Everyone writes what they hear. The most numerous peoples of the world. List of largest nationalities

The study of the ethnic (national) composition of the population is carried out by a science called ethnology (from the Greek ethnos - tribe, people), or ethnography. Formed as an independent branch of science in the second half of the 19th century, ethnology still maintains a close connection with geography, history, sociology, anthropology and other sciences.
The basic concept of ethnology is the concept of ethnicity. An ethnos is a stable community of people that has developed in a certain territory, possessing, as a rule, a common language, some common features culture and psyche, as well as general self-awareness, i.e., awareness of its unity, in contrast to other similar ethnic formations. Some scientists believe that none of the listed characteristics of an ethnic group is decisive: in some cases the main role is played by territory, in others by language, in others by cultural features, etc. (In fact, for example, the Germans and Austrians, the British and Australians, Portuguese and Brazilians speak the same language, but belong to different ethnic groups, while the Swiss, on the contrary, speak four languages, but form one ethnic group.) Others believe that ethnic self-awareness should be considered the defining feature, which is also usually fixed in a specific self-name (ethnonym), for example, “Russians”, “Germans”, “Chinese”, etc.
The theory of the emergence and development of ethnic groups is called the theory of ethnogenesis. Until recently, Russian science was dominated by the division of peoples (ethnic groups) into three stage types: tribe, nationality and nation. At the same time, they proceeded from the fact that tribes and tribal unions - as communities of people - historically corresponded to the primitive communal system. Nationalities were usually associated with the slave-owning and feudal system, and nations as higher form ethnic community- with the development of capitalist and then socialist relations (hence the division of nations into bourgeois and socialist). Recently, in connection with the revaluation of the previous formational approach, which was based on the doctrine of historical continuity socio-economic formations, and with an increasing orientation towards the modern civilizational approach, many previous provisions of the theory of ethnogenesis began to be revised, and in scientific terminology - as a generalizing one - the concept of “ethnos” began to be used more and more widely.
In connection with the theory of ethnogenesis, it is impossible not to mention one fundamental dispute that has long been waged by domestic scientists. Most of them adhere to the view of ethnicity as a historical-social, historical-economic phenomenon. Others proceed from the fact that ethnicity should be considered a kind of bio-geo-historical phenomenon.
This point of view was defended by geographer, historian and ethnographer L. N. Gumilev in the book “Ethnogenesis and Biosphere of the Earth” and his other works. He considered ethnogenesis to be a primarily biological, biosphere process, associated with human passionarity, i.e., with his ability to overexert forces to achieve great goal. In this case, the condition for the emergence of passionary impulses that influence the formation and development of an ethnic group is not solar activity, but a special state of the Universe, from which ethnic groups receive energy impulses. According to Gumilyov, the process of existence of an ethnos - from its origin to its collapse - lasts 1200–1500 years. During this time, it goes through phases of rise, then breakdown, obscuration (from the Latin obscurous - darkened, in the sense of reactionary) and, finally, relict. When the highest phase is reached, the largest ethnic formations—superethnoses—emerge. L.N. Gumilyov believed that Russia entered a phase of recovery in the 13th century, and in the 19th century. moved into a phase of breakdown, which in the 20th century. was in its final stage.
After becoming familiar with the concept of ethnicity, you can move on to considering the ethnic composition (structure) of the world's population, that is, its distribution according to the principle of ethnicity (nationality).
First of all, naturally, the question arises about the total number of ethnic groups (peoples) inhabiting the Earth. It is usually believed that there are from 4 thousand to 5.5 thousand. It is difficult to give a more precise figure, since many of them have not yet been sufficiently studied, and this does not allow distinguishing, say, a language from its dialects. In terms of numbers, all peoples are distributed extremely disproportionately (Table 56).
Table 56


Analysis of table 56 shows that in the early 1990s. 321 nations, numbering more than 1 million people each, accounted for 96.2% of the total population of the globe. Including 79 nations with a population of more than 10 million people accounted for almost 80% of the population, 36 nations with a population of more than 25 million people accounted for about 65%, and 19 nations with a population of more than 50 million people each accounted for 54% of the population. By the end of the 1990s. number of most large nations increased to 21, and their share in the world population approached 60% (Table 57).
It is not difficult to calculate that the total number of 11 nations, each of which numbers more than 100 million people, is about half of humanity. And at the other pole there are hundreds of small ethnic groups living mainly in tropical forests and in the regions of the North. Many of them number less than 1,000 people, such as the Andamanese in India, the Toala in Indonesia, the Alakaluf in Argentina and Chile, and the Yukaghir in Russia.
Table 57

No less interesting and important is the question of the national composition of the population. individual countries peace. In accordance with its characteristics, five types of states can be distinguished: 1) single-national; 2) with a sharp predominance of one nation, but with the presence of more or less significant national minorities; 3) binational; 4) with a more complex national composition, but relatively homogeneous ethnically; 5) multinational, with a complex and ethnically diverse composition.
The first type of states is quite widely represented in the world. For example, in overseas Europe about half of all countries are practically single-national. These are Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal. In foreign Asia there are much fewer such countries: Japan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and some small countries. There are even fewer of them in Africa (Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Madagascar). And in Latin America almost all states are single-national, since Indians, mulattoes, and mestizos are considered parts of single nations.
Countries of the second type are also quite common. In foreign Europe these are Great Britain, France, Spain, Romania, and the Baltic countries. In foreign Asia - China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Syria, Turkey. In Africa - Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Botswana. IN North America– USA, in Oceania – Australia and New Zealand.
The third type of country is much less common. Examples include Belgium and Canada.
Countries of the fourth type, with a rather complex, although ethnically homogeneous composition, are most often found in Asia, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. They also exist in Latin America.
The most typical countries of the fifth type are India and Russia. This type also includes Indonesia, the Philippines, and many countries in Western and Southern Africa.
It is known that recently, in countries with a more complex national composition, interethnic contradictions have noticeably worsened.
They have different historical roots. Thus, in countries that emerged as a result of European colonization, oppression of the indigenous population (Indians, Eskimos, Australian aborigines, Maoris) continues. Another source of controversy is the underestimation of the linguistic and cultural identity of national minorities (Scots and Welsh in Great Britain, Basques in Spain, Corsicans in France, French Canadians in Canada). Another reason for the intensification of such contradictions was the influx of tens and hundreds of thousands of foreign workers into many countries. In developing countries, interethnic contradictions are associated primarily with the consequences of the colonial era, when the boundaries of possessions were drawn for the most part without taking into account ethnic boundaries, as a result of which a kind of “ethnic mosaic” arose. Constant contradictions on national grounds, reaching the point of militant separatism, are especially characteristic of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, DR Congo, Sudan, Somalia, and many other countries.
The ethnic composition of the population of individual countries does not remain unchanged. Over time, it gradually changes, primarily under the influence of ethnic processes, which are divided into processes of ethnic division and ethnic unification. Separation processes include those processes in which a previously unified ethnic group either ceases to exist or is divided into parts. Unification processes, on the contrary, lead to the merging of groups of people of different ethnicities and the formation of larger ethnic communities. This occurs as a result of interethnic consolidation, assimilation and integration.
The process of consolidation is manifested in the merging of ethnic groups (or parts thereof) that are close in language and culture, which as a result turn into a larger ethnic community. This process is typical, for example, of Tropical Africa; It also happened in the former USSR. The essence of assimilation lies in the fact that individual parts of an ethnic group or even an entire people, living among another people, as a result of long-term communication, assimilate its culture, perceive its language and cease to consider itself belonging to the previous ethnic community. One of the important factors of such assimilation is ethnically mixed marriages. Assimilation is more common in economically developed countries with long-established nations, where these nations assimilate less developed national groups of people. And interethnic integration is understood as the bringing together of different ethnic groups without merging them into a single whole. It occurs in both developed and developing countries. It can be added that consolidation leads to the consolidation of ethnic groups, and assimilation leads to a reduction in national minorities.
Russia is one of the most multinational states in the world. It is inhabited by more than 190 peoples and nationalities. According to the 2002 census, Russians make up more than 80% of the total population. In second place in terms of numbers are the Tatars (more than 5 million people), the third are the Ukrainians (over 4 million), and the fourth are the Chuvash. The share of each of the other nations in the country's population did not exceed 1%.

To the question How many nationalities officially exist in the world? And how many are there in Russia and the USA? given by the author Kevin the best answer is The size of each national group (as calculated by the US Census Bureau for 2003):
White: 81.7%,
African Americans: 12.9%
Asians 4.2%,
Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts 1%,
Native Hawaiians and other Oceanians 0.2% (2003)
According to the 2000 census:
total: 281,421,906,
whites - 75.1% (211,460,626), African Americans - 12.3% (34,658,190),
Aleut and Eskimo Indians - 0.9% (2,475,956),
Asians - 3.6% (10,242,998),
Native Hawaiians or other Oceanians - 0.1% (398,835),
other nationalities 0 5.5% (15,359,073),
2 or more nationalities - 2.4% (6,826,228);
Hispanics -12.5% ​​(35,305,818).
Note: The Hispanic column is not included because the U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic as a person of Hispanic descent (including Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican) living in the states and who may be of any race or ethnicity (White, Black, Asian, and etc.)
The national composition of the population of modern Russia is also very diverse (more than 100 nations and nationalities live here).
According to the latest population census of 1989, the majority of the population are Russians (more than 80%), of the numerous nationalities inhabiting Russia, the following should be noted: Tatars (over 5 million people), Ukrainians (over 4 million), Chuvash, Bashkirs, Belarusians, Mordovians, etc.
All the peoples inhabiting our country can be divided into three groups. The first is ethnic groups, most of who live in Russia, and outside it make up only a few large groups(Russians, Chuvashs, Bashkirs, Tatars, Komi, Yakuts, Buryats, Kalmyks, etc.). They, as a rule, form national-state units.
The second group are those peoples of the “near abroad” countries (i.e. republics former USSR), as well as some other countries that are represented on the territory of Russia by significant groups, in some cases compact settlements (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Armenians, Poles, Greeks, etc.).
And finally, the third group is formed by small subdivisions of ethnic groups, most of them living outside of Russia (Romanians, Hungarians, Abkhazians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Albanians, Croats, etc.).
Thus, about 100 peoples (the first group) live mainly on the territory of Russia, the rest (representatives of the second and third groups) live mainly in the countries of the “near abroad” or other countries of the world, but are still an essential element of the population of Russia.
Russia, being a multinational republic in its state structure, is a federation built on a national-territorial principle.
Russia is primarily a Slavic state (the share of Slavs is above 85%) and the largest Slavic state in the world.

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: How many nationalities officially exist in the world? And how many are there in Russia and the USA?

Answer from Alex Startseff[guru]
We have many, but the USA has no nationalities, all are Americans...

Answer from I-beam[guru]
In the USA, one nationality is American or US citizen. In Russia there is also one nationality - Russian-Russian or citizen of the Russian Federation. There are as many nations as there are countries in the world. Everything else is from the great mind of stupid politicians and wise scientists. State and nation are synonymous. But the peoples... Yesterday they were Russians, today they have become Ukrainians. Siberians and Volzhans may appear in the same way.

No science has yet given an exact definition of such a concept as “people,” but everyone understands by this concept a large community of people living compactly in a certain territory.

The science of ethnography, which studies peoples and ethnic groups, including the most numerous nations, identifies today from 2.4 to 2.7 thousand nationalities living on earth. But in such a delicate matter, ethnographers can rely on statistical data, which put the figure at 5 and a half thousand peoples on Earth.

No less interesting is ethnogenesis, which studies the emergence and development of various ethnic groups. Let us present in a small overview the largest nations that emerged in ancient times, and their total number exceeds 100 million people.

Chinese (1,320 million)

Generalized concept " Chinese people"includes all residents of China, including people of other nationalities, as well as those who have Chinese citizenship but live abroad.

Nevertheless, the Chinese people are the largest, both in the concept of “nation” and in the concept of “nationality”. Today, there are 1 billion 320 million Chinese living in the world, which is 19% of the total population of the planet. So, the list is the most big nations the world, by all indicators, is rightfully led by the Chinese.

Although in fact, those whom we call “Chinese” are ethnically representatives of the Han people. China is a multinational country.

The very name of the people is “Han”, which means “ Milky Way”, and comes from the name of the country “Celestial Empire”. They are also the most ancient people on Earth, whose roots go back to the distant past. The Han people in China make up the absolute majority, about 92% of the country's population.

Interesting Facts:

• The Chinese Zhuang people, who are a national minority in the country, number about 18 million people, which is comparable to the population of Kazakhstan and larger than the population of the Netherlands.
• Another Chinese people, Huizu, has a population of about 10.5 million, which is earlier than the population of countries such as Belgium, Tunisia, the Czech Republic or Portugal.

Arabs (330-340 million)

The Arabs, who occupy second place, are defined in ethnographic science as a group of nationalities, but from the point of view of ethnogenesis, they are one people of the Semitic language group.

The nation developed in the Middle Ages, when the Arabs settled in the Middle East and northern part Africa. They all have one thing in common Arabic and a unique writing system - Arabic script. The people have long gone beyond the boundaries of their historical homeland, and modern stage, due to various circumstances, settled in other regions of the globe.

Today the number of Arabs is estimated at 330-340 million people. They mostly adhere to Islam, but there are also Christians.

Did you know that:

• There are more Arabs living in Brazil than in the United Arab Emirates.
• Arabs consider the gesture to be a sexually suggestive insult.

Americans (317 million)

Here shining example, when it is possible to accurately define the people, with the practically non-existent concept of “American nation”. In a narrow sense, this is a group of different nationalities that make up the population of the United States and have American citizenship.

Over the course of its 200-year history, a single culture, mentality, and common language used in communication have developed, which makes it possible to unite the population of the United States into one people.

Today there are 317 million US Americans. For the indigenous population of America, Indians, the name Americans may be used, but in terms of ethnic identification this is a completely different ethnic group.

By the way, read about the most interesting sights of the USA.

Hindustani (265 million)

At the moment, Hindustanis have settled compactly in three neighboring countries in the South-Eastern region of the planet - India, Nepal and Pakistan.

As for India, the largest number of them live in the northern part of the state. In total, ethnology numbers about 265 million Hindustanis, and their main language of communication is various dialects of the Hindi language.

I wonder what of related nationalities the closest to them are the Gypsies and Dravidians who inhabit the southern regions of India.

Bengalis (over 250 million)

Among the numerous peoples, the Bengalis, numbering more than 250 million, also occupy a leading position. They mostly live in Asian countries, but there are small diasporas in the USA and Great Britain, and they also exist in other European countries.

Over the centuries-old history, the Bengalis have preserved their national culture, identity and language, as well as their main activities. In the Asian region they live mainly in rural areas, since they have been engaged in agriculture since ancient times.

The Bengali language is one of the most complex on earth; it was formed as a result of the synthesis of the Indo-Aryan language and numerous local dialects.

Brazilians (197 million)

A group of different ethnic groups living in Latin America have formed into a single Brazilian people. There are currently about 197 million Brazilians, most of whom live in Brazil itself.

The people passed difficult path ethnogenesis began to take shape as a result of the European conquest of the South American continent. Indian nationalities lived interspersed over vast territories, and with the arrival of Europeans, most of them were destroyed, the rest assimilated.

And so it happened that the religion of the Brazilians became Catholicism, and the language of communication became Portuguese.

Russians (about 150 million)

The name of the most numerous people of Russia occurred as a result of the transition of the adjective “Russian people”, “Russian people” into the generalizing noun “Russians”, in the concept of people.

Modern statistical studies indicate that there are about 150 million Russians on Earth, most of whom live in Russia. The most numerous people of Russia belong to language group East Slavic languages, and today more than 180 million people consider Russian their native language.

Russians are practically homogeneous in anthropological terms, although they are spread over a large territory and are divided into several ethnographic groups. The ethnos emerged during the development of the Russian state from different ethnic groups of the Slavs.

Interesting fact: Largest quantity Russians outside the borders of the Russian Federation and the countries of the former USSR are located in Germany (∼ 3.7 million) and in the USA (∼ 3 million).

Mexicans (148 million)

Mexicans, who number about 148 million people, are united by a common territory of residence, a single Spanish communication, as well as an amazing national culture that has developed on the basis of the heritage ancient civilizations Central America.

This people is also a vivid example of duality, since those Mexicans who live in the United States can simultaneously be considered Americans.
The people are also unique in that they are Latin Americans by ethnicity, but their language of communication classifies them as a Romance group. It is also the nation on our planet that is growing at the fastest pace.

Japanese (132 million)

There are 132 million conservative Japanese on Earth, and they live mainly in their historical homeland. After World War II, some Japanese settled around the world, and now only 3 million people live outside Japan.

The Japanese people are distinguished by isolation, high diligence, a special attitude towards the historical past and national culture. Over many centuries, the Japanese have managed to preserve and, most importantly, increase their heritage, both spiritual and material and technical.

The Japanese treat foreigners in a special way, with some suspicion, and are reluctant to allow them into their lives.

Punjabis (130 million)

Another of the largest nations lives compactly in the territories of India and Pakistan. Of the 130 million Punjabis in the Asian regions, a small portion settled in Europe and Africa.

For many centuries, the hardworking people created an extensive irrigation system for irrigated fields, and their main occupation has always been agriculture.

It was the Punjabis who were one of the first peoples on earth to create a highly developed and cultural civilization in the valleys of Indian rivers. But, as a result of cruel colonial policy, much of the heritage of this people was lost.

Biharis (115 million)

The amazing Bihari people, living mainly in the Indian state of Bihar, today number about 115 million people. A small part settled in other Indian states and neighboring countries.

Modern representatives of the people are direct descendants of those. Who created the first agricultural civilizations on Earth in the Indus and Ganges valleys.

Today it is observed active process urbanization of the Biharis, and, leaving their main occupations and ancient crafts and trades, they moved en masse to the cities.

Javanese (105 million)

The last major nation on earth, numbering more than 100 million people. According to the latest data from ethnology and statistics, there are about 105 million Javanese people on the planet.

IN XIX century data on the origin were provided only by the Russian ethnographer and traveler Miklouho-Maclay, but today quite a lot is known about the ethnogenesis of the Javanese.

They settled mainly on the islands of Oceania, and are the indigenous population of the large island of Java and the state of Indonesia. Over many centuries they have created a unique and inimitable culture.

Thais (over 90 million)

Just by the name of the ethnic group, it is clear that the Thais are the indigenous population of the kingdom of Thailand, and today there are more than 90 million of them.

The etymology of the origin of the word “tai” is interesting, which in local dialects means “ free man" Ethnographers and archaeologists, studying the culture of the Thais, have determined that it was formed during the early Middle Ages.

Among other nations, this nation is distinguished by its sincere love, sometimes bordering on fanaticism, for theatrical art.

Koreans (83 million)

The people formed many centuries ago and at one time populated the Korean Peninsula of Asia. They managed to create a highly developed culture, and carefully protect national traditions.

The total number of people is 83 million, but the confrontation led to the formation of two states with one ethnic group, which is an unresolved tragedy for the Koreans today.

More than 65 million Koreans live in South Korea, the rest in North Korea, and also settled in other Asian and European countries.

Marathi (83 million)

India, among all its uniqueness, is also the record holder for the number of numerous nationalities living on its territory. For example, in the state of Maharashtra lives amazing people Marakhti.

A very talented people, people from whom occupy high positions in India, Indian cinema is filled with Marakhti.

In addition, the Marakhti are a very purposeful and united ethnic group, which in the 50s of the twentieth century achieved the creation of their own state, and today, numbering 83 million people, this is the main population of the Indian state.

European peoples

It is worth separately touching upon the largest peoples of Europe, among which the leaders are the descendants of the ancient Germans, the Germans, whose number, according to various sources, ranges from 80 to 95 million. Second place is firmly held by Italians, of whom there are 75 million on earth. But the French are firmly established in third place, with a population of about 65 million.

Summarize

In the photo: Fountain of Friendship of Peoples in Moscow.

Large peoples living on globe, however, like the small ones, they have their own cultural and national traditions that have developed over a long historical process.

Today, the process of erasing ethnic and national boundaries is increasingly observed. There are practically no mono-national states left on Earth, it’s just that in each of them there is one dominant nation, and all the different national people are united under the general concept of “resident of the country.”

IN modern world Russia is the largest country, occupying a vast area - more than seventeen thousand square kilometers. Two continents divide it into parts - European and Asian. Each of them is larger in territory than many not-so-small states of the Earth.

In terms of population, however, our country is only in ninth place. The number of Russians today does not reach one hundred and fifty million people. The problem is that most of the country's territory lies under deserted steppes and taiga, for example, these are the most remote regions of Siberia.

However, this is compensated by the number of peoples living here. This was predetermined by the past. Historically, Russia is a multinational state, which it became by absorbing neighboring peoples and attracting strangers large areas and riches. According to official data, almost two hundred peoples now live in the Russian state, differing sharply in numbers: from Russians (more than one hundred and ten million people) to Kerek (less than ten representatives).

How many of us are there?

How many peoples live in Russia? How to find out? Leading sources useful information Statistical censuses regularly conducted in recent years serve as information about the population of our country. At the same time, according to modern techniques and according to democratic approaches, data on the nationality of Russian residents by origin is not noted in documents, which is why digital material for the census appeared on the basis of self-determination of Russians.

In total, in recent years, a little more than 80% of the country’s citizens declared themselves Russian by nationality, leaving only 19.1% as representatives of other nations. Almost six million census participants were unable to identify their nationality at all or defined it as a fantastic people (elves, for example).

Summing up the final calculations, it should be noted that the total number of peoples of the country who do not consider themselves Russian population did not exceed twenty-five million citizens.

This suggests that the ethnic composition of the Russian population is very complex and requires constant special attention. On the other hand, there is one large ethnic group that serves as a kind of core of the entire system.

Ethnic composition

The basis of the national composition of Russia is, of course, Russians. This people comes from their own historical roots from Eastern Slavs who lived on the territory of Rus' since ancient times. A significant part of Russians exist, of course, in Russia, but there are large layers in a number of former Soviet republics and in the USA. This is the most significant European ethnic group. Today there are more than one hundred thirty-three million Russians living in the world.

Russians are the titular people of our country; their representatives dominate in a significant number of regions of modern Russian state. Of course, this led to side effects. The spread of this nation over several centuries over a vast territory during historical development led to the formation of dialects, as well as separate ethnic groups. For example, on the coast of the White Sea live the Pomors, who form a subethnic group of local Karelians and Russians who arrived in the past.

Among the more complex ethnic associations, groups of peoples can be noted. The largest group of peoples are the Slavs, mainly from the eastern subgroup.

In total, representatives of nine large language families live in Russia, differing greatly in language, culture, and way of life. With the exception of the Indo-European family, they are mainly of Asian origin.

This is the approximate ethnic composition of the Russian population today according to official data. What can be said definitely is that our country is distinguished by a significant diversity of nationalities.

The largest nations of Russia

The nationalities living in Russia are quite clearly divided into numerous and small. The first ones, in particular, include:

• The Russian inhabitants of the country number (according to the latest census) more than one hundred and ten million people.
• Tatars of several groups, reaching 5.4 million people.
• Ukrainians number two million. The bulk of the Ukrainian people live on the territory of Ukraine; in Russia, representatives of this people appeared in the course of historical development in the pre-revolutionary, Soviet, and modern periods.
• Bashkirs, another nomadic people in the past. Their number is 1.6 million people.
• Chuvash, residents of the Volga region - 1.4 million.
• Chechens, one of the peoples of the Caucasus, - 1.4 million, etc.

There are other peoples of similar numbers who played an important role in the past and, possibly, the future of the country.

Small nations of Russia

How many small nations live on the territory of Russia? There are many such ethnic groups in the country, but they are poorly represented in the total population because they are very few in number. To these national groups belong to the peoples of the Finno-Ugric, Samoyed, Turkic, Sino-Tibetan groups. Particularly small are the Kereks (a tiny people - only four people), the Vod people (sixty-four people), the Enets (two hundred and seventy-seven), the Ults (almost three hundred people), the Chulyms (a little more than three and a half hundred), the Aleuts (almost half a thousand) , Negidals (just over five hundred), Orochi (almost six hundred). For all of them, the problem of survival is a pressing and everyday issue.

Map of the peoples of Russia

In addition to the strong dispersion in the size of the national composition of Russia and the inability of many ethnic groups in modern times to maintain their numbers independently, there is also the problem of distribution within the country. The population of Russia is distributed very heterogeneously, which is caused primarily by economic incentives both in the historical past and in the present.

The bulk is located in the area between the Baltic St. Petersburg, the Siberian Krasnoyarsk, the Black Sea Novorossiysk and the Far Eastern Primorsky Territory, where all big cities. The reasons for this are the good climate and favorable economic background. To the north of this territory there is permafrost caused by eternal cold, and to the south there are vast expanses of lifeless desert.

In terms of population density, one of the last places in the modern world received Siberia. Its vast territory is home to less than 30 million inhabitants. This represents only 20% of the country's total population. While in its vast area Siberia reaches three-quarters of the expanses of Russia. The most densely populated areas are the directions Derbent - Sochi and Ufa - Moscow.

In the Far East, a significant population density runs along the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Highway. Increased standards of population density are also observed in the Kuznechny coal basin region. All these areas attract Russians with their economic and natural wealth.

The largest peoples of the country: Russians, in to a lesser extent Tatars and Ukrainians are mainly located in the southwest of the state. Ukrainians today are mostly located on the territory of the Chukotka Peninsula and in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug, in the distant Magadan region.

Other small peoples of the Slavic ethnic group, such as the Poles and Bulgarians, do not create large compact groups and are scattered throughout the country. The Polish population is found in a fairly compact group only in the Omsk region.

Tatars

The number of Tatars living in Russia, as noted above, exceeded the level of three percent of the total Russian population. About a third of them live compactly in the region of the Russian Federation called the Republic of Tatarstan. Group settlements exist in the Volga regions, in the far north, etc.

A significant part of the Tatars are supporters of Sunni Islam. Individual groups Tatars have differences in language, culture and way of life. The common language is within the Turkic group of languages ​​of the Altaic language family, it has three dialects: Mishar (western), the more widespread Kazan (middle), and the slightly distant Siberian-Tatar (eastern). In Tatarstan, this language appears as an official one.

Ukrainians

One of the many eastern Slavic peoples- Ukrainians. More than forty million Ukrainians live in their historical homeland. In addition, significant diasporas exist not only in Russia, but also in the countries of Europe and America.

Ukrainians living in Russia, including labor migrants, number about five million people. A significant number of them are located in cities. Particularly large groups of this ethnic group are located in the capital, in oil- and gas-bearing regions of Siberia, the Far North, etc.

Belarusians

In modern Russia, Belarusians, taking into account their total number in the world, constitute a large number. As the 2010 census of the Russian population shows, there are a little more than half a million Belarusians living in Russia. A significant proportion of white people are located in the capitals, as well as in a number of regions, for example in Karelia and the Kaliningrad region.

In the pre-revolutionary years, a large number of Belarusians moved to Siberia and Far East, later national administrative units existed there. By the end of the eighties, there were more than one million Belarusians on the territory of the RSFSR. Nowadays, their number has been halved, but it is obvious that the Belarusian stratum in Russia will be preserved.

Armenians

There are quite a lot of Armenians living in Russia, although according to different sources, their number differs. Thus, according to the 2010 census, there were slightly more than one million people in Russia, that is, less than one percent of the total population. According to the assumptions of Armenian public organizations, the number of the Armenian stratum in the country at the beginning of the twentieth century exceeded two and a half million people. And Russian President V.V. Putin, speaking about the number of Armenians in Russia, voiced the figure of three million people.

In any case, Armenians play a serious role in social and cultural life Russia. Thus, Armenians work in the Russian government (Chilingarov, Bagdasarov, etc.), in show business (I. Allegrova, V. Dobrynin, etc.), and in other fields of activity. There are regional organizations of the Union of Armenians of Russia in sixty-three regions of Russia.

Germans

The Germans living in Russia are representatives of an ethnic group that has experienced a contradictory and, in some ways, even tragic story. Those migrating en masse in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by invitation Russian government, they mainly settled in the Volga region, western and southern provinces of the Russian Empire. Life on good lands was free, but in the twentieth century historical events hit the Germans hard. First the First World War, then the Great Patriotic War led to mass repression. In the fifties and eighties of the last century, the history of this ethnic group was hushed up. It is not for nothing that the mass migration of Germans began in the nineties, the number of which, according to some sources, barely exceeds half a million.

True, in recent years, episodic re-evacuations from Europe to Russia have begun, but so far they have not reached large proportions.

Jews

It is difficult to say how many Jews currently live in Russia due to their active migration both to Israel and back to the Russian state. In the historical past there were many Jews in our country - in Soviet era several million. But with the collapse of the USSR and significant migration to their historical homeland, their number decreased. Now, according to public Jewish organizations, there are approximately one million Jews in Russia, half of them are residents of the capital.

Yakuts

They are a fairly numerous Turkic-speaking people, an indigenous population of the region adapted to local conditions.

How many Yakuts are there in Russia? According to the 2010 All-Russian Census of the Domestic Population, there were slightly less than half a million people, mainly in Yakutia and surrounding regions. The Yakuts are the largest (about half the population) people and the most significant of the indigenous peoples of Russian Siberia.

In the traditional economy and material culture of this people there are many close similarities with the pastoralists of southern Asia. On the territory of the Middle Lena, a version of the Yakut economy was formed, combining nomadic cattle breeding and the most important extensive types of fisheries (meat and fish production), similar to the local one. In the north of the region there is also a distinctive form of harness reindeer herding.

Reasons for resettlement

The history of the ethnic composition of the population of Russia in the course of its development is extremely ambiguous. The accelerated settlement of the Russian state by Ukrainians occurred back in the Middle Ages. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, according to instructions government agencies settlers from the southern lands headed east to develop new territories. After some time, representatives of social classes from different regions began to be sent there.

Representatives of the intelligentsia voluntarily moved to St. Petersburg in an era when this city had the status of the capital of the state. Nowadays, Ukrainians constitute the largest ethnic group in Russia in terms of number of people after, of course, the Russians.

At the other pole are representatives of small nations. The Kereks, who have the smallest numbers, are in particular danger. According to the latest census, there are only four representatives left, although fifty years ago there were only one hundred Kerek people. The leading languages ​​for these people are Chukchi and common Russian; native Kerek is found only in the form of the usual passive language. The Kereks are very close in level of culture and ordinary daily activities to Chukchi people, because of which they were in constant assimilation with him.

Problems and future

The ethnic composition of the Russian population will undoubtedly develop in the future. IN modern conditions The revival of ethnographic traditions and the culture of peoples is clearly visible. However, the development of ethnic groups experiences a number of problems:

• poor fertility and gradual decline of most peoples;
• globalization, and at the same time the influence of the culture and life of large nations (Russian and Anglo-Saxon);
• general economic problems that undermine the economic base of peoples, and so on.

Much in such a situation depends on the national governments themselves, including the Russian one, and on global opinion.

But I want to believe that the small peoples of Russia will further develop and grow in size in the coming centuries.

Planet Earth is a multinational community, inhabited by a large number of different nationalities. How many peoples live in the world? Surely every person has asked a similar question at least once in his life. At the same time, the exact answer is practically unknown, since even historians find it difficult to give exact figures. In Russia alone there are more than 1194 nationalities, and if we take into account how many peoples are in the CIS countries, then the number will be several times larger.

General classification of nationalities

Most people are interested in a quantitative indicator, but if you collect all the data on how many peoples exist, the list can turn out to be almost endless. Most often, the unification of different peoples into groups occurs either according to species characteristics, or according to the language spoken by one or another group, or according to the territory of residence.

Sometimes division into groups can occur in accordance with cultural traditions and foundations

In total, there are 20 language families on the planet, which include different peoples.

In 2016, the largest language families were the following 4 groups:

• Indo-European. In total, this group includes 150 nations, which are located in Asia and Europe. The total population of this group is 2.8 billion people.
• Sino-Tibetan. This group includes the entire population of China and neighboring countries that share common language and culture. In total, there are almost 1.5 billion people in this group.
• Afro-Asian. A language family that includes the peoples of South-West Asia and North Africa.
• Niger-Kordofanian. The remaining peoples inhabiting the African continent, including the regions of Central and Southern Africa.

The largest nations of the world

Over the entire history of existence on Earth, a large number of nationalities have emerged

Some of the nationalities are small by historical standards and number no more than a million people (there are only 330 peoples). There are numerous ones where the number of people exceeds 100 million. There are only 11 such nationalities:

• Chinese. The top spot is occupied by the Chinese, who number 1 billion 17 million people on the planet.
• Hindustani. In second place are the Indian nationalities, which number 265 million people.
• Bengalis. Their number is 225 million.
• Americans. There are more than 200 million people in the United States.
• Brazilians. There are 175 million indigenous people living in Brazil.
• Russians. If we talk about how many Slavic peoples there are, then we can note the number of Russians, who form a large group and number 140 million.
• Japanese. Despite the limited territory of the islands, their population numbers 125 million people.
• Punjabis. Another Indian nationality, numbering 115 million people.
• Biharis. A people also living in India and numbering 115 million.
• Mexicans. There are 105 million of them worldwide.
• Javanese. The last of 11 large nationalities, which number 105 million people.

Let's sum it up

When talking about the concept of “people”, it is very difficult to achieve a unified interpretation.

Also, do not forget that the planet is home to several endangered peoples, some of which number only 280 people. In any case, each nationality is original and unique.

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