Assessment of the modern confessional structure of the population of the regions of Latvia
Research Article
Acknowledgments
The publication was financed through a grant «Carrying out scientific research and development by Russian-Belarusian scientific teams on the basis of research units of Pskov State University in 2024 / 2025».
How to Cite
Manakov A.G., Terenina N.K., Krotok R.N. Assessment of the modern confessional structure of the population of the regions of Latvia. Population. 2025. Vol. 28. No. 1. P. 101-113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24412/1561-7785-2025-1-101-113 (in Russ.).
Abstract
Currently, Latvia can be characterized as a multi-confessional state. In the modern religious structure of the country’s population, adherents of the three main directions of Christianity are represented approximately equally: Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism. However, the Latvian population census does not record the religious composition of the population. The article sets the task of assessing the modern religious structure of the population of the historical regions of Latvia (Vidzeme, Latgale, Zemagale and Kurzeme) and its capital, based on the results of sociological surveys at the country level, as well as on the results of population censuses, which asked about the religious affiliation of people. This assessment is based on the methodology developed by the authors. At the Latvian level, the results of a sociological survey of the population conducted by the Latvian agency SKDS in 2018 were used. From the national statistics for 2023, the potential religious structure of the population of Latvia and its regions was calculated based on the traditional religious affiliations of ethnic groups. This structure was then adjusted taking into account the proportion of Catholic Latvians and Orthodox Latvians based on the results of population censuses when the question on religion was asked (from 1897 to 1935). Then, modern religiosity was assessed within each of the main potential-confessional groups of the population, which turned out to be the highest in the group of the potential-Orthodox population (87%), to whom potential Catholics (85%) were slightly behind in this regard, and potential Protestants (slightly above 50%) were significantly behind. Based on the calculated national average religiosity of potential religious groups, an assessment was made of the distribution of the population of the historical regions of Latvia and the capital of the country among the three main religious groups and the non-religious part of the population.
Keywords:
religious mosaic, Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox, potential confessional structure, non-religious population
References
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3. Safronov S.G. Konfessional’noje prostranstvo Rossii v nachale i kontse 20 veka [Confessional space of Russia at the beginning and end of the 20th century]. Gorod i derevnya v Yevropejskoj Rossii: sto let peremen [The Town and the Country in the European Russia: One Hundred Years of Changes]. Т. Nefedova, P. Polyan, A. Treivish (eds.). Moscow. 2001. P. 443–460. (in Russ.)
4. Manakov A.G., Dementiev V.S. Territorial structure of the denominational space of the South-East Baltic. Baltic Region. 2019. Vol. 11. No. 1. P. 92–108. DOI: 10.5922/2079-8555-2019-1-7
5. Manakov A.G. Geokul’turnoje prostranstvo severo-zapada Russkoj ravniny: dinamika, struktura, ierarkhiya [Geocultural Space of the North-West of the Russian Plain: Dynamics, Structure, Hierarchy]. Pskov. 2002. 300 p. Available at: http://st.volny.edu / (Accessed: 2 June 2024). (in Russ.)
6. Terenina N.K., Krotok R.N. Opyt raschyota koeffitsienta religioznoj kontrastnosti po regionam Rossii [Experience of calculating the coefficient of religious contrast by regions of Russia]. Vestnik Pskovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Yestestvennye i fiziko-matematicheskije nauki [Bulletin of the Pskov State University. Series: Natural and Physical and Mathematical Sciences]. 2023. Vol. 16. No. 4. P. 82–94. (in Russ.)
7. Dementiev V.S., Krotok R.N. Konfessional’nyje kontaktnyje zony Rossijskoj imperii v razreze ujezdov i okrugov po itogam perepisi 1897 goda [Confessional contact zones of the Russian Empire by counties and districts according to the results of the 1897 census]. Pskovskij regionologicheskij zhurnal [Pskov Journal of Regional Studies]. 2024. Vol. 20. No. 1. P. 91–106. DOI: 10.37490/S221979310029977-7 (in Russ.)
8. Eckel B.M. Opredelenije indeksa etnicheskoj mozaichnosti natsional’nogo sostava respublik, krayov i oblastej SSSR [Estimation of the index of ethnic mosaic in the national composition of republics, territories and oblasts of the USSR]. Sovetskaya etnografiya [Soviet Ethnography]. 1976. No. 2. P. 33–42. (in Russ.)
9. Bufetova A.N., Kolomak E.A. Natsional’naya neodnorodnost’ v regionakh Rossii [National diversity in the Russian regions]. EKO [ECO]. 2017. No. 4. P. 110–123. (in Russ.)
10. Bufetova A.N., Khrzhanovskaya A.A., Kolomak E.A. Cultural heterogeneity and economic development in Russia. Journal of Siberian Federal University. 2020. Vol. 13. No. 4. P. 453–463. DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-0582
11. Rozhina E.A., Vasilyeva R.I. Etnicheskoje raznoobrazije i ekonomicheskaya diversifikatsiya: analiz regionov Rossii [Ethnic diversity and economic diversification: the case of Russian regions]. Narodonaselenie [Population]. 2024. Vol. 27. No. 1. P. 82–94. DOI: 10.24412/1561-7785-2024-1-82-94 (in Russ.)
12. Montalvo J., Reynal-Querol M. Why ethnic fractionalization? Polarization, Ethnic Conflict and Growth. UPF Working Paper. 2002. No. 660. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=394926 (Accessed: 10 June 2024).
13. Posner D.N. Measuring ethnic fractionalization in Africa. American Journal of Political Science. 2004. Vol. 48. No. 4. P. 849–863. DOI: 10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00105.x
14. Churchill S.A. Income and ethnic fractionalisation: Evidence from British Microdata. Economic Issues. 2019. Vol. 24. No. 1. P. 21–34.
15. Greenberg J.H. The measurement of linguistic diversity. Language. 1956. Vol. 32. No. 1. P. 109–115.
16. Gorokhov S.A. Religioznaya mozaichnost’ kak faktor ekonomicheskogo razvitiya regionov sovremennogo mira [Religious fractionalization as a factor of regional economic development in the modern world]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 5: Geografiya [Moscow University Bulletin. Series 5: Geography]. 2014. No. 4. P. 56–61. (in Russ.)
17. Krotok R.N. Territorial’naya struktura konfessional’nogo prostranstva Latvii v kontse 19 — nachale 20 vv. [Territorial structure of the confessional space of Latvia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries]. Pskovskij regionologicheskij zhurnal [Pskov Journal of Regional Studies]. 2024. Vol. 20. No. 3. P. 24–39. DOI: 10.37490/S221979310031532-8 (in Russ.)
Article
Received: 08.07.2024
Accepted: 27.03.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Manakov, A. G., Terenina, N. K., & Krotok, R. N. (2025). Assessment of the modern confessional structure of the population of the regions of Latvia. Population, 28(1), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.24412/1561-7785-2025-1-101-113
Section
DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES
