The Latgalians are an ethnographic group living in Latgale region in Latvia, who speak Latgalian and Standard Latvian. Their distinct culture sets them apart from other Latvians.
A 1895 group photo of people from Daugavpils County
Latgalian is an Eastern Baltic language, although it is sometimes considered a dialect of Latvian. The Latvian language law classifies it as a "historical form of Latvian". It is mostly spoken in Latgale, the eastern part of Latvia. The 2011 Latvian census established that 8.8% of Latvia's inhabitants, or 164,500 people, speak Latgalian daily. 97,600 of them live in Latgale, 29,400 in Riga and 14,400 in the Riga Planning Region.
Bilingual direction signs in Latgalian and Latvian in Salnava Parish, Ludza Municipality in 2016