How many ethnic groups? Ethnic composition of the population of Russia. How many peoples live on the territory of Russia? Small nations of Russia

The national composition of Russia is formed by surveying people during the census process.

The number of inhabitants of Russia is 142,856,536 people.

More than 137 million people have confirmed their nationality.

What is the Russian nation

This name has a written wording. It can be seen in the dictionary of terms in the field public policy. The Russian Federation is referred to there as “a state that has a diverse population and is distinguished by significant regional features.”

The Russian nation is defined as follows: a civil-political nationality united on the basis of historical and ethnic Russian statehood.

Its inhabitants have the same rights, shared values, a sense of belonging to the entire population, obligations and unity.

List of all nationalities in the Russian Federation

Seven nations reside permanently, numbering more than 1,000,000 representatives. These are Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvashs, Bashkirs, Armenians, Chechens. Most of the population is indigenous Russians. The second largest people are the Tatar people (3.83%) and people from Ukraine (2.03%). The number of Chechens increased by 5.23%, Armenians by 4.59%.

The list of nationalities is presented in the table:

The largest nations of Russia

More than 180 peoples live in Russia. There are special atlases for children, which present the names of nationalities with pictures and descriptions.

The majority of the population of the Russian Federation consists of Russians. Then come the Tatars.

You can also distinguish groups of peoples. The largest group is the Slavs.

In general, the Russian Federation is inhabited by representatives of 9 language families, which differ in language, way of life and culture.

The most numerous nationalities that live in Russia include:

• Russians - more than 110,000,000 people;
• Tatars - 5.4 million;
• Ukrainians – 2,000,000;
• Bashkirs - 1.6 million;
• representatives of the Chuvash Republic – 1.4 million;
• people from the Chechen Republic – 1.4 million.

Small nations of Russia

These are representatives of the Finno-Ugric, Samoyed, Turkic, Sino-Tibetan groups. Still living are the Kereks (several people), the Vod people (64), the Enets (277), the Ults (300), the Chulyms (350), the Aluets (500), the Negidals (500), and the Orochs (60). All these small ethnic groups are puzzled by the problem of survival.

Map of the peoples of Russia - settlement across the territory of the Russian Federation

The population of the state is distributed heterogeneously. The number of nationalities living in the Russian Federation and how they are located throughout the state can be clearly seen on the map shown below.

Map of the peoples of Russia (click to enlarge)

Most live in the capital, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Novorossiysk and Primorsky regions, and the central part of the country.

Russians, Tatars and Ukrainians live in the southwest of the country. Many representatives from Ukraine are in the Chukotka and Khanty-Mansi regions, in Magadan.

The rest of the Slavs are settled heterogeneously. But a significant number of Poles live only in the Omsk region. There are many Belarusians in the capital, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Karelia, Khanty-Mansiysk. There are also many diasporas living in the Asian part.

Language families and groups

The largest language family living in Russian Federation– Indo-European. It is represented mainly by Slavic languages. They appeared long before our era.

Also in the Russian Federation there are people who speak the Indo-Aryan language, which belongs to the European family. These groups have similarities. Indo-Iranian features are present in Finno-Ugric speech because the latter lived alongside the Indo-Iranians for thousands of years.

The Altai language family is in 2nd place in terms of the number of speakers after the Indo-European. The Proto-Altai language includes Tungus-Manchu, Turkic, Mongolian, Japanese and Korean. In the Russian Federation you can often hear speakers of Bashkir, Tatar, Yakut, Chuvash, and Khakass languages.

The Tungus-Manchu group consists of the Evenki, Even, and Negidle languages. They are rapidly disappearing.

The Uralic languages ​​consist of three large categories: Finnish, Ugric and Samoyedic languages.

Samoyed represents Proto-Turkic and Proto-Yenisean contacts. The Samoyed languages ​​are disappearing, they practically no longer exist.

Finnish is spoken by Karelians, Izhorians, Vepsians, Komi, Vodians, Mari, Mordovians, Udmurts, and Sami. People from Hungary predominantly speak Ugric.

The North Caucasian language family united 2 categories: Abkhaz-Adyghe and Nakh-Dagestan. One of them includes the Hutt language, the second the Hurrito-Urartian languages. They contain more than 40 languages. They are spoken in Chechnya, Dagestan, western Asia and northern Africa.

Our country is a multinational state. This information is recorded in the Constitution. Of course, Russians predominate, but besides them, more than 180 nationalities live here, which have equal rights and obligations.

The study of the ethnic (national) composition of the population is carried out by a science called ethnology (from the Greek ethnos - tribe, people), or ethnography. Formed as an independent branch of science in the second half of the 19th century, ethnology still maintains a close connection with geography, history, sociology, anthropology and other sciences.
The basic concept of ethnology is the concept of ethnicity. An ethnos is a stable community of people that has developed in a certain territory, possessing, as a rule, a common language, some common features culture and psyche, as well as general self-awareness, i.e., awareness of its unity, in contrast to other similar ethnic formations. Some scientists believe that none of the listed characteristics of an ethnic group is decisive: in some cases the main role is played by territory, in others by language, in others by cultural features, etc. (In fact, for example, the Germans and Austrians, the British and Australians, Portuguese and Brazilians speak the same language, but belong to different ethnic groups, while the Swiss, on the contrary, speak four languages, but form one ethnic group.) Others believe that ethnic self-awareness should be considered the defining feature, which is also usually fixed in a specific self-name (ethnonym), for example, “Russians”, “Germans”, “Chinese”, etc.
The theory of the emergence and development of ethnic groups is called the theory of ethnogenesis. Until recently, Russian science was dominated by the division of peoples (ethnic groups) into three stage types: tribe, nationality and nation. At the same time, they proceeded from the fact that tribes and tribal unions - as communities of people - historically corresponded to the primitive communal system. Nationalities were usually associated with the slave-owning and feudal system, and nations, as the highest form of ethnic community, with the development of capitalist and then socialist relations (hence the division of nations into bourgeois and socialist). IN Lately in connection with the revaluation of the previous formational approach, which was based on the doctrine of the historical continuity of socio-economic formations, and with an increasing orientation towards the modern civilizational approach, many previous provisions of the theory of ethnogenesis began to be revised, and in scientific terminology - as a generalization - increasingly The concept of “ethnicity” began to be used.
In connection with the theory of ethnogenesis, it is impossible not to mention one fundamental dispute that has long been waged by domestic scientists. Most of them adhere to the view of ethnicity as a historical-social, historical-economic phenomenon. Others proceed from the fact that ethnicity should be considered a kind of bio-geo-historical phenomenon.
This point of view was defended by geographer, historian and ethnographer L. N. Gumilev in the book “Ethnogenesis and Biosphere of the Earth” and his other works. He considered ethnogenesis to be a primarily biological, biospheric process, associated with human passionarity, that is, with his ability to supercharge his forces to achieve a great goal. In this case, the condition for the emergence of passionary impulses that influence the formation and development of an ethnic group is not solar activity, but a special state of the Universe, from which ethnic groups receive energy impulses. According to Gumilyov, the process of existence of an ethnos - from its origin to its collapse - lasts 1200–1500 years. During this time, it goes through phases of rise, then breakdown, obscuration (from the Latin obscurous - darkened, in the sense of reactionary) and, finally, relict. When the highest phase is reached, the largest ethnic formations—superethnoses—emerge. L.N. Gumilyov believed that Russia entered a phase of recovery in the 13th century, and in the 19th century. moved into a phase of breakdown, which in the 20th century. was in its final stage.
After becoming familiar with the concept of ethnicity, you can move on to considering the ethnic composition (structure) of the world's population, that is, its distribution according to the principle of ethnicity (nationality).
First of all, naturally, the question arises about the total number of ethnic groups (peoples) inhabiting the Earth. It is usually believed that there are from 4 thousand to 5.5 thousand. It is difficult to give a more precise figure, since many of them have not yet been sufficiently studied, and this does not allow distinguishing, say, a language from its dialects. In terms of numbers, all peoples are distributed extremely disproportionately (Table 56).
Table 56


Analysis of table 56 shows that in the early 1990s. 321 nations, numbering more than 1 million people each, accounted for 96.2% of the total population of the globe. Including 79 nations with a population of more than 10 million people accounted for almost 80% of the population, 36 nations with a population of more than 25 million people accounted for about 65%, and 19 nations with a population of more than 50 million people each accounted for 54% of the population. By the end of the 1990s. the number of largest nations grew to 21, and their share in the world population approached 60% (Table 57).
It is not difficult to calculate that the total number of 11 nations, each of which numbers more than 100 million people, is about half of humanity. And at the other pole there are hundreds of small ethnic groups living mainly in tropical forests and in the regions of the North. Many of them number less than 1,000 people, such as the Andamanese in India, the Toala in Indonesia, the Alakaluf in Argentina and Chile, and the Yukaghir in Russia.
Table 57

No less interesting and important is the question of the national composition of the population of individual countries of the world. In accordance with its characteristics, five types of states can be distinguished: 1) single-national; 2) with a sharp predominance of one nation, but with the presence of more or less significant national minorities; 3) binational; 4) with more complex national composition, but relatively homogeneous ethnically; 5) multinational, with a complex and ethnically diverse composition.
The first type of states is quite widely represented in the world. For example, in foreign Europe, about half of all countries are practically single-national. These are Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal. IN foreign Asia There are significantly fewer such countries: Japan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, some small countries. There are even fewer of them in Africa (Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Madagascar). And in Latin America, almost all states are single-national, since Indians, mulattoes, and mestizos are considered parts of single nations.
Countries of the second type are also quite common. In foreign Europe these are Great Britain, France, Spain, Romania, and the Baltic countries. In foreign Asia - China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Syria, Turkey. In Africa - Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Botswana. IN North America– USA, in Oceania – Australia and New Zealand.
The third type of country is much less common. Examples include Belgium and Canada.
Countries of the fourth type, with a rather complex, although ethnically homogeneous composition, are most often found in Asia, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. They also exist in Latin America.
The most typical countries of the fifth type are India and Russia. This type also includes Indonesia, the Philippines, and many countries in Western and Southern Africa.
It is known that recently, in countries with a more complex national composition, interethnic contradictions have noticeably worsened.
They have different historical roots. Thus, in the countries that emerged as a result European colonization, oppression of the indigenous population (Indians, Eskimos, Australian aborigines, Maoris) continues. Another source of controversy is the underestimation of the linguistic and cultural identity of national minorities (Scots and Welsh in Great Britain, Basques in Spain, Corsicans in France, French Canadians in Canada). Another reason for the intensification of such contradictions was the influx of tens and hundreds of thousands of foreign workers into many countries. In developing countries, interethnic contradictions are associated primarily with the consequences of the colonial era, when the boundaries of possessions were drawn for the most part without taking into account ethnic boundaries, as a result of which a kind of “ethnic mosaic” arose. Constant contradictions on national grounds, reaching the point of militant separatism, are especially characteristic of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, DR Congo, Sudan, Somalia, and many other countries.
The ethnic composition of the population of individual countries does not remain unchanged. Over time, it gradually changes, primarily under the influence of ethnic processes, which are divided into processes of ethnic division and ethnic unification. Separation processes include those processes in which a previously unified ethnic group either ceases to exist or is divided into parts. Unification processes, on the contrary, lead to the merging of groups of people of different ethnicities and the formation of larger ethnic communities. This occurs as a result of interethnic consolidation, assimilation and integration.
The process of consolidation is manifested in the merging of ethnic groups (or parts thereof) that are close in language and culture, which as a result turn into a larger ethnic community. This process is typical, for example, of Tropical Africa; It also happened in the former USSR. The essence of assimilation lies in the fact that individual parts of an ethnic group or even an entire people, living among another people, as a result of long-term communication, assimilate its culture, perceive its language and cease to consider itself belonging to the previous ethnic community. One of the important factors of such assimilation is ethnically mixed marriages. Assimilation is more common in economically developed countries with long-established nations, where these nations assimilate less developed national groups of people. And interethnic integration is understood as the bringing together of different ethnic groups without merging them into a single whole. It occurs in both developed and developing countries. It can be added that consolidation leads to the consolidation of ethnic groups, and assimilation leads to a reduction in national minorities.
Russia is one of the most multinational states in the world. It is inhabited by more than 190 peoples and nationalities. According to the 2002 census, Russians make up more than 80% of the total population. In second place in terms of numbers are the Tatars (more than 5 million people), the third are the Ukrainians (over 4 million), and the fourth are the Chuvash. The share of each of the other nations in the country's population did not exceed 1%.

Russia has always been not just a densely populated state, but also a multinational one. More than one hundred and forty-five million citizens live in the country. Among them are representatives of about one hundred and sixty nationalities who speak their own language. The people who came from other countries of the world are few in number. Only seven nationalities living on the territory of our country, in terms of the number of people, exceed a million. So what peoples live on Russian territory? The answer is quite simple, these include: Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, as well as Bashkirs, Chuvashs, Chechens, and Armenians.

In general, Russia ranks seventh in terms of population after China, India, the United States of America, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan. But in terms of population density, our country ranks only second on the planet after the United States. Almost a fifth of the Russian population lives in major cities-megacities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Samara, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Kazan. If we talk about the population in the largest cities, the indicators are as follows: more than ten million people live in Moscow, about five million people in St. Petersburg. In terms of population density, the capital is one of the largest cities in the world.

What peoples live on the territory of Russia: naturally, The bulk of the population is Russian - eighty percent. But the remaining percentage comes from such nationalities as: Tatars - 3.8; Ukrainians – 3; Chuvash – 1.2; Belarusians – 0.8; Mordovians – 0.7; Chechens and Germans – 0.6; Avars, Jews, Armenians – 0.4 and so on. If you ask yourself what peoples live on the territory of Crimea, then these are mainly Tatars. They occupy the second place in our country in terms of their numbers.

Together with the Bashkirs, the Tatars represent a large group Muslim peoples, which are located almost in the center of Russia. The Chuvash are a completely different Turkic people, numbering more than two million people. The peoples of the Abkhaz-Adyghe group live in the Caucasus, these include: Adygs, Circassians, Kabardians, as well as the peoples of the Nekh-Dagestan group: Ingush, Chechens, Lezgins, Avars. Yakuts, Khakassians and Altaians live in Siberia.

In addition, Finno-Ugric peoples live in Russia: Karelians, Sami, Finns, Komi. In the north of Russia there are also Mordovians, Mari, in the Volga region Mansi and Khanty, who are engaged in reindeer herding and hunting. As for the Far North, the Nenets live here, and the Evenks live in Eastern Siberia. But the Chukchi live on the Chukotka Peninsula.

Naturally, every people living on the territory of Russia strives to preserve their native language, their traditions and customs, costumes, traditional activities, crafts. And what’s most interesting is that most peoples still retained their traditions.

A little history...

The diversity of nationalities living on the territory of the Russian Federation at present is the result of centuries of history. The most interesting thing is that establishing exactly what kind of people lived on the territory of our country in ancient times is not an easy matter. Since archaeological data provide the opportunity to outline only the approximate boundaries of the territory where the tribes lived, but it is impossible to give an exact answer as to what such settlements called themselves and what language they spoke. Such information can be found using ancient monuments.

The work of the famous Gothic historian Jordan, which was written in the seventh century BC, has survived to this day. In it, the writer praised the Gothic kings, and the power, according to him, stretched from the Baltic states to the Crimea, and on the eastern side its territories reached the Volga region. According to the historian, King Ermanaric, in the middle of the fourth century, managed to conquer the tribes of the Inaunxes, Vasinabronxes, Bubegens and many others. The descendants of the Vesi - the Vepsians - currently live in Karelia, Vologda, and Leningrad regions.

So, if you draw a map of the peoples who lived in the fourth century on the territory of modern Russia, there will be practically no blue or red color on it. Only on the western side of Ukraine will it be possible to mark a small red spot and from there direct many arrows to the east, south and north. Since the Slavic tribes by that time began to populate the lands of the future Russia.

In general, linguists, historians, or rather their research, have shown that the north, the center of modern Russia, was inhabited by Finnish tribes by the beginning of the new era. A little later, they “became glorified” and played an important role in the formation of the Russian population. A little further east and north lived other Finnish tribes, who were the ancestors of modern Finns, Estonians, Karelians, and Mordovians. Siberia and the South of Ukraine were occupied by the Ugric peoples; they were the future Mansi and Khanty. To the east, the ancestors of the Samoyed peoples, who today are the Selkups and Nenets, lived on a large territory. Today in Siberia there live only a small number of people who belong to the Kets and Yukaghirs, but once upon a time these peoples occupied the entire Eastern Siberia.

In the mountains North Caucasus, as scientists assume, lived exactly the same peoples as at the present time. The most interesting thing is that their way of life and culture did not change almost until the nineteenth century. Yes, religion has changed, from the fourth to the fifth centuries Christianity was widespread here, from the eighth to the sixteenth centuries Christianity was gradually replaced by Islam. Various rituals and pagan beliefs were part of the new religion for a long time, and they have survived to this day. The ancient chronicles also mentioned the ancestors of the Abkhazians - the Bezes and Kasogims. The descendants of the ancient Scythians-Sarmatians roamed the steppes of the North Caucasus to the Altai region.

Over the course of a whole millennium, from the fourth to the thirteenth centuries, East Slavic tribes gradually settled in the forest-steppe and forest zones of the East European Plain. But the Turkic peoples along the steppe belt of Eurasia itself. The Slavs in those days settled from west to north, south, east, but the Turks moved mainly to the west. Naturally, there were military clashes between the Slavs and Turks. During the truce between these peoples, weddings were held, alliances were concluded, and trade was carried out.

Gradually, cities began to appear in which trade developed, as well as various crafts. Then states appeared: among the Turks and peoples related to them - the Volga Bulgaria, the Khazar Kaganate, Eastern Slavs – Kievan Rus. Volga Bulgaria was created on the banks of the Volgibulgara. Some of them decided to go to the Balkans, where the First Bulgarian Kingdom was subsequently created together with the Slavs. The Khazar Khaganate included the Lower Volga region and the lands of the Caucasian peoples. In the mid-tenth century, Kievan Rus defeated the Khaganate, as a result of which the Khazars, as well as its population, mixed with other peoples.

Of course, the state needed a religion that would help strengthen the unity of the state. Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived in Turkic and Russian cities. From the mid-eighteenth century to 1480 is an era that is known in the history of our country as the era of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. During the “Golden Horde” era, the following peoples emerged: Kumyks, Bashkirs, Karachais, Crimean, Astrakhan Tatars. The Polovtsians played a significant role in their formation. But the Polovtsians themselves ceased to exist as a people. It was then that the separation of the Russian people began. After the collapse of the Golden Horde occurred, its lands and the Khanate gradually joined the Russian state.

By the time Peter the Great began to reign, and this is the end of the seventeenth century, the territory of Russia acquired the outlines that are characteristic of the modern borders of the Russian Federation. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the lands of the peoples of Ukraine, the Baltics, Belarus, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia began to join Russia.

Modern Russia

To summarize, it should be noted that Russia is the most multinational state in the world. Here all peoples live in peace and harmony. They exchange experiences with each other, but at the same time, each nationality retains its ethnic identity and identity.

Naturally, the traditions of the peoples of modern Russia are quite diverse. And they depend not just on the time of year, but also on the place of residence. The main feature that is characteristic of one or another nationality living in Russia is cuisine. Even among those peoples who inhabit the northern part of our state, although it is similar, it is still not the same. So, each nationality has its own characteristics.

In addition to cuisine, every nation living in Russia can boast of its own entertainment. Representatives of their nationalities are hospitable, which is why it is interesting to get acquainted with their cultures, customs, and traditions. Knowing about the way of life of a particular people, every person will be able to live in peace and harmony.

The Russian Federation is considered the largest state in the world in terms of its territory. And in terms of the number of peoples, it is in the top ten among all countries on the planet. Of course, the demographic situation in this state influences the development of Russian society as a whole.

Our country was and is a multinational state. The peoples of Russia are distinguished by their unique culture and history. In general, according to various sources of information, about two hundred nationalities live on its territory. Currently, the nationality of a resident of our country is not indicated in the passport. Accordingly, census data are based on self-determination. Therefore, nationality indicators may change periodically.

The state language of Russia is Russian. Although different territories of the state have their own dialects. In general, our country is unique not only in its ethnic composition, but also in its religious composition. Representatives of Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity live on the territory. At the same time, most peoples adhere to their traditions and national beliefs.

Do you know how many nationalities there are in the world? Answering this question is not as easy as it seems at first glance. There are quite a lot of contradictions in the understanding of the very term “nationality”. What is this? Linguistic community? Citizenship? This article will be devoted to bringing some clarity to the problems of nationalities of the world. We will also look at which ethnic groups produce beautiful women and attractive men. Naturally, nationalities can disappear and assimilate. And an individual in our age of globalization can be a product of a mixture of different ethnic groups. And it is often difficult for a person to answer the question of what his nationality is. But if we talk about large groups of people, then we can isolate several factors by which ethnicity is determined.

Citizenship and nationality

Firstly, not all powers are monolithic in the ethnic composition of their populations. And even if we do not take into account the presence of migrants, the so-called “first generation citizens,” even then we cannot say that there are one hundred and ninety-two nationalities in the world. The list of states (and there are so many of them on the political map) does not give us an idea of ​​the numerous ethnic groups inhabiting these same countries. For example, representatives of more than one hundred and eighty nationalities live in the Russian Federation. And North and South Korea are inhabited by one people, separated by a demarcation line due to political strife. There is a concept of “American nation,” but it is extremely diverse in ethnic composition. The same can be said about Australia, New Zealand and Canada, whose lands were settled by emigrants from all over the world. At the same time, even in such a seemingly monolithic country in terms of ethnic composition as Poland, there are Silesians, Kashubians, Lemkos and other groups.

Language and nationality

One of the markers by which one can determine whether a person belongs to a particular nation is his language. In the population census, this factor is placed at the forefront. If we are guided by this marker, then the question of how many nationalities there are in the world can be answered: from two and a half to five thousand. Why is there such a huge discrepancy in numbers? Because we are faced with a new difficulty: what is language? Is it a dialect, a dialect used by a certain ethnic community? But determining a person’s nationality by language is also not entirely correct. After all, not all Jews know Hebrew. And it almost died, and now the government is making incredible efforts to revive it. Residents of the Green Island speak English, but do not consider themselves British.

Appearance and nationality

An even more precarious path is to determine the ethnicity of an individual by his physiological characteristics. What can we say about a person's appearance? If he has blond hair and Blue eyes, then he can equally successfully turn out to be a Swede, a Russian or a Pole. We can, of course, talk about Scandinavian, Mediterranean, Latin American, but all this does not give us an idea of ​​what a representative of the “titular nation” should look like. Moreover, with the dominant brunette gene, blondes are gradually “dying out.” The nationalities of the world, whose representatives inhabited the lands previously known as the countries of fair-haired people (Bulgaria, states on the Balkan Peninsula, Italy, Georgia), after the Turkish conquest noticeably “darkened.” So define ethnicity by appearance does not seem possible. Although, of course, there are certain facial features that are often found in representatives of a particular nationality.

Formation of ethnic groups

All the nationalities of the world in their own way historical development have come a long way. Ancient tribes entered into military and trade alliances with each other and lived in close proximity for a long time. As a result, certain differences were erased, dialects came closer together, forming one language. One can cite the example of the ancient Romans. In addition to the Latins who inhabited the regions along the banks of the Tiber, the Veneti, Auzones, Lucanians, Osci, Messapians, Piceni, Umbrians and Falisci took part in the formation of the people. And their dialects still exist today! The huge Roman Empire, which included many nationalities, collapsed in the Middle Ages. Latin, the official language of the ancient state, gave impetus to the formation of Romance languages: Italian, French, Spanish. Awareness of the multitude by one community within the state gives rise to a nation.

Natural assimilation

Not all nationalities of the countries of the world have survived to this day. A smaller nationality surrounded by a larger one risks losing its identity, especially if it is included in a state where this largest nationality is considered the “titular nation”. This happened in the USSR. The first census, conducted in 1926, found that there were 178 nationalities living in the state. In 1956, there were only 109 of them. And there were 91 large nationalities, which numbered more than ten thousand people. Thus, in less than thirty years, the number of ethnic groups has decreased significantly. Of course, not everyone became Russian. Adjarians, Laz, Svans and Mingrelians began to associate themselves with Georgians; Kuramins, Turks and Kipchaks began to consider themselves Uzbeks. Thus, if the cultural characteristics of small peoples are not maintained, there is a serious risk that they will disappear.

Forced assimilation

Sometimes governments, wary of separatist sentiments, pursue policies aimed at the deliberate destruction of nationality as such. They do not kill members of the ethnic minority, but carry out targeted assimilation measures. For example, in Poland after World War II, all Lemkos were taken out of their places of compact residence and settled in small groups in other regions of the country. In the south of France, for a long time, schoolchildren were punished if they began to speak the local Occitan dialect. Only in the eighties of the twentieth century, under public pressure, elective courses were opened to study the almost extinct dialect. Since the world's small nationalities already tend to dissolve into large ones, assimilating them by force is a violation of human rights.

How many nationalities are there in the world?

Nobody knows this. According to various sources, the nationalities of the peoples of the world can number from four and a half to six thousand. The total number of languages ​​and dialects ranges from two and a half to five thousand. But there are still tribes that do not make contact with the civilized world (the so-called un-contacted people). How many such tribes are still found in Africa, the Amazon Valley? It is also quite difficult to determine the line between ethnic group, nationality and nationality. But there is another opinion about larger communities. It is believed that a nation is a purely political construct. This theory is gaining more and more supporters in modern society.

Beautiful nationalities of the world: list

Assimilation, of course, can lead to the disappearance of an ethnic group. But mixing blood only improves the gene pool. The so-called mestizos have always amazed us with their beauty and talents. Let us at least remember the Russian poet A.S. Pushkin, in whose veins Slavic and African blood flowed. If we talk not about certain individuals, but about large groups of people, then the same relationship can be traced here. The most beautiful community is the one in which the different nationalities of the world are mixed, as if in a crucible. Thus, the countries of Latin America amaze with the abundance of beauties and angelic men. Indeed, local Indian tribes, Spaniards and people from Africa took part in the formation of Costa Ricans, Brazilians and Colombians. Citizens former USSR They are also quite good-looking, since many of them were born as a result of mixed interethnic marriages.

Where do the most beautiful girls live?

This issue worries not only representatives of the stronger sex. Of course, everyone has their own standard of beauty, but aren’t Miss Universe competitions held? Let's do a little statistical analysis to find out which country has the most beautiful women peace. The nationality of the charming winner is not taken into account by the jury. But we will consider the charming girl a representative of the “titular nation”.

So, according to surveys conducted by various men's and women's magazines, Brazilian women are in first place in beauty. After all, this Latin American country is real. Here you can meet both an irresistible blonde and a charming black woman. Many Asians gave Brazilians the languor of the Japanese orchid and almond-shaped eyes. If you like tall blondes, then feel free to go to Sweden for them. Argentines are in third place. The fourth position is held by Ukrainians, and the fifth by Russians.

Where do the most handsome men in the world live by nationality?

A selection of super attractive machos different countries created a portal for tourists Travelers Digest. He did his own research to properly guide single ladies on a romantic getaway. What happened? Which nationalities in the world have produced the most Apollos?

The portal warns that it assessed not only the external data of men, but also their upbringing, level of intelligence, and ability to care for a lady. Swedes, residents of New York and Amsterdam lead the list. The Top Ten included the Portuguese, Argentines, Australians, Spaniards, Germans, Italians and Israelis. But girls often notice that the portal is wrong. In their opinion, residents of Latin American countries, Spaniards, Italians and Turks are more attractive.

The 2002 census confirmed that the Russian Federation is one of the most multinational - representatives of over 160 nationalities live in the country. During the census, the implementation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation was ensured in terms of free self-determination of nationality. During the population census, more than 800 different answers were received from the population to the question about nationality.

The seven peoples inhabiting Russia - Russians, Tatars, Ukrainians, Bashkirs, Chuvashs, Chechens and Armenians - have a population exceeding 1 million people. Russians are the most numerous nationality, their number is 116 million people (about 80% of the country's inhabitants).

For the first time after the 1897 population census, the number of people who identified themselves as Cossacks was obtained (140 thousand people), and also for the first time after the 1926 population census, the number of people who called themselves Kryashens was obtained (about 25 thousand people). About 1.5 million people did not indicate their nationality.

Population of Russia by ethnic composition

79.8% (115,868.5 thousand) are Russians;

1% (1457.7 thousand) - nationality not specified;

19.2% (27838.1) – other nationalities. Of them:

All the peoples inhabiting our country can be divided into three groups:

• The first is ethnic groups, most of which live in Russia, and outside of it there are only small groups (Russians, Chuvash, Bashkirs, Tatars, Komi, Yakuts, Buryats, etc.). They, as a rule, form national-state units.
• The second group is those peoples of the countries of the “near abroad” (i.e., the republics of the former USSR), as well as some other countries that are represented on the territory of Russia in significant groups, in some cases in compact settlements (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Armenians, Poles , Greeks, etc.).
• And finally, the third group is formed by small subdivisions of ethnic groups, most living outside Russia (Hungarians, Abkhazians, Chinese, etc.).

Thus, about 100 peoples (the first group) live mainly on the territory of Russia, the rest (representatives of the second and third groups) live mainly in the countries of the “near abroad” or other countries of the world, but are still a significant element of the population of Russia.

The peoples living in Russia (representatives of all three groups identified earlier) speak languages ​​that belong to different language families . The most numerous of them are representatives of four language families: Indo-European (89%), Altai (7%), North Caucasian (2%) and Uralic (2%).

Indo-European family

The most numerous in Russia - Slavic group, including Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, etc. Originally Russian regions are the territories of the European North, North-West and central regions of Russia, but they live everywhere and predominate in most regions (77 out of 88 regions), especially in the Urals, in southern Siberia and the Far East. Among other peoples of this linguistic group, Ukrainians (2.9 million people - 2.5%), Belarusians (0.8 million) stand out.

Thus, it can be argued that it is, first of all, a Slavic state (the share of Slavs is over 85%) and the largest Slavic state in the world.

Second largest among the Indo-European family German group (Germans).Since 1989, their number has decreased from 800 to 600 thousand people as a result of...

The Iranian group is Ossetians. Their number increased from 400 to 515 thousand, largely as a result of emigration from the territory as a result of the armed conflict in South Ossetia.

In addition to those listed, the Indo-European family is also represented in Russia by other peoples: Armenians ( Armenian group); and Romanians ( Romanesque group) and etc.

Altai family

The largest Turkic group in the Altai family (11.2 million people out of 12), which includes Tatars, Chuvashs, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Yakuts, Shors, Azerbaijanis, etc. Representatives of this group, the Tatars, are the second largest people in Russia after the Russians.

The largest Turkic peoples (Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashs) are concentrated in the Ural-Volga region.

Other Turkic peoples are settled in the south of Siberia (Altaians, Shors, Khakassians, Tuvinians) up to Far East(Yakuts).

The third area of ​​settlement of Turkic peoples is (, Karachais, Balkars).

The Altai family also includes: group (Buryats, Kalmyks);Tungus-Manchu group(Evens, Nanais, Ulchi, Udege, Orochi),

Ural family

The largest of this family Finno-Ugric group, which includes Mordovians, Udmurts, Mari, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Finns, Hungarians, and Sami. In addition, this family includesSamoyed group(, Selkups, Nganasans),Yukaghir group(). The main area of ​​residence of the peoples of the Uralic language family is the Ural-Volga region and the north of the European part of the country.

North Caucasian family

North Caucasian family represented mainly by peoplesNakh-Dagestan group(Chechens, Avars, Dargins, Lezgins, Ingush, etc.) andAbkhaz-Adyghe group(Kabardians, Abazas). The peoples of this family live more compactly, mainly in the North Caucasus.

Representatives also live in Russia Chukotka-Kamchatka family(, Itelmen); Eskimo-Aleut family(, Aleuts); Kartvelian family() and peoples of other language families and nations (Chinese, Arabs, Vietnamese, etc.).

The languages ​​of all peoples of Russia are equal, but the language of interethnic communication is Russian.

Russia, being a multinational republic in its own way state structure, is a federation built on a national-territorial principle. The federal structure of the Russian Federation is based on its state integrity, the unity of the system of state power, the delimitation of jurisdiction and powers between the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, equality and self-determination of peoples in the Russian Federation (Constitution of the Russian Federation, 1993). The Russian Federation includes 88 subjects, of which 31 are national entities (republics, autonomous okrugs, autonomous region). total area national entities makes up 53% of the territory of the Russian Federation. At the same time, only about 26 million people live here, of which almost 12 million are Russian. At the same time, many peoples of Russia are dispersed across various regions of Russia. As a result, a situation has arisen where, on the one hand, some of the peoples of Russia are settled outside their national formations, and on the other hand, within many national formations, the share of the main or “titular” (which gives the name to the corresponding formation) nation is relatively small. Thus, of the 21 republics of the Russian Federation, only in eight the main peoples make up the majority (Chechen Republic, Ingushetia, Tyva, Chuvashia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Tatarstan and Kalmykia. In multi-ethnic Dagestan, ten local peoples (Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins, Laks , Tabasarans, Nogais, Rutuls, Aguls, Tsakhurs) form 80% of the total population. Khakassia (11%) has the lowest proportion of “titular” peoples (10%).

A peculiar picture of the settlement of peoples in the autonomous okrugs. They are very sparsely populated and for many decades they attracted migrants from all the republics of the former USSR (Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Belarusians, Chechens, etc.), who came to work - to develop the richest deposits, build roads, industrial facilities and cities. As a result, the main peoples in the majority autonomous okrugs(and in the only autonomous region) constitute only a small percentage of their total population. For example, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - 2%, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - 6%, Chukotka - about 9%, etc. Only in one Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug do titular peoples make up the majority (62%).

The dispersion of many peoples and their intensive contacts with other peoples, especially Russians, contribute to their assimilation.