Curonians

The Curonians were a Baltic tribe that inhabited the western Baltic coast, comprising parts of present-day western Latvia (Kurzeme) and western Lithuania, including the Curonian Spit. They spoke the Curonian language, a Western Baltic language closely related to Latvian and Lithuanian; the language is now extinct.

Historically the Curonians built coastal settlements and sometimes formed a loose confederation. They were noted for seafaring and trade, maintaining contacts with Norse, Danish, and Hanseatic traders. In the 13th century, the Northern Crusades brought conquest by the Livonian Order and other crusaders, and Christianization followed. Over the ensuing centuries, Curonian political independence dissolved as German and Baltic powers asserted control, and the people increasingly blended with Latvians and Lithuanians.

By the 16th century the lands were incorporated into the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (from 1562). After the partitions of Poland in 1795, the duchy was absorbed by the Russian Empire. The name Curonia survives as the historical designation for Kurzeme and, in geography, in the Curonian Spit, a long coastal formation along the Baltic coast between Latvia and Lithuania.

Modern reference to the Curonians appears in archaeology, linguistics, and regional history. Their legacy persists in toponyms, folklore, and the historical identity of the western Baltic coast, though direct contemporary ethnolinguistic continuity with Latvians or Lithuanians is not established.