The population of Siberia is about 24 million people. The largest cities in Siberia are Novosibirsk 1 million 390 thousand, Omsk 1 million 131 thousand, Krasnoyarsk 936.4 thousand, Barnaul 597 thousand, Irkutsk 575.8 thousand, Novokuznetsk 562 thousand people, Tyumen 538 thousand people. Ethnically, the main part of the population is Russian, but many other ethnic groups and nationalities live in this territory, such as Buryats, Dolgans, Nenets, Komi, Khakass, Chukchi, Evenks, Yakuts, etc.
The peoples of Siberia differed greatly in language, economic structure and social development. The Yukagirs, Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens, Nivkhs, as well as the Asian Eskimos were at the earliest stage of social organization. Their development went in the direction of patriarchal-clan orders, and some features were already evident (patriarchal family, slavery), but elements of matriarchy were still preserved: there was no division into clans and clan exogamy.
Most of the peoples of Siberia were at various stages of the patriarchal-tribal system. These are the Evenks, Kuznetsk and Chulym Tatars, Kotts, Kachins and other tribes of Southern Siberia. Remnants of patriarchal-tribal relations were also preserved among many tribes that embarked on the path of class formation. These are the Yakuts, the ancestors of the Buryats, Daurs, Duchers, Khanty-Mansi tribes. Only the Siberian Tatars, defeated by Ermak, had their own statehood.
Population of Eastern Siberia
The total urban population is 71.5%. The most urbanized is the Irkutsk region. and Krasnoyarsk region. The rural population predominates in the autonomous okrugs: in the Buryat Ust-Ordynsky okrug there is no urban population at all, in the Buryat Aginsky okrug it is only 32%, and in the Evenkiysky okrug it is 29%.
The current migration growth of the population of the VSER is negative (-2.5 people per 1000 inhabitants), which causes depopulation of the region's population. Moreover, negative migration from the Taimyr and Evenki Autonomous Okrug is an order of magnitude higher than average and creates the prospect of complete depopulation of these regions.
The population density in the region is extremely low, four times lower than the Russian average. In the Evenki district it is three people per 100 km 2 - a record low level in the country. And only in the south - in the forest-steppe Khakassia - is the population density close to the Russian average.
Economically active population Eastern Siberia was 50%, which is close to the national average. About 23% of the working population was employed in industry (in Russia, 22.4% and 13.3%, respectively). The level of general unemployment is very high (in the Republics of Buryatia and Tyva, as well as in the Chita region.
The level of unemployment in the All-Russian Economic Community is quite high, and the share of hidden unemployment in its composition is large.
The ethnic composition of the population of Eastern Siberia was formed as a result of centuries-old mixing of indigenous Turkic-Mongolian and Russian Slavic population with the participation of small small peoples of Siberia, including those living in the taiga regions and the Far North.
The peoples of the Turkic group live in the upper reaches of the Yenisei - Tuvinians, Khakassians. Representatives of the Mongolian group - the Buryats - live in the mountains and steppes of Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia; in the taiga regions of the central part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory - the Evenks, belonging to the Tungus-Manchu language group. On the Taimyr Peninsula live the Nenets, Nganasans and the Yurkic-speaking Dolgans (related to the Yakuts). In the lower reaches of the Yenisei there lives a small people, the Keta, who have an isolated language that is not included in any of the groups. All of these peoples, with the exception of the extremely small Kets and Nganasans, have their own national-territorial entities - republics or districts.
Most of the population of Eastern Siberia adheres to the Orthodox religion, with the exception of the Buryats and Tuvans, who are Buddhists (Lamaists). The small peoples of the North and the Evenks retain traditional pagan beliefs.
Population of the West Siberian region
The total urban population is 71%. The most urbanized are the Kemerovo region, where the number of urban residents reaches 87%, and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - 91%. At the same time, in the Altai Republic, 75% of the population are rural residents.
The area varies in population density. Very high population density in the Kemerovo region. - about 32 people/km 2. The minimum density in the polar Yamalo-Nenets District is 0.7 people/km 2 .
The economically active population of Western Siberia was 50%, which was slightly higher than the national average. About 21% of the working population was employed in industry, and about 13.2% in agriculture.
The level of general unemployment in Western Siberia was lower than the Russian average only in the Tyumen region. In other regions it exceeded the Russian average. In terms of the level of registered unemployment, all regions except the Novosibirsk region were in a worse position relative to the Russian average (1.4%). The largest number of registered unemployed people is in the Tomsk region - 2.1% of the economically active population. In the oil-producing Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug their number is 1.5 times higher than the Russian average.
The ethnic composition of the population of Western Siberia is represented by Slavic (mainly Russian), Ugric and Samoyed (Khanty, Mansi, Nenets) and Turkic (Tatars, Kazakhs, Altaians, Shors) peoples. The Russian population is numerically predominant in all regions of the Western Economic Development Region. The Nenets, part of the Samoyed language group of the Ural family, live mainly in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and are its indigenous people. The Khanty and Mansi, members of the Ugric group of the Ural family, live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Turkic peoples - Kazakhs and Tatars live in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, and the Altaians and Shors live in the mountainous regions of Altai and Mountain Shoria in the Kemerovo region.
The Russian population of Western Siberia is mainly Orthodox, the Tatars and Kazakhs are Muslims, the Altaians and Shors are partly Orthodox, some adhere to traditional pagan beliefs.
Siberia occupies a vast geographical area Russia. Once it included such neighboring states as Mongolia, Kazakhstan and part of China. Today this territory belongs exclusively Russian Federation. Despite the huge area, settlements there are relatively few in Siberia. Most of the region is occupied by tundra and steppe.
Description of Siberia
The entire territory is divided into Eastern and Western regions. In rare cases, theologians also define the Southern region, which is the mountainous area of Altai. The area of Siberia is about 12.6 million square meters. 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, the Baikal region is distinguished and the largest rivers are the Yenisei, Irtysh, Angara, Ob, Amur and Lena. The most significant lake waters are Taimyr, Baikal and Uvs-Nur.
From an economic point of view, the centers of the region can be called cities such as Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Ulan-Ude, Tomsk, etc.
Mount Belukha is considered the highest point in Siberia - over 4.5 thousand meters.
Population history
Historians call the Samoyed tribes the first inhabitants of the region. These people lived in the northern part. Due to the harsh climate, the only occupation was reindeer herding. 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 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. A little to the west of the mouth of the Ob River lived the Buryats. They became famous for the mining and processing of iron.
The largest ancient population of Siberia were 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 crafts.
There were thousands of Eskimos on the coast of the Chukchi Sea. These tribes have long had the slowest cultural and social development. Their only tools are a stone ax and a spear. They were primarily engaged in hunting and gathering.
In the 17th century there was a sharp leap in the development of the Yakuts and Buryats, as well as the northern Tatars.
Native people
The population of Siberia today consists of dozens of nations. Each of them, according to the Russian Constitution, has its own right to national identification. Many peoples of the Northern region even received autonomy within the Russian Federation with all the attendant branches of self-government. This contributed not only to the rapid development of the culture and economy of the region, but also to the preservation of local traditions and customs.
The indigenous population of Siberia largely consists of Yakuts. Their number varies between 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. Lake Baikal is considered the main asset of the republic. It is interesting that this particular region is recognized as one of the main Buddhist centers in Russia.
Tuvinians are the population of Siberia, which, according to the latest census, numbers about 264 thousand people. In the Republic of Tyva, shamans are still revered.
The population of such peoples as the Altaians and Khakassians is almost equal: 72 thousand people each. The indigenous people of the districts are adherents of Buddhism.
The Nenets population is only 45 thousand people. They live throughout their entire history, the Nenets were famous nomads. Today their priority income is reindeer herding.
Also in Siberia live such peoples as Evenks, 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 region's demographic component fluctuates significantly every few years. This is due to the massive movement of young people to the southern cities of Russia and sharp jumps in the birth and death rates. There are relatively few immigrants in Siberia. The reason for this is the harsh climate and specific living conditions in 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 regions. In the northern part of Siberia there are no large settlements due to poor living conditions. On average, there is 0.5 square meters per person here. km of land.
The most populous cities are Novosibirsk and Omsk - 1.57 and 1.05 million inhabitants, respectively. Next according to this criterion are Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen and Barnaul.
Peoples of Western Siberia
Cities account for about 71% of the region's total population. Most of the population is concentrated in the Kemerovo and Khanty-Mansiysk districts. Nevertheless, the Altai Republic is considered the agricultural center of the Western Region. It is noteworthy that the Kemerovo District ranks first in population density - 32 people/sq. km.
The population of Western Siberia is 50% able-bodied. Most of the employment comes from industry and agriculture.
The region has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, with the exception of the Tomsk region and Khanty-Mansiysk.
Today the population of Western Siberia is Russians, Khanty, Nenets, and Turks. By religion, there are Orthodox, Muslims, and Buddhists.
Population of Eastern Siberia
The share of urban residents varies between 72%. The most economically developed are the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk Region. From an agricultural point of view, the most important point in the region is the Buryat Okrug.
Every year the population of Eastern Siberia is becoming smaller. IN Lately There is a sharp negative dynamics of migration and birth rate. It is also the lowest in the country. In some areas it is 33 square meters. km per person. Unemployment is high.
The ethnic composition includes such peoples as Mongols, Turks, Russians, Buryats, Evenks, Dolgans, Kets, etc. Most of the population are Orthodox and Buddhists.
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 characteristics that characterize the historical and ethnographic diversity of Siberia. In cultural and economic terms, the territory of Siberia can be divided into two large historical regions: the southern region - the region of ancient cattle breeding and agriculture; and the northern one – the area of commercial hunting and fishing. The boundaries of these areas do not coincide with the boundaries of landscape zones. Stable economic and cultural types of Siberia developed in ancient times as a result of historical and cultural processes that were different in time and nature, occurring in conditions of 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 of 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) cattle breeders of steppes and forest-steppes.
In the past, foot hunters and fishermen of the taiga mainly included some groups of foot Evenks, Orochs, Udeges, separate groups of Yukaghirs, Kets, Selkups, partly Khanty and Mansi, Shors. For these peoples, hunting for meat animals (elk, deer) and fishing were of great importance. A characteristic element of their culture was the hand sledge.
The settled-fishing type of economy was widespread in the past among the peoples living in the river basins. Amur and Ob: Nivkhs, Nanais, Ulchis, Itelmens, Khanty, among some Selkups and Ob Mansi. For these peoples, fishing was the main source of livelihood throughout the year. Hunting was of an auxiliary nature.
The type of sedentary hunters of sea animals is represented among the sedentary Chukchi, Eskimos, and partly sedentary Koryaks. The economy of these peoples is based on the production of sea animals (walrus, seal, whale). Arctic hunters settled on the coasts of the Arctic seas. The products of marine hunting, in addition to satisfying personal needs for meat, fat and skins, also served as an object of exchange with neighboring related groups.
Nomadic taiga reindeer herders, 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-tundras of Eastern Siberia, from the Yenisei to the Sea of Okhotsk, and also extended to the 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 marine 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 means of transportation.
Cattle breeding of the steppes and forest-steppes in the past was widely represented among the Yakuts, the world's northernmost pastoral people, among the Altaians, Khakassians, Tuvinians, Buryats, and Siberian Tatars. Cattle breeding was of a commercial nature; the products almost completely satisfied the population's needs for meat, milk and dairy products. Agriculture among pastoral peoples (except for the Yakuts) existed as an auxiliary branch of the economy. These peoples were partly engaged in hunting and fishing.
Along with the indicated types of economy, a number of peoples also had transitional types. For example, the Shors and northern Altaians combined sedentary cattle breeding with hunting; The Yukaghirs, Nganasans, and Enets combined reindeer herding with hunting as their main occupation.
The diversity of cultural and economic types of Siberia determines the specifics of development by indigenous peoples natural environment, on the one hand, and the level of their socio-economic development, on the other. Before the arrival of the Russians, economic and cultural specialization did not go beyond the framework of the appropriating economy and primitive (hoe) farming and cattle breeding. The diversity of natural conditions contributed to the formation of various local variants of economic types, the oldest of which were hunting and fishing.
At the same time, it must be taken into account that “culture” is an extra-biological adaptation that entails the need for activity. This explains so many economic and cultural types. Their peculiarity is their sparing attitude towards natural resources. And in this all economic and cultural types are similar to each other. However, culture is, at the same time, a system of signs, a semiotic model of a particular society (ethnic group). Therefore, a single cultural and economic type is not yet a community of culture. What is common is that the existence of many traditional cultures is based on a certain method of farming (fishing, hunting, sea hunting, cattle breeding). However, cultures can be different in terms of customs, rituals, traditions, and beliefs.
General characteristics of the peoples of Siberia
The indigenous population of Siberia before the start of Russian colonization was about 200 thousand people. The northern (tundra) part of Siberia was inhabited by tribes of Samoyeds, called Samoyeds in Russian sources: Nenets, Enets and Nganasans.
The main economic occupation of these tribes was reindeer herding and hunting, and in the lower reaches of the Ob, Taz and Yenisei - fishing. The main fish species were arctic fox, sable, and ermine. Furs served as the main product for paying yasak and for trade. Furs were also paid as dowry for the girls they chose as wives. The number of Siberian Samoyeds, including the Southern Samoyed tribes, reached about 8 thousand people.
To the south of the Nenets lived the Ugric-speaking tribes of the Khanty (Ostyaks) and Mansi (Voguls). The Khanty were engaged in fishing and hunting, and had reindeer herds in the area of the Ob Bay. The main occupation of the Mansi was hunting. Before the arrival of the Russian Mansi on the river. Ture and Tavde were engaged in primitive agriculture, cattle breeding, and beekeeping. The settlement area of the Khanty and Mansi included the areas of the Middle and Lower Ob with its tributaries, the river. Irtysh, Demyanka and Konda, as well as the western and eastern slopes of the Middle Urals. The total number of Ugric-speaking tribes in Siberia in the 17th century. reached 15-18 thousand people.
To the east of the settlement area of the Khanty and Mansi lay the lands of the southern Samoyeds, southern or Narym Selkups. For a long time, Russians called the Narym Selkups Ostyaks because of the similarity of their material culture with the Khanty. The Selkups lived along the middle reaches of the river. Ob and its tributaries. The main economic activity was seasonal fishing and hunting. They hunted fur-bearing animals, elk, wild deer, upland and waterfowl. Before the arrival of the Russians, the southern Samoyeds were united in a military alliance, called the Piebald Horde in Russian sources, led by Prince Voni.
To the east of the Narym Selkups lived tribes of the Keto-speaking population of Siberia: Ket (Yenisei Ostyaks), Arins, Kotta, Yastyntsy (4-6 thousand people), settled along the Middle and Upper Yenisei. Their main activities were hunting and fishing. Some groups of the population extracted iron from ore, the products from which were sold to neighbors or used on the farm.
The upper reaches of the Ob and its tributaries, the upper reaches of the Yenisei, and the Altai were inhabited by numerous Turkic tribes that differed greatly in economic structure - the ancestors of modern Shors, Altaians, Khakassians: Tomsk, Chulym and “Kuznetsk” Tatars (about 5-6 thousand people), Teleuts ( White Kalmyks) (about 7–8 thousand people), Yenisei Kirghiz with their subordinate tribes (8–9 thousand people). The main occupation of most of these peoples was nomadic cattle breeding. In some places of this vast territory, hoe farming and hunting were developed. The “Kuznetsk” Tatars developed blacksmithing.
The Sayan Highlands were occupied by Samoyed and Turkic tribes of Mators, Karagas, Kamasins, Kachins, Kaysots, etc., with a total number of about 2 thousand people. They were engaged in cattle breeding, horse breeding, hunting, and knew farming skills.
To the south of the areas inhabited by the Mansi, Selkups and Kets, Turkic-speaking ethnoterritorial groups were widespread - the ethnic predecessors of the Siberian Tatars: Barabinsky, Tereninsky, Irtysh, Tobolsk, Ishim and Tyumen Tatars. By the middle of the 16th century. a significant part of the Turks of Western Siberia (from Tura in the west to Baraba in the east) was under the rule of the Siberian Khanate. The main occupation of the Siberian Tatars was hunting and fishing; cattle breeding was developed in the Barabinsk steppe. Before the arrival of the Russians, the Tatars were already engaged in agriculture. There was home production of leather, felt, bladed weapons, and fur dressing. The Tatars acted as intermediaries in transit trade between Moscow and Central Asia.
To the west and east of Baikal were the Mongol-speaking Buryats (about 25 thousand people), known in Russian sources as “brothers” or “brotherly people”. The basis of their economy was nomadic cattle breeding. The secondary occupations were farming and gathering. The iron-making craft was quite highly developed.
A significant territory from the Yenisei to the Sea of Okhotsk, from the northern tundra to the Amur region was inhabited by the Tungus tribes of the Evenks and Evens (about 30 thousand people). They were divided into “reindeer” (reindeer breeders), which were the majority, and “on foot”. “On foot” Evenks and Evens were sedentary fishermen and hunted sea animals on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. One of the main activities of both groups was hunting. The main game animals were moose, wild deer, and bears. Domestic deer were used by the Evenks as pack and riding animals.
The territory of the Amur and Primorye was inhabited by peoples who spoke Tungus-Manchu languages - the ancestors of the modern Nanai, Ulchi, and Udege. The Paleo-Asian group of peoples inhabiting this territory also included small groups of Nivkhs (Gilyaks), who lived in the vicinity of the Tungus-Manchurian peoples of the Amur region. They were also the main inhabitants of Sakhalin. The Nivkhs were the only people of the Amur region who widely used sled dogs in their economic activities.
The middle course of the river The Lena, upper Yana, Olenek, Aldan, Amga, Indigirka and Kolyma were occupied by the Yakuts (about 38 thousand people). This was the most numerous people among the Turks of Siberia. They raised cattle and horses. Hunting for animals and birds and fishing were considered auxiliary industries. Home production of metals was widely developed: copper, iron, silver. They made weapons in large quantities, skillfully tanned leather, wove belts, and carved wooden household items and utensils.
The northern part of Eastern Siberia was inhabited by Yukaghir tribes (about 5 thousand people). The borders of their lands extended from the tundra of Chukotka in the east to the lower reaches of the Lena and Olenek in the west. The northeast of Siberia was inhabited by peoples belonging to the Paleo-Asian linguistic family: Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens. The Chukchi occupied a significant part of continental Chukotka. Their number was approximately 2.5 thousand people. The southern neighbors of the Chukchi were the Koryaks (9-10 thousand people), very close in language and culture to the Chukchi. They occupied the entire northwestern part of the Okhotsk coast and the part of Kamchatka adjacent to the mainland. The Chukchi and Koryaks, like the Tungus, were divided into “reindeer” and “foot.”
Eskimos (about 4 thousand people) were settled along the entire coastal strip of the Chukotka Peninsula. The main population of Kamchatka in the 17th century. were Itelmens (12 thousand people). A few Ainu tribes lived in the south of the peninsula. The Ainu were also settled on the islands of the Kuril chain and in the southern tip of Sakhalin.
The economic activities of these peoples were hunting sea animals, reindeer herding, fishing and gathering. Before the arrival of the Russians, the peoples of northeastern Siberia and Kamchatka were still at a rather low stage of socio-economic development. Stone and bone tools and weapons were widely used in everyday life.
Before the arrival of the Russians, hunting and fishing occupied an important place in the life of almost all Siberian peoples. A special role was given to the extraction of furs, which was the main subject of trade exchange with neighbors and was used as the main payment for tribute - yasak.
Most of the Siberian peoples in the 17th century. The Russians were found at various stages of patriarchal-tribal relations. The most backward forms of social organization were noted among the tribes of northeastern Siberia (Yukaghirs, Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens and Eskimos). In area social relations Some of them showed features of domestic slavery, the dominant position of women, etc.
The most developed in socio-economic terms were the Buryats and Yakuts, who at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. Patriarchal-feudal relations developed. The only people who had their own statehood at the time of the arrival of the Russians were the Tatars, united under the rule of the Siberian khans. Siberian Khanate by the middle of the 16th century. covered an area stretching from the Tura basin in the west to Baraba in the east. However this public education was not monolithic, torn apart by internecine clashes between various dynastic factions. Incorporation in the 17th century Siberia's inclusion into the Russian state radically changed the natural course of the historical process in the region and the fate of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. The beginning of the deformation of traditional culture was associated with the arrival in the region of a population with a producing type of economy, which presupposed a different type of human relationship to nature, to cultural values and traditions.
Religiously, the peoples of Siberia belonged to different belief systems. The most common form of belief was shamanism, based on animism - the spiritualization of forces and natural phenomena. A distinctive feature of shamanism is the belief that certain people- shamans - have the ability to enter into direct communication with spirits - patrons and assistants of the shaman in the fight against disease.
Since the 17th century Orthodox Christianity spread widely in Siberia, and Buddhism in the form of Lamaism penetrated. Even earlier, Islam penetrated among the Siberian Tatars. Among a number of peoples of Siberia, shamanism acquired complex forms under the influence of Christianity and Buddhism (Tuvians, Buryats). In the 20th century this entire system of beliefs coexisted with the atheistic (materialistic) worldview, which was the official state ideology. Currently, a number of Siberian peoples are experiencing a revival of shamanism.
The peoples of Siberia on the eve of Russian colonization
Itelmens
Self-name - itelmen, itenmyi, itelmen, iynman - “local resident”, “resident”, “one who exists”, “existing”, “living”. Indigenous people of Kamchatka. The traditional occupation of the Itelmens was fishing. The main fishing season was during the salmon runs. Fishing gear used were locks, nets, and hooks. The nets were woven from nettle threads. With the advent of imported yarn, seines began to be made. The fish was prepared for future use in dried form, fermented in special pits, and frozen in winter. The second most important occupation of the Itelmens was sea hunting and hunting. They caught seals, fur seals, sea beavers, bears, wild sheep, and deer. Fur-bearing animals were hunted mainly for meat. The main fishing tools were bows and arrows, traps, various traps, nooses, nets, and spears. The southern Itelmen hunted whales using arrows poisoned with plant poison. The Itelmens had the widest distribution of gathering among the northern peoples. All edible plants, berries, herbs, roots were used for food. Highest value the diet included sarana tubers, lamb leaves, wild garlic, and fireweed. Gathering products were stored for the winter in dried, dried, and sometimes smoked form. Like many Siberian peoples, gathering was the lot of women. Women made mats, bags, baskets, and protective shells from plants. The Itelmens made tools and weapons from stone, bone and wood. Rock crystal was used to make knives and harpoon tips. Fire was produced using a special device in the form of a wooden drill. The Itelmens' only domestic animal was a dog. They moved along the water on bahts - dugout, deck-shaped boats. Itelmen settlements (“fortresses” - atynum) were located along the banks of rivers and consisted of one to four winter dwellings and four to forty-four summer dwellings. The layout of the villages was distinguished by its disorder. The main building material was wood. The hearth was located near one of the walls of the dwelling. A large (up to 100 people) family lived in such a dwelling. In the fields, the Itelmen also lived in light frame buildings - bazhabazh - gable, lean-to and pyramidal-shaped dwellings. Such dwellings were covered with tree branches and grass, and heated by fire. They wore thick fur clothing made from the skins of deer, dogs, sea animals and birds. The set of casual clothing for men and women included trousers, a jacket with a hood and bib, and soft reindeer boots. The traditional food of the Itelmens was fish. The most common fish dishes were yukola, dried salmon caviar, and chupriki - fish baked in a special way. In winter we ate frozen fish. Pickled fish heads were considered a delicacy. Boiled fish was also consumed. As additional food they consumed meat and fat of sea animals, plant products, and poultry. The predominant form of social organization of the Itelmens was the patriarchal family. In winter, all its members lived in one dwelling, in summer they broke up into separate families. Family members were related by ties of kinship. Communal property dominated, and early forms of slavery existed. Large family communities and associations were constantly at odds with each other and waged numerous wars. Marriage relationships were characterized by polygamy - polygamy. All aspects of the life and everyday life of the Itelmens were regulated by beliefs and signs. There were ritual festivals associated with the annual economic cycle. The main holiday of the year, which lasted about a month, took place in November, after the end of the fishery. It was dedicated to the master of the sea, Mitgu. In the past, the Itelmens left the corpses of dead people unburied or gave them to dogs to eat; children were buried in tree hollows.
Yukaghirs
Self-name - odul, vadul (“mighty”, “strong”). The outdated Russian name is omoki. Number of people: 1112 people. The main traditional occupation of the Yukaghirs was semi-nomadic and nomadic hunting for wild deer, elk and mountain sheep. They hunted deer with a bow and arrows, placed crossbows on deer paths, set snares, used decoy decoys, and stabbed deer at river crossings. In the spring, deer were hunted in a pen. A significant role in the economy of the Yukaghirs was played by hunting fur-bearing animals: sable, white and blue fox. Tundra Yukaghirs hunted geese and ducks during the birds' molt. The hunt for them was collective: one group of people stretched nets on the lake, the other drove birds deprived of the ability to fly into them. Partridges were hunted using nooses; when hunting seabirds, they used throwing darts and a special throwing weapon - bolas, consisting of belts with stones at the ends. Collecting bird eggs was practiced. Along with hunting, fishing played a significant role in the life of the Yukaghirs. The main fish species were nelma, muksun, and omul. Fish were caught with nets and traps. The traditional means of transportation for the Yukaghirs were dog and reindeer sleds. They moved through the snow on skis lined with camus. An ancient means of transportation on the river was a raft in the shape of a triangle, the top of which formed the bow. The settlements of the Yukaghirs were permanent and temporary, seasonal in nature. They had five types of dwellings: chum, golomo, booth, yurt, log house. The Yukagir tent (odun-nime) is a conical structure of the Tunguska type with a frame of 3–4 poles fastened with hoops made of woven wool. Reindeer skins are used as covering in winter, larch bark in summer. People usually lived in it from spring to autumn. The chum has been preserved to this day as a summer home. The winter dwelling was golomo (kandele nime) - pyramidal in shape. The winter home of the Yukaghirs was also a booth (yanakh-nime). The log roof was insulated with a layer of bark and earth. The Yukaghir yurt is a portable cylindrical-conical dwelling. Sedentary Yukaghirs lived in log houses (in winter and summer) with flat or conical roofs. The main clothing was a knee-length swinging robe, made from rovduga in summer, and deer skins in winter. Tails made of seal skins were sewn onto the bottom. Under the caftan they wore a bib and short trousers, leather in summer, fur in winter. Winter clothing made of rovduga was widespread, similar in cut to the Chukchi kamleika and kukhlyanka. Shoes were made from rovduga, hare fur and reindeer camus. Women's clothing It was lighter than a man's, and was made from the fur of young deer or females. In the 19th century Purchased cloth clothing became widespread among the Yukaghirs: men's shirts, women's dresses, and scarves. Iron, copper and silver jewelry were common. The main food was animal meat and fish. The meat was consumed boiled, dried, raw and frozen. Fat was rendered from fish giblets, the giblets were fried, and cakes were baked from caviar. The berry was eaten with fish. They also ate wild onions, sarana roots, nuts, berries and, which was rare for the Siberian peoples, mushrooms. A feature of the family and marriage relations of the taiga Yukaghirs was matrilocal marriage - the husband after the wedding moved to his wife’s house. The Yukaghir families were large and patriarchal. The custom of levirate was practiced - the duty of a man to marry the widow of his older brother. Shamanism existed in the form of tribal shamanism. Deceased shamans could become objects of cult. The shaman's body was dismembered, and its parts were kept as relics and sacrifices were made to them. Customs associated with fire played a big role. It was forbidden to transfer fire to strangers, to pass between the hearth and the head of the family, to swear at the fire, etc.
Nivkhi
Self-name - nivkhgu - “people” or “Nivkh people”; nivkh – “man”. The outdated name for the Nivkhs is Gilyaks. The traditional occupations of the Nivkhs were fishing, sea fishing, hunting and gathering. An important role was played by fishing for anadromous salmon fish - chum salmon and pink salmon. Fish was caught using nets, seines, harpoons, and traps. Among the Sakhalin Nivkhs, marine hunting was developed. They hunted sea lions and seals. Steller sea lions were caught with large nets, seals were beaten with harpoons and clubs (clubs) when they climbed onto the ice floes. Hunting played a lesser role in the Nivkh economy. The hunting season began in the fall, after the end of the fish run. We hunted a bear that came out to the rivers to feast on fish. The bear was killed with a bow or gun. Another object of hunting among the Nivkhs was sable. In addition to sable, they also hunted lynx, weasel, otter, squirrel and fox. The fur was sold to Chinese and Russian producers. Dog breeding was widespread among the Nivkhs. The number of dogs in a Nivkh household was an indicator of prosperity and material well-being. On the sea coast they collected shellfish and seaweed for food. Blacksmithing was developed among the Nivkhs. Metal objects of Chinese, Japanese and Russian origin were used as raw materials. They were reforged to suit their needs. They made knives, arrowheads, harpoons, spears and other household items. Silver was used to decorate the copies. Other crafts were also common - making skis, boats, sleds, wooden utensils, dishes, processing bones, leather, weaving mats and baskets. In the Nivkh economy there was a sexual division of labor. Men were engaged in fishing, hunting, manufacturing tools, gear, vehicles, preparing and transporting firewood, and blacksmithing. The duties of women included processing fish, seal and dog skins, sewing clothes, preparing birch bark utensils, collecting plant products, maintaining household and dog care. Nivkh settlements were usually located near the mouths of spawning rivers, on the sea coast and rarely numbered more than 20 dwellings. There were winter and summer permanent dwellings. Winter types of housing included dugouts. The summer type of housing was the so-called. letniki - buildings on stilts 1.5 m high, with a gable roof covered with birch bark. The main food of the Nivkhs was fish. It was consumed raw, boiled and frozen. Yukola was prepared and often used as bread. Meat was rarely consumed. The Nivkhs seasoned their food with fish oil or seal oil. Edible plants and berries were also used as seasoning. Mos was considered a favorite dish - a decoction (jelly) of fish skins, seal fat, berries, rice, with the addition of chopped yukola. Other tasty dishes were talkk - a salad of raw fish, seasoned with wild garlic, and planed meat. The Nivkhs became acquainted with rice, millet and tea during trade with China. After the arrival of the Russians, the Nivkhs began to consume bread, sugar and salt. Currently, national dishes are prepared as holiday treats. The basis of the social structure of the Nivkhs was an exogamous* clan, which included blood relatives in the male line. Each genus had its own generic name, indicating the place of settlement of this genus, for example: Chombing - “living on the Chom River. The classic form of marriage among the Nivkhs was marriage to the daughter of the mother's brother. However, it was forbidden to marry the daughter of his father's sister. Each clan was connected by marriage with two more clans. Wives were taken only from one specific clan and given only to a certain clan, but not to the one from which the wives were taken. In the past, the Nivkhs had an institution of blood feud. For the murder of a member of a clan, all men of a given clan had to take revenge on all men of the killer's clan. Later, blood feud began to be replaced by ransom. Valuable items served as ransom: chain mail, spears, silk fabrics. Also in the past, the rich Nivkhs developed slavery, which was patriarchal in nature. Slaves performed exclusively domestic work. They could start their own household and marry a free woman. The descendants of slaves in the fifth generation became free. The basis of the Nivkh worldview was animistic ideas. In each individual object they saw a living principle endowed with a soul. Nature was full of intelligent inhabitants. The owner of all the animals was the killer whale. The sky, according to the Nivkhs, was inhabited by “heavenly people” - the sun and the moon. The cult associated with the “masters” of nature was of a tribal nature. The bear festival (chkhyf-leharnd - bear game) was considered a family holiday. It was associated with the cult of the dead, as it was held in memory of a deceased relative. It included a complex ceremony of killing a bear with a bow, a ritual meal of bear meat, the sacrifice of dogs, and other actions. After the holiday, the head, bones of the bear, ritual utensils and things were stored in a special family barn, which was constantly visited regardless of where the Nivkh lived. A characteristic feature of the Nivkh funeral rite was the burning of the dead. There was also a custom of burial in the ground. During the burning, they broke the sled on which the deceased was brought, and killed the dogs, whose meat was boiled and eaten on the spot. Only members of his family buried the deceased. The Nivkhs had prohibitions associated with the cult of fire. Shamanism was not developed, but there were shamans in every village. The duties of shamans included healing people and fighting evil spirits. Shamans did not take part in the tribal cults of the Nivkhs.
Tuvans
Self-name - Tyva Kizhi, Tyvalar; outdated name - Soyots, Soyons, Uriankhians, Tannu Tuvans. Indigenous population of Tuva. The number in Russia is 206.2 thousand people. They also live in Mongolia and China. They are divided into Western Tuvans of central and southern Tuva and Eastern Tuvans (Tuvan-Todzha) of the northeastern and southeastern parts of Tuva. They speak Tuvan language. They have four dialects: central, western, northeastern and southeastern. In the past, the Tuvan language was influenced by the neighboring Mongolian language. Tuvan writing began to be created in the 1930s, based on the Latin script. The beginning of the formation of the Tuvan literary language dates back to this time. In 1941, Tuvan writing was translated into Russian graphics
The main branch of the Tuvan economy was and remains cattle breeding. Western Tuvans, whose economy was based on nomadic cattle breeding, raised small and large cattle, horses, yaks and camels. Pastures were mainly located in river valleys. During the year, Tuvans made 3-4 migrations. The length of each migration ranged from 5 to 17 km. The herds had several dozen different heads of livestock. Part of the herd was raised annually to provide the family with meat. Livestock farming fully covered the population's needs for dairy products. However, the conditions of keeping livestock (pasture keeping throughout the year, constant migrations, the habit of keeping young animals on a leash, etc.) negatively affected the quality of young animals and caused their death. The technique of cattle breeding itself often led to the death of the entire herd from exhaustion, lack of food, disease, and from attacks by wolves. Livestock losses amounted to tens of thousands of heads annually.
In the eastern regions of Tuva, reindeer husbandry was developed, but Tuvans used reindeer only for riding. Throughout the year, deer grazed on natural pastures. In the summer, the herds were driven to the mountains; in September, squirrels were hunted on deer. The deer were kept openly, without any fences. At night, the calves were released to pasture with their mothers, and in the morning they returned on their own. Reindeer, like other animals, were milked using the suckling method, with young animals being allowed in.
The Tuvans' secondary occupation was irrigation farming using gravity irrigation. The only type of land cultivation was spring plowing. They plowed with a wooden plow (andazyn), which was tied to a horse's saddle. They harrowed with drags from karagannik branches (kalagar-iliir). The ears were cut with a knife or pulled out by hand. Russian sickles appeared among Tuvans only at the beginning of the 20th century. Millet and barley were sown among grain crops. The site was used for three to four years, then it was abandoned to restore fertility.
Among domestic industries, felt production, wood processing, birch bark processing, hide processing and tanning, and blacksmithing were developed. Felt was made by every Tuvan family. It was necessary to cover a portable home, for beds, rugs, bedding, etc. Blacksmiths specialized in making bits, girths and buckles, stirrups, iron tags, flints, adzes, axes, etc. By the beginning of the 20th century. in Tuva there were more than 500 blacksmiths and jewelers, working mainly to order. The range of wood products was limited mainly to household items: yurt parts, dishes, furniture, toys, chess. Women were engaged in processing and dressing the skins of wild and domestic animals. The main means of transportation for Tuvans was riding and pack horses, and in some areas - deer. We also rode bulls and yaks. Tuvans used skis and rafts as other means of transportation.
Five types of dwellings were noted among the Tuvans. The main type of dwelling of nomadic herders is a lattice felt yurt of the Mongolian type (merbe-Og). This is a cylindrical-conical frame building with a smoke hole in the roof. In Tuva, a version of the yurt without a smoke hole is also known. The yurt was covered with 3–7 felt covers, which were tied to the frame with woolen ribbons. The diameter of the yurt is 4.3 m, the height is 1.3 m. The entrance to the dwelling was usually oriented to the east, south or southeast. The door to the yurt was made of felt or board. In the center was a hearth or iron stove with a chimney. The floor was covered with felt. To the right and left of the entrance there were kitchen utensils, a bed, chests, leather bags with property, saddles, harnesses, weapons, etc. They ate and sat on the floor. People lived in a yurt in winter and summer, transporting it from place to place during migrations.
The dwelling of the Tuvinians-Todzhins, hunters and reindeer herders, was a conical tent (Alachi, Alazhi-Og). The design of the chum was made of poles covered with deer or elk skins in winter, and with birch bark or larch bark in summer. Sometimes the design of the chum consisted of several felled young tree trunks placed next to each other with branches left at the top, to which poles were attached. The frame was not transported, only the tires. The diameter of the chum was 4–5.8 m, the height was 3–4 m. 12–18 reindeer skins, sewn with threads from deer tendons, were used to make tires for the chum. In summer, the tent was covered with leather or birch bark tires. The entrance to the tent was from the south. The hearth was located in the center of the dwelling in the form of an inclined pole with a loop of hair rope, to which a chain with a boiler was tied. In winter, tree branches were laid on the floor.
The plague of Todzha cattle breeders (alachog) was somewhat different from the plague of reindeer hunters. It was larger, did not have a pole for hanging the boiler over the fire, larch bark was used as tires: 30-40 pieces. They laid it like tiles, covering it with earth.
Western Tuvans covered the chum with felt tires, fastened with hair ropes. A stove or fire was built in the center. A hook for a cauldron or teapot was hung from the top of the chum. The door was made of felt in a wooden frame. The layout is the same as in a yurt: Right side female, left - male. The place behind the hearth opposite the entrance was considered honorable. Religious objects were also kept there. The plague could be portable and stationary.
The settled Tuvans had four-walled and five-six coal frame-and-post buildings made of poles, covered with elk skins or bark (borbak-Og). The area of such dwellings was 8–10 m, height – 2 m. The roofs of the dwellings were hipped, vaulted, dome-shaped, sometimes flat. Since the end of the 19th century. settled Tuvans began to build rectangular single-chamber log houses with a flat earthen roof, no windows, and a fireplace on the floor. The area of the dwellings was 3.5x3.5 m. Tuvans borrowed from the Russian population at the beginning of the 20th century. technique for constructing dugouts with a flat log roof. Rich Tuvans built five or six coal log houses-yurts of the Buryat type with a pyramid-shaped roof covered with larch bark with a smoke hole in the center.
Hunters and shepherds built temporary single-pitched or double-pitched frame shelters from poles and bark in the form of a hut (chadyr, chavyg, chavyt). The frame of the dwelling was covered with twigs, branches, and grass. In a gable dwelling, the fire was lit at the entrance, in a single-slope dwelling - in the center. Tuvans used log-frame above-ground barns, sometimes covered with earth, as economic buildings.
Currently, nomadic herders live in felt or log polygonal yurts. In the fields, conical and gable frame buildings and shelters are sometimes used. Many Tuvans live in villages in modern standard houses.
Tuvan clothing (khep) was adapted to nomadic life until the 20th century. bore stable traditional features. It was made, including shoes, from tanned skins of domestic and wild animals, as well as from purchased fabrics purchased from Russian and Chinese merchants. According to its purpose, it was divided into spring-summer and autumn-winter and consisted of everyday, festive, fishing, religious and sports.
The shoulder outerwear-robe (mon) was a tunic-like swing. There were no significant differences between men's, women's and children's clothing in terms of cut. It was wrapped to the right (the left floor over the right) and was always girded with a long sash. Only Tuvan shamans did not girdle their ritual costumes during rituals. A characteristic feature of the robe outerwear were long sleeves with cuffs that fell below the hands. This cut saved the hands from spring-autumn frosts and winter frosts and made it possible not to use mittens. A similar phenomenon was noted among the Mongols and Buryats. The robe was sewn almost to the ankles. In spring and summer, they wore a robe made of colored (blue or cherry) fabric. In the warm season, rich Western Tuvan cattle breeders wore torgov ton robes made of colored Chinese silk. In summer, silk sleeveless vests (kandaaz) were worn over the robe. Among Tuvan reindeer herders, a common type of summer clothing was hash ton, which was sewn from worn-out reindeer skins or autumn roe deer rovduga.
Various trade cults and mythological ideas played a significant role in the beliefs of the Tuvans. Among the most ancient ideas and rituals, the cult of the bear stands out. Hunting him was considered a sin. The killing of a bear was accompanied by certain rituals and spells. In the bear, the Tuvans, like all Siberian peoples, saw the spirit-master of fishing grounds, the ancestor and relative of people. He was considered a totem. He was never called by his real name (Adyghe), but allegorical nicknames were used, for example: hayyrakan (lord), irey (grandfather), daay (uncle), etc. The cult of the bear was most clearly manifested in the ritual of the “bear festival”.
Siberian Tatars
Self-name – Sibirthar (residents of Siberia), Sibirtatarlar (Siberian Tatars). In the literature there is a name - West Siberian Tatars. Settled in the middle and southern parts of Western Siberia from the Urals to the Yenisei: in the Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk and Tyumen regions. The number is about 190 thousand people. In the past, the Siberian Tatars called themselves yasakly (yasak foreigners), top-yerly-khalk (old-timers), chuvalshchiki (from the name of the chuval stove). Local self-names have been preserved: Tobolik (Tobolsk Tatars), Tarlik (Tara Tatars), Tyumenik (Tyumen Tatars), Baraba / Paraba Tomtatarlar (Tomsk Tatars), etc. They include several ethnic groups: Tobol-Irtysh (Kurdak-Sargat, Tara, Tobolsk, Tyumen and Yaskolbinsk Tatars), Barabinsk (Barabinsk-Turazh, Lyubeysk-Tunus and Terenin-Chey Tatars) and Tomsk (Kalmaks, Chats and Eushta). They speak the Siberian-Tatar language, which has several local dialects. The Siberian-Tatar language belongs to the Kipchak-Bulgar subgroup of the Kipchak group of the Altai language family.
The ethnogenesis of the Siberian Tatars is presented as a process of mixing Ugric, Samoyed, Turkic and partly Mongolian population groups of Western Siberia. For example, in the material culture of the Barabinsk Tatars, features of similarity between the Barabinsk people and the Khanty, Mansi and Selkups, and to a small extent - with the Evenki and Kets, have been identified. The Turin Tatars contain local Mansi components. Regarding the Tomsk Tatars, the point of view is held that they are the aboriginal Samoyed population, which experienced strong influence from the nomadic Turks.
The Mongolian ethnic component began to be part of the Siberian Tatars in the 13th century. The most recent influence of the Mongol-speaking tribes was on the Barabins, who in the 17th century. were in close contact with the Kalmyks.
Meanwhile, the main core of the Siberian Tatars were ancient Turkic tribes, which began to penetrate into the territory of Western Siberia in the 5th-7th centuries. n. e. from the east from the Minusinsk Basin and from the south from Central Asia and Altai. In the XI–XII centuries. The Kipchaks had the most significant influence on the formation of the Siberian-Tatar ethnic group. The Siberian Tatars also include tribes and clans of Khatans, Kara-Kypchaks, and Nugais. Later, the Siberian-Tatar ethnic community included the Yellow Uyghurs, Bukharan-Uzbeks, Teleuts, Kazan Tatars, Mishars, Bashkirs, and Kazakhs. With the exception of the Yellow Uighurs, they strengthened the Kipchak component among the Siberian Tatars.
The main traditional occupations for all groups of Siberian Tatars were agriculture and cattle breeding. For some groups of Tatars living in the forest zone, hunting and fishing occupied a significant place in their economic activities. Among the Baraba Tatars, lake fishing played a significant role. The northern groups of Tobol-Irtysh and Baraba Tatars were engaged in river fishing and hunting. Some groups of Tatars had a combination of different economic and cultural types. Fishing was often accompanied by grazing livestock or caring for areas of land sown in fishing areas. Foot hunting on skis was often combined with hunting on horseback.
The Siberian Tatars were familiar with agriculture even before Russian settlers arrived in Siberia. Most groups of Tatars were engaged in hoe farming. The main grain crops grown were barley, oats, and spelt. By the beginning of the 20th century. Siberian Tatars already sowed rye, wheat, buckwheat, millet, as well as barley and oats. In the 19th century the Tatars borrowed the main arable tools from the Russians: a one-horse wooden plow with an iron coulter, “vilachukha” - a plow without a front harness harnessed to one horse; “wheelie” and “saban” - advanced (on wheels) plows harnessed to two horses. When harrowing, the Tatars used a harrow with wooden or iron teeth. Most Tatars used plows and harrows of their own making. Sowing was done manually. Sometimes the arable land was weeded with ketmen or by hand. During the collection and processing of grain, they used sickles (urak, urgyish), a Lithuanian scythe (tsalgy, sama), a flail (mulata - from the Russian “threshed”), pitchforks (agats, sinek, sospak), rakes (ternauts, tyrnauts), a wooden shovel (korek) or a bucket (chilyak) for winnowing grain in the wind, as well as wooden mortars with a pestle (kile), wooden or stone hand-held millstones (kul tirmen, tygyrmen, chartashe).
Cattle breeding was developed among all groups of Siberian Tatars. However, in the 19th century. nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding lost its economic importance. At the same time, at this time the role of domestic stationary cattle breeding increased. More favorable conditions for the development of this type of cattle breeding existed in the southern regions of the Tara, Kainsky and Tomsk districts. The Tatars bred horses, large and small cattle.
Cattle breeding was predominantly of a commercial nature: livestock was raised for sale. They also sold meat, milk, hides, horsehair, sheep wool and other livestock products. Raising horses for sale was practiced.
In warm weather, livestock grazing took place near settlements in specially designated areas (pastures) or on communal lands. For young animals, fences (calf sheds) were set up in the form of a fence inside a pasture, or livestock area. Cattle were usually grazed without supervision; only wealthy Tatar families resorted to the help of shepherds. In winter, cattle were kept in log houses, thatched wicker houses, or in a covered yard under a shed. Men looked after the livestock in winter - they brought in hay, removed manure, and fed them. Women were milking cows. Many farms kept chickens, geese, ducks, and sometimes turkeys. Some Tatar families were engaged in beekeeping. At the beginning of the 20th century. Vegetable gardening began to spread among the Tatars.
Hunting played an important role in the structure of traditional occupations of the Siberian Tatars. They hunted mainly fur-bearing animals: fox, weasel, ermine, squirrel, hare. The objects of hunting also included bear, lynx, roe deer, wolf, and elk. In the summer they hunted moles. The birds caught were geese, ducks, partridges, wood grouse and hazel grouse. The hunting season began with the first snow. We hunted on foot and in winter on skis. Among the Tatar hunters of the Barabinsk steppe, hunting on horseback was common, especially for wolves.
The hunting tools were various traps, crossbows, baits, guns and purchased iron traps were used. They hunted the bear with a spear, lifting it from its den in winter. Elk and deer were caught using crossbows, which were placed on elk and deer trails. When hunting wolves, the Tatars used clubs made of wood with a thickened end covered with an iron plate (checkmers); sometimes hunters used long knives-blades. On the weed, ermine or wood grouse they placed bags, in which meat, offal or fish served as bait. They put cherkans on the squirrel. When hunting hare, nooses were used. Many hunters used dogs. The skins of fur-bearing animals and elk skins were sold to buyers, and the meat was eaten. Pillows and duvets were made from feathers and down of birds.
Fishing was a profitable occupation for many Siberian Tatars. They were practiced everywhere both on rivers and lakes. Fish were caught all year round. Fishing was especially developed among the Baraba, Tyumen and Tomsk Tatars. They caught pike, ide, chebak, crucian carp, perch, burbot, taimen, muksun, cheese, salmon, sterlet, etc. Most of the catch, especially in winter, was sold frozen at city bazaars or fairs. Tomsk Tatars (Eushta people) sold fish in the summer, bringing it to Tomsk live in specially equipped large boats with bars.
Traditional fishing gear were nets (au) and seines (alim), which the Tatars often wove themselves. Seines were divided according to their purpose: ulcer seine (opta au), cheese seine (yesht au), crucian carp seine (yazy balyk au), muksun seine (chryndy au). Fish was also caught using fishing rods (karmak), nets, and various basket-type tools: muzzles, tops and grapples. Wicks and nonsense were also used. Night fishing for large fish was practiced. It was mined by torchlight with a spear (sapak, tsatski) of three to five teeth. Sometimes dams were built on rivers, and the accumulated fish were scooped out with scoops. Currently, fishing has disappeared in many Tatar farms. It retained some significance among the Tomsk, Barabinsk, Tobol-Irtysh and Yaskolbinsk Tatars.
The secondary occupations of the Siberian Tatars included collecting wild edible plants, as well as collecting pine nuts and mushrooms, against which the Tatars had no prejudice. Berries and nuts were exported for sale. In some villages, hops growing in talniks were collected, which were also sold. Carriage played a significant role in the economy of the Tomsk and Tyumen Tatars. They transported various goods on horseback big cities Siberia: Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk; transported cargo to Moscow, Semipalatinsk, Irbit and other cities. Livestock and fishery products were transported as cargo; in winter, firewood from cutting sites and timber were transported.
Among the crafts, the Siberian Tatars developed leatherworking, making ropes and sacks; knitting nets, weaving baskets and boxes from willow twigs, making birch bark and wooden utensils, carts, sleighs, boats, skis, blacksmithing, jewelry. The Tatars supplied tanneries with tall bark and leather, and glass factories with firewood, straw and aspen ash.
As a means of communication among the Siberian Tatars big role played by natural waterways. In spring and autumn, dirt roads were impassable. They moved along the rivers in dugout boats (kama, kema, kima) of a pointed type. The dugouts were made from aspen, and the cedar logs were made from cedar planks. The Tomsk Tatars knew boats made of birch bark. In the past, the Tomsk Tatars (Eushta people) used rafts (sal) to move along rivers and lakes. On dirt roads in summer, goods were transported on carts, in winter - on sleighs or firewood. To transport cargo, the Barabino and Tomsk Tatars used hand-held straight-legged sleds, which the hunters pulled with a strap. The traditional means of transportation for the Siberian Tatars were skis of the gliding type: podvolok (lined with fur) for moving in deep snow and golitsy for walking on hard snow in the spring. Horseback riding was also common among the Siberian Tatars.
Traditional settlements of the Siberian Tatars - yurts, auls, uluses, aimaks - were located mainly along floodplains, lake shores, and along roads. The villages were small (5–10 houses) and located at a considerable distance from each other. Characteristics Tatar villages were the lack of a specific layout, crooked narrow streets, the presence of dead ends, and scattered residential buildings. Each village had a mosque with a minaret, a fence and a grove with a clearing for public prayers. There could be a cemetery next to the mosque. Wattle, adobe, brick, log and stone houses served as dwellings. In the past, dugouts were also known.
Tomsk and Baraba Tatars lived in rectangular frame houses woven from twigs and coated with clay - mud huts (utou, ode). The basis of this type of dwelling was made up of corner pillars with transverse poles, which were intertwined with rods. The dwellings were backfilled: earth was poured between two parallel walls, the walls outside and inside were coated with clay mixed with manure. The roof was flat, it was made on slags and matitsa. It was covered with turf and over time overgrown with grass. The smoke hole in the roof also served for lighting. The Tomsk Tatars also had huts that were round in plan, slightly recessed into the ground.
Among the household buildings of the Siberian Tatars there were pens for livestock made of poles, wooden barns for storing food, fishing gear and agricultural equipment, bathhouses built in a black way, without a chimney; stables, cellars, bread ovens. The yard with outbuildings was enclosed with a high fence made of boards, logs or wattle. A gate and a wicket were installed in the fence. Often the yard was enclosed with a fence made of willow or willow poles.
In the past, Tatar women ate food after men. At weddings and holidays, men and women ate separately from each other. Nowadays, many traditional customs related to food have disappeared. Foods that were previously prohibited for religious or other reasons, in particular pork products, came into use. At the same time, some national dishes made from meat, flour, and milk are still preserved.
The main form of family among the Siberian Tatars was a small family (5–6 people). The head of the family was the eldest man in the house - grandfather, father or older brother. The position of women in the family was degraded. Girls were married off at an early age - at 13 years old. His parents were looking for a bride for their son. She wasn't supposed to see her fiancé before the wedding. Marriages were concluded through matchmaking, voluntary departure and forced abduction of the bride. It was practiced to pay kalym for the bride. It was forbidden to marry relatives. The property of the deceased head of the family was divided into equal parts among the sons of the deceased. If there were no sons, then the daughters received half of the property, and the other part was divided among relatives.
Of the folk holidays of the Siberian Tatars, the most popular was and remains Sabantuy - the festival of the plow. It is celebrated after the completion of sowing work. Sabantuy hosts horse racing, racing, long jump competitions, tug-of-war, sack fighting on a balance beam, etc.
The folk art of the Siberian Tatars in the past was represented mainly by oral folk art. The main types of folklore were fairy tales, songs (lyrical, dance), proverbs and riddles, heroic songs, tales of heroes, historical epics. The performance of songs was accompanied by playing folk musical instruments: kurai (wooden pipe), kobyz (reed instrument made of a metal plate), harmonica, tambourine.
Fine art existed mainly in the form of embroidery on clothing. Embroidery subjects – flowers, plants. Of the Muslim holidays, Uraza and Kurban Bayram were widespread and still exist today.
Selkups
The basis of the Nivkh worldview was animistic ideas. In each individual object they saw a living principle endowed with a soul. Nature was full of intelligent inhabitants. Sakhalin Island was presented in the form of a humanoid creature. The Nivkhs endowed trees, mountains, rivers, earth, water, cliffs, etc. with the same properties. The owner of all the animals was the killer whale. The sky, according to the Nivkhs, was inhabited by “heavenly people” - the sun and the moon. The cult associated with the “masters” of nature was of a tribal nature. The bear festival (chkhyf-leharnd - bear game) was considered a family holiday. It was associated with the cult of the dead, as it was held in memory of a deceased relative. For this holiday, a bear was hunted in the taiga or a bear cub was bought, which was fed for several years. The honorable duty of killing a bear was given to the narcs - people from the “son-in-law family” of the organizer of the holiday. For the holiday, all members of the clan gave supplies and money to the owner of the bear. The host's family prepared food for the guests.
The holiday was usually held in February and lasted several days. It included a complex ceremony of killing a bear with a bow, a ritual meal of bear meat, the sacrifice of dogs, and other actions. After the holiday, the head, bones of the bear, ritual utensils and things were stored in a special family barn, which was constantly visited regardless of where the Nivkh lived.
A characteristic feature of the Nivkh funeral rite was the burning of the dead. There was also a custom of burial in the ground. During the burning, they broke the sled on which the deceased was brought, and killed the dogs, whose meat was boiled and eaten on the spot. Only members of his family buried the deceased. The Nivkhs had prohibitions associated with the cult of fire. Shamanism was not developed, but there were shamans in every village. The duties of shamans included healing people and fighting evil spirits. Shamans did not take part in the tribal cults of the Nivkhs.
In ethnographic literature until the 1930s. The Selkups were called Ostyak-Samoyeds. This ethnonym was introduced in the middle of the 19th century. Finnish scientist M.A. Castren, who proved that the Selkups are a special community, which in terms of conditions and way of life is close to the Ostyaks (Khanty), and in language is related to the Samoyeds (Nenets). Another outdated name for the Selkups - Ostyaks - coincides with the name of the Khanty (and Kets) and probably goes back to the language of the Siberian Tatars. The first contacts of the Selkups with the Russians date back to the end of the 16th century. The Selkup language has several dialects. An attempt made in the 1930s to create a single literary language (based on the northern dialect) failed.
The main occupations of all Selkup groups were hunting and fishing. The southern Selkups led a mostly semi-sedentary lifestyle. Based on a certain difference in the ratio of fishing and hunting, they had a division into forest dwellers - Majilkup, who lived on the Ob channels, and Ob inhabitants - Koltakup. The economy of the Ob Selkups (Koltakup) was focused mainly on mining in the river. Obi fish of valuable species. The life support system of the forest Selkups (majilkup) was based on hunting. The main game animals were elk, squirrel, ermine, weasel, and sable. Elk were hunted for meat. When hunting it, they used crossbows placed on the trails and guns. Other animals were hunted using bows and arrows, as well as various traps and devices: jaws, sacks, gags, scoops, snares, dies, traps. They also hunted bears
Hunting for upland game was of great importance for the southern Selkups, as well as for many peoples of Siberia. In the autumn they hunted wood grouse, black grouse and hazel grouse. Upland game meat was usually stored for future use. In summer, moulting geese were hunted on the lakes. The hunt for them was carried out collectively. The geese were driven into one of the bays and caught in nets.
In the Tazovskaya tundra, Arctic fox hunting occupied a significant place in hunting. Modern hunting is developed mainly among the northern Selkups. There are practically no professional hunters among the southern Selkups.
For all groups of southern Selkups, the most important economic activity was fishing. The objects of fishing were sturgeon, nelma, muksun, sterlet, burbot, pike, ide, crucian carp, perch, etc. Fish were caught year-round on rivers and floodplain lakes. She was caught both with nets and traps: cats, snouts, samolov, wicks. Large fish were also caught by spearing and archery. The fishing season was divided into a “small fishery” before the water receded and the sands were exposed, and a “big fishery” after the sands were exposed, when almost the entire population switched to the “sands” and caught fish with nets. Various traps were placed on the lakes. Ice fishing was practiced. In certain places at the mouths of tributaries, spring constipations using stakes were made annually.
Under the influence of the Russians, the southern Selkups began to breed domestic animals: horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and poultry. At the beginning of the 20th century. Selkups began to engage in gardening. The skills of cattle breeding (horse breeding) were known to the ancestors of the southern Selkups at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. The problem of reindeer herding among the southern Selkup groups remains debatable.
The traditional means of transportation among the southern Selkups are a dugout boat - an oblask, and in winter - skis lined with fur or golits. They walked on skis with the help of a stick-staff, which had a ring on the bottom and a bone hook on top to remove snow from under the foot. In the taiga, the hand sled, narrow and long, was widespread. The hunter usually dragged it himself using a belt loop. Sometimes the sledge was pulled by a dog.
The northern Selkups developed reindeer herding, which had a transport direction. Reindeer herds in the past rarely numbered 200 to 300 deer. Most northern Selkups had from one to 20 heads. The Turukhan Selkups were landless. The deer were never herded. In winter, to prevent the deer from wandering far from the village, wooden “shoes” (mokta) were put on the feet of several deer in the herd. In the summer the deer were released. With the onset of mosquito season, the deer gathered in herds and went into the forest. Only after the end of fishing did the owners begin to look for their deer. They tracked them the same way they tracked wild animals while hunting.
The northern Selkups borrowed the idea of riding reindeer in a sled from the Nenets. When going hunting, the ashless (Turukhan) Selkups, like the southern Selkups, used a hand sled (kanji), on which the hunter carried ammunition and food. In winter they traveled on skis, which were made of spruce wood and covered with fur. They moved along the water in dugout boats called oblaskas. Rowed with one oar, sitting, kneeling and sometimes standing.
The Selkups have several types of settlements: year-round stationary, supplemented seasonal for fishermen without families, stationary winter, combined with portable ones for other seasons, stationary winter and stationary summer. In Russian, Selkup settlements were called yurts. Northern Selkup reindeer herders live in camps consisting of two or three, sometimes five portable dwellings. The taiga Selkups settled along rivers and on the shores of lakes. The villages are small, from two or three to 10 houses.
The Selkups knew six types of dwellings (chum, truncated-pyramidal frame underground and log-frame underground, log house with a flat roof, underground made of beams, boat-ilimka).
The permanent home of the Selkup reindeer herders was a portable tent of the Samoyed type (korel-mat) - a conical frame structure made of poles, covered with tree bark or skins. The diameter of the chum is from 2.5–3 to 8–9 m. The door was the edge of one of the chum tires (24–28 deer skins were sewn together for tires) or a piece of birch bark suspended on a stick. In the center of the plague, a fire pit was built on the ground. The hearth hook was attached to the top of the chum. Sometimes they installed a stove with a chimney. The smoke came out through a hole between the tops of the frame poles. The floor in the tent was earthen or covered with boards to the right and left of the hearth. Two families or married couples (parents with married children) lived in the chum. The place opposite the entrance behind the hearth was considered honorable and sacred. They slept on reindeer skins or mats. In the summer, mosquito curtains were installed.
The winter dwellings of taiga sedentary and semi-sedentary fishermen and hunters were dugouts and semi-dugouts of various designs. One of the ancient forms of dugouts is karamo, one and a half to two meters deep, with an area of 7–8 m. The walls of the dugout were lined with logs. The roof (single or gable) was covered with birch bark and covered with earth. The entrance to the dugout was built towards the river. The karamo was heated by a central fireplace or chuval. Another type of dwelling was a half-dugout "karamushka" 0.8 m deep, with unfortified earthen walls and a gable roof made of slabs and birch bark. The basis of the roof was a central beam resting on a vertical post mounted against the rear wall and two posts with a crossbar mounted against the front wall. The door was made of planks, the fireplace was external. There was also another type of semi-dugout (tai-mat, poi-mat), similar to the Khanty semi-dugout. In dugouts and semi-dugouts they slept on bunks arranged along two walls opposite the fireplace.
As a temporary fishing dwelling among the Selkups, buildings in the form of a lean-to screen (booth) are well known. Such a barrier was placed during a stay in the forest for rest or overnight. A common temporary dwelling of the Selkups (especially among the northern ones) is the kumar - a hut made of semi-cylindrical woven wool with a birch bark covering. Among the southern (Narym) Selkups, birch bark covered boats (alago, koraguand, andu) were common as a summer home. The frame was made of bird cherry twigs. They were inserted into the edges of the sides of the boat, and they formed a semi-cylinder vault. The top of the frame was covered with birch bark panels. This type of boat was widespread in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. among the Narym Selkups and Vasyugan Khanty.
In the 19th century many Selkups (southern Selkups) began to build Russian-type log houses with a gable and hipped roof. Currently, Selkups live in modern log houses. Traditional dwellings (semi-dugouts) are used only as commercial outbuildings.
Among the traditional economic buildings of the Selkups there were piled barns, sheds for livestock, sheds, hangers for drying fish, and adobe bread ovens.
The traditional winter outerwear of the northern Selkups was a fur parka (porge) - an open-front fur coat made of deer skins sewn with the fur facing out. In severe frosts, a sakui was worn over the parka - a thick garment made of deer skins, with the fur facing out, with a sewn hood. Sakuy was used only by men. The parka was worn by both men and women. Men's underwear consisted of a shirt and pants made from purchased fabric; women wore a dress. The winter footwear of the northern Selkups were pimas (pems), sewn from kamus and cloth. Instead of a stocking (sock), combed grass (sedge) was used, which was used to wrap the foot. In the summer they wore Russian shoes and Russian boots. The hats were sewn in the form of a hood from a “pawn” - the skin of a newborn calf, arctic fox and squirrel paws, from the skins and neck of a loon. The ubiquitous headdress for both women and men was a scarf, which was worn in the form of a headscarf. The northern Selkups sewed mittens from kamus with the fur facing out.
The southern Selkups had fur coats made from “combined fur” – ponjel-porg – as outerwear. Such fur coats were worn by men and women. A characteristic feature of these fur coats was the presence of a fur lining, collected from the skins of small fur-bearing animals - the paws of sable, squirrel, ermine, weasel, and lynx. The assembled fur was sewn together in vertical strips. The color selection was done in such a way that the color shades blend into one another. The top of the fur coat was covered with fabric - cloth or plush. Women's fur coats were longer than men's. A long women's fur coat made from prefabricated fur was of significant family value.
As fishing clothing, men wore short fur coats with the fur facing out - kyrnya - made from deer fur or hare skins. In the 19th–20th centuries. Sheepskin sheepskin coats and dog coats became widespread - winter travel clothing, as well as cloth zipuns. In the middle of the 20th century. this type of clothing was replaced by the quilted sweatshirt. The lower shoulder clothing of the southern Selkups - shirts and dresses (kaborg - for shirt and dress) - came into use in the 19th century. The shoulder clothing was girded with a soft woven girdle or leather belt.
The traditional food of the Selkups consisted mainly of fishery products. Fish was prepared in large quantities for future use. It was boiled (fish soup - kai, with the addition of cereal - armagay), fried over a fire on a spit stick (chapsa), salted, dried, dried, yukola was prepared, fish meal - porsa was made. Fish was stored for future use in the summer, during the “big catch.” Fish oil was boiled from fish entrails, which was stored in birch bark vessels and used for food. As a seasoning and addition to the diet, the Selkups consumed wild edible plants: wild onions, wild garlic, saran roots, etc. They ate large quantities of berries and pine nuts. The meat of elk and upland game was also eaten. Purchased products are widespread: flour, butter, sugar, tea, cereals.
There were food prohibitions on eating the meat of certain animals and birds. For example, some groups of Selkups did not eat bear or swan meat, considering them to be close in “breed” to humans. Taboo animals could also be a hare, partridge, wild geese and others. In the 20th century. The Selkup diet was replenished with livestock products. With the development of gardening - potatoes, cabbage, beets and other vegetables.
The Selkups, although they were considered baptized, retained, like many peoples of Siberia, their ancient religious beliefs. They were characterized by ideas about the spirit owners of places. They believed in the master spirit of the forest (machil vines), the master spirit of water (utkyl vines), etc. Various sacrifices were made to the spirits in order to enlist their support during fishing.
The Selkups considered the god Num, who personified the sky, to be the creator of the whole world, the demiurge. In Selkup mythology, the underground spirit Kyzy was an inhabitant of the underworld, the ruler of evil. This spirit had numerous helping spirits - vines that penetrated the human body and caused illness. To combat diseases, the Selkups turned to the shaman, who, together with his helping spirits, fought against evil spirits and tried to expel them from the human body. If the shaman succeeded in this, then the person recovered.
The Selkups believed that the land they lived in was initially level and flat, covered with grass, moss and forest - the hair of Mother Earth. Water and clay were its ancient primary state. The Selkups interpreted all earthly elevations and natural depressions as evidence of events that took place in the past, both earthly (“battles of heroes”) and heavenly (for example, lightning stones dropped from the sky gave birth to swamps and lakes). For the Selkups, the earth (chvech) was the substance that generated and generated everything. Milky Way in the sky it seemed like a stone river, which passes to the ground and the river flows. Ob, closing the world into a single whole (southern Selkups). The stones that are placed on the ground to give it stability also have a celestial nature. They also store and give heat, generate fire and iron.
The Selkups had special sacrificial places associated with religious rituals. They were a kind of sanctuary in the form of small log barns (lozyl sessan, lot kele) on one stand-leg, with wooden spirits - vines - installed inside. The Selkups brought various “sacrifices” to these barns in the form of copper and silver coins, dishes, household items, etc. The Selkups revered the bear, elk, eagle, and swan.
The traditional poetic creativity of the Selkups is represented by legends, the heroic epic about the hero of the Selkup people, the cunning Itya, various types of fairy tales (chapte), songs, and everyday stories. Even in the recent past, the genre of improvised songs of the “what I see, I sing” type was widely represented. However, with the loss of the Selkup skills of speaking the Selkup language, this type of oral creativity practically disappeared. Selkup folklore contains many references to old beliefs and cults associated with them. Selkup legends tell about the wars waged by the ancestors of the Selkups with the Nenets, Evenks, and Tatars.
Video lesson “Eastern Siberia. Population and Economy" will introduce you to the indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia, their way of life and culture. In addition, the teacher will tell you about the largest cities in the East Siberian region and their role in political and economic life. From the lesson you will learn about the main sectors of the economy of Eastern Siberia, the geography of their location throughout the region.
Largest cities: Krasnoyarsk (1.03 million people), Irkutsk (600 thousand people), Ulan-Ude (412 thousand people).
Farming.
Main areas of specialization:
1. non-ferrous metallurgy
2. coal industry
3. electric power industry
4. chemical industry
5. forest industry
6. fur trade
The economy of the East Siberian region is formed on the basis of its own natural resources. Eastern Siberia, despite its still insufficient geological exploration, is distinguished by its exceptional wealth and wide variety of natural resources. Most of the hydropower resources and general geological reserves of coal are concentrated here, there are unique deposits of non-ferrous, rare and precious metals (copper, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, niobium, titanium, gold, platinum, etc.), many types of non-metallic raw materials (mica, asbestos, talc, graphite, magnesite, fluorspar, etc.), large reserves of oil and natural gas were discovered. Eastern Siberia ranks first in the Russian Federation in terms of timber reserves.
Geological reserves of coal reach 3.7 trillion. tons, which is more than half of Russia's coal resources and twice the coal resources of the United States. The most studied and developed are the Kansk-Achinsk, Minusinsk and Irkutsk coal basins. The Taimyr, Tunguska and Ulughem basins have not yet been sufficiently explored, let alone developed.
The Kansk-Achinsk coal basin extends along the Trans-Siberian railway for a distance of about 800 km. The total geological reserves of coal in it amount to 640 billion tons. The main deposits of this basin are: Berezovskoye, Irsha-Borodinskoye, Nazarovskoye, Bogotolskoye, Abanskoye, Uryupskoye. The coals are brown, occur in thick layers (up to 100 m) and are close to the surface, which allows them to be mined in the open.
The Minusinsk coal basin has geological coal reserves of 32.5 billion tons. It is located along the banks of the upper reaches of the Yenisei and its tributary Abakan in the Minusinsk Basin. Coals are hard coals and can be mined mainly using the mine method.
The reserves of the Irkutsk coal basin are estimated at 76.2 billion tons. The best quality coals of this basin are found in the Cheremkhovskoye, Novo-Metelkinskoye and Azeyskoye deposits.
Rich coal deposits have been discovered on the territory of Tuva. The Ulughem basin stands out here with geological reserves of about 18 billion tons of coal, which is a good energy fuel and is characterized by a low content of ash and sulfur. However, due to the lack of transport links with the industrial centers of Eastern Siberia, the basin is still of only local importance. Transbaikalia has significant coal reserves. In Buryatia, the largest deposits are Gusinoozerskoye, Nikolskoye, Tugunskoye. Coals are brown with a high yield of volatile combustible substances, as a result of which they can spontaneously ignite during long-term storage. The coals of the Chita region are also mostly brown. The main deposits are Kharanorskoye, Chernovskoye, Tarbagataiskoye. In the Bukachachinsky deposit, the coals are hard.
The Tunguska coal basin occupies a large part (1 million sq. km.) of the Siberian platform between the Lena and Yenisei rivers. It is still poorly studied, and due to its inaccessibility and remoteness from industrial centers, it is not exploited (only coal is mined for the needs of Norilsk). However, according to estimates, the geological reserves of coal in the Tunguska basin are very large and amount to about 2299 billion tons. In the northern part of the Taimyr Peninsula, the Taimyr coal basin is located with total reserves of 235 billion tons. It is still little studied due to the harsh natural conditions climatic conditions and poor development of the transport network. Within the Krasnoyarsk Territory there is also part of the Lena coal basin - the Anabar-Khatanga coal-bearing region with brown coal deposits.
Oil was discovered in the 1960s near Ust-Kut near the village of Markovo. In subsequent years, oil and natural gas resources were discovered not only in the north of the Irkutsk region, but also in Evenkia and the Nizhne-Angarsk region of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, but their industrial production has not yet been carried out. There are also minor reserves of oil shale.
In terms of the wealth of hydropower resources, Eastern Siberia ranks first in Russia. The basis for the development of the electric power industry is the coal of the Kansk-Achinsk basin and the hydropotential of the rivers, primarily the Angara and Yenisei. The region provides more than 13% of all-Russian electricity production. It is also important that a significant share of energy is produced at hydroelectric power plants, which means it has a relatively low cost. Energy-intensive industries are developing on the basis of cheap energy.
The main branch of specialization in Eastern Siberia is non-ferrous metallurgy. 1/3 of Russian non-ferrous metals are produced here. First of all, this is aluminum (3/4 of Russian production), as well as nickel and copper. In addition, Eastern Siberia is one of the main gold-mining regions.
Pulp and paper production is also energy-intensive. This production uses local forest and water resources. The basic industry in the formation of the economy is the electric power industry. The energy sector of the East Siberian region is based on powerful hydroelectric power stations - Sayano-Shushenskaya and Krasnoyarsk on the Yenisei, as well as Bratsk, Ust-Ilimsk and the smaller Irkutsk on the Angara. State district power plants (thermal stations of regional significance) - Nazarovskaya and Berezovskaya - operate on the basis of cheap brown coal.
Rice. 2. Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station ()
Aluminum production is located near a hydroelectric power station (a source of cheap electricity). The main centers are Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, Shelekhov, Sayanogorsk. The production of copper, nickel, cobalt and other rare non-ferrous metals is represented in Norilsk.
Rice. 3. Metallurgical plant in Norilsk ()
The only oil refinery in Eastern Siberia is located in Angarsk. The most important centers of the timber industry are Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Ust-Ilimsk, Lesosibirsk.
Spring wheat is grown in steppe areas with fertile soils in the southern part of the region. Half-fine-fleece sheep are grazed on mountain pastures.
The ethnic composition of the population of Eastern Siberia is relatively homogeneous. 80% of the population are Russians, who began to develop the territory of Siberia from late XVI century.
Homework:
P. 58, question 2.
1. Name and find on the map the main industrial centers of Eastern Siberia.
2. List the peoples of Eastern Siberia. Name the largest cities in the region.
Bibliography
Main
1. Geography of Russia. Population and economy. 9th grade: textbook for general education. uch. / V. P. Dronov, V. Ya. Rom. - M.: Bustard, 2011. - 285 p.
2. Geography. 9th grade: atlas. - 2nd ed., rev. - M.: Bustard; DIK, 2011 - 56 p.
Additional
1. Economic and social geography of Russia: Textbook for universities / Ed. prof. A. T. Khrushchev. - M.: Bustard, 2001. - 672 p.: ill., map.: color. on
2. Ethnography: textbook / ed. Yu. V. Bromley, G. E. Markov. - M.: graduate School, 1982. - P. 320. Chapter 10. “Peoples of Siberia.”
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books and statistical collections
1. Geography: a reference book for high school students and those entering universities. - 2nd ed., rev. and revision - M.: AST-PRESS SCHOOL, 2008. - 656 p.
Literature for preparing for the State Exam and the Unified State Exam
1. Test materials. Geography: 9th grade / Comp. E. A. Zhizhina. - M.: VAKO, 2012. - 112 p.
2. Thematic control. Geography. Nature of Russia. 8th grade / N. E. Burgasova, S. V. Bannikov: textbook. - M.: Intellect-Center, 2010. - 144 p.
3. Geography tests: grades 8-9: to the textbook, ed. V. P. Dronova “Geography of Russia. Grades 8-9: textbook for educational institutions" / V. I. Evdokimov. - M.: Exam, 2009. - 109 p.
4. State final certification of 9th grade graduates in a new form. Geography. 2013. Tutorial/ V.V. Barabanov. - M.: Intellect-Center, 2013. - 80 p.
5. Tests. Geography. 6-10 grades: Educational and methodological manual / A. A. Letyagin. - M.: LLC "Agency "KRPA "Olympus": Astrel, AST, 2001. - 284 p.
6. Textbook on geography. Tests and practical assignments in geography / I. A. Rodionova. - M.: Moscow Lyceum, 1996. - 48 p.
7. Geography. Answers on questions. Oral examination, theory and practice / V. P. Bondarev. - M.: Exam, 2003. - 160 p.
8. Thematic tests to prepare for the final certification and the Unified State Exam. Geography. - M.: Balass, Publishing house. House of RAO, 2005. - 160 p.
Materials on the Internet
The Russian Federation is a large multinational state. The ethnic composition of the country is unique. More than 190 peoples live here, including indigenous, small and autochthonous peoples, differing in culture, traditions and way of life.
There are 65 nationalities living on Russian lands, the number of which does not exceed a thousand people. 25 of them occupy the territories of Siberia and the Far East.
Geographical location of Siberia
This is a large historical and geographical region located in the Asian part of the world and covering the northeastern territories of the Eurasian continent.
Its lands stretch from west to east from the Ural mountain range to the Pacific waters, covering the entire Far East, where the extreme point is the watershed ridges of the coast. The northern and southern outskirts coincide with the state borders.
It occupies about 74% of the total area of the Russian Federation, which is approximately 13.1 million km 2. Population: 36 million people, or 25% of the total Russian population.
The total area of the region is conventionally divided into two main parts: Western and Eastern Siberia, in which the Southern (mountain) region, North-Eastern and Middle regions are distinguished.
Settlement history
The amazing taiga world called Siberia became part of Russia in the period of the 16th-17th centuries. The name (according to one version) comes from the Mongolian “Shibir”, which means “swampy area covered with forest”. It is assumed that during the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongolian peoples called the border part of the taiga this way.
The spread of the concept over large territories is associated with the name of the capital city of the Siberian Khanate, captured by the Russian Empire during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. It was then that the development of lands located east of the Urals began.
The history of the conquest begins with the refusal of the Trans-Ural tribes to pay tribute to the Russian Tsar. Frequent raids by the Khan's cavalry on Russian villages belonging to the Stroganov family forced them to call in mercenaries to fight the unwanted guests. Then a small Cossack detachment led by Ataman Alenin Vasily Timofeevich, who went down in history under the name Ermak, began his legendary campaign over the ridge.
After this, mass migration to Western Siberian lands began. Following the Cossacks, hunting parties, peasants, confessors and officials flocked there. Once beyond the Urals, those who came became free. Serfdom did not apply here and there was no landownership. The only payment was state tax. Local tribes were subject to fur tribute, which became a significant contribution to the state treasury.
Later, outposts were built here to serve as defensive fortifications for the further conquest of the region. Cities gradually grew up around them. Thus, in 1604, the construction of Tomsk began, which became a major cultural and economic center. Soon the Yenisei and Kuznetsk forts were built, where the administration and military garrisons were located, controlling the collection of tribute.
The resettlement process became most widespread at the end of the Time of Troubles. Then Eastern Siberia was developed. At the beginning of the 17th century, settlement of the banks of the Irtysh, Ob and the areas adjacent to the Yenisei took place. Large cities began to be built - Tyumen, Tobolsk, Krasnoyarsk. By the end of the century, the Russians had reached the Pacific coast.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the impetus for the development of the region was the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. During the Second World War, many military-industrial enterprises were evacuated here, which led to a sharp increase in the population of the region. In the first years of the war alone, more than 1 million people moved to Siberia.
In the post-war period, rapid construction of roads, factories, power plants and railway lines. This is how modern symbols of Siberia appeared - BAM, Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station, Novorossiysk Akademgorodok and other structures.
Indigenous peoples
The modern ethnic composition of these lands includes not only the Russian-speaking population, but also a number of small peoples who have lived here since ancient times.
Turkic
They differ in culture, way of life and religious way of life. The bulk of modern Turks are Muslims. But some preach Orthodoxy, Buddhism (Tuvians), there are Burkhanists (Altai family), Tengrists (Khakas, Shors, Yakuts, Teleuts).
The ethnocultural traditions of Turkic communities have developed over generations, since the Middle Ages, from various sources. But gradually, features characteristic only of the Turkic-speaking ethnic group emerged. This includes the form of housekeeping, housing, national clothing, jewelry, food and even means of transportation. The Turks have their own spiritual culture, art, folklore and writing.
Turkic nomadic tribes are engaged in reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. Some, for example, the Chulym people, are masters of woodworking, making boats, dishes, skis and other wood products.
Several Turkic-speaking ethnic groups live in different Siberian regions:
- Chulym people. Located in the northern regions of Siberia.
- Tofalars. They live on the territory of three settlements: Alygdzher, Nerkha and Verkhnyaya Gutara and in the western part of the Irkutsk region.
- Shors. They settled in the Kemerovo region, with small communities in Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk and Altai territories.
- Dolgans. Orthodox people of Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It was formed as an independent ethnic group at the beginning of the 20th century, from settlers - Evenks, Yakuts, Entsy and peasants who lived in the tundra.
- Altaians. The Altai family includes several small groups, united by culture, linguistic affiliation and the basics of economic activity. These are Telengits, Kumandins, Teleuts, Tubalars, Chelkans, Soyots, Tuvans.
Mongolian
In the Russian Federation they occupy the territories of the Republic of Buryatia, the Irkutsk region and the Trans-Baikal Territory. Among them, depending on the area of settlement, 4 main groups are distinguished: eastern, western, northern and southern.
The Buryats are one of the northernmost Mongolian peoples. They formed as an independent ethnic group on the lands of Bargudzhin-Tokum (the territory of the modern Republic of Buryatia).
Until the recognition of Buddhism as one of the official religions of the Russian Federation, the Buryats were adherents of shamanism and the shaman occupied a leading position in the community. But from the end of the 19th century, a period of rapid flourishing of a new faith (Buddhism) began in Buryatia. It has become an important factor in the development of culture, the formation national image life, morality and art of the region.
Samoyed
Peoples united in one (Samoyedic) group of the Uralic language family.
It includes:
- Nenets. Indigenous inhabitants of the lands from the Kola Peninsula to Taimyr. They are divided into two subgroups: European and Asian. Asian Nenets live in the Tyumen region, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The indigenous peoples of the Krasnoyarsk Territory settled in small groups in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. The main type of economy is reindeer husbandry, fishing and hunting.
- Selkups. They occupy the north of the Tomsk and Tyumen regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The main direction in religion is Orthodoxy, but many Selkups preach shamanism and animism. In addition to commercial farming, they are engaged in growing agricultural crops. Pottery and ceramic production are developed.
- Nganasans. Indigenous people of Siberia from the Taimyr Peninsula. Like many local residents, they are engaged in deer breeding, fur harvesting, and hunting (including waterfowl). The female half makes clothes, tans skins and makes crafts.
- Enets. At the time of the last census, almost all Enets were concentrated in the territory of the Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The national language is practically not used. The basis of life is cattle breeding, wild deer hunting, fishing and fur farming.
Tungus-Manchu
The total number is 71,794 people. This includes several peoples inhabiting different territories.
Namely:
- Evenks. Indigenous peoples of Yakutia and Eastern Siberia, occupying lands from the Yenisei to the Sea of Okhotsk (territories of Buryatia, Krasnoyarsk, Transbaikal and Khabarovsk territories and Irkutsk, Amur, Sakhalin regions).
- Evens. A people related to the Evenks, living mainly in the Magadan and Kamchatka regions. Nomadic reindeer herders and fishermen.
- Nanai people. A small ethnic group living on the coasts of the Amur, Ussuri and Sungari. Dog breeding is widespread on the farm.
In addition to large ethnic groups, small groups of no more than 3,000 people live on these lands. These are the Ulchi, Udege, Oroch, Negidal and Orok.
Finno-Ugric
The Finno-Ugric language group includes the Khanty, Mansi, Vepsians, and Sami.
A little more detail:
- Khanty and Mansi. Their main part is located in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The main occupation is fishing, herd reindeer husbandry and taiga hunting. In religion, they adhere to the faith of their ancestors - shamanism, although many preach Orthodox Christianity.
- Veps and Sami. They mostly live in the European part of Russia, but since 2006 they have been included in the list of indigenous peoples of the North of Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation.
Chukotka-Kamchatka
This is a large group, where the largest number among other nationalities are the Chukchi - the indigenous people of the extreme north-eastern lands of Asia. The largest group lives in Chukotka, where it is the main population in the region. The activity of the coastal Chukchi is hunting a large sea animal - the seal. In the summer, whales and walruses are hunted. The house of the Chukchi is called yaranga. These are small polygonal tents covered with deer skins.
In addition to them, the Chukotka-Kamchatka group includes Koryaks, Itelmens, Alyutors, Kamchadals and Kereks.
Eskimo-Aleutian
Peoples of the same language family: Eskimos and Aleuts. The Aleuts are considered an endangered ethnic group, having the smallest number in Russia.
Nivkhi
They are the autochthonous indigenous population of the Amur region and about. Sakhalin. Fishing occupies the main place in economic activity. Hunting, gathering and dog breeding are less developed. The religion of the Nivkhs was based on animism and the cult of trade. They believed in spirits living everywhere - in heaven, on earth, in water, in the taiga.
Yenisei
A people belonging to the Yenisei group, the Kets, live in Siberia. In 2002 there were 1,494 people. Distributed throughout several districts of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Russian population
The Russian population in the lands east of the Urals increased rapidly during the annexation of Siberia. The reason was not only voluntary colonization, but also forced relocation and exile. By the end of the 17th century, there were more than 11 thousand Russian peasant households. By the beginning of the 18th century, the Russian-speaking population reached 180 thousand. According to statistics from 2002, on the territory of the Siberian Federal District There were 17,530,900 Russian people, which accounted for 87.4% of the total population of the region.
Traditions
A huge number of peoples live on Russian lands. Each of them is distinguished by its own culture, religion, form of economic activity and customs, which are passed down from generation to generation and carefully preserved for centuries.
Each small ethnic group has its own national costume, home (house, tent or other buildings) and unique customs. Many of them, especially adherents of shamanism, believed that everything was controlled by spirits living everywhere: in water, earth and sky.
According to the beliefs of the northern peoples, animals (for example, a bear or a wolf) were personal totems of men and women reaching maturity.
In the Siberian lands there are indigenous people with very low numbers and practically extinct, whose culture may be lost forever.
The video talks about the traditions of the indigenous peoples of Siberia.
Numerous and small nations
26.144 million people live outside the Urals, or 18.3% of the total Russian population, but the number of ethnic groups is extremely unequal.
| Name | Total number in the region | Ratio (%) |
| Yakuts | 478 100 | 1,83 |
| Buryats | 461 389 | 1,76 |
| Tuvans | 263 934 | 1,01 |
| Khakassians | 72 959 | 0,28 |
| Altaians | 70 800 | 0,27 |
| Nenets | 44 640 | 0,17 |
| Evenks | 38 396 | 0,15 |
| Khanty | 30 943 | 0,12 |
| Evens | 21 830 | 0,08 |
| Chukchi | 15 908 | 0,06 |
| Nanai people | 12 160 | 0,05 |
| Muncie | 12 269 | 0,05 |
| Shors | 12 888 | 0,05 |
| Koryaks | 8 743 | 0,03 |
| Dolgans | 7 885 | 0,03 |
| Siberian Tatars | 6 779 | 0,03 |
| Nivkhi | 5 162 | 0,019 |
| Selkups | 4 249 | 0,016 |
| Soyots | 3 579 | 0,086 |
| Itelmens | 3 180 | |
| Ulchi | 2 913 | |
| Teleuts | 2 643 | |
| Eskimos | 1 738 | |
| Udege people | 1 657 | |
| Chum salmon | 1 492 | |
| Chuvans | 1 087 | |
| Chulym people | 355 | 0,018 |
| Tofalar | 761 | |
| Orochi | 686 | |
| Negidalians | 567 | |
| Oroks | 346 | |
| Nganasans | 834 | |
| Enets | 237 | |
| Basins | 276 | |
| Alyutorians | 40 | |
| Kereki | 4 | |
| Aleuts | 482 |
The Trans-Ural region keeps many secrets and interesting facts.
Here are some of them:
- The concept of "Siberia", dating back to the fifth century, has more ancient origins than the term "Rus".
- The first Russian settlers settled in Western Siberia in 1483, even before the start of mass land development, east of the Urals.
- Since the end of the 17th century, convicts were actively exiled here, which led to an increase in the population and diversity of the ethnic composition of the region.
- Residents of the taiga zone are excellent reindeer herders, hunters and fishermen. This forms the basis of the economic activities of local residents.
- The multinational composition of the Siberian population and the harsh climate conditions contribute to the development of a special “Siberian character” - hardy and diverse. study at the link.
Video
Watch a fascinating video about life beyond the Urals.
