Russia Indigenous Peoples

There are 30 indigenous peoples living in Russia, totaling approximately two hundred and ten thousand people. They are: the Aleuts, Dolmans, Itelmens, Kets, Koryaks, Mansi, Nanais, Negidals, Nenets, Nivkhs, Nganasans, Oroks, Orochs, Lapps, Selkups, Tofalars, Udeges, Ulchis, Khanty, Chukchi, Chuvans, Evens, Evenkis, Eskimos, Enets, and Yukagirs. Some year ago the Shors, Veps, Kumandins and Teleuts were also added to this list. All these peoples are small in number. The smallest are the Enets (350) and Oroks (450). The most numerous are the Nenets (29,894) and Evenkis (27,531). These indigenous nationalities live not only in the Far North, but also in the Far East and Siberia. As a group they are generally referred to as the "peoples of the Russian North." Most of them lead a nomadic life and engage in traditional forms of subsistence economy. In the twentieth century the indigenous peoples of the Russian North moved from a primitive patriarchal society to modern forms of social, political and cultural life. Along with significant positive results, this process had some negative influence on the native languages, cultures and traditions that served the northern peoples well for untold ages and ensured their survival in the extremely difficult conditions of North. The adaptive and regulatory functions of native languages and traditional cultural originality assumed more and more decorative features. The language situation in the North in general can not be characterized as a simple one.