Population of Siberia and the Far East. Who will get Siberia? Why are northern peoples disappearing?

According to researchers from different regions, the indigenous peoples of Siberia settled in this territory in the Late Paleolithic era. It was this time that was characterized by the greatest development of hunting as a trade.

Today, most of the tribes and nationalities of this region are small in number and their culture is on the verge of extinction. Next, we will try to get acquainted with such an area of ​​​​the geography of our Motherland as the peoples of Siberia. Photos of representatives, features of language and farming will be given in the article.

By understanding these aspects of life, we are trying to show the versatility of peoples and, perhaps, awaken in readers an interest in travel and unusual experiences.

Ethnogenesis

Almost throughout the entire territory of Siberia, the Mongoloid type of person is represented. It is considered to be its homeland. After the glacier began to retreat, people with precisely these facial features populated the region. In that era, cattle breeding had not yet been developed to a significant extent, so hunting became the main occupation of the population.

If we study the map of Siberia, we will see that they are most represented by the Altai and Ural families. Tungusic, Mongolian and Turkic languages ​​on the one hand - and Ugro-Samoyeds on the other.

Social and economic features

Before the development of this region by the Russians, the peoples of Siberia and the Far East basically had a similar way of life. Firstly, tribal relations were common. Traditions were kept within individual settlements, and they tried not to spread marriages outside the tribe.

Classes were divided depending on the place of residence. If there was a large waterway nearby, then there were often settlements of sedentary fishermen, where agriculture began. The main population was engaged exclusively in cattle breeding; for example, reindeer herding was very common.

These animals are convenient to breed not only because of their meat and unpretentiousness to food, but also because of their skins. They are very thin and warm, which allowed peoples such as the Evenks to be good riders and warriors in comfortable clothes.

After the arrival of firearms in these territories, the way of life changed significantly.

Spiritual sphere of life

The ancient peoples of Siberia still remain adherents of shamanism. Although it has undergone various changes over many centuries, it has not lost its strength. The Buryats, for example, first added some rituals, and then completely switched to Buddhism.

Most of the remaining tribes were formally baptized in the period after the eighteenth century. But this is all official data. If we drive through the villages and settlements where the small peoples of Siberia live, we will see a completely different picture. The majority adhere to the centuries-old traditions of their ancestors without innovations, the rest combine their beliefs with one of the main religions.

These facets of life are especially evident on national holidays, when attributes different beliefs. They intertwine and create a unique pattern of the authentic culture of a particular tribe.

Aleuts

They call themselves Unangans, and their neighbors (Eskimos) - Alakshak. The total number barely reaches twenty thousand people, most of whom live in the northern United States and Canada.

Researchers believe that the Aleuts formed about five thousand years ago. True, there are two points of view on their origin. Some consider them to be an independent ethnic entity, others - that they separated from the Eskimos.

Before this people became acquainted with the Orthodoxy they adhere to today, the Aleuts practiced a mixture of shamanism and animism. The main shamanic costume was in the form of a bird, and the spirits of various elements and phenomena were represented by wooden masks.

Today they worship a single god, who in their language is called Agugum and represents complete compliance with all the canons of Christianity.

In the territory Russian Federation, as we will see later, many small peoples of Siberia are represented, but these live only in one settlement - the village of Nikolskoye.

Itelmens

The self-name comes from the word “itenmen”, which means “a person who lives here”, local, in other words.

You can meet them in the west and in the Magadan region. The total number is just over three thousand people, according to the 2002 census.

By appearance they are closer to the Pacific type, but still have clear features of the northern Mongoloids.

The original religion was animism and fetishism; the Raven was considered the ancestor. The Itelmen customarily bury their dead according to the ritual of “air burial.” The deceased is suspended until decay in a tree house or placed on a special platform. Not only the peoples of Eastern Siberia can boast of this tradition; in ancient times it was widespread even in the Caucasus and North America.

The most common livelihood is fishing and hunting coastal mammals such as seals. In addition, gathering is widespread.

Kamchadal

Not all peoples of Siberia and the Far East are aborigines; an example of this would be the Kamchadals. Actually, this is not an independent nationality, but a mixture of Russian settlers with local tribes.

Their language is Russian with some admixtures local dialects. They are distributed mainly in Eastern Siberia. These include Kamchatka, Chukotka, the Magadan region, and the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

Judging by the census, their total number fluctuates around two and a half thousand people.

Actually, the Kamchadals as such appeared only in the middle of the eighteenth century. At this time, Russian settlers and traders intensively established contacts with the locals, some of them entered into marriages with Itelmen women and representatives of the Koryaks and Chuvans.

Thus, the descendants of precisely these intertribal unions bear the name of Kamchadals today.

Koryaks

If you start listing the peoples of Siberia, the Koryaks will not take the last place on the list. They have been known to Russian researchers since the eighteenth century.

In fact, this is not a single people, but several tribes. They call themselves namylan or chavchuven. Judging by the census, today their number is about nine thousand people.

Kamchatka, Chukotka and the Magadan region are the territories where representatives of these tribes live.

If we classify them based on their lifestyle, they are divided into coastal and tundra.

The first ones are nymylans. They speak the Alyutor language and are engaged in marine crafts - fishing and seal hunting. The Kereks are close to them in culture and way of life. This people is characterized by a sedentary life.

The second are the Chavchiv nomads (reindeer herders). Their language is Koryak. They live in Penzhinskaya Bay, Taygonos and surrounding areas.

A characteristic feature that distinguishes the Koryaks, like some other peoples of Siberia, are the yarangas. These are mobile cone-shaped dwellings made of skins.

Muncie

If we talk about indigenous peoples Western Siberia, one cannot fail to mention the Ural-Yukaghir Most prominent representatives this group are Mansi.

The self-name of this people is “Mendsy” or “Voguls”. "Mansi" means "man" in their language.

This group was formed as a result of the assimilation of the Ural and Ugric tribes during the Neolithic era. The first were sedentary hunters, the second were nomadic cattle breeders. This duality of culture and farming continues to this day.

The very first contacts with their western neighbors were in the eleventh century. At this time, the Mansi get acquainted with the Komi and Novgorodians. After joining Russia, colonization policies intensified. By the end of the seventeenth century they were pushed to the northeast, and in the eighteenth they formally adopted Christianity.

Today there are two phratries in this people. The first is called Por, considers the Bear to be its ancestor, and its basis is made up of the Urals. The second is called Mos, its founder is the woman Kaltashch, and the majority in this phratry belongs to the Ugrians.
A characteristic feature is that only cross-marriages between phratries are recognized. Only some indigenous peoples of Western Siberia have such a tradition.

Nanai people

In ancient times they were known as golds, and one of the most famous representatives of this people was Dersu Uzala.

Judging by the population census, there are a little more than twenty thousand of them. They live along the Amur in the Russian Federation and China. Language - Nanai. In Russia the Cyrillic alphabet is used, in China the language is unwritten.

These peoples of Siberia became known thanks to Khabarov, who explored this region in the seventeenth century. Some scientists consider them to be the ancestors of settled farmers, the Duchers. But most are inclined to believe that the Nanai simply came to these lands.

In 1860, thanks to the redistribution of borders along the Amur River, many representatives of this people found themselves overnight as citizens of two states.

Nenets

When listing peoples, it is impossible not to stop at the Nenets. This word, like many of the names of the tribes in these territories, means “man.” Judging by the data of the All-Russian Population Census, more than forty thousand people live from Taimyr to them. Thus, it turns out that the Nenets are the largest of the indigenous peoples of Siberia.

They are divided into two groups. The first is tundra, whose representatives are the majority, the second is forest (there are few of them left). The dialects of these tribes are so different that one will not understand the other.

Like all the peoples of Western Siberia, the Nenets have features of both Mongoloids and Caucasians. Moreover, the closer to the east, the fewer European signs remain.

The basis of the economy of this people is reindeer herding and, to a small extent, fishing. The main dish is corned beef, but the cuisine is replete with raw meat from cows and deer. Thanks to the vitamins contained in the blood, the Nenets do not suffer from scurvy, but such exoticism is rarely to the taste of guests and tourists.

Chukchi

If we think about what kind of people lived in Siberia, and approach this issue from an anthropological point of view, we will see several ways of settlement. Some tribes came from Central Asia, others from the northern islands and Alaska. Only a small fraction are local residents.

The Chukchi, or Luoravetlan, as they call themselves, are similar in appearance to the Itelmen and Eskimos and have facial features like those. This leads to speculation about their origin.

They met the Russians in the seventeenth century and fought a bloody war for more than a hundred years. As a result, they were pushed back beyond the Kolyma.

The Anyui fortress, where the garrison moved after the fall of the Anadyr fort, became an important trading point. The fair in this stronghold had a turnover of hundreds of thousands of rubles.

A richer group of Chukchi - the Chauchu (reindeer herders) - brought skins here for sale. The second part of the population was called ankalyn (dog breeders), they roamed in the north of Chukotka and led a simpler economy.

Eskimos

The self-name of this people is Inuit, and the word “Eskimo” means “one who eats raw fish.” That's what their neighbors called them - the American Indians.

Researchers identify this people as a special “Arctic” race. They are very adapted to life in this territory and inhabit the entire coast of the Arctic Ocean from Greenland to Chukotka.

Judging by the 2002 population census, their number in the Russian Federation is only about two thousand. The main part lives in Canada and Alaska.

The Inuit religion is animism, and tambourines are a sacred relic in every family.

For lovers of exotic things, it will be interesting to learn about igunak. This is a special dish that is deadly for anyone who has not eaten it since childhood. In fact, this is the rotting meat of a killed deer or walrus (seal), which was kept under a gravel press for several months.

Thus, in this article we studied some of the peoples of Siberia. We got acquainted with their real names, peculiarities of beliefs, farming and culture.

The whales sense persecution and go to sea. They emerge rarely and constantly change direction, but the foreman almost every time guesses where the male he has planned will appear. However, it is not immediately possible to approach him within throwing distance of a harpoon. But then a long, smooth body appeared very close under the green layer of water. As soon as part of the head appears above the water, the harpooner throws the harpoon with all his might. The tip stuck in, the shaft bounced off, the line - a rope tied to the harpoon - began to unwind at breakneck speed after the diving animal... Whaling is a traditional occupation of the Chukchi and Eskimos.

Among the large and small peoples inhabiting Russia, a special place is occupied by those who in geography and ethnography are called “small (or small) peoples of the North and Far East.”

Some of them have autonomous territorial entities: Evenks (Evenki autonomous region in the Krasnoyarsk Territory), Khanty and Mansi (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug), Nenets (Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Arkhangelsk region), Dolgans (Taimyr, or Dolgano-Nenets, Autonomous Okrug), Chukchi (Chukchi Autonomous Okrug), Koryaks (Koryak Autonomous Okrug). But most of these peoples do not have national autonomies.

DIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLES OF THE NORTH AND FAR EAST

The peoples described in this article collectively number no more than 300 thousand people, and they belong to almost ten groups of languages: Sami, Khanty and Mansi - to Finno-Ugric; Nenets, Selkups, Nganasans, Entsy - to Samoyed; Dolgans - to Turkic; Evenks, Evens, Negidals, Sroki, Orochi, Nanai, Udege and Ulchi - to the Tungus-Manchu. Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens speak the languages ​​of the Chukchi-Kamchatka family, Eskimos and Aleuts - Eskimo-Aleutian, and the languages Yukagirs, Kets, Nivkhs are considered isolated, that is, they are not part of any family.

Nowadays many languages ​​are almost forgotten. They are remembered mainly by people of the older generation, and young people speak Russian. However, since the 90s. Attempts are being made to restore the teaching of the native language in school. It's not easy at all. There are not enough teachers, many children hardly hear their native language at home (usually only from their grandparents), and therefore learn their native language again, just like a foreign one.

The appearance type of representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North and Far East is not as diverse as their languages. Residents of these regions can be classified as Northern Mongoloids : They are short, densely built, with fair skin. The hair is straight and black, the eyes are black or brown, with a narrow slit, and the nose is small. It’s not for nothing that visitors with a European appearance are mockingly called “big-nosed” or “big-nosed.”

When in the 20th century the Russians began to explore the north of Siberia, as a result of mixed marriages, some peoples especially the Sami, Mansi, and part of the Khanty acquired Caucasoid facial features. Their eye shape has become wider; light eyes and light brown or brown hair are common. In Nenets or Chukotka villages you can see local residents with obvious Caucasian admixture. They lead a traditional way of life, their passports indicate the nationality indigenous to the region, but their first and last names are Russian, German, even Chechen: Nenets Wagner (German surname) or Eskimo Alibek (Chechen name). Children from mixed marriages usually choose an indigenous nationality, firstly, so as not to differ from their classmates, and secondly, to have benefits - the right to fish without a permit, free licenses for professional hunting, etc.

In the past, most of the peoples of the North and Far East were adherents of shamanism. In the XVI - early XIX V. they were converted to Orthodoxy. IN Soviet time There are almost no churches and priests left in the North, but nevertheless, some of the Nenets, Evens and some other peoples still keep icons and prayer books and observe Christian rituals. However, these are in the minority.

Even more severely than Christianity was persecuted Soviet authorities shamanism, however, being a traditional form of religion, was still preserved. True, today's shamans do without a tambourine and without a special costume, although they still wear pendants and amulets during the ritual.

HOW THE PEOPLES OF THE NORTH LIVE

The nature of the lands where the peoples of the North and Far East live is harsh: tundra, forest-tundra, taiga. Villages are almost always located near water - on the shores of a bay, lake or river. And this is no coincidence. It is by water that necessary goods are brought here, and above all coal and gasoline. The navigation period is very short, and during this time you need to manage to deliver everything you need for a long winter. During the rest of the year, you can only get into (or out of) the village by helicopter.

Residents work on a fur farm, where minks and arctic foxes are bred, or in a sewing workshop - both European-style and national clothes are sewn here, most often from deer fur. Motor mechanics, salesmen, and nurses work in the village. But all this - the post office, the store, the sewing workshop, the fur farm, and the log houses, almost the same as in Russian villages - are just a modern “superstructure”, “urban civilization” brought from Russia.

The basis of the national existence of small peoples, their identity lies precisely in what is located not in the village, but in the surrounding tundra and taiga. Not many people work here, but they are the ones who are engaged in activities traditional for the small peoples of Russia economic activity. These are reindeer herders who spend most of the year living with their whole family in the tundra with herds of reindeer and only a couple of times a year looking into their rural houses, which are usually empty. These are hunters who spend the entire hunting season in the taiga or tundra, returning home only from time to time. They travel from one hunting area to another on foot, on reindeer, on dogs, and these days often on motorized snowmobiles. And finally, fishermen, during the fishing season (during the period of active fishing) living far from the village, “on the sands,” that is, on sections of the banks of rivers and lakes that are especially convenient for fishing. The coastal Chukchi and Eskimos, who hunt walruses, go for many days to hunt on distant islands and capes.

Here, on the banks of a river or sea, in the taiga and tundra, there is real life- the life of reindeer herders, fishermen, hunters. It proceeds to a large extent as it did a hundred and two hundred years ago - with the observance of traditional customs, rituals, and rules of relationships between people. However, even here you can see many signs of modernity - a radio station, a radio receiver, a traditional hearth are sometimes replaced with a gasoline stove, and motors are installed on boats.

Reindeer husbandry is carried out primarily by residents of the North (except for Eskimos, coastal Chukchi and Aleuts). The Sami, Nenets, reindeer Chukchi, Koryaks, northern Selkups and Khanty have large herds and receive meat, skins, and milk for themselves and for sale. Other peoples have fewer deer, and they are used mainly as transport animals. In this case, deer are rarely slaughtered for meat, and they feed on taiga game - wild deer, elk, game birds, etc. This is the life of the Evenks, Evens, and Mansi. The peoples of the Primorsky Territory are the southern Selkups, the Yukagirs - excellent hunters.

Hunting occurs throughout the year. In winter, the hunter goes out into the taiga on wide skis, with simple equipment loaded on a small sled. The dog almost always helps him pull them. They usually hunt alone, less often in two or three. In the taiga and forest-tundra, at a certain distance from each other, hunting huts are built - small houses with a stove where you can warm up, spend the night, and cook food. When leaving such a hut, the hunter will definitely leave tea, matches, and a supply of firewood for the next visitor.

The main occupation of the Khanty of the Ob region and the peoples of the Amur region (Negidals, Nanais, Nivkhs, Udeges) is fishing. However, to one degree or another, all the peoples of the North are engaged in fishing as a secondary industry.

CUISINE OF THE NORTH PEOPLES

Traditional cuisine meets the requirements of the climate, although a person unaccustomed to it can be confused. Fish and meat are the main food. When they are fresh, they are readily eaten raw, with only a little salt; They drink fresh, still warm deer blood. But you need to be sure that the fish and meat are not infected with worm larvae. As a rule, they are not found in venison and the best varieties of fish (such as broad whitefish, muksun, nelma, whitefish), but seals, bears, and small fish (pike, ide, crucian carp) can be infected. They are eaten either boiled or after long drying; It is not customary for northerners to fry meat and fish. Melted seal (nerpa) fat can be drunk in cups, flat cakes are baked on it, and pieces of meat are dipped into it, like a sauce.

Although raw or half-cooked meat contains all the necessary vitamins, residents of the North are acutely aware of the lack of plant foods. In summer, women go out into the tundra to collect wild herbs and berries. There is an enormous amount of berries in the tundra - cloudberries, blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries, crowberries... They are eaten fresh and also stored for the winter. Both berries and edible herbs (wild sorrel and onions, young leaves of polar willow) are preserved in leather bags - wineskins, filled with melted fat. In winter they are used as a seasoning for meat. Walnut meat, stewed in small pieces in fat with willow leaves, is a dish that would do honor to the most sophisticated metropolitan restaurant. However, you won’t find it in restaurants, but whale cutlets and boiled whale skin (you can eat it raw) are sometimes available in local canteens. Dozens of dishes are obtained from different parts of the walrus: boiled tongue, boiled intestines, jelly from flippers, blood dumplings, dried meat with fat, etc.

In the tundra and taiga, mushrooms grow in abundance - russula, boletus, boletus. Deer love mushrooms very much, and it is difficult to graze them in mushroom areas - they scatter in all directions in search of delicacies. Local residents, by tradition, do not eat mushrooms. However, in the second half of the 20th century, under the influence of the Russians, they began to be dried and salted for reserve and for sale.

In the diet of the peoples of the North since the 30-40s. XX century significant changes have occurred. Today, even reindeer herders and hunters cannot live a day without bread, cereals, tea, salt, and sugar. The habit of sweets affects the health of children and youth: previously, local residents did not have caries at all, but now many suffer from it from an early age.

HOUSING OF THE PEOPLES OF THE NORTH

Reindeer herders and fishermen, as a rule, roam and settle in three or four villages of almost all the peoples of the North - chum . The tent is a conical tent several meters high. Its basis is made up of 16-20 long poles with converging tops. The chum is covered with nyuks - blankets made from reindeer skins, tarpaulin or some other waterproof fabric. Poles and nu-ki are transported from place to place on sleighs drawn by reindeer. Sleighs travel across the damp, grass-covered tundra in summer, without any snow, but there are more reindeer harnessed than in winter, usually four at a time.

Placing a chum is considered a woman's job, and two or three women can do it in less than an hour. In the middle of the plague there is a fire or a tin stove. To the right and left of the entrance, there are beds set up on mats woven from willow branches and covered with skins. Opposite the entrance is a sacred place where there is a chest with valuables, bags with amulets hanging, and the baptized have icons. If the stove goes out, it immediately becomes very cold in the tent, so you have to sleep either dressed, covered with skins, or in warm fur sleeping bags.

Fishermen's plagues may be covered not with skins, but with vise - plates sewn from yellow-brown pieces of boiled birch bark. Fishermen move from place to place in boats in the summer, on sleds with a dog sled in the winter, and in last years- on snowmobiles. Evenks roam on reindeer.

Dolgans and other reindeer herders of Taimyr often live not in tents, but in ravines. Beams - slatted frame house covered with skins and canvas. Inside it looks like a carriage compartment: bunks in two tiers, a table, a small iron stove. Such a house is placed on a wide, strong sleigh, and it is transported by four or five reindeer. Initially, this type of housing was invented by Russian merchants who traveled around the tundra with goods.

Among Chukchi and Koryak reindeer herders, the dwelling place is not a chum, but a yaranga. Yaranga The plague is much wider, it has a more complex wooden frame.

Inside there are two rooms - a cold one at the entrance (here they cook, write and study economic affairs) and warm back. The rear part is entirely occupied by a canopy - a canopy-canopy sewn from skins, suspended from the rear wall. When the canopy is lowered, it is warm inside, and people sit without outer clothing. They sleep in the canopy. If it becomes stuffy, air access is regulated using a leather sleeve at the top of the canopy; it acts as a window.

In a tent and yaranga, in nomadic conditions, you can live quite comfortably, you just need to be able to arrange your life. Modern boys and girls, who from 8 to 18 years of age spend the winter in the dormitories of boarding schools and only return to their parents in fishing and reindeer herding camps for the summer, do not have a good command of the special skills necessary for this. Therefore, it is often difficult for them and they do not want to join the traditional economy.

WHY ARE THE NORTHERN PEOPLES DISAPPEARING?

Small nations differ from large ones not only in numbers. It is more difficult for them to maintain their identity. A Chinese man can come to Helsinki, marry a Finnish woman, live there with her all his life, but he will remain Chinese until the end of his days, and will not become a Finn. Moreover, even in his children there will probably be a lot of Chinese, and this manifests itself not only in appearance, but much deeper - in the peculiarities of psychology, behavior, tastes (even just culinary). If one of the Sami people finds himself in a similar situation - they live on the Kola Peninsula, in Northern Norway and Northern Finland - then, despite the proximity to their native places, after some time they will essentially become a Finn.

This is what happens with the peoples of the North and Far East of Russia. They preserve their national identity while they live in villages and engage in traditional farming. If they leave their native places, break away from their own people, then they dissolve in another and become Russians, Yakuts, Buryats - depending on where they end up and how life turns out. Therefore, their numbers are almost not growing, although the birth rate is quite high. In order not to lose national identity, you need to live among your people, in their original habitat.

Of course, small nations have intelligentsia - teachers, artists, scientists, writers, doctors. They live in the district or regional center, but in order not to lose touch with their native people, they need to spend a lot of time in the villages.

To preserve small nations, it is necessary to maintain traditional economies. This is the main difficulty. Reindeer pastures are shrinking due to growing oil and gas production, seas and rivers are polluted, so fishing cannot develop. Demand for reindeer meat and furs is falling. The interests of the indigenous population and regional authorities, large companies, and simply local poachers come into conflict, and in such a conflict, power is not on the side of small nations.

At the end of the 20th century. the leadership of districts and republics (especially in Yakutia, Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets districts) began to pay more attention to problems of conservation national culture. Festivals of cultures of small nations have become regular, at which storytellers perform, rituals are performed, and sports competitions are held.

All over the world, the well-being, standard of living, and preservation of the culture of small national minorities (Indians in the Americas, aborigines of Australia, Ainu of Japan, etc.) are included in business card country, serve as an indicator of its progressiveness. Therefore, the significance of the destinies of the small peoples of the North for Russia is disproportionately greater compared to their small numbers, amounting to only 0.1% of the country’s population.

MAMMOTH IN TRADES AND STORIES OF THE KHANTS AND MANSI

The Finno-Ugric peoples have legends about the mammoth, an animal that became extinct hundreds of thousands of years ago. This image is especially common in the folklore of the Ob Ugrians - Khanty and Mansi. In their view, a mammoth is a very large (“like five or six moose”), powerful and strong animal. He is afraid of the sun's rays and therefore lives underground, and makes his way with “horns,” that is, with tusks. He eats plants and soil. It is no coincidence that the name of the strange beast in the Khanty and Mansi languages ​​literally means “land deer-Sameya.” And the Nenets, neighbors of the Ob Ugrians, call it “the bull of the land.” They have widespread stories about its underground roar. The following are associated with the “activity” of the mammoth: natural phenomena, such as the formation of river beds, bank collapses during floods, ice cracking during ice drift, and even earthquakes.

The mammoth of the Ob Ugrians is similar to the Indrik-beast from Russian legends: “The beast lives beyond the ocean-sea. And with its horn the beast passes through the underground, like a clear sun through the sky. It passes through all the white-stone mountains...”.

The nature and origin of the amazing beast was explained in different ways. There was an idea that the mammoth was not some special animal - other animals or fish were reincarnated into it with age: moose, bears, pike. According to one belief, an elk in old age, having lost its teeth and antlers, moves underground or under water. There he changes in appearance: he grows new horns, but no longer branched, but straight. During the traditional Bear Festival, a figurine of a mammoth made from dough was placed in front of the face of a bear killed during a ritual hunt, into which, as the Ob Ugrians believed, the spirit of the killed beast passes. Figures of deer and elk were also placed in front of the bear, hoping that the bear, having turned into an underground mammoth, would bring good luck in the hunt and ensure a good litter of deer.

In the minds of the Ob Ugrians, the mammoth is also associated with the water element. There are known images of hybrid monsters - mammoth-pike or mammoth-fish. According to Mansi beliefs, a mammoth appeared in the place where the river foamed and the waves rose. If a boat hits it, it will capsize. It was believed that a mammoth could eat a person. Even today they do not fish in such dangerous places.

One of the characters in the legends of the Khanty and Mansi is the Ob old man, or the Ob master. The success of fishing and the fate of people sailing along the river depend on it. The old man, as told in a source from the early 17th century, could drive fish from the sea to the Ob, and he attracted it with the help of a metal pipe resembling a trunk. His head was crowned with two horns. IN this description The Ob old man is very reminiscent of a mammoth.

Stories about the underground beast mammoth are known to many peoples of Northern Eurasia. In Western Siberia, they also exist among Russians. According to scientists, such ideas did not arise by chance. People found bones and tusks in the ground that were amazing in size. Such discoveries gave rise to ideas about giant animals that lived invisibly underground or under water. However, another explanation is possible. In the form of fantastic legends about mammoths, northern hunters have preserved stories passed from mouth to mouth about the times when these animals still roamed the earth, inspiring horror and respect with their moshes.

TRADITIONAL COSTUME N A N A Y T E V

Traditional Nanai costume - a robe with a flap that wraps to the right, tight and short trousers and leggings (a piece of clothing such as leggings) . Women wore a bib with metal pendants under their robe. Winter shoes (it was worn over fur or leather stockings) was made from fish skin, and the summer one was made from boar skin. In cold weather they wore fur hats with earmuffs, and in the warm season they wore birch bark hats. AND women's hats , especially winter ones, differed from men's: they wore either a quilted hat with cotton wool like a helmet and with a bump on the top, or felt hats in the shape of a cap with the edges bent upward.

The sable hunter's costume was unique. Its most original details are a richly embroidered cap with headphones, topped with a sable or squirrel tail, and an apron decorated with multi-colored fabric stripes.

Men adopted the custom from their Man Chu neighbors to shave the front of their heads from temple to temple, and braid the rest of their hair. Women, following the example of the Manchus, braided two braids and placed them around their heads.

CLOTHING CH U K C H E Y

The cold climate largely determined and determines the characteristics of Chukchi clothing. The outerwear was closed, that is, without a longitudinal slit in the front or back. It was sewn from the skins of young deer and seals. Men wore a double fur shirt to the knees on their naked bodies: the lower one with the fur inward, the upper one with the fur outward . The hem, sleeves, and collar of the kukhlyanka (as the Russians called this type of clothing) were trimmed with dog or wolverine fur. They also made double pants: the upper ones were made of deer fur or sealskin, the lower ones were made of reindeer skins. Shoes worn with fur stockings. The kukhlyanka was belted with a belt and a knife and pouch were hung from it. Summer clothes and shoes were made of rovduga (suede) and seal skins. In rainy weather, the Chukchi who lived on the coast wore waterproof clothing made from walrus intestines.

Even in winter, the Chukchi often walked bareheaded, and only put on a hat on the road. These little hats with earmuffs left the crown of the head exposed. During snowstorms, a suede robe with a hood saved my life.

The Chukchi came up with special overalls for infants. Sleeves and trouser legs were sewn tightly for warmth; a hole was cut in the pants, which was closed with a special valve, and a bedding of dry moss or reindeer hair was placed on the valve.

The Chukchi knew tattooing: a thread was rubbed with soot or gunpowder and pulled under the skin. Men drew a pattern (small circles) along the edges of the mouth, and women drew two straight lines on the nose and forehead and several lines on the chin. It was believed that a tattoo would ward off evil spirits and help childless women get rid of infertility.

Men usually shaved the top of their heads, leaving the hair at the forehead and back of the head - creating a hair hoop.

Women most often braided their hair in two braids, and the ends were tied tightly with a strap.

TRADITIONAL CLOTHING E V E N K O V

Traditional Evenki outerwear - kaftan . It was sewn from deer skins, and so that raindrops would roll off without penetrating inside, a fringe of goat fur was inserted into the shoulder seam. A fur bib was worn under the caftan. The festive bib was made of rovduga (suede) and decorated with bead patterns. In more severe areas, in the forest-tundra, thick fur clothing - soka and - was worn over the caftan. The men's suit differed little from the women's, mainly in some features of the cut and the number of decorations.

The headdress was made from the skin of a deer head . The skin was stretched to the shape of a person's head and dried; the holes from the eyes and horns were sewn up and decorated with beads, the edges were trimmed with rovduga. The Evenks also wore bonnet-like hats trimmed with fur. South of the Lower Tunguska, men tied scarves folded into a wide rope around their foreheads and the back of their heads. In winter, a long scarf made from the tails of fur-bearing animals was wrapped around the neck and head.

Evenki shoes so well adapted for long journeys through the taiga that neighboring peoples borrowed it. They sew high boots (this is the name of this type of footwear in Far North and in Siberia) from rovduga, cloth, leather, kamus (skin from the leg of a deer). High boots can be short (up to the ankle) or long (cover the entire leg). In winter, high boots are worn with fur stockings.

Siberia is a vast historical and geographical region in the northeast of Eurasia. Today it is almost entirely located within the Russian Federation. The population of Siberia is represented by Russians, as well as numerous indigenous peoples (Yakuts, Buryats, Tuvinians, Nenets and others). In total, at least 36 million people live in the region.

This article will talk about general features population of Siberia, about the largest cities and the history of the development of this territory.

Siberia: general characteristics of the region

Most often, the southern border of Siberia coincides with the state border of the Russian Federation. In the west it is limited by the ridges of the Ural Mountains, in the east by the Pacific Ocean, and in the north by the Arctic Ocean. However, in a historical context, Siberia also covers the northeastern territories of modern Kazakhstan.

The population of Siberia (as of 2017) is 36 million people. Geographically, the region is divided into Western and Eastern Siberia. The demarcation line between them is the Yenisei River. The main cities of Siberia are Barnaul, Tomsk, Norilsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Omsk, Tyumen.

As for the name of this region, its origin is not precisely established. There are several versions. According to one of them, the toponym is closely related to the Mongolian word “shibir” - this is a swampy area overgrown with birch groves. It is assumed that this is what the Mongols called this area in the Middle Ages. But according to Professor Zoya Boyarshinova, the term comes from the self-name of the ethnic group “Sabir,” whose language is considered the ancestor of the entire Ugric language group.

Population of Siberia: density and total number

According to the census taken back in 2002, 39.13 million people lived within the region. However, the current population of Siberia is only 36 million inhabitants. Thus, it is a sparsely populated area, but its ethnic diversity is truly enormous. More than 30 peoples and nationalities live here.

The average population density in Siberia is 6 people per 1 square kilometer. But it is very different in different parts of the region. Thus, the highest population density indicators are in the Kemerovo region (about 33 people per sq. km.), and the minimum are in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Tyva (1.2 and 1.8 people per sq. km., respectively). The valleys of large rivers (Ob, Irtysh, Tobol and Ishim), as well as the foothills of Altai, are most densely populated.

The level of urbanization here is quite high. Thus, at least 72% of the region’s residents currently live in the cities of Siberia.

Demographic problems of Siberia

The population of Siberia is rapidly declining. Moreover, the mortality and birth rates here, in general, are almost identical to the all-Russian ones. And in Tula, for example, birth rates are completely astronomical for Russia.

The main reason for the demographic crisis in Siberia is the migration outflow of the population (primarily young people). And the Far Eastern Federal District is leading in these processes. From 1989 to 2010, it “lost” almost 20% of its population. According to surveys, about 40% of Siberian residents dream of leaving for permanent residence in other regions. And these are very sad indicators. Thus, Siberia, conquered and developed with such great difficulty, becomes empty every year.

Today, the balance of migration in the region is 2.1%. And in the coming years this figure will only grow. Siberia (in particular, its western part) is already experiencing a very acute shortage of labor resources.

Indigenous population of Siberia: list of peoples

Ethnically, Siberia is an extremely diverse territory. Representatives of 36 indigenous peoples and ethnic groups live here. Although, of course, Russians predominate in Siberia (approximately 90%).

The ten most numerous indigenous peoples in the region include:

1. Yakuts (478,000 people).
2. Buryats (461,000).
3. Tuvans (264,000).
4. Khakassians (73,000).
5. Altaians (71,000).
6. Nenets (45,000).
7. Evenks (38,000).
8. Khanty (31,000).
9. Evens (22,000).
10. Muncie (12,000).

The peoples of the Turkic group (Khakas, Tuvans, Shors) live mainly in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River. Altaians are concentrated within the Altai Republic. Mostly Buryats live in Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia (pictured below), and in the taiga Krasnoyarsk Territory- Evenks.

The Taimyr Peninsula is inhabited by Nenets (in the next photo), Dolgans and Nganasans. But in the lower reaches of the Yenisei, the Kets live compactly - a small people who use a language that is not included in any of the known language groups. In the southern part of Siberia, within the steppe and forest-steppe zones, Tatars and Kazakhs also live.

The Russian population of Siberia, as a rule, considers itself Orthodox. Kazakhs and Tatars are Muslims by religion. Many of the region's indigenous peoples adhere to traditional pagan beliefs.

Natural resources and economics

“The Pantry of Russia” is how Siberia is often called, meaning the region’s enormous scale and diversity of mineral resources. Thus, colossal reserves of oil and gas, copper, lead, platinum, nickel, gold and silver, diamonds, coal and other minerals are concentrated here. About 60% of all-Russian peat deposits lie in the depths of Siberia.

Of course, the economy of Siberia is completely focused on the extraction and processing of the region’s natural resources. Moreover, not only mineral and fuel and energy, but also forest. In addition, the region has a fairly developed non-ferrous metallurgy, as well as the pulp industry.

At the same time, the rapid development of the mining and energy industries could not but affect the ecology of Siberia. So, this is where the most polluted cities in Russia are located - Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk and Novokuznetsk.

History of the region's development

After the collapse of the Golden Horde, the lands east of the Urals were effectively no man's land. Only the Siberian Tatars managed to organize their own state here - the Siberian Khanate. True, it did not last long.

Ivan the Terrible took up the colonization of Siberian lands seriously, and even then only towards the end of his tsarist reign. Before this, the Russians had practically no interest in the lands located beyond the Urals. At the end of the 16th century, the Cossacks, under the leadership of Ermak, founded several fortified cities in Siberia. Among them are Tobolsk, Tyumen and Surgut.

At first, Siberia was developed by exiles and convicts. Later, already in the 19th century, landless peasants began to come here in search of free hectares. Serious development of Siberia began only at the end of the 19th century. This was largely facilitated by the construction of the railway line. During World War II, large factories and enterprises were evacuated to Siberia Soviet Union, and this had a positive impact on the development of the region's economy in the future.

Main cities

There are nine cities in the region whose population exceeds the 500,000 mark. This:

• Novosibirsk
• Omsk
• Krasnoyarsk
• Tyumen.
• Barnaul.
• Irkutsk
• Tomsk
• Kemerovo.
• Novokuznetsk.

The first three cities on this list are “millionaire” cities in terms of the number of residents.

Novosibirsk is the unofficial capital of Siberia, the third most populous city in Russia. It is located on both banks of the Ob - one of the largest rivers Eurasia. Novosibirsk is an important industrial, commercial and Cultural Center countries. The leading industries of the city are energy, metallurgy and mechanical engineering. The basis of the Novosibirsk economy is about 200 large and medium-sized enterprises.

Krasnoyarsk is the oldest of the large cities of Siberia. It was founded back in 1628. This is the most important economic, cultural and educational center of Russia. Krasnoyarsk is located on the banks of the Yenisei, on the conventional border of Western and Eastern Siberia. The city has developed space industry, mechanical engineering, chemical industry and pharmaceuticals.

Tyumen is one of the first Russian cities in Siberia. Today is most important center oil refining in the country. Oil and gas production contributed to the rapid development of various scientific organizations. Today, about 10% working population Tyumen works in research institutes and universities.

Finally

Siberia is the largest historical and geographical region of Russia with a population of 36 million people. It is unusually rich in various natural resources, however, suffers from a number of social and demographic problems. There are only three million-plus cities within the region. These are Novosibirsk, Omsk and Krasnoyarsk.

MOSCOW, March 3 - RIA Novosti. The population of the Siberian and Far Eastern parts of Russia has decreased by 2 million people over the past 20 years due to internal migration to the western and central parts of the Russian Federation, a trend that is unlikely to change in the coming years, says the Institute’s report Demographics of the State University - Higher School of Economics"Migration in the development of Russia", prepared as part of the revision of the "Strategy 2020".

The need to finalize the provisions economic strategy Russia for the period until 2020 appeared after the crisis of 2008-2009, which seriously affected economic indicators and forecasts. The work of adjusting the strategy was entrusted to a group of experts who represent High school Economics (HSE) and the Academy National economy(ANH). The group includes, among other things, the rector of the Academy of National Economy, Vladimir Mau, and the scientific director of the Higher School of Economics, former Minister of Economy of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Yasin. On Saturday, March 5, the HSE will host an expert group meeting on the topic “Labor Market, professional education, migration policy." The main report will be given by the head of the Department of Demography, Mikhail Denisenko.

“The districts in the eastern part of the country are steadily losing population, while the western ones are attracting migrants. In 1990-2009 alone, as a result of the so-called “western drift,” the migration losses of the regions of Siberia and the Far East amounted to 2 million people,” the report says.

After the crisis in the early 1990s, Moscow's attractive role not only recovered, but also increased. The capital region, thanks to migration, is steadily growing by 100-130 thousand people per year, and the leading role is played not by international, but by interregional migrants, the document notes.

“There are no reasons yet why the western drift of Russia’s population could be stopped or, moreover, reversed. In the country, unlike previous decades, there are simply no resources that could be directed “to the east,” they came to conclusion of the report's authors.

Demographic considerations do not allow us to expect significant changes in the territorial mobility of Russian labor resources, the speakers believe. With a general reduction in the working-age population in the coming decades, the contingents of young people (17-29 years old) will decrease especially sharply, and it is at this age that the peak of territorial mobility is noted. Only due to changes in the structure of the population within working age (reduction in the proportion of young people) the migration activity of the population will decrease by 9% by 2025.

Territorial mobility of labor in the Russian labor market is low; this well-known fact was once again confirmed by studies of the mobility of the unemployed during the economic crisis. With the assistance of the territorial bodies of Rostrud, 2.525 thousand were surveyed in October 2008, and in December 2009 - 2.747 thousand unemployed people and job seekers applying to employment centers. All regions of Russia participated in the survey.

Among the unemployed and those looking for work with the assistance of employment agencies, only 11-13% of respondents were ready to look for work outside their region, and 4% of respondents had clearly expressed intentions to move to another region.

Even with the provision of high-paying jobs and housing, the share of those wishing to move “for work” did not rise above 24%. At the same time, the salary that would be attractive for relocation should be on average 3-4 times higher than at the last place of work, and for relocation to the regions of Siberia and the Far East, the expected salary should be 5-6 times higher than at your last place of work. In addition, the majority of respondents are ready to move if they maintain the same living conditions or have the opportunity to improve them, the report notes.

Far Eastern Federal District- the most remote region of the Russian Federation. It includes ten territorial units, including Sakhalin, Yakutia, Kamchatka Territory and Amur Region. The region borders Korea, Japan, the USA and China.

Active settlement of the land began in the 19th century, although it is known about many nationalities that have lived in the territory of the modern region since the Stone Age. Today on the territory Far Eastern District An impressive industrial complex has been created. Demographic diversity is no less widespread.

Population of the Far East

Far East characterized by low population. On an area of ​​6169.3 thousand square meters. km (39% of the country's area) is home to about 7.6 million people (a little more than 5% of the Russian population). That is, the average population density is 1.2 people per square kilometer. For comparison, the population density in Central Russia is 46 people per square meter. km. However, the population is distributed extremely unevenly across regions. For example, Primorsky Krai and southern Sakhalin differ in density of 12 people. per sq. km, the same figure in the Kamchatka or Magadan regions fluctuates between 0.2 and 0.3.

The demographic situation in the region is characterized by negative dynamics, however, the rapid development of the agro-industrial complex provokes mechanical population growth, and with it natural population growth. The bulk of the population of the Far East consists of Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars and Jews.

But the galaxy of indigenous peoples deserves special attention: Nanais, Aleuts, Evenks, Chukchi, Eskimos and many others. The previously mentioned rapid industrial development has a negative impact on the number of indigenous peoples. The habitat and traditions are gradually collapsing under the influence of industry and culture of the Russians.

Industry of the Far East

The lands of the Far East are a rich storehouse of natural and fossil resources. The leading positions in the region's agro-industrial complex are occupied by three sectors: mining, forestry and fishing. The mining industry is focused on the extraction, enrichment and, partly, processing of non-ferrous metal ores. Tin, mercury, lead, zinc, and tungsten are supplied from the Far East to European Russia and for export. Particularly noteworthy are the volumes of gold, silver and diamonds produced. On this moment There are 827 mineral deposits under active development throughout the region. In the Magadan region and Yakutia, mineral extraction accounts for 60% of the total industry.

The vast expanses of the region are where about a quarter of all Russian timber reserves, or 20 billion cubic meters, are stored. Many industry enterprises producing paper, furniture, and plywood use these materials. The main export of timber occurs in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, the Amur Region, Sakhalin and Yakutia.

The Far East leads among other regions of the country in fishing and seafood production. Canned Far Eastern products are well known in Russia and far beyond its borders. Among the main types of commercial fish, herring, pollock, tuna, and salmon are especially actively caught. In addition, there is active fishing for crabs, scallops, mussels, squid, and processing of caviar and seaweed.

Agriculture of the Far East

The climate of the Far Eastern region is diverse, but neither the Arctic, nor the subarctic, nor the maritime climate is suitable for full development Agriculture. However, in the south of the region, in Primorsky Krai and Amur region about 2% of Russian arable land is located. Grain crops (rice, wheat, oats), fruit and vegetable crops are actively grown here. Of particular note is the cultivation of soybeans.

The livestock sector of agriculture is represented by meat and dairy cattle breeding and pig breeding. In the northern regions of the region, reindeer husbandry and fur farming are actively developing.