Since ancient times, a huge number of nations and nationalities have lived in Russia. At the same time, the majority of Russians have a benevolent attitude towards the most diverse peoples inhabiting the country. In addition, the presence in Russia of a large number of nationalities is legally enshrined in the Constitution.
The most numerous nations living on the territory of the Russian Federation
More than 180 different nationalities live on the territory of the Russian Federation. The titular nation is the Russians. According to the 2010 census, more than 111 million people identified themselves as Russians, i.e. 80.9% of all citizens who considered it necessary to indicate their nationality.
The second largest nation in Russia is the Tatars. In 2010, there were 5, 3 million, or 3.7%. At the same time, Tatars inhabit not only Tatarstan, but also other Russian regions.
The third largest population is occupied by Ukrainians. There are about 2 million of them in Russia, or 1.4% of the total population. However, Ukrainians living in Russia have long been Russified and practically do not differ from Russians.
The fourth place rightfully belongs to the Bashkirs. In Russia there are more than one and a half million, most of them live directly on the territory of Bashkiria. The fifth place was shared by the Chuvash and the Chechens. There are 1% of them in Russia, that is, about one and a half million. The sixth largest number is occupied by Armenians, there are over a million of them.
Also, a number of nationalities live in Russia, numbering more than half a million of the population. Among them are Avars, Azerbaijanis, Belarusians, Dargins, Kabardians, Kazakhs, Kumyks, Mari, Mordovians and Ossetians. Most of these peoples live compactly in their regions. The exception is made by representatives of the former Soviet republics - Azerbaijanis, Belarusians and Kazakhs.
In the late 1980s, more than 2 million Jews lived in Russia. However, many of them left for their historical homeland in Israel. According to the 2010 census, there are only 157,000 left in Russia.
Indigenous minorities
In addition, 97 indigenous minorities live on the territory of the Russian Federation. In total, there are about 500 thousand of them, i.e. 0.3% of the country's population. 13 of them have less than a thousand people. The largest of these peoples are the Nenets (41 thousand people), and the smallest are the Kereks. There are only 4 of them left. Currently, the government of the Russian Federation is making a lot of efforts to preserve and develop the indigenous minorities.
The exact number of nationalities currently living in Russia will not even be announced by the State Statistics Committee. Moreover, in contrast to the times of the Soviet Union, now no one is required to specify the exact nationality.
