The population of Siberia briefly. Indigenous population of Siberia

As part of the main ethnographic regions Soviet Union Siberia is distinguished by many historical and cultural features - a vast geographical area from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean, within which, from ancient times, peculiar ethnolinguistic communities and economic and cultural types of the indigenous population were formed. The historical and ethnographic study of Siberia is of great scientific importance not only for establishing the regional ethno-cultural characteristics of the peoples inhabiting it, but also in a broader general ethnographic aspect, which makes it possible to clarify a number of “global” issues of the emergence and development of various socio-cultural phenomena at certain stages of the world-historical process. No less important for modernity is the ethnographic study of concrete reality, the way of life of the population of Siberia today, as it reveals a vivid picture of deep socialist transformations in the socio-economic system and cultural and everyday life of all (even the smallest) ethnic communities of the Siberian region.

Ethnogenesis and ethnic history. Among critical issues The problem of centuries-old ethno-cultural contacts and interactions of its indigenous peoples with each other and with the peoples of neighboring historical and cultural regions of Eastern Europe, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, Central Asia and the Far East occupies a prominent place in the historical ethnography of Siberia. These ethnocultural interactions turned out to be intensified and enriched at a higher level due to the inclusion of numerous ethnic groups of Siberia into the Russian centralized state, as well as the beginning of the 17th century. the formation of local (“Siberian”) centers of the alien Russian population. Even before October revolution Siberia, in terms of the predominant mass of the population and the most important economic ties, was a real "Russian side" - an organic component of agrarian-industrial Russia. The indigenous non-Russian population, which retained its ethnic territories, native languages ​​and traditional cultural and everyday features, was everywhere involved in close economic and economic ties with Russian neighbors.

All-Union population censuses since 1926 have recorded a rapid increase in the total population of Siberia, which now exceeds 25 million people. According to the data for 1979, Russians predominate among the old-timers, who have firmly mastered not only the southern forest and forest-steppe part of Siberia, but also many remote places of northern and northeastern Siberia and the Far East. The Russian demographic component numerically predominates among the population of all industrial new buildings and in transport, which is so important for the economic and cultural upsurge of the deep regions of Siberia.

The indigenous population of Siberia is also increasing in number, amounting at present to a little more than 1 million people. In ethno-linguistic terms, this population is very fragmented and is distributed among many individual peoples and groups of various sizes. The largest indigenous peoples of Siberia are the Buryats (353 thousand), Yakuts (328 thousand) and Tuvans (166 thousand). The average population is the West Siberian Tatars (up to 100 thousand), Khakasses (71 thousand), Altaians (60 thousand). The rest of the peoples (there are up to 24 of them), due to their small number and similar features of the fishing life, are assigned to the group of “small peoples of the North” (the total number is 150 thousand people). Among them are the Nenets (about 29 thousand), Zvenki (28 thousand), Khanty (21 thousand), noticeable in terms of numbers and preservation of the traditional way of the Chukchi (14 thousand), Evens (12 thousand), Nanais (10 thousand .), Mansi (7.7 thousand), Koryaks (7.9 thousand). The rest of the peoples of the north of Siberia are not at all large (for example, the Aleuts, Enets, Oroks - numbering several hundred people each), but ethnographically they are of considerable interest.

Modern research note the great originality of the linguistic situation among the indigenous population of Siberia. The leading trend is, along with the free development of native speech and writing, the increasing spread of bilingualism (knowledge of Russian or the language of some neighboring nation along with the native language) and the expansion of the functions of the Russian language in all spheres of public life. Since 1926, among the majority of the peoples of the North, the number of people who recognize their native language as their national language has significantly decreased, and the proportion of people who recognize Russian as their native language has increased (for example, among the Mansi, Selkups, Nivkhs, Orochs - up to 50%). These phenomena testify both to the high prestige of the Russian language and to its outstanding role in the general rise in the cultural level of the indigenous population. However, none of the original languages ​​of Siberia that existed before the revolution disappeared, being absorbed by a foreign ethnic environment. This gives grounds to classify the peoples of Siberia primarily on an ethnolinguistic basis, which is of great importance for revealing the past "non-written" history of these peoples.

The peoples of Siberia belong to different language families and groups. In terms of the number of speakers of related languages, the first place is occupied by the peoples of the Altaic language family, which at least from the turn of our era began to spread from the Sayano-Altai and the Baikal region to the deep regions of Western and Eastern Siberia.

The Altaic language family within Siberia is divided into three branches: Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus. The first branch - Turkic - is very extensive. In Siberia, it includes: the Altai-Sayan peoples - Altaians, Tuvans, Khakasses, Shors, Chulyms, Karagas, or Tofalars; West Siberian (Tobolsk, Tara, Baraba, Tomsk, etc.) Tatars; in the Far North, the Yakuts and Dolgans (the latter live in the east of Taimyr, in the basin of the Khatanga River). Only the Buryats, settled in groups in the western and eastern Baikal region, belong to the Mongolian peoples in Siberia.

The Tungus branch of the Altai peoples includes the Evenki (“Tungus”), who live in scattered groups over a vast territory from the right tributaries of the Upper Ob to the Okhotsk coast and from the Baikal region to the Arctic Ocean; Evens (Lamuts), settled in a number of regions of northern Yakutia, on the coast of Okhotsk and Kamchatka; also a number of small peoples of the Lower Amur - Nanais (Golds), Ulchis, or Olchis, Negidals; Ussuri region - Orochi and Ude (Udege); Sakhalin - Oroks.

In Western Siberia, ethnic communities of the Uralic language family have been formed since ancient times. These were Ugrian-speaking and Samoyedic-speaking tribes of the forest-steppe and taiga zone from the Urals to the Upper Ob. At present, the Ugric peoples - Khanty and Mansi - live in the Ob-Irtysh basin. The Samoyedic (Samoyed-speaking) include the Selkups in the Middle Ob, the Enets in the lower reaches of the Yenisei, the Nganasans, or Tavgians, in Taimyr, the Nenets, who inhabit the forest-tundra and tundra of Eurasia from Taimyr to the White Sea. Once upon a time, small Samoyed peoples also lived in Southern Siberia, in the Altai-Sayan highlands, but their remnants - Karagas, Koi-bals, Kamasins, etc. - were Turkified in the 18th -19th centuries.

According to the established scientific tradition, a number of peoples of Siberia are called "Paleo-Asiatics", suggesting that they are the descendants of the most ancient inhabitants of the Asian part of the USSR. This question is very complicated, since it is not even approximately known where and in what archaeological epoch certain "Paleo-Asiatic" ethnic communities were originally formed. In any case, it is clear to scientists that, apparently, there never existed a single "Paleo-Asiatic" ethno-linguistic family, because the current languages ​​conventionally included in it are very different in linguo-genetic terms.

Only three "Paleo-Asiatic" peoples - the Chukchi, the Koryaks and, probably, the Itelmens - constitute a genetic linguistic unity, a group of Chukchi-Kamchatka languages. The remaining "Paleo-Asiatic" languages ​​stand apart from each other, and it is difficult for them to find any direct genetic correspondences with other linguistic communities of Siberia. These are the languages ​​of small peoples - the Kets on the Middle Yenisei, the Kolyma Yukagirs with the Chuvans adjoining them, the Nivkhs (Gilyaks) in the lower reaches of the Amur and on Northern Sakhalin. Equally conditional is the classification of the peculiar, but genetically related languages ​​of the Soviet Eskimos in Chukotka and Wrangel Island and the Aleuts on the Commander Islands as "Paleo-Asian" languages. Modern science has some evidence that the "Paleo-Asiatic" Eskimo and Chukchi-Kamchatka languages ​​in the Far North-East of Asia in remote times were preceded by some other languages ​​​​(respectively, ethnic groupings), which can be considered, apparently, the most ancient " Paleosiberian".

The fact that in the deep ethnogenetic foundations of many peoples of Siberia lie very ancient "aboriginal layers", evidenced by anthropological data. In fact, all the indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia and the Far East are Mongoloid in terms of the main features of their anthropological types. Apparently, the ancient inhabitants of the Upper Paleolithic sites of this region were also Mongoloids (a vivid example: the bone remains of an archaic Mongoloid on Mount Afontova in Krasnoyarsk). The Mongoloid type of the Siberian population could genetically originate only in Central Asia. Archaeologists prove that the Paleolithic culture of Siberia developed in the same direction and in similar forms as the Paleolithic of Mongolia. Based on this, archaeologists believe that it was the Upper Paleolithic era with its highly developed hunting culture that was the most suitable historical time for the widespread settlement of Siberia and the Far East by "Asian" - Mongoloid appearance - ancient man.

Mongoloid types of ancient "Baikal" origin are well represented among modern Tungus-speaking populations from the Yenisei to the Okhotsk coast, also among the Kolyma Yukaghirs, whose distant ancestors may have preceded the Evenks and Evens in a significant area of ​​Eastern Siberia. Northeastern "Paleo-Asians" - Eskimos, Chukchi and Koryaks - belong to a specially distinguished arctic Mongoloid race of the second order, genetically related to some very ancient population of the mainland and coastal part Northeast Asia. No less ancient is the specific Amur-Sakhalin physical type of the Nivkhs (Gilyaks), which developed as a result of the ethnogenetic interaction of North Asian and Pacific anthropological populations.

Among a significant part of the Altaic-speaking population of Siberia - Altaians, Tuvans, Yakuts, Buryats, etc. - the most Mongoloid Central Asian type is widespread, which is a complex racial-genetic formation, the origins of which date back to Mongoloid groups of different times mixed with each other (from deep antiquity to the late Middle Ages).

Among the indigenous peoples west of the Yenisei, there is a marked weakening of Mongoloid features; here the Ural race prevails in many of its varieties, which arose as a whole as a result of a long-standing and repeated mixing of Mongoloid and Caucasoid groups. Various variants of this race are represented among the Khanty, Mansi, Selkup Nenets, West Siberian Tatars, Northern Altaians and Shors.

The linguistic and anthropological classification of the peoples of Siberia helps to understand many questions of their ethnic history that have not yet been fully clarified. But Soviet ethnography is also striving to develop its own historical and cultural method of typology of stable and successive forms of a holistic way of life of these peoples, based on their historically specific ways of ethnocultural activity that underlie traditional ethnic cultures.

The historical and cultural method of ethnography, retrospectively addressed to the most separated times in the history of Siberia, makes it possible to establish a number of regional historical and cultural processes that proceeded quite independently and in interaction.
with each other in the specific conditions of a homogeneous and differentiated natural environment, as well as under the influence of other cultural regions of Eurasia. The consequence of these processes, on the one hand, was the emergence and development of traditionally stable economic and cultural types: 1. foot hunters and fishermen of the taiga zone;
2) wild deer hunters in the Subarctic; 3) sedentary fishermen in the lower reaches of large
rivers (Ob, Amur, and also in Kamchatka) 4. taiga hunters-reindeer herders of Eastern Siberia
biri; 5. tundra reindeer herders from the Northern Urals to Chukotka; 6. sea hunters
a beast on the Pacific coast and islands; 7. cattle breeders and hunters of Altai and Sayan;
8. pastoralists and farmers of Southern and Western Siberia, the Baikal region, etc. On the other
On the other hand, the historical consequence of the same processes that developed in the system of a wider intertribal exchange of products and methods of subject-cultural activity was the formation of five large historical and ethnographic regions: the West Siberian with the southern, approximately to the latitude of Tobolsk and the mouth of the Chulym on the Upper Ob, and northern, taiga, and subarctic regions); Altai-Sayan (mountain taiga and
forest-steppe mixed zone); East Siberian (with internal differentiation of pro-
industrial and agricultural types of tundra, taiga and forest-steppe); Amur (or Amur-
Sakhalin) and northeastern (Chukotka-Kamchatka).

The distinguished economic and cultural types and regional historical and ethnographic regions characterize the historical, ethnographic and graphic diversity of Siberia. But modern science also requires an answer to more complex questions about the origin and ethnic history of the indigenous Siberian peoples. This story has been known quite well since the appearance of many Russian documents about Siberia, that is, from the 17th century. More ancient periods of this history are reconstructed mainly according to the data of archeology, linguistics and anthropology.

True, all the accumulated archaeological material of ancient times (in the main interval from 30-20 to 10-8 thousand years ago) answers the question of the specifics of the economic development of Siberia by primitive man rather than the question of alleged ethnicity. various groups pioneer settlers in the steppe, taiga and tundra of Siberia and the Far East. Anthropologists only add to this that the processes of formation and evolution of anthropological types of a significant part of the Siberian natives took place on the basis of the "genetic material" of the Upper Paleolithic or Early Neolithic local population.

Most researchers agree that the most realistic search for the origins of ethnogenesis and ethnic cultures of the Paleo-Asiatic, Ural and Altai peoples in terms of language is from the era of the developed Neolithic and early metal (total: 4-1 millennium BC). In this period known to science local (“tribal”) cultures of the natives of Siberia, according to their most important features, were grouped into at least four large regions: West Siberian, Yenisei-Baikal-Lena, Middle and Lower Amur, northeastern (Okhotsk-Kamchatka-Chukotka). It is possible that some ethnolinguistic communities corresponded to these cultural regions. Thus, many considerations testify in favor of the fact that the Ural (Ugric and Samoyedic) linguistic community was formed in Western Siberia, initially in the forest-steppe and southern taiga region from the Middle Urals to the Upper Ob. In Eastern Siberia, around Lake Baikal and in the Yenisei-Lena interfluve, the most ancient "Paleo-Asiatic" population was probably formed, which - according to its alleged descendants of the Yukaghirs - can be conditionally called "proto-Yukaghir". An ancient Paleo-Asiatic stratum, but of a different origin, is discerned in the bearers of the Neolithic cultures of the Okhotsk-Kamchatka coast. It was a "proto-Chuko-Kamchatka" ethno-linguistic layer, which included even more archaic ethnic groups of the extreme North-East of Asia. Finally, the Neolithic inhabitants of the Middle and Lower Amur may well be recognized as the "Paleo-Asiatic" ancestors of the Nivkhs.

The situation is more complicated with the solution of the problem of the ethnogenesis of the peoples of the Altaic language family, which was initially formed among the very mobile steppe population of Central Asia, outside the southern outskirts of Siberia. The delimitation of this community into pro-Turks and proto-Mongols occurred on the territory of Mongolia within the 1st millennium BC. e. Later, the ancient Turks (ancestors of the Sayano-Altai peoples and Yakuts) and the ancient Mongols (ancestors of the Buryats and Oi-rats-Kalmyks) settled in Siberia later. The area of ​​origin of the primary Tungus-speaking tribes was in Eastern Transbaikalia, from where, around the turn of our era, the movement of foot hunters of the Proto-Evenki began to the north, to the Yenisei-Lena interfluve, and later to the Lower Amur.

The independent course of the ethno-cultural development of the peoples of Siberia was repeatedly complicated by external migrations and household influences. At the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in southern Siberia, there was an Afanasevo culture of pastoral herders, typical Caucasians in appearance. The material remnants of their life studied by archaeologists are similar to the things of their time in the territory of Central Asia and the Lower Volga region, where in ancient times some Proto-Iranian (Indo-European) tribes, also of Caucasoid appearance, were formed. These quite comparable facts give rise to the hypothesis of early "European-Siberian" ethno-cultural contacts.

Interesting, although mysterious in ethnogenetic terms, is the bright Samus culture of copper-bronze items of the 15th-13th centuries. BC e., as if it suddenly arose and spread through the forest-steppe from the Tomsk Ob region to the Tyumen Trans-Urals, and then disappeared, leaving some of its traditions in the Kulai (probably South Samoyed) culture of the Iron Age. There is an opinion that the carriers of the Samus culture moved to the taiga zone in connection with the settlement in the south of Western Siberia of the Andronovo pastoral and agricultural tribes of ancient Iranian origin who came from the west. Under the undoubted influence of these tribes, the Ural-speaking population of the Irtysh-Ob interfluve rose to a new stage of culture - it partially adopted the skills of agriculture and copper-bronze metallurgy, early forms of household utensils, in particular ceramics with complex geometric ornaments.

The era of early metal (2 - 1 millennia BC) in Siberia is generally characterized by many streams of southern cultural influences that reached the lower reaches of the Ob and the Yamal Peninsula, to the lower reaches of the Yenisei and Lena, to Kamchatka and the Bering Sea coast of the Chukchi Peninsula. But of course, the most significant, accompanied by ethnic inclusions in the aboriginal environment, these phenomena were in Southern Siberia, the Amur Region and Primorye of the Far East. At the turn of the 2nd - 1st millennium BC. e. there was a penetration into southern Siberia, into the Minusinsk basin and the Tomsk Ob region by steppe pastoralists of Central Asian origin, who left monuments of the Karasuk-Irmen culture. According to a convincing hypothesis, these were the ancestors of the Kets, who later, under pressure from the early Turks, moved further to the Middle Yenisei, and partially mixed with them. These Turks are the carriers of the Tashtyk culture of the 1st century. BC e. - 5 in. n. e. - located in the Altai-Sayan Mountains, in the Mariinsky-Achinsk and Khakassko-Minusinsk forest-steppe. They were engaged in semi-nomadic cattle breeding, knew agriculture, widely used iron tools, built polygonal log dwellings, had draft horses and riding domestic deer. It is possible that it was through them that domestic reindeer breeding began to spread in Northern Siberia. But the time of the really wide settlement of the early Turks along the southern strip of Siberia, to the north of the Sayano-Altai and in the Western Baikal region, is, most likely, the 6th - 10th centuries. n. e. Between the 10th and 13th centuries. the movement of the Baikal Turks to the Upper and Middle Lena begins, which marked the beginning of the formation of an ethnic community of the northernmost Turks - the Yakuts and the obligated Dolgans.

The Iron Age, the most developed and expressive in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the Amur Region and Primorye in the Far East, was marked by a noticeable rise in productive forces, population growth and an increase in the diversity of cultural means not only in the shores of large river communications (Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Amur ), but also in deep taiga regions. Possession of good vehicles (boats, skis, hand sleds, draft dogs and deer), metal tools and weapons, fishing gear, good clothes and portable dwellings, as well as perfect methods of housekeeping and food preparation for future use, i.e., the most important economic cultural inventions and the labor experience of many generations, allowed a number of aboriginal groups to widely settle in the hard-to-reach, but rich in animals and fish taiga areas of Northern Siberia, master the forest-tundra and reach the coast of the Arctic Ocean.

Significant movements in the northern valley of Western Siberia were made by Ugric and Samoyedic groups. In the early Middle Ages, they lived not only in the basin of the Lower and Middle Ob, but also mastered the Northern Urals, partly in the Pechora region, Yamal and the forest-tundra between the lower reaches of the Ob and Yenisei. In the Far North of Western Siberia and in the tundra west of the Polar Urals, the Nenets (Samoyed-Yuratsk) people began to take shape. From the Taz to the Lower Yenisei, a new Samoyedic-speaking community spread - the forest and tundra Enets. From here, the Samoyeds penetrated to Taimyr, where, having mixed with the local Paleo-Asians of the Yukagir trunk, they formed the Nganasan people.

But perhaps the largest migrations with the wide development of the taiga and assimilative introduction into the "Paleo-Asiatic-Yukaghir" population of Eastern Siberia were made by the Tungus-speaking groups of foot and deer hunters for elk and wild deer. Moving in different directions between the Yenisei and the Okhotsk coast, penetrating from the northern taiga to the Amur and Primorye, making contacts and mixing with foreign-speaking inhabitants of these places, these "Tungus explorers" eventually formed numerous groups of Evenks and Evens and Amu-ro- coastal peoples. The medieval Tungus, who themselves mastered domestic deer, contributed to the spread of these useful transport animals among the Yukagirs, Koryaks and Chukchi, which had important consequences for the development of their economy, cultural communication and changes in the social system.

The least mobile both in economic activities and in the domestic sphere turned out to be sedentary fishermen and hunters for sea animals in the lower reaches of the Amur and on Sakhalin (Nivkhs), in Kamchatka (Itelmens), in Chukotka (Eskimos and coastal, "sedentary" Chukchi). However, they did not remain completely isolated from external cultural influences, experiencing at the same time internal social and everyday changes.

It should be emphasized that by the time the Russians arrived in Siberia, the indigenous peoples of not only the forest-steppe zone, but also the taiga and tundra were by no means at that stage of socio-historical development that could be considered deeply primitive. Socio-economic relations in the leading sphere of production of conditions and forms of social life among many peoples of Siberia reached a fairly high level of development already in the 17th - 18th centuries. Ethnographic materials of the 19th century state the predominance of relations among the peoples of Siberia of the patriarchal-communal system associated with subsistence farming, the simplest forms of neighborly-kinship cooperation, the communal tradition of owning land, organizing internal affairs and relations with the outside world, with a fairly strict account of "blood" genealogical ties in marriage, family and household (primarily religious, ritual and direct communication) spheres. The main social and production (including all aspects and processes of production and reproduction of human life), a socially significant unit of the social structure among the peoples of Siberia was a territorial-neighboring community, within which they reproduced, passed on from generation to generation and accumulated everything necessary for existence and production communication material means and skills, social and ideological relations and properties. As a territorial-economic association, it could be a separate settled settlement, a group of interconnected fishing camps, a local community of semi-nomads.

But ethnographers are also right in that in the everyday life of the peoples of Siberia, in their genealogical ideas and connections, for a long time, living remnants of the former relations of the patriarchal-clan system were preserved. Among such persistent phenomena, one should first of all include tribal exogamy, extended to a fairly wide circle of relatives in several generations. There were many traditions emphasizing the holiness and inviolability of the tribal principle in the social self-determination of the individual, his behavior and attitude towards people around him. Kindred mutual assistance and solidarity, even to the detriment of personal interests and deeds, was considered the highest virtue. The focus of this tribal ideology was the overgrown paternal family and its lateral patronymic lines. A wider circle of relatives of the paternal “root” or “bone” was also taken into account, if, of course, they were known. Proceeding from all this, ethnographers believe that in the history of the peoples of Siberia, the paternal-clan system was an independent, very long stage in the development of primitive communal relations, but in the field of view of written and ethnographic sources it was already in a highly modified, decadent form or complicated by new social phenomena. .

As for the problem of the maternal clan organization preceding the paternal clan, the substantiation of the fact of its existence in Siberia is in the nature of a hypothetical reconstruction based on the material of some relic phenomena that can be interpreted according to the Morganian scheme of the archaic maternal clan. For example, they refer to the existence of exogamous norms among the Kets, Enets and Nganasans, excluding marital ties with partners of both paternal and maternal kinship. Some authors explain this bilaterality of the exogamous system as evidence of such a historical stage, when in the north of Siberia the paternal clan has not yet received all the rights in relation to its members, and the maternal clan has not yet lost its former rights in relation to the descendants of its members who have passed to another clan. . They also refer to the ancient custom of a young husband settling in his wife's family among the Yukaghirs, Eskimos, Itelmens, and Nivkhs. The Yukagirs know the old order, in which the groom worked out the right to take a wife in the house of the future father-in-law, and then settled with him as a son-in-law.

However, all these phenomena existed within the framework of a fishing community with an emphasized predominance of kinship and customary law on the paternal side. Industrial and domestic relations between men and women in the family and the local community were built on the basis of the division of labor by sex and age. The significant role of women in the household was reflected in the ideology of many Siberian peoples in the form of the cult of the mythological "mistress of the hearth" and the associated custom of "keeping fire" by the real mistress of the house.

However, it should be taken into account that the Siberian material of the past centuries used by ethnographers, along with the archaic, also shows obvious signs of a long-standing decline and decay of tribal relations. Even in those local societies where social class stratification did not receive any noticeable development, features were found that overcame tribal equality and democracy, namely: individualization of the methods of appropriation of material goods, private ownership of craft products and objects of exchange, property inequality between families , in some places patriarchal slavery and bondage, the separation and exaltation of the ruling tribal nobility, etc. These phenomena in various varieties are noted in documents of the 17th - 18th centuries. among the Ob Ugrians and Nenets, the Sai-no-Altai peoples and the Evenks. Ethnography 19th century discovered patriarchal-communal orders of the same nature in the Lower Amur and among the northeastern Paleo-Asians.

The Turkic-speaking peoples of Southern Siberia, the Buryats and Yakuts at that time were characterized by a specific ulus-tribal organization, combining the orders and customary law of the patriarchal (neighborly-related) community with the dominant institutions of the military-hierarchical system and the despotic power of the tribal nobility. The tsarist government could not but take into account such a difficult socio-political situation and, recognizing the influence and strength of the local ulus nobility, practically entrusted the fiscal and police administration to the ordinary mass of accomplices.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that Russian tsarism was not limited only to the collection of tribute - yasak from the indigenous population of Siberia. If this was the case in the 17th century, then in subsequent centuries the state-feudal system sought to maximize the use of the productive forces of this population, imposing ever greater payments and duties in kind on them and depriving them of the right to supreme ownership of all lands, lands and riches of the subsoil. An integral part of the economic policy of the autocracy in Siberia was the encouragement of the commercial and industrial activities of Russian capitalism and the treasury. In the post-reform period, the flow of agrarian resettlement to Siberia of peasants from European Russia. Centers of an economically active newcomer population began to quickly form along the most important transport routes, which entered into versatile economic and cultural contacts with the indigenous inhabitants of the newly developed areas of Siberia. Naturally, under this generally progressive influence, the peoples of Siberia lost their patriarchal identity (“the identity of backwardness”) and joined the new conditions of life, although before the revolution this took place in contradictory and not painless forms.

Economic and cultural types of the indigenous population of Siberia. These are, first of all, the forms of the economic and material-household way of life - dascotovodoz and farmers-Tatars of the forest-steppe zone of Western Siberia, Turkic peoples (Tuvans, Khakass, Altai Shors) Altai-Sayan, Western and Eastern Buryats of the Baikal region, East Siberian Lena-Aldansky) Yakuts . For all these peoples, by the period of the arrival of the Russians, cattle breeding was developed much more than agriculture. But since the 18th century agricultural economy is increasingly taking place among the West Siberian Tatars, it is also spreading among the traditional pastoralists of the southern Altai, Tuva and Buryatia. Accordingly, material and everyday forms also changed: stable settled settlements arose, nomadic yurts and semi-dugouts were replaced by log houses. However, the Altaians, Buryats and Yakuts for a long time had polygonal log yurts with a conical roof, which in appearance imitated the felt yurt of nomads.

The traditional clothing of the pastoral population of Siberia was similar to the Central Asian (for example, Mongolian) and belonged to the swing type (fur and cloth robe). The characteristic clothing of the South Altai pastoralists was a long-skinned sheepskin coat. Married Altai women (as well as Buryats) put on a kind of long sleeveless jacket with a slit in front - “chege-dek” over a fur coat. The Yakut women also wore a long-brimmed fur caftan “sangyakh”, similar in cut to the Altai “chegedek”, but unlike the latter, with sleeves. The high headdress of married Yakuts - "tuosakhta" - is interesting. Russian trade in Siberia contributed to the widespread distribution, especially in the 19th century, of Russian fabrics and cloth clothing based on Russian folk patterns.

Of greatest ethnographic interest are the economic and cultural types of the fishing population of the North, the direct descendants of the ancient inhabitants of various regions of Siberia. Specific features marked a very ancient economic and cultural complex of sedentary fishermen in the lower reaches of large rivers, as well as a number of small rivers in North-Eastern Siberia. Fishing as the main occupation prevailed in the Ob basin (among the Khanty, Mansi, Selkups), in the lower reaches of the Amur (among the Nivkhs, Ulchis, Nanais), in Kamchatka (among the Itelmens), as well as among the "foot" Koryaks and Evens of the Okhotsk coast. applied various ways and gear for year-round fishing. Hunting was of secondary importance. the main objective this extractive economy - a massive catch, various types of processing of fish products for current consumption and harvesting for future use. Usually the fish was cured and dried, some of it was preserved in pickled form in pits. rendered fish fat and mixed it with dried fish. Fish skins were specially processed for making clothes and shoes.

Settled fishing life was associated with such elements of material culture as collective winter dugouts, ground birch bark tents and even piled "booths" (Kamchatka) as a dwelling, the use of sled (sledge) dog breeding. The Ob Khanty had a loom for making cloth from nettle threads. In the 19th century fishermen of the lower reaches of the Amur began to move to a warm land-based dwelling such as a fanza, and Ob fishermen to log yurts heated by a wall-mounted fireplace - a “chuval”. All groups retained long-brimmed fur clothing as winter and everyday summer clothes, but at the same time they began to wear purchased fabric clothes.

In the vast taiga zone of Siberia, on the basis of the ancient hunting way of life, a specialized economic and cultural complex of hunters-reindeer herders was formed, which included Evenks, Evens, Yukaghirs, Oroks, and Negidals. The fishing of these peoples consisted in catching wild elk and deer, small ungulates and fur-bearing animals. Fishing was almost universally a subsidiary occupation. Unlike sedentary fishermen, the taiga reindeer hunters led a nomadic lifestyle. Taiga transport reindeer breeding is exclusively pack and riding.

The material culture of the hunting peoples of the taiga was fully adapted to constant movement. A typical example of this is the Evenks. Their dwelling was a conical tent, covered with deer skins or dressed skins (“rovduga”), also sewn into wide strips of birch bark boiled in boiling water. With frequent migrations, these tires were transported in packs on domestic deer. To move along the rivers, the Evenks used birch bark boats, so light that one person could easily carry them on their backs. Evenki skis are excellent: wide, long, but very light, glued with the skin from the legs of an elk. Evenki ancient clothing was adapted for frequent skiing and reindeer riding. This garment, made of thin but warm reindeer skins, was swinging, with floors that did not converge in front, the chest and stomach were covered with a kind of fur bib.

The typical reindeer herders of the tundra were the Nenets, reindeer Chukchi and Koryaks. In their economy, the main role was played by reindeer husbandry, which was not only of transport importance, but was the main source of livelihood. Hunting and fishing were only of secondary importance.

Reindeer herders of the tundra wandered all year round, moving with their herds from winter pastures (near the borders of the taiga) to summer pastures (near the sea coast), and in autumn they again migrated to the borders of the forest. The Nenets had special shepherd dogs that helped them collect and protect the herd from wolves. Chukchi and Koryaks did not keep shepherd dogs. At any time of the year, the reindeer herders of the tundra traveled on light sleds - sleds, harnessed by 2-4-5 deer.

The material culture of reindeer herders is not rich, but it is surprisingly adapted to nomadic life and difficult natural conditions. The number of household items is reduced to a possible minimum. The Nenets lived in a collapsible conical tent with a frame of poles, covered with reindeer skins. Wooden dishes were used, only for cooking food they bought a metal cauldron from the Russians. The clothes were exclusively fur, in the form of a long bag with sleeves and a hood, worn over the head. In cold weather, they put on a malitsa made of deer skins with wool inside, and on top - a sovik, or sokuy, made of the same skins, but with wool outside. High fur boots - pima served as footwear.

The dwelling of the nomadic Chukchi and Koryaks - the yaranga - differed from the conical tent of the Nenets in that its frame was built from poles of various lengths and consisted of two parts: the lower cylindrical and the upper conical. Inside the yaranga, covered with deer skins on top, an additional canopy was installed - a room made of deer skins closed on all sides of a cubic shape. If the Nenets heated the tent with an open hearth (fire), then the Chukchi and Koryaks heated their yaranga with a bowl of fat in which a wick of grass twisted with a tow burned.

Finally, the Eskimos, settled Chukchi and Koryaks, who lived not in the tundra, but on the sea coast of Chukotka, were the Arctic sea animal hunters in Siberia. Their entire economic cycle consisted of catching seals (in winter and spring) and walruses (in spring and summer).

The sea animal was beaten with a harpoon with a swivel detachable tip. In winter, the hunter lay in wait for prey at the vents (holes) made by the seal (seal) in the ice, and in spring and summer he went out to fish in the sea on a light boat consisting of a wooden frame covered with leather. Dogs harnessed to sleds were used to move on land.

Once the coastal inhabitants lived in dugouts that had a passage from above, through a smoke hole, but already in the 19th century. they began to build yarangas of the same type as the reindeer herders of the Chukchi tundra. The traditional clothing of both was fur, two-layered: the lower one - with wool to the body, the upper one - with wool outward; being non-open ("deaf"), it was put on over the head.

Although the economic system, culture and social institutions of the fishing peoples of the North were backward, the general course of the historical process in various regions of Siberia was dramatically changed by the events of the 16th - 18th centuries associated with the appearance of Russian explorers and the inclusion of all Siberia in the end into the Russian state. The lively Russian trade and the progressive influence of the Russian settlers made significant changes in the economy and life not only of the pastoral and agricultural, but also of the fishing indigenous population of Siberia. Already by the end of the 18th century. Evenks, Evens, Yukaghirs and other fishing groups of the North began to widely use firearms. This facilitated and quantitatively increased the production of large animals (wild deer, elk) and fur-bearing animals, especially squirrels, the main object of fur trade in the 18th - early 20th centuries. New occupations began to be added to the original crafts - a more developed reindeer husbandry, the use of the draft power of horses, agricultural experiments, the beginnings of a craft on the local raw material base, etc. As a result of all this, the material and everyday culture of the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia also changed.

Spiritual life. However, in the everyday life of the peoples of Siberia, before the revolution itself, there was such a sphere that was least of all amenable to progressive cultural influence. This is the area of ​​religious and mythological ideas and various religious cults. The most common form of belief among the peoples of Siberia was shamanism.

A distinctive feature of shamanism is the belief that certain people - shamans - have the ability, having brought themselves into a frenzied state, to enter into direct communication with the spirits - patrons and assistants of the shaman in the fight against diseases, hunger, loss and other misfortunes. The shaman, on the other hand, was obliged to take care of the success of the craft, the successful birth of a child, etc. Shamanism had several varieties corresponding to various stages of social development of the Siberian peoples themselves. Among the most backward peoples, for example, among the Itelmens, everyone could shaman, and especially old women. The remnants of such "all-out" shamanism have been preserved among other peoples; in particular, the Chukchi, along with the presence of professional shamans, had shamanic rites that were performed by the heads of families during family festivities.

For some peoples, the functions of a shaman were already a specialty, but the shamans themselves served a tribal cult, in which all adult members of the clan took part. Such "ancestral shamanism" was noted among the Yukagirs, Khanty and Mansi, among the Evenks and Buryats.

Professional shamanism flourishes during the period of the collapse of the patriarchal-tribal system. The shaman becomes a special person in the community, opposing himself to uninitiated relatives, lives on income from his profession, which becomes hereditary. It was this form of shamanism that was observed in the recent past among many peoples of Siberia, especially among the Evenks and the Tungus-speaking population of the Amur, among the Nenets, Selkups, and Yakuts.

Among the Buryats, shamanism acquired complicated forms under the influence of Buddhism, and from the end of the 17th century. generally began to be replaced by this religion. Among the peoples of the Altai-Sayan spread the same Buddhism (in Tuva), partly Christianity (among the Khakasses and Altaians), and in connection with them new beliefs appeared (the so-called Burkhanism - worship of the god Burkhan). The West Siberian Tatars once professed shamanism, but since the 16th century. he was supplanted by Islam.

The peoples of Siberia also had other forms of religion, partly associated with shamanism, partly existing separately from it. The family and tribal cult can be attributed to the category of such independent beliefs. Among the Nivkhs, the cult of the bear was a purely tribal cult, during which the shaman was not allowed to swear. The Nenets had developed shamanism, but the images of family patron spirits were made and kept by the heads of families.

A fishing cult is also known, consisting in sacrifices to the "masters" of nature, patron spirits. This cult in some places was linked with shamanism, but more often it had the character of a generic and even individual cult. For example, the Nenets, starting to fish, each individually made sacrifices to the "siadey" - the patrons of hunting and fishing.

Beginning in the 18th century, the tsarist government zealously supported the missionary activity of the Orthodox Church in Siberia, and Christianization was often carried out by coercive measures. By the end of the 19th century most of the Siberian peoples were formally baptized, but their own beliefs did not disappear and continued to have a significant impact on the worldview and behavior of the indigenous population.

In general, on the eve of the October Revolution, most of the peoples of Siberia, especially the North, continued to remain in a state of economic, social, cultural and everyday backwardness. Predatory Russian capitalism, which invaded the lives of these peoples, cared more about their unrestrained exploitation than about the development of elementary education and culture.

socialist transformations. Immediately after the establishment of Soviet power in Siberia, a peculiar direction of transition from patriarchal backwardness to socialist forms of economy and culture, bypassing the capitalist stage of development, emerged, state-organized and supported by local working people.

Already in 1922-1924. the first steps were taken to eliminate the backwardness of the peoples of Siberia through the development of consumer cooperation, material assistance through state bodies, the restriction of non-equivalent private trade and exploitative elements in natural production. In 1922, the Buryat and Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, the Autonomous Region of the Altaians were formed; in 1923 - Khakass Autonomous Region.

Each autonomy was supposed to unite the indigenous population, reveal its strength and mobilize the working masses to build a new life in the fraternal community of the peoples of the USSR. Autonomy was the most convenient form of communication between Soviet power and the nationalities of Siberia. She also played important role in establishing local school education, cultural, educational and medical work. With the help of central institutions, a national school, writing, and printing were created.

In the field of material production, the development of autonomous units proceeded along the lines of reorganization, co-operation and enlargement of agriculture, along the lines of creating industrial centers, and improving all types of transport and communications. As a result of socialist construction, Buryatia, Altai, Tuva and Yakutia turned into developed industrial and agricultural regions with a high level of culture of the indigenous population. Many new cities and workers' settlements arose here.

It was more difficult to raise the population of the deaf, remote regions of the taiga and tundra of the Far North to a new life. Not only was this population in general distinguished by centuries of backwardness, during the period of the imperialist and civil wars it was completely ruined. Soviet construction among the peoples of the North unfolded 5-8 years later than in Central Russia. The initial Sovietization of the North was carried out on the basis of the territorial and tribal division of the population. bodies local government since 1926 tribal Soviets, regional native congresses and executive committees were formed, which were supposed to bring together the scattered parts of the indigenous peoples, convey to them the main ideas of the Soviet national policy, provide local power to the masses while isolating the exploiting elements.

The next step in Soviet construction in the North was the creation of national regions, and in 1929-1931. - national (now autonomous) districts: Nenets, Yamal-Nenets, Khanty-Mansiysk, Dolgano-Nenets, Evenki, Koryak and Chukotka. All aspects of economic and socio-cultural life, all the levers of socialist influence on the process of transforming the traditional way of life of the fishing population, were under the jurisdiction of the district governing bodies, consisting of representatives of local nationalities. The tasks of the districts included the socio-economic cooperation and collectivization of hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, first in the form of PPO - the simplest production associations, and then, from the end of the 30s, in the form of authorized collective farm artels. In the 1960s, there was a massive transformation of the established commercial collective farms into state farms-state farms. The technical reconstruction of the northern fishing economy required special training of mass hunters, fishermen and shepherds by combining the state general educational and vocational system with the traditions of the people's "school" of labor education and training. According to data for 1970, up to one thousand people with higher education and up to four thousand people with incomplete higher and secondary education from indigenous nationalities were employed in various branches of social production in the northern districts.

The bulk of the indigenous population of the northern districts (up to 70% in 1970) remains rural in their social status. Nevertheless, urbanization processes are developing among the northern peoples, and at present even at a faster pace than in the whole country. This is expressed in the fact that an increasing part of the northern population is directly involved in the process of industrial development of local natural resources and, in connection with this, makes a massive migration from industrial settlements to new cities and urban-type settlements on the territory of the districts and beyond. So, in 1970, among the Nenets of the northern districts, urban dwellers accounted for 68% of all Nenets, among the Chukchi - 62.6%, among the Khanty - 66.5%. Migration to the cities of representatives of the northern peoples is associated primarily with changes in the nature of work, living conditions, educational level, the development of socio-cultural orientations and new needs. The urbanization of a certain part of the peoples of the North is closely connected with the degree to which the broad masses of these peoples mastered the language and culture of Russian settlers in the districts; she, in turn, contributes to their mutual rapprochement through more frequent mixed marriages.

The current level of general education of the peoples of the North can be judged from such eloquent data: if in 1926 there were over 90% of the illiterate among the indigenous population, then by 1970 the vast majority of the northerners had an education above the primary level, and there was a noticeable tendency for the outstripping growth of the educational level of women not only by the share of those with a higher degree of education (secondary specialized and partly higher), but also by the average number of years of education. In the North as a whole, all conditions have now been created for the implementation of universal secondary education through the system of boarding schools on full state support.

The training of specialists of indigenous Siberian nationalities is successfully carried out by a wide network of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions both locally and in other regions of Siberia, the Far East and the European part of the country.

The rise in the educational level of the peoples of the North is accompanied by noticeable shifts in other spheres of mass socialist culture. Behind last years the network of local clubs, film installations and libraries has grown and strengthened; Cultural information comes to the population both in Russian and in national languages. There has been a marked increase in modern fiction. Almanacs and books are published in the languages ​​of the peoples of the North. Scientists, writers, poets, professional artists, well-known throughout the country, grew up among them. New stimuli and forms were acquired by mass folk art - dance, singing, poetry, arts and crafts.

Modern Siberia is at the stage of high growth - not only through accelerated and large-scale industrial development, but also through a deep restructuring of the rural way of life, but in general due to the expansion of the material basis and socio-cultural means and forms of a newly arranged social process of life, in typical features of the period of developed socialism represented by the new historical community of the Soviet people.

Siberia occupies a vast geographical area of ​​Russia. Once it included such neighboring states as Mongolia, Kazakhstan and part of China. Today this territory belongs exclusively to Russian Federation. Despite the huge area settlements comparatively few in Siberia. Most of the region is occupied by tundra and steppe.

Description of Siberia

The whole territory is divided into Eastern and Western regions. In rare cases, theologians also define the Southern region, which is the highlands of Altai. The area of ​​Siberia is about 12.6 million square kilometers. km. This is approximately 73.5% of the total. It is interesting that Siberia is larger in area than Canada.

Of the main natural areas, in addition to the Eastern and Western regions, distinguish the Baikal region and the largest rivers are the Yenisei, Irtysh, Angara, Ob, Amur and Lena. Taimyr, Baikal and Ubsu-Nur are considered the most significant lake areas.

From an economic point of view, cities such as Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Ulan-Ude, Tomsk, etc. can be called the centers of the region.

most high point Belukha Mountain is considered to be Siberian - over 4.5 thousand meters.

Population history

Historians call the Samoyed tribes the first inhabitants of the region. This people lived in the northern part. Due to the harsh climate, reindeer herding was the only occupation. They ate mainly fish from adjacent lakes and rivers. The Mansi people lived in the southern part of Siberia. Their favorite pastime was hunting. The Mansi traded in furs, which were highly valued by Western merchants.

The Turks are another significant population of Siberia. They lived in the upper reaches of the Ob River. They were engaged in blacksmithing and cattle breeding. Many Turkic tribes were nomadic. Buryats lived a little to the west of the mouth of the Ob. They became famous for the extraction and processing of iron.

The most numerous ancient population of Siberia was represented by the Tungus tribes. They settled in the territory from the Sea of ​​Okhotsk to the Yenisei. They made a living by reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. The more prosperous were engaged in handicrafts.

There were thousands of Eskimos on the coast of the Chukchi Sea. These tribes had the slowest cultural and social development for a long time. Their only tools are a stone ax and a spear. They were mainly engaged in hunting and gathering.

In the 17th century, there was a sharp jump in the development of the Yakuts and Buryats, as well as the northern Tatars.

Native people

The population of Siberia today is made up of dozens of peoples. Each of them, according to the Constitution of Russia, has its own right to national identification. Many peoples of the Northern region even received autonomy within the Russian Federation with all the ensuing branches of self-government. This contributed not only lightning-fast development culture and economy of the region, but also the preservation of local traditions and customs.

The indigenous population of Siberia mostly consists of Yakuts. Their number varies within 480 thousand people. Most of the population is concentrated in the city of Yakutsk - the capital of Yakutia.

The next largest people are the Buryats. There are more than 460 thousand of them. is the city of Ulan-Ude. The main property of the republic is Lake Baikal. Interestingly, this region is recognized as one of the main Buddhist centers in Russia.

Tuvans are the population of Siberia, which, according to the latest census, numbers about 264 thousand people. In the Republic of Tuva, shamans are still revered.

The population of such peoples as the Altaians and the Khakasses is almost equally divided: 72 thousand people each. The indigenous inhabitants of the districts are adherents of Buddhism.

The Nenets population is only 45 thousand people. They live on Throughout their history, the Nenets were famous nomads. Today, their priority income is reindeer herding.

Also on the territory of Siberia live such peoples as Evenki, Chukchi, Khanty, Shors, Mansi, Koryaks, Selkups, Nanais, Tatars, Chuvans, Teleuts, Kets, Aleuts and many others. Each of them has its own centuries-old traditions and legends.

Population

The dynamics of the demographic component of the region fluctuates significantly every few years. This is due to the mass relocation of young people to the southern cities of Russia and sharp jumps in birth and death rates. There are relatively few immigrants in Siberia. The reason for this is the harsh climate and specific conditions for life in the villages.

According to the latest data, the population of Siberia is about 40 million people. This is more than 27% of the total number of people living in Russia. The population is evenly distributed across the regions. In the northern part of Siberia, there are no large settlements due to poor living conditions. On average, there is 0.5 sq. km of land.

The most populous cities are Novosibirsk and Omsk - 1.57 and 1.05 million inhabitants respectively. Further along this criterion are Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Barnaul.

Peoples of Western Siberia

Cities account for about 71% of the total population of the region. Most of the population is concentrated in the Kemerovo and Khanty-Mansiysk districts. Nevertheless, the Republic of Altai is considered to be the agricultural center of the Western Region. It is noteworthy that the Kemerovo District ranks first in terms of population density - 32 people/sq. km.

The population of Western Siberia is 50% of able-bodied residents. Most of the employment is in industry and agriculture.

The region has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, with the exception of Tomsk Oblast and Khanty-Mansiysk.

Today the population of Western Siberia is Russians, Khanty, Nenets, Turks. By religion, there are Orthodox, Muslims, and Buddhists.

Population of Eastern Siberia

The share of urban residents varies within 72%. The most economically developed are the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region. From the point of view of agriculture, the Buryat district is considered the most important point in the region.

Every year the population of Eastern Siberia becomes less and less. Recently, there has been a sharp negative trend in migration and birth rates. It is also the lowest in the country. In some areas, it is 33 square meters. km per person. The unemployment rate is high.

IN ethnic composition includes such peoples as Mongols, Turks, Russians, Buryats, Evenks, Dolgans, Kets, etc. Most of the population is Orthodox and Buddhists.

The history of the Siberian peoples goes back thousands of years. Since ancient times, great people lived here, keeping the traditions of their ancestors, respecting nature and its gifts. And just as the lands of Siberia are vast, so are the peoples of the indigenous Siberians.

Altaians

According to the results of the 2010 census, the number of Altaians is about 70,000 people, which makes them the largest ethnic group in Siberia. They live mainly in the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic.

The nationality is divided into 2 ethnic groups - the Southern and Northern Altaians, which differ both in their way of life and in the peculiarities of the language.

Religion: Buddhism, Shamanism, Burkhanism.

Teleuts

Most often, the Teleuts are considered an ethnic group associated with the Altaians. But some distinguish them as a separate nationality.

They live in the Kemerovo region. The population is about 2 thousand people. Language, culture, faith, traditions are inherent in the Altaians.

Sayots

Sayots live on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia. The population is about 4000 people.

Being the descendants of the inhabitants of the Eastern Sayan - the Sayan Samoyeds. Sayots have preserved their culture and traditions since ancient times and to this day remain reindeer herders and hunters.

Dolgany

The main settlements of Dolgans are located on the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory - Dolgano-Nenets municipal area. The number is about 8000 people.

Religion - Orthodoxy. The Dolgans are the northernmost Turkic-speaking people in the world.

Shors

Adherents of shamanism - Shors live mainly on the territory of the Kemerovo region. The people are distinguished by their original ancient culture. The first mention of the Shors goes back to the 6th century AD.

The nationality is usually divided into mountain-taiga and southern Shors. The total number is about 14,000 people.

Evenki

The Evenks speak the Tungus language and have been hunting for centuries.

Nationality, there are about 40,000 people settled in the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, China and Mongolia.

Nenets

Small nationality of Siberia, live near the Kola Peninsula. The Nenets are a nomadic people, they are engaged in reindeer herding.

Their number is about 45,000 people.

Khanty

More than 30,000 Khanty live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. They are engaged in hunting, reindeer herding, and fishing.

Many of the modern Khanty consider themselves Orthodox, but in some families they still profess shamanism.

Mansi

One of the oldest indigenous Siberian peoples is the Mansi.

Even Ivan the Terrible sent whole ratis to battle with Mansi during the development of Siberia.

Today they number about 12,000 people. They live mainly on the territory of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

Nanais

Historians call the Nanais the most ancient people of Siberia. The number is about 12,000 people.

They mainly live in the Far East and along the banks of the Amur in China. Nanai is translated as a man of the earth.

Features of the peoples of Siberia

In addition to anthropological and linguistic features, the peoples of Siberia have a number of specific, traditionally stable cultural and economic features that characterize the historical and ethnographic diversity of Siberia. In cultural and economic terms, the territory of Siberia can be divided into two large historically developed regions: the southern one is the region of ancient cattle breeding and agriculture; and northern - the area of ​​commercial hunting and fishing economy. The boundaries of these areas do not coincide with the boundaries of landscape zones. Stable economic and cultural types of Siberia developed in antiquity as a result of historical and cultural processes of different time and nature, which took place in a homogeneous natural and economic environment and under the influence of external foreign cultural traditions.

By the 17th century among the indigenous population of Siberia, according to the predominant type of economic activity, the following economic and cultural types have developed: 1) foot hunters and fishermen of the taiga zone and forest-tundra; 2) sedentary fishermen in the basins of large and small rivers and lakes; 3) sedentary hunters for sea animals on the coast of the Arctic seas; 4) nomadic taiga reindeer herders-hunters and fishermen; 5) nomadic reindeer herders of the tundra and forest-tundra; 6) pastoralists of the steppes and forest-steppes.

In the past, some groups of foot Evenks, Orochs, Udeges, separate groups of Yukagirs, Kets, Selkups, partly Khanty and Mansi, and Shors belonged to the foot hunters and fishermen of the taiga in the past. For these peoples great importance had hunting for meat animals (moose, deer), fishing. A characteristic element of their culture was a hand sled.

The settled-fishing type of economy was widespread in the past among the peoples living in the basins of the river. Amur and Ob: Nivkhs, Nanais, Ulchis, Itelmens, Khanty, part of the Selkups and the Ob Mansi. For these peoples, fishing was the main source of livelihood throughout the year. The hunt had an auxiliary character.

The type of sedentary hunters for sea animals is represented among the settled Chukchi, Eskimos, and partly settled Koryaks. The economy of these peoples is based on the extraction of sea animals (walrus, seal, whale). Arctic hunters settled on the coasts of the Arctic seas. The products of the marine fur trade, in addition to meeting personal needs for meat, fat and skins, also served as a subject of exchange with neighboring related groups.

Nomadic taiga reindeer breeders, hunters and fishermen were the most common type of economy among the peoples of Siberia in the past. He was represented among the Evenks, Evens, Dolgans, Tofalars, Forest Nenets, Northern Selkups, and Reindeer Kets. Geographically, it covered mainly the forests and forest-tundra of Eastern Siberia, from the Yenisei to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, and also extended west of the Yenisei. The basis of the economy was hunting and keeping deer, as well as fishing.

The nomadic reindeer herders of the tundra and forest-tundra include the Nenets, reindeer Chukchi and reindeer Koryaks. These peoples have developed a special type of economy, the basis of which is reindeer husbandry. Hunting and fishing, as well as sea fishing, are of secondary importance or are completely absent. The main food product for this group of peoples is deer meat. The deer also serves as a reliable vehicle.

Cattle breeding in the steppes and forest-steppes in the past was widely represented among the Yakuts, the world's northernmost pastoral people, among the Altaians, Khakasses, Tuvans, Buryats, and Siberian Tatars. Cattle breeding was of a commercial nature, the products almost completely satisfied the needs of the population in meat, milk and dairy products. Agriculture among pastoral peoples (except for the Yakuts) existed as an auxiliary branch of the economy. Some of these peoples were engaged in hunting and fishing.

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Siberia is a vast historical and geographical region in the northeast of Eurasia. Today it is almost entirely located within the Russian Federation. The population of Siberia is represented by Russians, as well as numerous indigenous peoples (Yakuts, Buryats, Tuvans, Nenets and others). In total, at least 36 million people live in the region.

This article will focus on the general features of the population of Siberia, about largest cities and development history of the area.

Siberia: general characteristics of the region

Most often, the southern border of Siberia coincides with the state border of the Russian Federation. In the west it is bounded by the ranges of the Ural Mountains, in the east by the waters of the Pacific, and in the north by the Northern arctic oceans. However, in the historical context, Siberia also covers the northeastern territories of modern Kazakhstan.

The population of Siberia (as of 2017) is 36 million people. Geographically, the region is divided into Western and Eastern Siberia. The line of demarcation between them is the Yenisei River. The main cities of Siberia are Barnaul, Tomsk, Norilsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Omsk, Tyumen.

As for the name of this region, its origin is not precisely established. There are several versions. According to one of them, the toponym is closely connected with the Mongolian word "shibir" - it is a swampy area overgrown with birch groves. It is assumed that this is what the Mongols called this area in the Middle Ages. But according to Professor Zoya Boyarshinova, the term came from the self-name of the ethnic group "Sabir", whose language is considered the ancestor of the entire Ugric language group.

The population of Siberia: density and total number

According to the 2002 census, 39.13 million people lived within the region. However, the current population of Siberia is only 36 million inhabitants. Thus, it is a sparsely populated area, but its ethnic diversity is truly enormous. More than 30 peoples and nationalities live here.

The average population density in Siberia is 6 people per 1 square kilometer. But it is very different in different parts of the region. Thus, the highest population density rates are in the Kemerovo region (about 33 people per sq. km.), and the lowest - in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Tyva (1.2 and 1.8 people per sq. km., respectively). The most densely populated valleys of large rivers (Ob, Irtysh, Tobol and Ishim), as well as the foothills of the Altai.

The level of urbanization here is quite high. So, at least 72% of the inhabitants of the region live in the cities of Siberia today.

Demographic problems of Siberia

The population of Siberia is rapidly declining. Moreover, the mortality and birth rates here, in general, are almost identical to the national ones. And in Tula, for example, the birth rate is completely astronomical for Russia.

The main reason for the demographic crisis in Siberia is the migration outflow of the population (primarily young people). And the leader in these processes is the Far Eastern Federal District. From 1989 to 2010, it "lost" almost 20% of its population. According to surveys, about 40% of Siberian residents dream of moving to other regions for permanent residence. And these are very sad indicators. Thus, Siberia, conquered and mastered with such great difficulty, is emptying every year.

Today, the balance of migration in the region is 2.1%. And this figure will only grow in the coming years. Siberia (in particular, its western part) is already very acutely experiencing a shortage of labor resources.

The indigenous population of Siberia: a list of peoples

Siberia in ethnic terms is an extremely diverse territory. Representatives of 36 indigenous peoples and ethnic groups live here. Although Russians prevail in Siberia, of course (about 90%).

The top ten indigenous peoples in the region are:

1. Yakuts (478,000 people).
2. Buryats (461,000).
3. Tuvans (264,000).
4. Khakass (73,000).
5. Altaians (71,000).
6. Nenets (45,000).
7. Evenks (38,000).
8. Khanty (31,000).
9. Evens (22,000).
10. Mansi (12,000).

The peoples of the Turkic group (Khakas, Tuvans, Shors) live mainly in the upper reaches of the Yenisei River. Altaians - concentrated within the Altai Republic. Mostly Buryats live in Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia (pictured below), and Evenks live in the taiga of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The Taimyr Peninsula is inhabited by Nenets (in the next photo), Dolgans and Nganasans. But in the lower reaches of the Yenisei, the Kets live compactly - a small people who use a language that is not included in any of the known language groups. Tatars and Kazakhs also live in the southern part of Siberia within the steppe and forest-steppe zones.

The Russian population of Siberia, as a rule, considers itself to be Orthodox. Kazakhs and Tatars are Muslims by their religion. Many of the region's indigenous peoples adhere to traditional pagan beliefs.

Natural resources and economics

"Pantry of Russia" - this is how Siberia is often called, meaning the mineral resources of the region, grandiose in scale and diversity. So, there are colossal reserves of oil and gas, copper, lead, platinum, nickel, gold and silver, diamonds, coal and other minerals. About 60% of the all-Russian peat deposits lie in the bowels of Siberia.

Of course, the economy of Siberia is fully focused on the extraction and processing of natural resources in the region. Moreover, not only mineral and fuel and energy, but also forest. In addition, non-ferrous metallurgy and the pulp industry are well developed in the region.

At the same time, the rapid development of the mining and energy industries could not but affect the ecology of Siberia. So, it is here that the most polluted cities of Russia are located - Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk and Novokuznetsk.

History of the development of the region

After the collapse of the Golden Horde, the lands east of the Urals, in fact, turned out to be no man's land. Only the Siberian Tatars managed to organize their own state here - the Siberian Khanate. True, it did not last long.

Ivan the Terrible began to seriously colonize the Siberian lands, and even then - only towards the end of his tsarist reign. Prior to this, the Russians were practically not interested in the lands located beyond the Urals. At the end of the 16th century, the Cossacks, under the leadership of Yermak, founded several fortress cities in Siberia. Among them are Tobolsk, Tyumen and Surgut.

Initially, Siberia was mastered by exiles and convicts. Later, already in the 19th century, landless peasants began to come here in search of free hectares. Serious exploration of Siberia began only at the end of the 19th century. In many ways, this was facilitated by the laying of the railway line. During the Second World War, large factories and enterprises of the Soviet Union were evacuated to Siberia, and this had a positive impact on the development of the region's economy in the future.

Main cities

There are nine cities in the region, the population of which exceeds the 500,000 mark. This:

• Novosibirsk.
• Omsk.
• Krasnoyarsk.
• Tyumen.
• Barnaul.
• Irkutsk.
• Tomsk.
• Kemerovo.
• Novokuznetsk.

The first three cities on this list are "millionaires" in terms of population.

Novosibirsk is the unspoken capital of Siberia, the third most populated city in Russia. It is located on both banks of the Ob, one of the largest rivers in Eurasia. Novosibirsk is an important industrial, commercial and Cultural Center country. The leading industries of the city are energy, metallurgy and mechanical engineering. The economy of Novosibirsk is based on about 200 large and medium enterprises.

Krasnoyarsk is the oldest of the major cities in Siberia. It was founded back in 1628. It is the most important economic, cultural and educational center of Russia. Krasnoyarsk is located on the banks of the Yenisei, on the conditional border of Western and Eastern Siberia. The city has a developed space industry, mechanical engineering, chemical industry and pharmaceuticals.

Tyumen is one of the first Russian cities in Siberia. Today it is the most important oil refining center in the country. Oil and gas production contributed to the rapid development of various scientific organizations in the city. Today, about 10% of the able-bodied population of Tyumen works in research institutes and universities.

Finally

Siberia is the largest historical and geographical region of Russia with a population of 36 million people. It is extraordinarily rich in various natural resources, however suffers from a number of social and demographic problems. There are only three million-plus cities within the region. These are Novosibirsk, Omsk and Krasnoyarsk.