Russia occupies a vast territory from the Arctic and Pacific Oceans to the Black and Caspian Seas. She represents an amazing example of the unity of nations, which is reflected in her coat of arms.
Various ethnic groups living in the area bordering Europe and Asia made up the cultural and historical identity of Russia. The formation of the Russian state was based on the Finno-Ugric, East Slavic, Baltic and other small peoples, in total, according to the chronicles, there are more than 20 names. For many centuries, the Russian state expanded its borders at the expense of border regions, the population of which became part of the Russian people.
As a result of historical events, Russia was the only state with such a diverse cultural and ethnic composition.
Ethnic groups in Russia
According to the results of the last census of the population of the Russian Federation, conducted in 2010, 195 nationalities live in the territory of the state. The population of the country can be conditionally classified according to ethnic and linguistic principles. The division affects the historical roots of peoples, even if the modern indigenous population no longer speaks the language of their ancestors.
The representatives of Indo-European culture include the Slavic peoples - in numerical terms, there are more than 14 million people living in Russia; this also includes the Baltic, Germanic, Romanesque, Greek, Armenian, Iranian, Indo-Aryan peoples.
The Yukaghir-Ural family gave birth to Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Mordovians, and residents of Komi. From here came the Khanty (inhabiting the Russian North in an amount of more than 30 thousand people), Mansi (there are slightly more than 12, 5 thousand in Russia), Udmurts (552,300 people), Chuvans and Yukagirs.
The Altai branch, whose representatives inhabit the Altai Republic and border regions, is divided into five families. These are Koreans and Japanese, Mongols, as well as representatives of the Turkic and Tungus-Manchu nation. How many representatives of these peoples live on the territory of modern Russia today is difficult to say. According to the results of the last census, some of them ranked themselves as "Russians", which means they abandoned their national self-identification.
The North Caucasian nation gave the country a population that can be divided into 2 camps. These are representatives of the North Caucasian peoples and the Abkhaz-Adyghe inhabitants. The first branch includes: Dagestanis, Chechens, Ingush, Avars, Lizgins and other small peoples. The second branch: Kabardins, Adyghes, Abkhazians and Circassians.
Modern Georgians originate from the Kartvelian nation. There has been little-studied endangered peoples such as Ingiloys and Mingrelians.
Small peoples
Modern Russia also includes other small peoples known only to scientists in the field of ethno-knowledge. These are Austro-Asian, Sino-Tibetan, Afrasian and Paleo-Asian tribes. More than 10 thousand people, despite Russian citizenship, in 2010 ranked themselves as Arabs, Bahraini, Egyptians, Yukaghirs, Mauritians, Sudanese, insolent, etc.
Despite all the diversity and difference in cultures, representatives of different nations are bound by the same historical destiny. It goes back centuries. More than once, over the course of many centuries, the peoples fought unitedly against the conquerors. This unity has given rise to the strengthening and development of folk traditions, which has become one of the features of our multinational homeland.
