History of the Jews in Latvia them were natives, including Jewish refugees who returned to their former residences from the interior of Russia, while the remainder came from other parts of the Soviet Union. About 48 percent of the Jews declared Yiddish as their mother tongue. The others mainly declared Russian as their language, while only a few hundred described themselves as Latvian-speaking. Of the total, 30,267 Jews (5/6) lived in Riga. The others lived in Daugavpils and other towns. According to private estimates, the Jews of Latvia in 1970 numbered about 50,000. The overwhelming majority of them lived in Riga, the capital, which became one
On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia not valid and the Republic of Latvia is still "de jure" subject to international law as recognized by more than 50 countries. After concluding that the Republic of Latvia "de jure" is a sovereign country the Declaration makes note of previously adopted documents and explains that the Supreme Soviet is acting according to the will of inhabitants of Latvia. First it notes two previous declarations of the Supreme Soviet — "On sovereignty of state of Latvia" of 28 July 1989, which declared that the Latvian SSR will act as a sovereign state and that laws adopted by the Soviet Union