation form.

The Web site of the Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church of Washington D.C. is in English and Latvian and has instructions on how to get to the church. The local Latvian school founded by the church also gets a mention.

St. John’s Latvian Lutheran Church in Philadelphia wins hands down as the Web site with the most colorful introduction. The site has a service and events calendar followed by the school calendar, showing that school events are coordinated with the church calendar.

We tracked down the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran United Church of Kalamazoo within www.saites.org, a portal for Latvians in Michigan. We found the church pages to be very limited informationwise. The Saginaw Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church had more news but it unfortunately was slightly outdated. The site contains an invitation to pay church dues and to donate money to the congregation’s sister church in Latvia.

The Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church of Indianapolis, which is included in the Indylatvians.com portal, has a brief paragraph informing of its location and services.

The biggest surprise was hearing a Latvian worship song and seeing a scrolling announcement at the top of the site of the Chicago Latvian Zion Ev. Lutheran Church. The availability on the site of the church bulletin, the annual report and dozens of photos of church events all show that this is a community with many helping hands.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church has a well-structured and visually appealing site with information on the church and its school, choir, folk dancing group, ladies auxiliary, library and more. The site also has a personal touch: announcements of latest christenings.

The Boston Latvian Ev. Lutheran “Trimda” Congregation site has plenty of photos of members at various functions and events, showing the community is a fairly active one. The structure and design of the site are easy on the eye. This is the only site that informs visitors how to reach the church by public transport.

Three more broad sites are worth a mention:

  • The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (LELBA) is the umbrella organization for all the previously mentioned churches in the United States. LELBA puts out two publications, the magazine Ceļa biedrs and the newsletter LELBA Ziņas. Tables of contents and summaries are available online for Ceļa biedrs, while the newsletter is available as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. LELBA’s Web site also lists the various divisions of the board and the work each division is involved in.
  • The recently unveiled Union of Latvian Baptists in America site provides brief information on the various Latvian Baptist churches in this region.
  • The Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church in Germany site has a church and pastor list and service calendar for the various churches scattered throughout central Europe, including Germany, Belgium, Denmark, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

Details

Daina Gross is editor of Latvians Online. An Australian-Latvian she is also a migration researcher at the University of Latvia, PhD from the University of Sussex, formerly a member of the board of the World Federation of Free Latvians, author and translator/ editor/ proofreader from Latvian into English of an eclectic mix of publications of different genres.