Moscow-based New York Times reporter David M. Herszenhorn writes that Latvian voters rejected efforts to establish Russian as a second official language in recognition of Latvia's large Russian ethnic minority community. Latvia, a small Baltic nation, became independent along with Estonia and Lithuania in 1991 -- along with their Russian populations. In Latvia, Russians make up over 25% of the population (about 500,000) -- as many as 40% of the Russian minority have not yet received full citizenship, which Herszenhorn indicates is dependent on passing a test on Latvian language and history in Latvian.
About 70% of eligible voters participated in the referendum, which failed overwhelmingly, Russian language rights gaining only about 25% of the vote (less than 14% of the total population).
