Culture & Identity of Latvia
Introduction
The people of Latvia are quite diverse in many ways, particularly in regards to ethnicity, and this diversity encourages slight variations in the daily way of life of the people, although there are great similarities.
Nearly 70% of the people live in an urban environment and nearly as many of the working people in the country work in the services industries. Only about 10% of the working population relies on agriculture to make a living, but the overwhelming majority of these people are ethnic Latvians. In the cities there are numerous jobs in both the industry and services sectors and people of all ethnicities hold these positions.
For most of the people living and working in the cities their daily schedule is similar as most begin work at about 8:30 am and work until about 6:00 pm. Children also attend school from early September to late May, which also has a fairly set schedule.
It's the evenings and weekends when the differences between the people are most noticeable, but even during these times the differences are minor and unnoticeable to most visitors. The Latvians and Russians tend to spend evenings at home with family, but the foods, languages, and traditions in these homes vary dramatically. Weekends (Saturday-Sunday) are also varied, but primarily due to personal preference. Most people like getting out of the house on weekends, whether that is out into the outdoors, to some entertainment in the city, or just having dinner or a drink somewhere. Of course, during the long winter days the people are generally not as eager to get outside unless they are a winter sports enthusiast.