The culture of the peoples of Russia is the most interesting. The most numerous peoples of the world

We are used to saying that Russia is a multinational country. However, not everyone knows exactly how many peoples live in the Russian expanses and what share each of them accounts for in the total population of the country. Determining one's own nationality is a personal matter for everyone. At the same time, behind the multi-layered and often controversial terms “ethnos”, “nationality”, “nationality”, “nation” hides the most mythologized part of public consciousness - the feeling of belonging to ethnic roots.

In the Russian language, it is customary to use the term “nationality” in two meanings: firstly, nationality means nationalities, nations and other ethnic communities and groups inhabiting the country (for example, the nationalities of Russia). In political and legal terms, this term refers only to indigenous ethnic groups that have some form of national-territorial autonomy. Secondly, nationality denotes the belonging of a person or group of people to a particular nationality or nation, including as a question about such affiliation (for example, in population censuses). In Western European languages, this term is used to denote nationality (nationality).

Ethnicity is understood by most Russian scientists as a historically emerged type of stable community of people, united by a common origin, territory, language, culture, and represented by a tribe, nationality, nation. In the ethnographic sense, the term “ethnos” is close to the concept of “people”. Sometimes it means a community of several peoples (ethnolinguistic groups) or, conversely, separate isolated parts within one people (ethnographic groups).

Origins of multinational

The ethnic map of our country and its cultural diversity have been formed over many centuries under the influence of a number of factors: the environment, economic activity, migration, not always peaceful colonization and conquest, missionary work... The state-forming nation of the Russian Federation Russians is the majority of the population, but our country belongs to a multinational state: in addition to the Russians, dozens of indigenous peoples have formed and live on the territory of Russia, many of which have their own national statehood here.

At the time of its emergence, the Russian state covered a small territory in the northeast of the Russian Plain. During the formation of the Russian Empire, there was a constant annexation of territories and a diverse, multilingual population. The most significant increments of the first period are associated with the second half of the 16th century. By the end of the century, the number increased to 10 million (from 5-6 million at the beginning of the century), and the ethnic composition became very complex. The country included the Mari (Cheremis), Meshchera, Ugra, Komi (Chud Zavolotskaya), Bashkirs, Nogais, Kumyks, Kabardians, Tatars, Chuvash, Mordovians, Udmurts (Votyak), Nenets (Samoyad), Karelians, Sami (Lop), Vepsians (all) and a number of other peoples. At the second stage (the turn of the 17th-18th centuries), the list of peoples of Russia was replenished with many relatively few peoples of Siberia and the Far East: Yakuts, Buryats, Siberian Tatars, Evenks, Enets, Chukchi, Koryaks, etc.

The next stage is a significant expansion of the borders of the Russian Empire under Peter I. The Izhora land, the territories of modern Estonia and Latvia (except for the Duchy of Courland) went to Russia. According to the results of the first revision of 1719, Russians made up only 7/10 of the country’s population, and by the end of the century (when Ukrainians, Belarusians, etc. joined Russia) only 49 percent! The peoples of the Caucasus and Central Asia, who became part of the Russian Empire in the 19th century, further increased ethnic diversity. According to the 1897 census, the country's population was 128.2 million people, of which 44.3 percent were Russians. In 1914, the Uriankhai region (Tuva) was accepted under Russian protectorate. Russian was the national language, mandatory for all state and public institutions.

Russia was not a classic colonial empire, not only because most of the peoples and their territories became part of it voluntarily. In a territorially integral empire, political and legal diversity was allowed in the management of territories; the “national outskirts” were allowed to adhere to their own orders. A characteristic feature is the promotion of representatives of non-Russian ethnic groups to senior political and administrative positions. Russians actually did not have any special privileges in the state.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, both the territory and population of the multinational country decreased accordingly. In the new state of the Russian Federation, Russians made up the majority of the population.

145 million 160 nations?

The only legitimate tool for determining the ethnic composition of a country whose citizens are not required to indicate their nationality in the main document is a population census. The last memorable census of 2002 was repeatedly criticized by scientists even before it began: for insufficient coverage of residents of megacities and migrants, and for the obvious underestimation of the number of individual ethnic groups, and for the fact that it did not take into account double ethnic identity (for example, among people descendants mixed marriages). However, statisticians have no other data at their disposal.

Representatives of over 160 nationalities live in the Russian Federation. According to the last Soviet census, there were 128 of them. However, in many ways the larger number of ethnic groups in the 2002 census form is due to the fact that scientists gave a more detailed gradation: for example, Turks and Meskhetian Turks, Ossetians, Ossetians-Digorians and Ossetians were taken into account separately. Ironians, etc.

The organizers of the census sought to ensure compliance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation in terms of free self-determination of nationality. As a result, citizens gave more than 800 different answers to the question about nationality (there were also some oddities: the answers “hobbit”, “white woman”), and 45 thousand people indicated a nationality that was not on the census form. Among those who were counted in the census but were unable to indicate their ethnic identity, 1.458 million people, or 1 percent. population.

Seven peoples inhabiting Russia (80 percent of the country's inhabitants) have a population exceeding 1 million people. These are Russians (115.868 million, or 79.8 percent of the population), Tatars (5.558 million, or 3.8 percent), Ukrainians (2.944 million, or 2 percent), Bashkirs (1.674 million, or 1.2 percent), Chuvash (1.637 million, or 1.1 percent), Chechens (1.361 million, or 0.9 percent) and Armenians (1 , 130 million, or 0.8 percent of the population).

Other numerous peoples of Russia: Mordovians (845 thousand), Belarusians (815 thousand), Avars (757 thousand), Kazakhs (655.1 thousand), Udmurts (636.9 thousand), Azerbaijanis (621 thousand) , Mari (604.8 thousand), Germans (597.1 thousand), Kabardians (520.1 thousand), Ossetians (514.9 thousand), Dargins (510.2 thousand), Buryats (445 thousand .), Yakuts (444 thousand), Kumyks (422.5 thousand), Ingush (411.8 thousand), Lezgins (411.6 thousand).

Traditionally, the peoples inhabiting Russia are divided into three main groups: the first can be conditionally called “our own” - indigenous ethnic groups formed on the territory of Russia and mostly living on it. There are more than a hundred of them, they make up 94 percent. population. The second group (conditionally “neighbors”) includes the peoples of the former Soviet republics and some other countries, represented in Russia in significant groups, sometimes living compactly. These are Ukrainians, Belarusians, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Koreans, Poles, Lithuanians, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Bulgarians, Gagauz, Greeks, etc. The third group (conditionally “guests”) is formed by small subdivisions of ethnic groups, the vast majority of which live outside of Russia. There are more than 30 of them. These are Assyrians, Abkhazians, Romanians, Hungarians, Czechs, Chinese, Vietnamese, Uighurs, Serbs, Slovaks, Baluchis, etc.

All national formations of Russia are distinguished by a complex ethnic composition of the population, and the share of the titular ethnic group in some cases is relatively small. Almost half of the entire population (except Russians) lives outside of their national entities, i.e. in other regions of Russia (for example, most of the Mordovians, Tatars, almost half of the Mari). In Karelia, Kalmykia, and Chukotka, only a tenth of the population is representatives of the titular ethnic group. Only in six national republics are the titular peoples in the majority (Tuva, Chuvashia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Chechnya).

The census revealed another surprising thing. In the early 1990s, the so-called indigenous peoples of the North, leading a traditional way of life, found themselves in a crisis situation without state care or an established system of social protection measures. Experts reported their “extinction” and their condition “on the verge of loss of the gene pool.” Data from 2002 indicate that their numbers increased by 17 percent compared to 1989. This is largely due to more accurate accounting and growth of self-awareness. The number of all small peoples of the North and Siberia of the Russian Federation (including the newly identified Kamchadals, Telengits, Tubalars, Chelkans and Chulyms) is 279.8 thousand people. The number of Nenets, Khanty, Selkups, Yukaghirs, Negidals, Tofalars, Itelmens, and Kets has increased significantly. At the same time, four peoples decreased in number: the Aleuts, Nganasans, Ulchis, and Chuvans.

Nationality and religion

The first Russian population censuses did not include the “nationality” column. Conclusions about a person’s nationality were made based on answers to the question of what language the person considers native, place of residence, and the equally important column “religion.” Thus, the majority of Orthodox Christians who speak Russian were naturally classified by scientists as Great Russians, Mohammedans from Kazan as Tatars, Jews as either Jews or Tats. Indeed, religious affiliation is often, but not always, linked to ethnic affiliation. For example, Catholicism in Russia is professed by almost all believing Poles and Lithuanians, some believing Germans (among them there are also Lutherans and Orthodox Christians), and believing Latgalians (an ethnographic group of Latvians). But among the parishioners of Catholic churches there are also a sufficient number of representatives of other nationalities - Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, etc.

The majority of believers in Russia (about 9/10) consider themselves Orthodox Christians. The Christian denomination also includes Old Believers, Catholics, Protestants (Lutherans, Mennonites, Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists, etc.) and Armenian Gregorians, in addition to the so-called true Orthodox Christians, Doukhobors and Molokans.

Russian Muslims (about one tenth of believers) are mostly Sunnis; Shiite Muslims include believing Azerbaijanis, some Kurds, etc.

The traditional religions of Russia include Buddhism (the Lamaist branch) and Judaism.

Among the followers of the so-called new religions are neo-pagans, Hindus (including members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness), adherents of Dianetics, etc.

Unfortunately, statistics on this issue are not very accurate, so we have to rely on expert assessments and data from opinion polls of different categories of the population.

National composition of Russia

Data on the national composition of Russia are determined through a written survey of the population as part of the All-Russian population census. According to the 2010 census, the population of Russia is 142,856,536 people, of which 137,227,107 people or 96.06% indicated their nationality.

Russians have the largest population. There are 111,016,896 Russians living in Russia, which is 77.71% of the Russian population or 80.90% of those who indicated their nationality. Next come the following nations: Tatars - 5,310,649 people (3.72% of all, 3.87% of those who indicated their nationality) and Ukrainians - 1,927,988 people or 1.35% of all, 1.41% of those who indicated their nationality .

Compared to the 2002 population census, the number of Russians decreased by 4,872,211 people or 4.20%.
The number of Tatars and Ukrainians also decreased by 243,952 (4.39%) and 1,014,973 (34.49%), respectively. Of the peoples whose population was more than 1 million people in 2010, a decrease in numbers occurred among all except the Chechens and Armenians. The population of Chechens increased by 71,107 people (5.23%), Armenians - by 51,897 (4.59%). In total, representatives of more than 180 nationalities (ethnic groups) live in Russia.

Some maps of Russia by national composition

Map of the settlement of Russians, Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in Crimeaaccording to the 2014 census data in Crimea.

According to the table at the link, since the 2001 census, the share of Russians in Crimea has increased from 60.68% up 67.90% (by 7.22%) from persons who indicated their nationality.During the same time, the share of Ukrainians in Crimea decreased from 24.12% up 15.68% (by 8.44%). The total share of Crimean Tatars and Tatars has increased from 10.26% + 0.57% = 10.83% to 10.57% + 2.05% = 12.62% (total 1.79%).

Below is a table of nationalities inRussian Federationindicating the number in 2010 and 2000, the percentage of the total population of the Russian Federation and the number of persons indicating nationality. The table also shows the difference in the number of persons between censuses in quantitative and percentage terms. The table shows only nationalities whose number in the Russian Federation, according to the 2010 census, exceeds 100 thousand people. Full table at .

№	Nationality	Number of people: 2010	% of total population.	% of the decree current national	Number of people: 2002 people.	% of total population.	% of the decree current national	+/- people	+/- %
	TOTAL, RF	142 856 536	100,00		145 166 731	100,00		−2 310 195	−1,59
	total of persons who indicated their nationality	137 227 107	96,06	100	143 705 980	98,99	100,00	−6 478 873	−4,51
1	Russians*	111 016 896	77,71	80,9	115 889 107	79,83	80,64	−4 872 211	−4,20
	did not indicate nationality**	5 629 429	3,94		1 460 751	1,01		4 168 678	285,38
2	Tatars	5 310 649	3,72	3,87	5 554 601	3,83	3,87	−243 952	−4,39
3	Ukrainians	1 927 988	1,35	1,41	2 942 961	2,03	2,05	−1 014 973	−34,49
4	Bashkirs	1 584 554	1,11	1,16	1 673 389	1,15	1,16	−88 835	−5,31
5	Chuvash	1 435 872	1,01	1,05	1 637 094	1,13	1,14	−201 222	−12,29
6	Chechens	1 431 360	1,00	1,04	1 360 253	0,94	0,95	71 107	5,23
7	Armenians	1 182 388	0,83	0,86	1 130 491	0,78	0,79	51 897	4,59
8	Avars	912 090	0,64	0,67	814 473	0,56	0,57	97 617	11,99
9	Mordva	744 237	0,52	0,54	843 350	0,58	0,59	−99 113	−11,75
10	Kazakhs	647 732	0,45	0,47	653 962	0,45	0,46	−6 230	−0,95
11	Azerbaijanis	603 070	0,42	0,44	621 840	0,43	0,43	−18 770	−3,02
12	Dargins	589 386	0,41	0,43	510 156	0,35	0,35	79 230	15,53
13	Udmurts	552 299	0,39	0,40	636 906	0,44	0,44	−84 607	−13,28
14	Mari	547 605	0,38	0,40	604 298	0,42	0,42	−56 693	−9,38
15	Ossetians	528 515	0,37	0,39	514 875	0,36	0,36	13 640	2,65
16	Belarusians	521 443	0,37	0,38	807 970	0,56	0,56	−286 527	−35,46
17	Kabardians	516 826	0,36	0,38	519 958	0,36	0,36	−3 132	−0,60
18	Kumyks	503 060	0,35	0,37	422 409	0,29	0,29	80 651	19,09
19	Yakuts	478 085	0,34	0,35	443 852	0,31	0,31	34 233	7,71
20	Lezgins	473 722	0,33	0,35	411 535	0,28	0,29	62 187	15,11
21	Buryats	461 389	0,32	0,34	445 175	0,31	0,31	16 214	3,64
22	Ingush	444 833	0,31	0,32	413 016	0,29	0,29	31 817	7,70
23	Germans	394 138	0,28	0,29	597 212	0,41	0,42	−203 074	−34,00
24	Uzbeks	289 862	0,20	0,21	122 916	0,09	0,09	166 946	135,82
25	Tuvans	263 934	0,19	0,19	243 442	0,17	0,17	20 492	8,42
26	Komi	228 235	0,16	0,17	293 406	0,20	0,20	−65 171	−22,21
27	Karachais	218 403	0,15	0,16	192 182	0,13	0,13	26 221	13,64
28	Gypsies	204 958	0,14	0,15	182 766	0,13	0,13	22 192	12,14
29	Tajiks	200 303	0,14	0,15	120 136	0,08	0,08	80 167	66,73
30	Kalmyks	183 372	0,13	0,13	173 996	0,12	0,12	9 376	5,39
31	Laktsy	178 630	0,13	0,13	156 545	0,11	0,11	22 085	14,11
32	Georgians	157 803	0,11	0,12	197 934	0,14	0,14	−40 131	−20,27
33	Jews	156 801	0,11	0,11	229 938	0,16	0,16	−73 137	−31,81
34	Moldovans	156 400	0,11	0,11	172 330	0,12	0,12	−15 930	−9,24
35	Koreans	153 156	0,11	0,11	148 556	0,10	0,10	4 600	3,10
36	Tabasarans	146 360	0,10	0,11	131 785	0,09	0,09	14 575	11,06
37	Adyghe people	124 835	0,09	0,09	128 528	0,09	0,09	−3 693	−2,87
38	Balkars	112 924	0,08	0,08	108 426	0,08	0,08	4 498	4,15
39	Turks	105 058	0,07	0,08	92 415	0,06	0,06	12 643	13,68
40	Nogais	103 660	0,07	0,08	90 666	0,06	0,06	12 994	14,33
41	Kyrgyz	103 422	0,07	0,08	31 808	0,02	0,02	71 614	225,14

Kryashens, Siberian Tatars, Mishars, Astrakhan Tatars 6 ChechensChechens-Akkins 7 ArmeniansCircassians 8 AvarsAndians, Didoi (Tsez) and other Ando-Tsez peoples and Archins 9 MordvaMordva-Moksha, Mordva-Erzya 12 DarginsKaitag people, Kubachi people 14 MariMountain Mari, Meadow-Eastern Mari 15 OssetiansDigoron (Digorians), Iron (Ironians) 23 GermansMennonites 25 TuvansTodzha people 26 KomiKomi-Izhemtsy 32 GeorgiansAdjarians, Ingiloys, Laz, Mingrelians, Svans 40 Nogaiskaragashi

** - those who did not indicate nationality (2002, 2010), including persons for whom information was obtained from administrative sources (2010).

TATARS, Tatarlar(self-name), people in Russia (second in number after the Russians), main population of the Republic of Tatarstan .

According to the 2002 Census, 5 million 558 thousand Tatars live in Russia. They live in the Republic of Tatarstan (2 million people), Bashkiria (991 thousand people), Udmurtia, Mordovia, the Mari Republic, Chuvashia, as well as in the regions of the Volga-Ural region, Western and Eastern Siberia and the Far East. They live in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. According to the 2010 Census, 5,310,649 Tatars live in Russia.

History of the ethnonym

For the first time an ethnonym "Tatars" appeared among the Mongolian and Turkic tribes in the 6th-9th centuries, but became established as a common ethnonym only in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the 13th century, the Mongols who created the Golden Horde included the tribes they conquered, including the Turks, called Tatars. In the 13-14 centuries, the Kipchaks, who were numerically dominant in the Golden Horde, assimilated all the other Turkic-Mongol tribes, but adopted the ethnonym “Tatars”. The population of this state was also called by European peoples, Russians and some Central Asian peoples.

In the khanates formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde, noble layers of Kipchak-Nogai origin called themselves Tatars. It was they who played the main role in the spread of the ethnonym. However, among the Tatars in the 16th century it was perceived as derogatory, and until the second half of the 19th century other self-names were in use: Meselman, Kazanly, Bulgarian, Misher, Tipter, Nagaybek and others - among the Volga-Ural and Nugai, Karagash, Yurt, Tatarly and others- among the Astrakhan Tatars. Except for Meselman, all of them were local self-names. The process of national consolidation led to the choice of a self-name that unites everyone. By the time of the 1926 census, most Tatars called themselves Tatars. In recent years, a small number in Tatarstan and other Volga regions call themselves Bulgars or Volga Bulgars.

Language

Tatar language belongs to the Kipchak-Bulgar subgroup of the Kipchak group of the Turkic branch of the Altai language family and has three main dialects: western (Mishar), middle (Kazan-Tatar) and eastern (Siberian-Tatar). The literary norm was formed on the basis of the Kazan-Tatar dialect with the participation of Mishar. Writing based on Cyrillic graphics.

Religion

The majority of Tatar believers are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi madhhab. The population of the former Volga Bulgaria was Muslim since the 10th century and remained so as part of the Horde, due to this it stood out among neighboring peoples. Then, after the Tatars joined the Moscow state, their ethnic identity became even more intertwined with their religious one. Some Tatars even defined their nationality as “meselman”, i.e. Muslims. At the same time, they retained (and partially retain to this day) elements of ancient pre-Islamic calendar rituals.

Traditional activities

The traditional economy of the Volga-Ural Tatars in the 19th and early 20th centuries was based on arable farming. They grew winter rye, oats, barley, lentils, millet, spelt, flax, and hemp. They also engaged in gardening and melon growing. Pasture-stall livestock farming resembled nomadic farming in some ways. For example, horses in some areas grazed on pasture all year long. Only the Mishars were seriously involved in hunting. Handicraft and manufacturing production reached a high level of development (jewelry making, felting, furriers, weaving and gold embroidery), tanneries and cloth factories operated, and trade was developed.

National Costume

For men and women, it consisted of wide-leg trousers and a shirt, over which a sleeveless vest, often embroidered, was worn. Women's Tatar costume was distinguished by an abundance of jewelry made of silver, cowrie shells, and bugles. The outerwear was a Cossack, and in winter - a quilted beshmet or fur coat. Men wore a skullcap on their heads, and on top of it a fur hat or felt hat. Women wore an embroidered velvet cap and scarf. Traditional Tatar shoes are leather ichigs with soft soles, over which galoshes were worn.

Sources: Peoples of Russia: Atlas of Cultures and Religions / ed. V.A. Tishkov, A.V. Zhuravsky, O.E. Kazmina. - M.: IPC "Design. Information. Cartography", 2008.

Peoples and religions of the world: Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. V.A. Tishkov. Editorial team: O.Yu.Artemova, S.A.Arutyunov, A.N.Kozhanovsky, V.M.Makarevich (deputy chief editor), V.A.Popov, P.I.Puchkov (deputy chief editor) ed.), G.Yu.Sitnyansky. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1998, - 928 p.: ill. — ISBN 5-85270-155-6

According to the most conservative estimates, more than 192 peoples live on the territory of the Russian Federation, differing from each other in terms of culture, religion or history of development. It is noteworthy that they all ended up within the same state borders almost peacefully - as a result of the annexation of new territories.

Peculiarities of peoples' residence

For the first time, a list of peoples living on the territory of Russia was compiled in the middle of the 18th century in order to streamline the collection of taxes. The Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg seriously dealt with this issue, and during the 17th-19th centuries several dozen serious ethnographic studies on this topic were published, as well as many illustrated albums and atlases, which have become very valuable for modern scientists.

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the country's population can be formally divided into 192 ethnic groups. There are only 7 nations with a population of over 1 million in Russia. These include:

• Russians - 77.8%.
• Tatars - 3.75%.
• Chuvash - 1.05%.
• Bashkirs - 1.11%.
• Chechens - 1.07%.
• Armenians - 0.83%.
• Ukrainians - 1.35%.

There is also the term " titular nation", which is understood as the ethnic group that gave the name to the region. Moreover, this may not be the most numerous people. For example, many nationalities of Russia live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (the list consists of more than 50 points). But only the Khanty and Mansi, who made up only 2% of the region's population gave it an official name.

Ethnographic research continues in the 21st century, and work on the topic “peoples of Russia: list, number and percentage” is of interest not only to serious scientists, but also to ordinary people who want to know more about their homeland.

parts of Russia

Russians are not mentioned as a nation in the current Constitution of Russia, but in fact this people represents more than 2/3 of the total population. His " cradle"is - from Northern Primorye and Karelia to the coast of the Caspian and Black Seas. The people are characterized by the unity of spiritual culture and religion, homogeneous anthropology and a common language. However, Russians are also heterogeneous in their composition and are divided into various ethnographic groups:

Northern - Slavic peoples living in the Novgorod, Ivanovo, Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Kostroma regions, as well as in the Republic of Karelia and in the north of the Tver lands. Northern Russians are characterized by " pooping" dialect and a lighter color of appearance.

South Russian peoples live in Ryazan, Kaluga, Lipetsk, Voronezh, Oryol and Penza regions. Residents of these regions" envelop"when talking. For part" South Russians"characterized by bilingualism (Cossacks).

The northern and southern regions are not located closely - they are connected by the Central Russian zone ( interfluve of Oka and Volga), where the inhabitants of both zones are mixed equally. In addition, among the general mass of Russians there are so-called subethnic groups - compactly living small nationalities that are distinguished by the peculiarities of their language and culture. These are quite closed and small in number. The list of them consists of the following groups:

• Vod ( as of 2010 number of people: 70).
• Pomors.
• Meshcheryak.
• Polehi.
• Sayans.
• Don and Kuban Cossacks.
• Kamchadal.

Peoples of the southern regions

We are talking about the territories between the Azov and Caspian seas. In addition to the Russian population, many other ethnic groups live there, including those who are radically different in terms of traditions and religion. The reason for such a striking difference was the proximity of eastern countries - Turkey, Tatar Crimea, Georgia, Azerbaijan.

Southern peoples of Russia (list):

• Chechens.
• Ingush.
• Nogais.
• Kabardians.
• Circassians.
• Adyghe people.
• Karachais.
• Kalmyks.

Half of the population is concentrated in the southern part of Russia" national"Republics. Almost each of the listed peoples has their own language, and in religious terms, Islam predominates among them.

Separately, it is worth noting the long-suffering Dagestan. And, first of all, there is no people with that name. This word unites a group of ethnic groups (Avars, Aguls, Dargins, Lezgins, Laks, Nogais, etc.) living on the territory of the Republic of Dagestan.

and North

It includes 14 large regions and geographically occupies 30% of the entire country. However, 20.10 million people live in this territory. consists of the following peoples:

1. Alien peoples, that is, ethnic groups that appeared in the region during the period of its development from the 16th to 20th centuries. This group includes Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Tatars, etc.

2. Indigenous Siberian peoples of Russia. The list of them is quite large, but the total number is relatively low. The most populous are the Yakuts ( 480 thousand), Buryats ( 460 thousand), Tuvans ( 265 thousand) and Khakassians ( 73 thousand).

The ratio between indigenous and newcomer peoples is 1:5. Moreover, the number of original inhabitants of Siberia is gradually decreasing and is not even in the thousands, but in the hundreds.

The northern territories of Russia are in a similar situation. " The past"The population of these areas is concentrated in large settlements. But the indigenous people, for the most part, lead a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle. Ethnographers note that the northern indigenous peoples are declining at a slower rate than the Siberians.

Peoples of the Far East and Primorye

The Far Eastern Territory consists of the territories of Magadan, Khabarovsk regions, Yakutia, Chukotka Okrug and the Jewish Autonomous Region. Adjacent to them are Primorye - Sakhalin, Kamchatka and Primorsky Territories, that is, regions with direct access to the eastern seas.

In ethnographic descriptions, the peoples of Siberia and the Far East are described together, but this is not entirely correct. The indigenous ethnic groups of this part of the country are distinguished by a very unique culture, which was determined by the most severe living conditions.

The Far Eastern and coastal indigenous peoples of Russia, a list of which is given below, were first described in the 17th century:

• Orochi.
• Oroks.
• Nivkhi.
• Udege people.
• Chukchi.
• Koryaks.
• Tungus.
• Daurs.
• Duchers.
• Nanai people.
• Eskimos.
• Aleuts.

Currently, small ethnic groups enjoy protection and benefits from the state, and are also of interest for ethnographic and tourist expeditions.

The ethnic composition of the Far East and Primorye was influenced to a certain extent by the peoples of neighboring states - China and Japan. A community of Chinese immigrants numbering about 19 thousand people has settled in the Russian region. The Ainu people, whose homeland was once Hokkaido (Japan), live safely on the islands of the Kuril chain and Sakhalin.

Non-indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation

Formally, all ethnic groups in Russia, except for very small and closed ones, are non-indigenous. But in fact, within the country there was constant migration due to wars (evacuation), the development of Siberia and the Far East, government construction projects, and the search for better living conditions. As a result, the peoples have become quite mixed up, and the Yakuts living in Moscow will no longer surprise anyone.

But the country is home to many ethnic groups with roots originating from completely different states. Their homeland is not even near the borders of the Russian Federation! They appeared on its territory as a result of random or voluntary migration in different years. The non-indigenous peoples of Russia, the list of which is given below, comprise groups of several tens of thousands of people over the age of 40 (2 generations). These include:

• Koreans.
• Chinese.
• Germans.
• Jews.
• Turks.
• Greeks.
• Bulgarians.

In addition, small groups of ethnic groups from the Baltic states, Asia, India, and Europe live safely in Russia. Almost all of them are assimilated in terms of language and way of life, but have retained part of their original traditions.

Languages ​​and religions of the peoples of Russia

The multi-ethnic Russian Federation is a secular state, but religion still plays a big role ( cultural, ethical, power) in the life of the population. It is characteristic that small ethnic groups adhere to their traditional religion, received " as an inheritance"from their ancestors. But the Slavic peoples are more mobile and profess various types of theology, including renewed paganism, Satanism and atheism.

Currently, the following religious movements are widespread in Russia:

• Orthodox Christianity.
• Islam ( Sunni Muslims).
• Buddhism.
• Catholicism.
• Protestant Christianity.

A rather simple situation has developed with the languages ​​of peoples. The official language in the country is Russian, that is, the language of the majority of the population. However, in national regions ( Chechnya, Kalmykia, Bashkortostan, etc.) The language of the titular nation has the status of a state language.

And, of course, almost every nationality has its own language or dialect, different from others. It often happens that the dialects of ethnic groups living in the same area have different roots of formation. For example, the Altai people of Siberia speak the language of the Turkic group, and among the nearby Bashkirs, the roots of oral speech are hidden in the Mongolian language.

It is worth noting that when looking at the list of peoples of Russia, the ethnolinguistic classification appears in almost complete form. In particular, among the languages ​​of different peoples, almost all language groups were “noted”:

1. Indo-European group:

• Slavic languages ​​( Russian, Belarusian).
• Germanic languages ​​( Jewish, German).

2. Finno-Ugric languages ​​( Mordovian, Mari, Komi-Zyrian, etc.).

3. Turkic languages ​​( Altai, Nogai, Yakut, etc.).

4. (Kalmyk, Buryat).

5. Languages ​​of the North Caucasus ( Adyghe, Dagestan languages, Chechen, etc.).

In the 21st century, the Russian Federation continues to remain one of the most multinational states in the world. There is no need to impose “multiculturalism”, because the country has existed in this regime for many centuries.

Every day, leaving home and going to work, to the store or just for a walk, I am faced with the fact that a large number of people on the streets of the city have a variety of nationalities. I think you have also noticed this feature, especially if, like me, you live in one of the megacities of Russia, for example, in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Today I will try to answer your question: “ What peoples live in Russia?».

Peoples living in Russia

No wonder they say that Russia is a multinational country, I completely agree with this expression. I myself have enough friends and acquaintances, colleagues and even relatives who are representatives of other countries and peoples. The good news is that if you believe their words, we can conclude that the attitude of the indigenous people towards them in the vast majority of cases is extremely friendly. My Ukrainian neighbor says that he doesn’t feel any sidelong glances at his work, even after the conflict between our countries. And this is definitely pleasing, since my personal opinion is this - all people, regardless of race or religion, should live in complete peace and harmony, we are people, not savages! I also noticed a trend that people have recently started actively become friends, and nowadays in the same company of people you can often see representatives several nationalities at once.

Representatives of various nations with whom I communicate

Considering that the percentage of Russian people living in Russia is about 80%, also lives in our country more than 190 other nationalities. I have no desire to once again write out official statistics; I’d rather use my own example to try to tell who I personally have to deal with almost every day while living in Moscow.

• Azerbaijanis. Two large wonderful families of this people live in two neighboring apartments on my floor, I often greet and communicate with them.

• Ukrainians. One of my neighbors is Ukrainian, as are five of my colleagues. Only positive communication with everyone.

• Armenians. Extremely pleasant and polite people, who have always been famous for their hospitality.

• Bashkirs. Having been classmates in the past, we still happily keep in touch.

• Chechens. I have several distant relatives of representatives of this people. We communicate with pleasure.

I would like to wish everyone reading to be wiser and think with their own heads, and not with public opinion, often imposed on us by politicians. Remember - there are no bad or good nations, there are only bad and good people!