Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of territory. Its area is about 17 million square kilometers, which is almost twice the area of countries such as Canada, USA, China. In terms of population, Russia occupies only 9th place.
The most numerous peoples of Russia
The national composition of the country is extremely diverse. More than 180 peoples live in Russia. According to Russian law, any citizen of this country has the right to determine his own nationality, based on the following factors: the nationality of the parents, self-awareness, what language he considers his native, etc. Thus, the number of each people is determined depending on the answers given by the citizens of Russia during the census to the question of their nationality.
The most numerous people in Russia are, of course, Russians. These include about 112 million people. In second place in terms of numbers are the Tatars, there are about 5, 5 million. The third place is occupied by Ukrainians, of whom there are about 2 million in Russia. The number of Russians also includes the Cossacks and Pomors, and the number of Tatars includes the Kryashens, Mishars, Siberian and Astrakhan Tatars.
Four more nations have more than one million members. These are Bashkirs, Chuvash, Chechens and Armenians.
What peoples inhabit Russia in smaller numbers
The population of eleven nations numbers from 500 thousand to 1 million people. Among them, the most numerous are Avars, Mordovians, Kazakhs and Azerbaijanis. Then, in descending order, there are Dargins, Udmurts, Mari, Ossetians, Kabardians and Kumyks.
Another 23 nations number from 100 thousand to 500 thousand people. Of these, the largest in number are the Yakuts, only slightly below the half-million mark. This group includes, for example, Buryats, Ingush, Germans, Kalmyks, Koreans, Jews, Moldovans, as well as Balkars.
All other peoples number less than 100 thousand people. Among them you can find anyone: from Poles to Chinese, from Croats to representatives of the indigenous peoples of the Far North and the Far East. There are also very small peoples, whose representatives are so few that they are teetering on the brink of complete extinction. As a rule, this happens due to the fact that the growing youth adopts the language and national identity of the surrounding, more numerous nations.
The current legislation of Russia stipulates that any citizen of the Russian Federation, regardless of which nation he belongs to, has all the full rights prescribed in legislative acts.
