Peoples speaking Finno-Ugric (Finnish Ugric) languages. Finno-Ugric languages. constitute one of the two branches (along with the Samoyed) level. language families. According to the linguistic principle of F.U.N. are divided into groups: Baltic Finnish (Finns, Karelians, Estonians... Ural Historical Encyclopedia

Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia Ethnopsychological Dictionary

FINNO-UGRIAN PEOPLES OF RUSSIA- the peoples of our country (Mordovians, Udmurts, Mari, Komi, Khanty, Mansi, Sami, Karelians), living in the north of the European part, in the northern, central and southern parts of the Urals and descending from the Ananyin archaeological culture (VII III... ... encyclopedic Dictionary in psychology and pedagogy

Finno-Ugric Taxon: branch Area: Hungary, Norway, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, etc. Classification ... Wikipedia

Finno-Hungarian peoples (Finno-Ugrians) are a group of peoples speaking Finno-Hungarian languages, living in stripes in Western Siberia, Central and Eastern Europe. Contents 1 Representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples 2 History 3 Links ... Wikipedia

Finno-Ugric languages- Finno-Ugric languages ​​are a family of languages ​​that are part of a larger genetic group of languages ​​called the Uralic languages. Before the genetic relationship of the Samoyed languages ​​with the Finno-Ugric languages ​​was proven, the F.-u. I. was considered... ... Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary

Finno-Ugric (or Finno-Ugric) peoples- population speaking Finno-Ugric languages. A group of Finno-Ugric languages, one of two branches of the Uralic language family. Divided into language groups (ethnic groups corresponding to them): Baltic Finnish (Finnish, Izhorian, Karelian, Lyudikovsky, ... ... Physical Anthropology. Illustrated explanatory dictionary.

Books

  • Leningrad region. Did you know? , . Leningrad region - region with rich history. Did you know that its territory has long been inhabited by the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples, who together created Northern Rus'? The great…
  • Monuments of the Fatherland. Almanac, No. 33 (1-2/1995). Complete description of Russia. Udmurtia, . They have lived as good neighbors on our land for centuries. different peoples. The ancient Finno-Ugric tribes left traces of their high culture and art here. Their descendants, the Udmurts, preserved the marching...

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Archaeological culture Language Religion

Finno-Ugric peoples (Finno-Ugrians listen)) - a linguistic community of peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages ​​living in Western Siberia, Central, Northern and Eastern Europe.

Classification and numbers

Finno-Ugric peoples are divided into two groups: Finnish and Ugric.

The total number of Finno-Ugric peoples is estimated at 25 million people. Of these, there are about 14 million Hungarians, 5 million Finns, about 1 million Estonians, 843 thousand Mordovians, 637 thousand Udmurts, 614 thousand Mari.

Finno-Permian group

Baltic-Finnish subgroup

  • Finns (Suomi) - 6,000,000: 4,800,000 - in Finland, 300,000 - in Sweden, 300,000 people - in the USA, 50 people - in Kazakhstan.
    • Ingrians - 32,231: 20,300 - in Russia, 10,639 - in Estonia.
    • Kvens - 10,000 - 60,000 - in Norway.
  • Estonians - 1,050,000: 920,000 - in Estonia (), 39,763 - in Finland (), 28,113 - in Russia (2002), 25,509 - in Sweden (), 25,000 - USA ().
    • Võru - 74,000 in Estonia.
    • Setu - 10,000: 10,000 in Estonia, 214 in Russia (2010).
  • Karelians - 120,000: 93,344 - in Russia (2002), 20,000 - in Finland.
  • Veps - 8,240 people in Russia (2002).
  • Izhorians - 700 people: 327 people - in Russia (2002).
  • Livs - 250-400 people (in Latvia).
  • Vod - 100 people: 73 - in Russia (2002).

Sami subgroup

  • Sami - 30,000-70,000: 40,000 in Norway, 20,000 in Sweden, 6,500 in Finland, 1.8 thousand people in Russia (2010).

Volga-Finnish subgroup

  • Mordva - 744,237 in Russia (2010)
    • Mokshane - 49,624 in Russia (2002)
    • Erzyans - 84,407 in Russia (2002)
  • Mari - 547,605 in Russia (2010)

Perm subgroup

  • Udmurts - 636,906 in Russia (2002).
    • Besermyans - 3,122 in Russia (2002).
  • Komi-Zyrians - 293,406 in Russia (2002).
    • Komi-Izhemtsy - 15,607 in Russia (2002).
  • Komi-Permyaks - 125,235 in Russia (2002).
    • Komi-Yazvintsy - 5,000 in Russia.

Ugric group

Danube subgroup

  • Hungarians - 14,500,000: 9,416,015 - in Hungary (), 1,563,081 - in the USA (), 1,433,073 - in Romania (), 520,528 - in Slovakia (), 315,510 - in Canada (), 293 299 - in Serbia (), 156,600 - in Ukraine ().
    • Yassy (medieval Alan people assimilated by the Hungarians)

Ob subgroup

  • Khanty - 28,678 people in Russia (2002).
  • Mansi - 11,432 people in Russia (2002).

Classification of state-territorial entities

Modern independent Finno-Ugric states

Modern Finno-Ugric national autonomies

Romania Russia

Archeology

  • Cherkaskul culture - Bronze Age culture in the south of the Urals and Western Siberia
  • Mezhovskaya culture - Bronze Age culture in the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia
  • Ananyinskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Middle Volga region
  • Pianoborskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Volga region and the Urals
  • Bakhmutin culture and the Kama region
  • Dyakovo culture - Iron Age culture in Central Russia
  • Gorodets culture - Iron Age culture in Southern Russia and the Volga region
  • Karayakup culture - Iron Age culture in the Southern Urals
  • Kushnarenkovskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Southern Urals
  • Mazuninskaya culture - Iron Age culture in the Kama region and on the lower reaches of the Belaya River
  • Sargat culture - Iron Age culture in Western Siberia

Story

Linguistic analysis shows the presence of direct contacts between the population of the Indo-Iranian group and the population of the Finno-Ugric language group. V.N. Chernetsov point to the presence of many Iranian features in the language, folklore and rituals of the later Ugric population of Western Siberia (Khanty and Mansi).

Genetics

According to the latest genetic data, the tribes that spread haplogroup N migrated from Southern Siberia.

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Notes

Literature

  • Bongard-Levin G. M., Grantovsky E. A. From Scythia to India. M., 2000.
  • Bernshtam T. A. Christianization in the ethnocultural processes of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the European North and the Volga region (comparative generalization) // Modern Finno-Ugric Studies. Experience and problems. Collection scientific works State Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR. - L., 1990. - P. 133-140.
  • Worldview of the Finno-Ugric peoples. M., 1990.
  • Napolskikh V.V. Introduction to historical uralistics. Izhevsk: UdmIYAL, 1997.
  • Peoples of the Volga and Urals regions. Komi-Zyryans. Komi-Permyaks. Mari. Mordva. Udmurts. M., 2000.
  • Ryabinin E. A. Finno-Ugric tribes consisting of Ancient Rus'. St. Petersburg : St. Petersburg State University Publishing House, 1997.
  • Khelimsky E. A. Comparative studies, uralistics: Lectures and articles. M.: Languages ​​of Russian culture, 2000.
  • Fedyanovich T. L. Family customs and rituals of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga region. M., 1997.

Links

An excerpt characterizing the Finno-Ugric peoples

Chernyshev was sitting with a book of a French novel at the window of the first room. This room was probably formerly a hall; there was still an organ in it, on which some carpets were piled, and in one corner stood the folding bed of Adjutant Bennigsen. This adjutant was here. He, apparently exhausted by a feast or business, sat on a rolled up bed and dozed. Two doors led from the hall: one straight into the former living room, the other to the right into the office. From the first door one could hear voices speaking in German and occasionally in French. There, in the former living room, at the sovereign’s request, not a military council was gathered (the sovereign loved uncertainty), but some people whose opinions on the upcoming difficulties he wanted to know. This was not a military council, but, as it were, a council of those elected to clarify certain issues personally for the sovereign. Invited to this half-council were: the Swedish General Armfeld, Adjutant General Wolzogen, Wintzingerode, whom Napoleon called a fugitive French subject, Michaud, Tol, not a military man at all - Count Stein and, finally, Pfuel himself, who, as Prince Andrei heard, was la cheville ouvriere [the basis] of the whole matter. Prince Andrei had the opportunity to take a good look at him, since Pfuhl arrived soon after him and walked into the living room, stopping for a minute to talk with Chernyshev.
At first glance, Pfuel, in his poorly tailored Russian general's uniform, which sat awkwardly on him, as if dressed up, seemed familiar to Prince Andrei, although he had never seen him. It included Weyrother, Mack, Schmidt, and many other German theoretic generals whom Prince Andrei managed to see in 1805; but he was more typical than all of them. Prince Andrei had never seen such a German theoretician, who combined in himself everything that was in those Germans.
Pfuel was short, very thin, but broad-boned, of a rough, healthy build, with a wide pelvis and bony shoulder blades. His face was very wrinkled, with deep-set eyes. His hair in front, near his temples, was obviously hastily smoothed with a brush, and naively stuck out with tassels at the back. He, looking around restlessly and angrily, entered the room, as if he was afraid of everything in the large room into which he entered. He, holding his sword with an awkward movement, turned to Chernyshev, asking in German where the sovereign was. He apparently wanted to go through the rooms as quickly as possible, finish bowing and greetings, and sit down to work in front of the map, where he felt at home. He hastily nodded his head at Chernyshev’s words and smiled ironically, listening to his words that the sovereign was inspecting the fortifications that he, Pfuel himself, had laid down according to his theory. He grumbled something bassily and coolly, as self-confident Germans say, to himself: Dummkopf... or: zu Grunde die ganze Geschichte... or: s"wird was gescheites d"raus werden... [nonsense... to hell with the whole thing... (German) ] Prince Andrei did not hear and wanted to pass, but Chernyshev introduced Prince Andrei to Pful, noting that Prince Andrei came from Turkey, where the war was so happily over. Pful almost looked not so much at Prince Andrei as through him, and said laughing: “Da muss ein schoner taktischcr Krieg gewesen sein.” [“It must have been a correctly tactical war.” (German)] - And, laughing contemptuously, he walked into the room from which voices were heard.
Apparently, Pfuel, who was always ready for ironic irritation, was now especially excited by the fact that they dared to inspect his camp without him and judge him. Prince Andrei, from this one short meeting with Pfuel, thanks to his Austerlitz memories, compiled a clear description of this man. Pfuel was one of those hopelessly, invariably, self-confident people to the point of martyrdom, which only Germans can be, and precisely because only Germans are self-confident on the basis of an abstract idea - science, that is, an imaginary knowledge of perfect truth. The Frenchman is self-confident because he considers himself personally, both in mind and body, to be irresistibly charming to both men and women. An Englishman is self-confident on the grounds that he is a citizen of the most comfortable state in the world, and therefore, as an Englishman, he always knows what he needs to do, and knows that everything he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly good. The Italian is self-confident because he is excited and easily forgets himself and others. The Russian is self-confident precisely because he knows nothing and does not want to know, because he does not believe that it is possible to completely know anything. The German is the worst self-confident of all, and the firmest of all, and the most disgusting of all, because he imagines that he knows the truth, a science that he himself invented, but which for him is the absolute truth. This, obviously, was Pfuhl. He had a science - the theory of physical movement, which he derived from the history of the wars of Frederick the Great, and everything that he encountered in modern history wars of Frederick the Great, and everything that he encountered in modern times military history, seemed to him nonsense, barbarism, an ugly clash, in which so many mistakes were made on both sides that these wars could not be called wars: they did not fit the theory and could not serve as the subject of science.
In 1806, Pfuel was one of the drafters of the plan for the war that ended with Jena and Auerstätt; but in the outcome of this war he did not see the slightest proof of the incorrectness of his theory. On the contrary, the deviations made from his theory, according to his concepts, were the only reason for the entire failure, and he, with his characteristic joyful irony, said: “Ich sagte ja, daji die ganze Geschichte zum Teufel gehen wird.” [After all, I said that the whole thing would go to hell (German)] Pfuel was one of those theorists who love their theory so much that they forget the purpose of theory - its application to practice; In his love for theory, he hated all practice and did not want to know it. He even rejoiced at failure, because failure, which resulted from a deviation in practice from theory, only proved to him the validity of his theory.
He said a few words with Prince Andrei and Chernyshev about the real war with the expression of a man who knows in advance that everything will be bad and that he is not even dissatisfied with it. The unkempt tufts of hair sticking out at the back of his head and the hastily slicked temples especially eloquently confirmed this.
He walked into another room, and from there the bassy and grumbling sounds of his voice were immediately heard.

Before Prince Andrei had time to follow Pfuel with his eyes, Count Bennigsen hurriedly entered the room and, nodding his head to Bolkonsky, without stopping, walked into the office, giving some orders to his adjutant. The Emperor was following him, and Bennigsen hurried forward to prepare something and have time to meet the Emperor. Chernyshev and Prince Andrei went out onto the porch. The Emperor got off his horse with a tired look. Marquis Paulucci said something to the sovereign. The Emperor, bowing his head to the left, listened with a dissatisfied look to Paulucci, who spoke with particular fervor. The Emperor moved forward, apparently wanting to end the conversation, but the flushed, excited Italian, forgetting decency, followed him, continuing to say:
“Quant a celui qui a conseille ce camp, le camp de Drissa, [As for the one who advised the Drissa camp,” said Paulucci, while the sovereign, entering the steps and noticing Prince Andrei, peered into an unfamiliar face .

Among those living on the planet today there are many unique, original and even somewhat mysterious peoples and nationalities. These, undoubtedly, include the Finno-Ugric peoples, who are considered the largest ethno-linguistic community in Europe. It includes 24 nations. 17 of them live in the Russian Federation.

Composition of the ethnic group

All the numerous Finno-Ugric peoples are divided by researchers into several groups:

  • Baltic-Finnish, the backbone of which consists of quite numerous Finns and Estonians, who formed their own states. This also includes the Setos, Ingrians, Kvens, Vyrs, Karelians, Izhorians, Vepsians, Vods and Livs.
  • Sami (Lapp), which includes residents of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula.
  • Volga-Finnish, which includes the Mari and Mordovians. The latter, in turn, are divided into Moksha and Erzya.
  • Perm, which includes Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Yazvintsy, Besermyans and Udmurts.
  • Ugorskaya. It includes the Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi, separated by hundreds of kilometers.

Vanished Tribes

Among the modern Finno-Ugric peoples there are numerous peoples, and very small groups - less than 100 people. There are also those whose memory is preserved only in ancient chronicle sources. The disappeared, for example, include Merya, Chud and Muroma.

The Meryans built their settlements between the Volga and Oka several hundred years BC. According to some historians, this people subsequently assimilated with the East Slavic tribes and became the progenitor of the Mari people.

An even more ancient people were the Muroma, who lived in the Oka basin.

As for the Chud, this people lived along the Onega and Northern Dvina. There is an assumption that these were ancient Finnish tribes from which modern Estonians descended.

Regions of settlement

The Finno-Ugric group of peoples today is concentrated in northwestern Europe: from Scandinavia to the Urals, Volga-Kama, West Siberian Plain in the lower and middle reaches of the Tobol.

The only people who formed their own state at a considerable distance from their brethren are the Hungarians living in the Danube basin in the Carpathian Mountains region.

The most numerous Finno-Ugric people in Russia are the Karelians. In addition to the Republic of Karelia, many of them live in the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Tver and Leningrad regions of the country.

Most of the Mordovians live in the Republic of Mordva, but many of them also settled in neighboring republics and regions of the country.

In these same regions, as well as in Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and other regions, you can also meet Finno-Ugric peoples, especially many Mari here. Although their main backbone lives in the Republic of Mari El.

The Komi Republic, as well as nearby regions and autonomous okrugs, is the place of permanent residence of the Komi people, and in the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug and the Perm region live their closest “relatives” - the Komi-Permyaks.

More than a third of the population of the Udmurt Republic are ethnic Udmurts. In addition, there are small communities in many nearby regions.

As for the Khanty and Mansi, the bulk of them live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. In addition, large Khanty communities live in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tomsk region.

Appearance type

Among the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians there were both ancient European and ancient Asian tribal communities, so in the appearance of modern representatives one can observe features inherent in both the Mongoloid and Caucasian races.

General features to distinctive features Representatives of this ethnic group are of average height, very blond hair, wide cheekbones with an upturned nose.

Moreover, each nationality has its own “variations”. For example, the Erzya Mordvins are much taller than average, but at the same time have pronounced blue-eyed blond hair. But the Moksha Mordvins, on the contrary, are short, and their hair color is darker.

The Udmurts and Maris have “Mongolian type” eyes, which makes them similar to the Mongoloid race. But at the same time, the vast majority of representatives of the nationality are fair-haired and light-eyed. Similar facial features are also found among many Izhorians, Karelians, Vodians, and Estonians.

But Komi can be either dark-haired with slanted eyes, or fair-haired with pronounced Caucasian features.

Quantitative composition

In total, there are about 25 million Finno-Ugric people living in the world. The most numerous of them are Hungarians, who number more than 15 million. Finns are almost three times less - about 6 million, and the number of Estonians is a little more than a million.

The number of other nationalities does not exceed a million: Mordovians - 843 thousand; Udmurts - 637 thousand; Mari - 614 thousand; Ingrians - just over 30 thousand; Kvens - about 60 thousand; Võru - 74 thousand; setu - about 10 thousand, etc.

The smallest nationalities are the Livs, whose number does not exceed 400 people, and the Vods, whose community consists of 100 representatives.

An excursion into the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples

About the origin and ancient history There are several versions of Finno-Ugric peoples. The most popular of them is the one that assumes the existence of a group of people who spoke the so-called Finno-Ugric proto-language, and maintained their unity until approximately the 3rd millennium BC. This Finno-Ugric group of peoples lived in the Urals and western Urals region. In those days, the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians maintained contact with the Indo-Iranians, as evidenced by all kinds of myths and languages.

Later, the single community split into Ugric and Finno-Perm. From the second, the Baltic-Finnish, Volga-Finnish and Permian language subgroups subsequently emerged. Separation and isolation continued until the first centuries of our era.

Scientists consider the homeland of the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians to be the region located on the border of Europe with Asia in the interfluve of the Volga and Kama, the Urals. At the same time, the settlements were located at a considerable distance from each other, which may have been the reason that they did not create their own unified state.

The main occupations of the tribes were agriculture, hunting and fishing. The earliest mentions of them are found in documents from the times of the Khazar Kaganate.

For many years, Finno-Ugric tribes paid tribute to the Bulgar khans and were part of the Kazan Khanate and Rus'.

In the 16th-18th centuries, the territory of Finno-Ugric tribes began to be settled by thousands of immigrants from various regions of Rus'. The owners often resisted such an invasion and did not want to recognize the power of the Russian rulers. The Mari resisted especially fiercely.

However, despite the resistance, gradually the traditions, customs and language of the “newcomers” began to supplant local speech and beliefs. Assimilation intensified during subsequent migration, when Finno-Ugrians began to move to various regions of Russia.

Finno-Ugric languages

Initially, there was a single Finno-Ugric language. As the group divided and different tribes settled further and further from each other, it changed, breaking up into separate dialects and independent languages.

Until now, Finno-Ugric languages ​​have been preserved as large nations(Finns, Hungarians, Estonians), and small ethnic groups (Khanty, Mansi, Udmurts, etc.). Thus, in the primary classes of a number of Russian schools, where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples study, they study the Sami, Khanty and Mansi languages.

Komi, Mari, Udmurts, and Mordovians can also study the languages ​​of their ancestors, starting from middle school.

Other peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages, may also speak dialects similar to the main languages ​​of the group they belong to. For example, the Besermen speak one of the dialects of the Udmurt language, the Ingrians speak the eastern dialect of Finnish, the Kvens speak Finnish, Norwegian or Sami.

Currently, there are barely a thousand common words in all the languages ​​of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugric peoples. Thus, the “family” connection between different peoples can be traced in the word “home”, which among the Finns sounds like koti, among the Estonians - kodu. “Kudu” (Mor.) and “Kudo” (Mari) have a similar sound.

Living next to other tribes and peoples, the Finno-Ugric peoples adopted culture and language from them, but also generously shared their own. For example, “rich and powerful” includes Finno-Ugric words such as “tundra”, “sprat”, “herring” and even “dumplings”.

Finno-Ugric culture

Archaeologists find cultural monuments of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the form of settlements, burials, household items and jewelry throughout the entire territory inhabited by the ethnic group. Most of the monuments date back to the beginning of our era and the early Middle Ages. Many peoples have managed to preserve their culture, traditions and customs until today.

Most often they manifest themselves in various rituals (weddings, folk festivals, etc.), dances, clothing and everyday life.

Literature

Finno-Ugric literature is conventionally divided by historians and researchers into three groups:

  • Western, which includes works of Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian writers and poets. This literature, which was influenced by the literature of European peoples, has the richest history.
  • Russian, the formation of which begins in the 18th century. It includes works by authors of the Komi, Mari, Mordovians, and Udmurts.
  • Northern. The youngest group, developed only about a century ago. It includes works by Mansi, Nenets, and Khanty authors.

At the same time, all representatives of the ethnic group have a rich heritage of oral folk art. Every nationality has numerous epics and legends about heroes of the past. One of the most famous works of folk epic is “Kalevala,” which tells about the life, beliefs and customs of our ancestors.

Religious preferences

Most of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugrians profess Orthodoxy. Finns, Estonians and Western Sami adhere to the Lutheran faith, while Hungarians adhere to the Catholic faith. At the same time, ancient traditions are preserved in rituals, mostly wedding ones.

But the Udmurts and Mari in some places still retain their ancient religion, just like the Samoyeds and some peoples of Siberia, they worship their gods and practice shamanism.

Features of national cuisine

In ancient times, the main food product of the Finno-Ugric tribes was fish, which was fried, boiled, dried and even eaten raw. Moreover, each type of fish had its own cooking method.

The meat of forest birds and small animals caught in snares was also used as food. The most popular vegetables were turnips and radishes. The food was richly seasoned with spices such as horseradish, onions, hogweed, etc.

The Finno-Ugric peoples prepared porridges and jelly from barley and wheat. They were also used to fill homemade sausages.

Modern Finno-Ugric cuisine, which has been strongly influenced by neighboring peoples, has almost no special traditional features. But almost every nation has at least one traditional or ritual dish, the recipe for which has been handed down to the present day almost unchanged.

A distinctive feature of the cuisine of the Finno-Ugric peoples is that in food preparation preference is given to products grown in the place where the people live. But imported ingredients are used only in the smallest quantities.

Save and increase

In order to preserve the cultural heritage of the Finno-Ugric peoples and pass on the traditions and customs of their ancestors to future generations, all kinds of centers and organizations are being created everywhere.

Much attention is paid to this in the Russian Federation. One of such organizations is the non-profit association Volga Center of Finno-Ugric Peoples, created 11 years ago (April 28, 2006).

As part of its work, the center not only helps large and small Finno-Ugric peoples not to lose their history, but also introduces it to other peoples of Russia, helping to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between them.

Famous representatives

Like every nation, the Finno-Ugric peoples have their own heroes. Famous representative Finno-Ugric people - the nanny of the great Russian poet - Arina Rodionovna, who was from the Ingrian village of Lampovo.

Also Finno-Ugrians are such historical and modern figures as Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum (both were Mordvins), physiologist V. M. Bekhterev (Udmurt), composer A. Ya. Eshpai (Mari), athlete R. Smetanina (Komi) and many others.

According to Roger Chartier, the greatest modern French historian, the world around us reveals an endless variety of places, things, individuals and languages. And it is beautiful in such diversity. “To try to overcome, to erase this multiplicity is to paint a very alarming picture of the future.”

In such endless diversity, one can distinguish a special cultural and information space, which is usually called "Finno-Ugric world". This world unites 24 Finno-Ugric and related peoples who have managed to preserve their identity, language, traditions and customs of their ancestors over the centuries. At the present stage, the interaction between the Finno-Ugric peoples has significantly intensified, and their interest in each other is developing and growing. International Finno-Ugric movement became a noticeable social phenomenon in Europe. It is aimed, first of all, at the preservation and development of all peoples - representatives Finno-Ugric world.

On the map of Eurasia, from Norway in the west to the Ob River in the east and from the seas of the Arctic Ocean to the lower reaches of the Danube in the south, the places of compact settlement of the Finno-Ugric peoples are separated by considerable distances.

The map is published with the permission of Fenno-Ugria,

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The Sami live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia (Murmansk region).

The Kvens are Norwegian Finns living in northern Norway.

Finns are the main population of Finland; they live in Sweden, Norway, Russia, as well as in the USA and Canada.

Karelians live in Russia (Republic of Karelia, Tver, Leningrad, Murmansk and Vologda regions), Finland and Kazakhstan.

Izhorians (Ingrians) live in Russia in Leningrad region(until 1710 this was the Ingermanland province) and in Karelia. Over the past two decades, many Ingrians have moved permanently to Finland.

Estonians are the main population of Estonia; they also live in Russia, Latvia, and Ukraine.

Setu (Seto) live in Estonia and Russia (Pskov region).

The Livs live in the western part of Latvia.

Hungarians are the main population of Hungary, and also live in Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, the USA and other countries.

The Changoshi live in Romania in the foothills and mountainous regions of the Carpathians.

Places of compact residence of the following peoples are located mainly on the territory of Russia:

Vepsians live in Mezhozerye - the territory between the Ladoga, Onega and White lakes (Karelia, Leningrad and Vologda regions). Some Vepsians live in Siberia - in the Irkutsk and Kemerovo regions.

Vod live in the north of the Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region;

Komi-Zyrians live in the Komi Republic, as well as in small groups in Western and Eastern Siberia;

Komi-Permyaks - in the Komi-Permyak district, in the Kirov and Sverdlovsk regions;

The Khanty live in Khanty-Mansiysk, Yamalo-Nenets districts and in the Tomsk region;

Mansi - in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug, in the north of the Sverdlovsk region and in Perm region;

The Besermyans live in the north-west of Udmurtia in the river basin. Caps;

Udmurts live in the Udmurt Republic, as well as in other regions of the Russian Federation;

Mari - in the Republic of Mari El and other regions;

Mordva - in the Republic of Mordovia: main territory of residence Mordovian Erzyans- Sura River basin, Mokshan - Moksha River basin;

The Nenets live in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in Arkhangelsk region, the Komi Republic, the Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansiysk districts, the Tyumen region, as well as on Novaya Zemlya;

The Nganasans live on the territory of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug and the Krasnoyarsk Territory;

Enets are Yenisei Samoyeds, their place of residence is Krasnoyarsk region;

Selkups live in the Tyumen and Tomsk regions, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Finno-Ugric population today (25-26 million people) is only half a percent of the world's population. And in terms of languages, even less: Finno-Ugric and Samoyed languages ​​are 0.3% of the 6912 languages ​​of the world identified and documented by a faith-based non-profit organization SIL International.

As the famous Hungarian Finno-Ugric scholar Peter Domokos said, the Finno-Ugric world is actually just a tiny piece of humanity, a small island. But quantitative characteristics do not always serve as a measure of value when it comes to human communities. “The Finno-Ugric peoples have a much greater significance, far exceeding their proportional number, on our globe, in general history and culture, in the list of open and described languages, than modest fractions measuring thousandths.”

Today, an increasing number of researchers support the hypothesis that speakers of Finno-Ugric languages already live in Europe about 10 thousand years. Presumably, in Eastern and Central Europe before the Great Migration of Peoples, Finno-Ugric speech predominated. But the subsequent separation of the Finno-Ugric languages ​​from each other without further support of connections lasted for several millennia. The search and discovery of language relatives resumed at the end of the 18th century; they were initiated by scientists, mainly linguists. Gradually, wider scientific and cultural layers were involved in this process: linguists and ethnographers, historians and writers.

In the thirties of the twentieth century the idea arose to create international scientific forum of Finno-Ugric studies. In 1947, the first All-Union Conference of Finno-Ugric Studies. In 1955 ode in the Hungarian city of Szeged, and in 1958 in the city of Helsinki, conferences were held with the participation of foreign Finno-Ugric scholars. First International Congress on the initiative of Hungarian and Finnish scientists, public figures for the first time it was possible to organize in 1960 year in the Hungarian capital Budapest . Since then, every five years in different cities, alternately in countries with a Finno-Ugric population, forums of the scientific community of Finno-Ugric studies have been held. It is important to note not only the regularity, but also the high scientific level of the eleven past forums.

At the same time, the importance of interaction and connections is growing, affecting many different spheres of life: ethnopolitics and economics, health care and protection environment, educational and cultural exchanges. Since 1992, passes every four years World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples, which considers its main goal to be the preservation and development of the Finno-Ugric peoples and their cultures as part of the world heritage of humanity. Syktyvkar, Budapest, Helsinki, Tallinn, Khanty-Mansiysk hosted delegations participating in the congresses. And each time the meetings became more and more representative, attracting envoys from an increasing number of nations. Today, the Finno-Ugric world is preparing for the VI Congress, which will take place in 2012 in Hungary.

Researchers are increasingly using the term "Finno-Ugric world" in the broad sense of the word, including language relatives in this community both the Sami and speakers of Samoyed languages. Thus, 24 peoples are classified as Finno-Ugric, the history of development, numbers and political status of which vary greatly. Finns, Hungarians and Estonians make up the majority of the population in the independent EU member states, numbering in the millions. Multinational (over 180 peoples speaking more than 100 languages ​​and dialects) Russia is home to 19 of the 24 Finno-Ugric peoples. 10 out of 19 are included in the list of indigenous peoples Russian Federation. Among them there are those whose number is less than a hundred people. Some of them are known almost nothing in Europe and the world. Interest in them, their way of life and culture within the framework of the close-knit Finno-Ugric “brotherhood” leads to the fact that the fate of the “small” peoples attracts the attention of the international community. Mutual influence and mutual support of the Finno-Ugric peoples is extremely important for the development of their languages ​​and cultures.

We used materials provided by the Estonian institution, a partner of our portal, and the following publications:

1. Relatives by language / Ch. ed. Derdy Nanovski; Ed. rus. versions: O. Volodarskaya and others - Budapest: Foundation named after. Laszlo Teleki, 2000.

2. Chartier, R. Written culture and society / Roger Chartier; [transl. from fr. and after. I.K. Staff]. - Moscow: New publishing house, 2006.

The Finno-Ugric ethno-linguistic community of peoples includes over 20 million people. Their ancestors lived in the territories of the Urals and of Eastern Europe in ancient times since the Neolithic era. The Finno-Ugrians are the indigenous peoples of their territories. The vast spaces that belonged to the Finno-Ugric and Samoyed (close to them) tribes originate from the Baltic Sea, the forest-steppe of the Russian Plain, and end at Western Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, respectively. The modern European part of Russia was occupied by the Finno-Ugrians, who could not help but contribute to the genetic and cultural heritage of these lands.

Finno-Ugric division by language

There are several subgroups of Finno-Ugric peoples, divided by language. There is the so-called Volga-Finnish group, which included the Mari, Erzyans and Mokshans (Mordovians). The Permian-Finnish group includes Besermyans, Komi and Udmurts. Ingrian Finns, Setos, Finns, Izhorians, Vepsians, descendants of the Meri and other peoples belong to the group of Balto-Finns. Separately, there is the so-called Ugric group, which includes peoples such as Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi. Some scientists classify the Volga Finns as a separate group, which included peoples who are descendants of the Morums and the medieval Meshchera.

Heterogeneity of the anthropology of the Finno-Ugric peoples

Some researchers believe that, along with the Mongoloid and Caucasoid, there is the so-called Ural race, whose peoples are characterized by characteristics of representatives of both the first and second races. Mansi, Khanty, Mordovians and Mari are more characterized by Mongoloid features. Among other peoples, the characteristics of the Caucasian race dominate, or they are evenly divided. However, the Finno-Ugrians do not have the features of the Indo-European group.

Cultural characteristics

All Finno-Ugric tribes are characterized by identical material and spiritual cultural values. They always strived for harmony with the surrounding world, nature, and the peoples bordering them. Only they were able to preserve their culture and traditions, including Russian ones, to this day. This is easily explained by the fact that the Finno-Ugrians have always revered not only their own traditions and customs, but also those that they borrowed from neighboring peoples.

Most of the ancient Russian legends, fairy tales and epics that make up epic folklore are attributed to the Vepsians and Karelians - the descendants of the Finno-Ugrians who lived in the Arkhangelsk province. Many monuments of ancient Russian wooden architecture also came to us from the lands occupied by these peoples.

Connection between Finno-Ugrians and Russians

Undoubtedly, the Finno-Ugrians had a significant influence on the formation of the Russian people. The entire territory of the Russian Plain, which the Russians now occupy, previously belonged to these tribes. The material and spiritual culture of the latter, and not the Turks or South Slavs, was largely borrowed by the Russians.

Easy to spot common features national character and psychological characteristics Russians and Finno-Ugric peoples. This is especially true for that part of the population that lives in the northeastern, northern and northwestern parts European Russia, considered indigenous to the Russian people.

The famous academician O. B. Tkachenko, who devoted his life to the study of the Meri people, stated that representatives of the Russian people on their father’s side are connected with the Finns, and only on their mother’s side with the Slavic ancestral home. This opinion is confirmed by multiple cultural features characteristic of the Russian nation. Novgorod and Muscovite Rus' arose and began their development precisely in those territories occupied by the Finno-Ugrians.

Various opinions of scientists

According to the historian N.A. Polevoy, who in his works touched upon the problem of the ethnogenesis of the Great Russians, the Russian people are genetically and culturally purely Slavic. The Finno-Ugric tribes did not have any influence on its formation. The opposite opinion was expressed by F. G. Dukhinsky, who also lived in the 19th century. The Polish historian believed that the Russian people were formed on the basis of the Turks and Finno-Ugrians, and only linguistic features were borrowed from the Slavs.

Lomonosov and Ushinsky, who agreed, defended an intermediate point of view. They believed that the Finno-Ugrians and Slavs exchanged cultural values ​​with each other. Over time, the Russian people included Muroma, Chud and Merya, making their contribution to the Russian ethnic group that was just emerging at that time. The Slavs, in turn, influenced the Ugro-Hungarian peoples, as evidenced by the presence of Slavic vocabulary in the Hungarian language. Both Slavic and Finno-Ugric blood flows in the veins of Russians, and there is nothing wrong with this, according to Ushinsky.

Many peoples living on the shores of the Baltic coast, as well as the Danes, Swedes and even Russians, trace their origins to the inexplicably silent disappearance of the Finno-Ugric peoples. These tribes, who lived mainly in Europe, were formed so long ago that they cannot be called peoples who migrated from other lands. Perhaps they previously lived throughout the northern part of Asia and Europe, and even occupied the territory of central Europe. Thus, the Finno-Ugrians actually laid a solid foundation for the formation of the majority of northern and European powers, which include Russia.