 Latvian folk dance group 'Senatne', Queensland, 1951 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Latvian 3,758 (by birth, 2016 census)[1] 20,509 (by ancestry, 2016 census)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Sydney and Melbourne | |
| Languages | |
| Australian English, Latvian | |
| Religion | |
| Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Estonian Australians · Lithuanian Australians · Latgalians · Kursenieki · Livonians · Latvians · Latvian Canadians · Latvian Americans |
Latvian Australians are Australian citizens of Latvian descent, or persons born in Latvia who reside in Australia. At the 2016 Census, 20,509 residents in Australia reported to have Latvian ancestry.[2]
Few Latvians arrived in Australia before 1947.[3]
Between 1947 and 1952, 19,700 Latvian refugees arrived in Australia as displaced persons under the supervision of the International Refugee Organisation.[4] The first voyage under Arthur Calwell's Displaced Persons immigration program, that of the General Stuart Heintzelman in 1947,[5] was specially chosen to be all from Baltic nations, all single, many blond and blue-eyed, in order to appeal to the Australian public.[6] Of the 843 immigrants on the Heintzelman, 264 were Latvian.[7]
- ^ a b Australian Government Census 2016. "Latvian Australians".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Latvia country brief". dfat.gov.au. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
- ^ "History of Immigration from Latvia". Museum Victoria. Archived from the original on 30 July 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "Origins: Immigrant Communities in Victoria: History of immigration from Latvia". Museum Victoria Australia. Archived from the original on 30 July 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ "First of the Fifth Fleet". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ J. Franklin, Calwell, Catholicism and the origins of multicultural Australia, Proc. of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 2009 Conference, 42-54.
- ^ "Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild: USAT General Stuart Heintzelman". Retrieved 27 February 2017.