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The Constitution of Latvia (Satversme) is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. It was adopted by, as it states itself, the people of Latvia, in freely elected Constitutional Assembly, on 15 February 1922 and came into force on 7 November 1922. In Latvian, satversme is a synonym of Constitution (konstitūcija). The term was coined by Atis Kronvalds, one of the leaders of Latvian romantic nationalism in the 19th century. The movement was trying to promote Latvian culture after centuries of Baltic German influence and encourage use of Latvian. Kronvalds and like-minded individuals introduced several new terms intended to be used over loanwords in everyday use. He derived the term "satversme" from -tver- ("to hold"), combining it with the prefix "sa-", indicating something longlasting and strong, the -sm- suffix, and a feminine ending, -e, to illustrate how a constitution holds together all other laws. The Constitution was drafted by the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (Satversmes sapulce), which consisted of 150 members elected in general elections. The initial bill was elaborated by a Constitutional committee (Satversmes komisija) and consisted of two parts. The first regulated the state's institutions; the second, citizens' rights and obligations. The committee presented its work on 20 September 1921. The first part of the bill was passed on 15 February 1922, while the second part was voted down on 5 April 1922. On 20 June 1922 a law was passed that set the new constitution to come into force at 12 a.m. on 7 November 1922.

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