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According to census information, 97,600 persons who speak the Latgalian dialect on a daily basis live in Latgale Province (eastern Latvia), 29,400 live in Riga, while 14,400 live in Riga Region, writes LETA/Nozare.lv.

8.8% of Latvian residents speak the Latgalian dialect on a daily basis.

In Latgale Province, 35.5% of the population speak the Latgalian dialect on a daily basis.

The largest proportion of persons speaking the Latgalian dialect live in in Karsava, Baltinava and Varaklani regions, where over 75% speak the dialect on a daily basis.

During the population census last year, persons speaking the Latgalian dialect were counted for the first time.

As reported, Latgalians are the ethnic Latvians of Latgale Province (eastern Latvia), who developed separately from the rest of ethnic Latvia in 1621-1917. Some Latgalians consider themselves to be an ethnic group separate from Latvians. The majority opinion is, however, that present-day Latgalians are a subgroup of the Latvians.