Russia is one of the most multinational states in the world. The exact number of nationalities living on the territory of the country is unknown, but it is approximately equal to 200. The majority - almost 80% - are Russians, the rest of the nations account for from 4 to hundredths of a percent.
Multinationality of Russia
Russia has always been multinational, this feature is closely related to the history of the country, during which it influenced the consciousness and way of life of the people inhabiting the country. The multinational composition of the state is also indicated in the constitution, where it is called the bearer of sovereignty and the source of power.
Due to the heterogeneous composition of the country's population since ancient times, many people who consider themselves to be Russians actually have different roots and can be considered to the same extent as representatives of other nationalities. But in the USSR, a mandatory fixation of ethnicity was adopted, which served as the basis for determining the number of nationalities and their percentage. Today, it is not necessary to indicate your nationality, and there is no exact figure in the census data - some people did not indicate their origin.
In addition, a nation is a rather vague concept, ethnographers divide some nationalities into several parts, others distinguish them into separate groups. Some nationalities are disappearing or assimilated.
Number of nations in Russia
Nevertheless, the census data allow us to calculate almost the exact number of nations whose representatives live on the territory of Russia. There are more than 190 of them, although only about 80 nationalities make up a more or less significant part of the population: the rest receive thousandths of a percent.
In the first place are Russians or those people who consider themselves to be Russians: these are, among other things, Karyms, Ob and Lena old-timers, Pomors, Russkoye Ustye, Mezens - there are a lot of self-names, but they all make up the Russian nation. The number of Russians in the country is over 115 million.
In second place are the Tatars and all their varieties: Siberian, Kazan, Astrakhan and others. There are five and a half million of them, which is almost 4% of the country's population. This is followed by Ukrainians, Bashkirs, Chechens, Chuvashs, Armenians, Belarusians, Mordovians, Kazakhs, Udmurts and many other peoples: Caucasian, Slavic, Siberian. Part of the population - about 0.13% - are Roma. Germans, Greeks, Poles, Lithuanians, Chinese, Koreans, Arabs live on the territory of Russia.
Thousands of percent are allocated to such nationalities as Persians, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechs, Sami, Teleuts, Spaniards, French. There are also representatives of very few nationalities in the country: Laz, Vod, Svans, Ingiloys, Yugs, Arnauts.
