Emancipation reform of 1861 Emancipation reform of 1861 The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia ( - "peasants' reform of 1861") was the first and most important of liberal reforms passed during the reign (1855-1881) of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. The reform effectively abolished serfdom throughout the Russian Empire. The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs on private estates and of the domestic (household) serfs. By this edict more than 23 million people received their liberty. Serfs gained the full rights of free citizens, including rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a
Latvians in Russia make up approximately 300 out of almost 2000 inhabitants of the municipality. In Siberia (modern Krasnoyarsk Krai), the village () was founded by Latvian settlers in 1859. The village still exists and has less than one hundred inhabitants. Since the 1990s, there is a number of Latvian organizations and Latvian Lutheran parishes in Russia, primarily in major cities such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Omsk, Tomsk, Smolensk and others. Latvians in Russia Latvians in Russia are a small ethnic minority scattered across various regions of Russia. According to the 2010 census, 18,979 people in Russia identified themselves as ethnic Latvians, down