What peoples live on the territory of Western Siberia. The peoples of Siberia in the XV - XVI centuries

More than 125 nationalities live today, of which 26 are indigenous peoples. The largest in terms of population among these small peoples are the Khanty, Nenets, Mansi, Siberian Tatars, Shors, Altaians. The Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees every small people the inalienable right of self-identification and self-determination.

The Khants are called the indigenous, small Ugric West Siberian people living along the lower reaches of the Irtysh and Ob. Their total number is 30,943 people, with most of them 61% living in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and 30% in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The Khanty are engaged in fishing, reindeer herding and taiga hunting.

The ancient names of the Khanty "Ostyaks" or "Ugras" are widely used today. The word "Khanty" comes from the ancient local word "Kantakh", which simply means "man", in documents it appeared in Soviet years. The Khanty are ethnographically close to the Mansi people, and are often united with them under the single name of the Ob Ugrians.

The Khanty are heterogeneous in their composition, among them there are separate ethnographic territorial groups that differ in dialects and names, ways of managing the economy and original culture - Kazym, Vasyugan, Salym Khanty. The Khanty language belongs to the Ob-Ugric languages ​​of the Ural group, it is divided into many territorial dialects.

Since 1937, the modern writing of the Khanty has been developing on the basis of the Cyrillic alphabet. Today, 38.5% of the Khanty speak Russian fluently. The Khanty adhere to the religion of their ancestors - shamanism, but many of them consider themselves Orthodox Christians.

Externally, the Khanty have a height of 150 to 160 cm with black straight hair, a swarthy face and brown eyes. Their face is flat with widely protruding cheekbones, a wide nose and thick lips, reminiscent of a Mongoloid. But the Khanty, unlike the Mongoloid peoples, have a regular eye slit and a narrower skull.

In historical chronicles, the first mentions of the Khanty appear in the 10th century. Modern studies have shown that the Khanty lived in this area as early as 5-6 thousand years BC. Later they were seriously pushed northward by the nomads.

The Khanty inherited numerous traditions of the Ust-Polui culture of taiga hunters, which developed at the end of the 1st millennium BC. - the beginning of the 1st millennium AD In the II millennium AD. the northern tribes of the Khanty were influenced by the Nenets reindeer herders and assimilated with them. In the south, the Khanty tribes felt the influence of the Turkic peoples, later Russians.

The traditional cults of the Khanty people include the cult of a deer, it was he who became the basis of the whole life of the people, a vehicle, a source of food and skins. It is with the deer that the worldview and many norms of the life of the people (inheritance of the herd) are connected.

The Khanty live in the north of the plain along the lower reaches of the Ob in nomadic temporary camps with temporary reindeer herding dwellings. To the south, on the banks of the Northern Sosva, Lozva, Vogulka, Kazym, Nizhnyaya, they have winter settlements and summer camps.

Khanty have long worshiped the elements and spirits of nature: fire, sun, moon, wind, water. Each of the clans has a totem, an animal that cannot be killed and used for food, deities of the family and patron ancestors. Everywhere the Khanty revere the bear, the owner of the taiga, they even hold a traditional holiday in his honor. The revered patroness of the hearth, happiness in the family and women in childbirth is the frog. There are always sacred places in the taiga where shamanic rites are held, appeasing their patron.

Mansi

Mansi (the old name for the Voguls, Vogulichi), whose number is 12,269 people, mostly live in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. This very numerous people known to Russians since the discovery of Siberia. Even the sovereign Ivan IV the Terrible ordered to send archers to pacify the numerous and powerful Mansi.

The word "Mansi" comes from the ancient Ugric word "mansz", meaning "man, person." The Mansi have their own language, belonging to the Ob-Ugric isolated group of the Ural language family and a fairly developed national epic. The Mansi are close linguistic relatives of the Khanty. Today, up to 60% are used in Everyday life Russian language.

Mansi successfully combine in their public life cultures of northern hunters and southern nomadic pastoralists. Novgorodians were in contact with the Mansi as early as the 11th century. With the advent of the Russians in the 16th century, part of the Vogul tribes went north, others lived next to the Russians and assimilated with them, adopting the language and the Orthodox faith.

Mansi beliefs are the worship of the elements and spirits of nature - shamanism, they have a cult of elders and ancestors, a totem bear. Mansi have the richest folklore and mythology. The Mansi are divided into two separate ethnographic groups of the descendants of the Por Urals and the descendants of the Mos Ugrians, which differ in origin and customs. In order to enrich the genetic material, marriages have long been concluded only between these groups.

Mansi are engaged in taiga hunting, deer breeding, fishing, farming and cattle breeding. Reindeer husbandry on the banks of the Northern Sosva and Lozva was adopted from the Khanty. To the south, with the arrival of the Russians, agriculture, breeding of horses, cattle and small cattle, pigs and poultry was adopted.

In everyday life and original creativity of the Mansi, ornaments similar in motifs to the drawings of the Selkups and Khanty are of particular importance. Mansi ornaments are clearly dominated by correct geometric patterns. Often with elements of deer antlers, rhombuses and wavy lines, similar to the Greek meander and zigzags, images of eagles and bears.

Nenets

Nenets, in the old way Yuraks or Samoyeds, in total 44,640 people live in the north of the Khanty-Mansiysk and, accordingly, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs. The self-name of the Samoyedic people "Nenets" literally means "man, person." Of the northern indigenous peoples, they are the most numerous.

The Nenets are engaged in large-scale nomadic reindeer husbandry in. In Yamal, the Nenets keep up to 500,000 deer. traditional dwelling Nenets is a conical plague. Up to one and a half thousand Nenets living south of the tundra on the Pur and Taz rivers are considered forest Nenets. In addition to reindeer herding, they are actively engaged in tundra and taiga hunting and fishing, collecting gifts from the taiga. The Nenets feed on rye bread, venison, sea animal meat, fish, and gifts from the taiga and tundra.

The language of the Nenets belongs to the Ural Samoyedic languages, it is divided into two dialects - tundra and forest, they, in turn, are divided into dialects. The Nenets people have the richest folklore, legends, fairy tales, epic stories. In 1937, linguists created a script for the Nenets based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Ethnographers describe the Nenets as stocky people with a large head, a flat earthy face, devoid of any vegetation.

Altaians

The territory of residence of the Turkic-speaking indigenous people of the Altaians became. They live in an amount of up to 71 thousand people, which allows us to consider them a large people, in the Altai Republic, partly in the Altai Territory. Among the Altaians, there are separate ethnic groups of Kumandins (2892 people), Telengits or Teleses (3712 people), Tubalars (1965 people), Teleuts (2643 people), Chelkans (1181 people).

Since ancient times, the Altaians have worshiped the spirits and elements of nature; they adhere to traditional shamanism, Burkhanism and Buddhism. They live in clans of seoks, kinship is considered through the male line. Altaians have a centuries-old richest history and folklore, tales and legends, own heroic epic.

Shors

The Shors are a small Turkic-speaking people, mainly living in remote mountainous regions of Kuzbass. The total number of Shors today is up to 14 thousand people. The Shors have long worshiped the spirits of nature and the elements; their main religion has become centuries-old shamanism.

The ethnos of the Shors was formed in the 6th-9th centuries by mixing the Ket-speaking and Turkic-speaking tribes who came from the south. The Shor language belongs to the Turkic languages, today more than 60% of the Shor people speak Russian. The epic of the Shors is ancient and very original. The traditions of the indigenous Shors are well preserved today in, most of the Shors now live in cities.

Siberian Tatars

In the Middle Ages, it was the Siberian Tatars that were the main population of the Siberian Khanate. Now the sub-ethnos of the Siberian Tatars, as they call themselves "Seber Tatarlar", according to various estimates, from 190 thousand to 210 thousand people live in the south of Western Siberia. According to the anthropological type, the Tatars of Siberia are close to the Kazakhs and Bashkirs. Chulyms, Shors, Khakasses, and Teleuts can call themselves "Tadar" today.

Scientists believe that the ancestors of the Siberian Tatars are the medieval Kipchaks, who for a long time had contact with the Samoyeds, the Kets, and the Ugric peoples. The process of development and mixing of peoples took place in the south of Western Siberia from the 6th-4th millennium BC. before the emergence of the Tyumen kingdom in the 14th century, and later with the emergence of the powerful Siberian Khanate in the 16th century.

For the most part, Siberian Tatars use the literary Tatar language, but in some remote uluses, the Siberian-Tatar language from the Kipchak-Nogai group of Western Hunnic languages ​​has been preserved. Turkic languages. It is divided into Tobol-Irtysh and Baraba dialects and many dialects.

The holidays of the Siberian Tatars contain features of pre-Islamic ancient Turkic beliefs. This is, first of all, amal, when the new year is celebrated during the spring equinox. The arrival of the rooks and the beginning of field work, the Siberian Tatars are celebrating the hag putka. Some Muslim holidays, ceremonies and prayers for sending down rain have also taken root here, Muslim burial places of Sufi sheikhs are revered.

For many centuries the peoples of Siberia lived in small settlements. In each individual locality lived his family. The inhabitants of Siberia were friends with each other, ran a joint household, were often relatives to each other and led an active lifestyle. But due to the vast territory of the Siberian region, these villages were far from each other. So, for example, the inhabitants of one village were already leading their own way of life and spoke an incomprehensible language for their neighbors. Over time, some settlements disappeared, and some became larger and actively developed.

History of population in Siberia.

The Samoyed tribes are considered to be the first indigenous inhabitants of Siberia. They inhabited the northern part. Their main occupation is reindeer herding and fishing. To the south lived the Mansi tribes, who lived by hunting. Their main trade was the extraction of furs, with which they paid for their future wives and bought goods necessary for life.

The upper reaches of the Ob were inhabited by Turkic tribes. Their main occupation was nomadic cattle breeding and blacksmithing. To the west of Lake Baikal lived the Buryats, who became famous for their ironworking craft.

most large area from the Yenisei to the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bOkhotsk, the Tungus tribes inhabited. Among them were many hunters, fishermen, reindeer herders, some were engaged in crafts.

Along the coast of the Chukchi Sea, the Eskimos (about 4 thousand people) settled down. Compared to other peoples of that time, the Eskimos had the slowest social development. The tool was made of stone or wood. The main economic activities include gathering and hunting.

The main way of survival of the first settlers of the Siberian region was hunting, reindeer herding and fur extraction, which was the currency of that time.

By the end of the 17th century, the most developed peoples of Siberia were the Buryats and Yakuts. The Tatars were the only people who, before the arrival of the Russians, managed to organize state power.

The largest peoples before Russian colonization include the following peoples: Itelmens (indigenous inhabitants of Kamchatka), Yukaghirs (inhabited the main territory of the tundra), Nivkhs (inhabitants of Sakhalin), Tuvans (the indigenous population of the Republic of Tuva), Siberian Tatars (located on the territory of Southern Siberia from Ural to the Yenisei) and the Selkups (inhabitants of Western Siberia).

Indigenous peoples of Siberia in the modern world.

According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, every people of Russia received the right to national self-determination and identification. Since the collapse of the USSR, Russia has officially become a multinational state and the preservation of the culture of small and disappearing nationalities has become one of the state priorities. The Siberian indigenous peoples were also not ignored here: some of them received the right to self-government in autonomous regions, while others formed their own republics as part of new Russia. Very small and disappearing nationalities enjoy the full support of the state, and the efforts of many people are aimed at preserving their culture and traditions.

As part of this review we will give brief description to every Siberian people whose population is greater than or close to 7,000 people. Smaller peoples are difficult to characterize, so we will limit ourselves to their name and number. So, let's begin.

1. Yakuts- the most numerous of the Siberian peoples. According to the latest data, the number of Yakuts is 478,100 people. In modern Russia, the Yakuts are one of the few nationalities that have their own republic, and its area is comparable to the area of ​​an average European state. The Republic of Yakutia (Sakha) is territorially located in the Far Eastern Federal District, but the ethnic group "Yakuts" has always been considered an indigenous Siberian people. The Yakuts have an interesting culture and traditions. This is one of the few peoples of Siberia that has its own epic.
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3. Buryats- this is another Siberian people with its own republic. The capital of Buryatia is the city of Ulan-Ude, located to the east of Lake Baikal. The number of Buryats is 461,389 people. In Siberia, Buryat cuisine is widely known, rightfully considered one of the best among ethnic ones. The history of this people, its legends and traditions is quite interesting. By the way, the Republic of Buryatia is one of the main centers of Buddhism in Russia.
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5. Tuvans. According to the latest census, 263,934 identified themselves as representatives of the Tuvan people. The Tyva Republic is one of the four ethnic republics of the Siberian Federal District. Its capital is the city of Kyzyl with a population of 110 thousand people. The total population of the republic is approaching 300 thousand. Buddhism also flourishes here, and the traditions of the Tuvans also speak of shamanism.
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7. Khakasses- one of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, numbering 72,959 people. Today they have their own republic as part of the Siberian Federal District and with the capital in the city of Abakan. This ancient people has long lived on the lands to the west of the Great Lake (Baikal). It has never been numerous, which did not prevent it from carrying its identity, culture and traditions through the centuries.
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9. Altaians. Their place of residence is quite compact - this is the Altai mountain system. Today Altaians live in two subjects Russian Federation- Republic of Altai and Altai Territory. The number of the ethnos "Altaians" is about 71 thousand people, which allows us to talk about them as a fairly large people. Religion - Shamanism and Buddhism. The Altaians have their own epic and a pronounced national identity, which does not allow them to be confused with other Siberian peoples. This mountain people has a long history and interesting legends.
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11. Nenets- one of the small Siberian peoples living compactly in the area of ​​the Kola Peninsula. Its number of 44,640 people makes it possible to attribute it to small nations, whose traditions and culture are protected by the state. The Nenets are nomadic reindeer herders. They belong to the so-called Samoyed folk group. Over the years of the 20th century, the number of Nenets has approximately doubled, which indicates the effectiveness of state policy in the field of preserving the small peoples of the North. The Nenets have their own language and oral epic.
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13. Evenki- the people predominantly living on the territory of the Republic of Sakha. The number of this people in Russia is 38,396 people, some of whom live in areas adjacent to Yakutia. It is worth saying that this is about half of the total ethnic group - about the same number of Evenks live in China and Mongolia. The Evenks are the people of the Manchu group, who do not have their own language and epic. Tungus is considered the native language of the Evenks. Evenks are born hunters and trackers.
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15. Khanty- the indigenous people of Siberia, belonging to the Ugric group. Most of the Khanty live in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, which is part of the Ural Federal District of Russia. The total number of Khanty is 30,943 people. About 35% of the Khanty live on the territory of the Siberian Federal District, and their lion's share falls on the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Traditional occupations of the Khanty - fishing, hunting and reindeer herding. The religion of their ancestors is shamanism, but recently more and more Khanty consider themselves Orthodox Christians.
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17. Evens- a people related to the Evenks. According to one version, they represent an Evenk group, which was cut off from the main halo of residence by the Yakuts moving south. For a long time away from the main ethnic group, the Evens made a separate people. Today their number is 21,830 people. The language is Tungus. Places of residence - Kamchatka, Magadan region, Republic of Sakha.
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19. Chukchi- a nomadic Siberian people who are mainly engaged in reindeer herding and live on the territory of the Chukchi Peninsula. Their number is about 16 thousand people. The Chukchi belong to the Mongoloid race and, according to many anthropologists, are the indigenous aborigines of the Far North. The main religion is animism. Indigenous crafts are hunting and reindeer herding.
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21. Shors- Turkic-speaking people living in the southeastern part of Western Siberia, mainly in the south of the Kemerovo region (in Tashtagol, Novokuznetsk, Mezhdurechensk, Myskovsky, Osinnikovsky and other areas). Their number is about 13 thousand people. The main religion is shamanism. The Shor epic is of scientific interest primarily for its originality and antiquity. The history of the people dates back to the VI century. Today, the traditions of the Shors have been preserved only in Sheregesh, since most of the ethnic group moved to the cities and largely assimilated.
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23. Mansi. This people has been known to Russians since the foundation of Siberia. Even Ivan the Terrible sent an army against the Mansi, which suggests that they were quite numerous and strong. The self-name of this people is the Voguls. They have their own language, a fairly developed epic. Today, their place of residence is the territory of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. According to the latest census, 12,269 people identified themselves as belonging to the Mansi ethnic group.
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25. Nanais- a small people living along the banks of the Amur River in the Far East of Russia. Relating to the Baikal ethnotype, the Nanais are rightfully considered one of the most ancient indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East. To date, the number of Nanais in Russia is 12,160 people. The Nanais have their own language, rooted in Tungus. Writing exists only among the Russian Nanais and is based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
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27. Koryaks- the indigenous people of the Kamchatka Territory. There are coastal and tundra Koryaks. The Koryaks are mainly reindeer herders and fishermen. The religion of this ethnic group is shamanism. Number - 8 743 people.
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29. Dolgany- people living in the Dolgan-Nenets municipal area Krasnoyarsk Territory. Number - 7 885 people.
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31. Siberian Tatars- perhaps the most famous, but today a few Siberian people. According to the latest population census, 6,779 people identified themselves as Siberian Tatars. However, scientists say that in fact their number is much larger - according to some estimates, up to 100,000 people.
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33. soyots- the indigenous people of Siberia, which is a descendant of the Sayan Samoyeds. Compactly lives on the territory of modern Buryatia. The number of Soyots is 5,579 people.
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35. Nivkhs- the indigenous people of Sakhalin Island. Now they also live on the continental part at the mouth of the Amur River. In 2010, the number of Nivkhs is 5,162 people.
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37. Selkups live in the northern parts of the Tyumen, Tomsk regions and in the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The number of this ethnic group is about 4 thousand people.
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39. Itelmens- This is another indigenous people of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Today, almost all representatives of the ethnic group live in the west of Kamchatka and in the Magadan Region. The number of Itelmens is 3,180 people.
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41. Teleuts- Turkic-speaking small Siberian people living in the south of the Kemerovo Region. The ethnos is very closely connected with the Altaians. Its number is approaching 2 and a half thousand.
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43. Among other small peoples of Siberia, such ethnic groups as the Kets, Chuvans, Nganasans, Tofalgars, Orochi, Negidals, Aleuts, Chulyms, Oroks, Tazy, "Enets", "Alyutors" and "Kereks". It is worth saying that the number of each of them is less than 1 thousand people, so their culture and traditions have practically not been preserved.

In the vast expanses of the Siberian tundra and taiga, forest-steppe and black earth expanses, a population settled, hardly exceeding 200 thousand people by the time the Russians arrived. In the regions of the Amur and Primorye by the middle of the XVI century. about 30 thousand people lived. The ethnic and linguistic composition of the population of Siberia was very diverse. The very difficult living conditions in the tundra and taiga and the exceptional disunity of the population led to the extremely slow development of the productive forces among the peoples of Siberia. By the time the Russians arrived, most of them were still at various stages of the patriarchal-tribal system. Only the Siberian Tatars were at the stage of formation of feudal relations.
In the economy of the northern peoples of Siberia, the leading place belonged to hunting and fishing. A supporting role was played by the collection of wild edible plants. Mansi and Khanty, like the Buryats and Kuznetsk Tatars, mined iron. The more backward peoples still used stone tools. A large family (yurts) consisted of 2 - 3 men or more. Sometimes in numerous yurts lived several large families. In the conditions of the North, such yurts were independent settlements - rural communities.
Since. Obi lived Ostyaks (Khanty). Their main occupation was fishing. Fish was eaten, clothes were made from fish skin. On the wooded slopes of the Urals lived the Voguls, who were mainly engaged in hunting. The Ostyaks and Voguls had principalities headed by tribal nobility. The princes owned fishing grounds, hunting grounds, and besides that, their fellow tribesmen also brought them “gifts”. Wars often broke out between the principalities. Captured prisoners were turned into slaves. In the northern tundra lived the Nenets, who were engaged in reindeer herding. With herds of deer, they constantly moved from pasture to pasture. The reindeer provided the Nenets with food, clothing, and shelter, which was made from reindeer skins. Fishing and hunting foxes and wild deer were common occupations. The Nenets lived in clans headed by princes. Further, to the east of the Yenisei, the Evenki (Tungus) lived. Their main occupation was fur hunting and fishing. In search of prey, the Evenks moved from place to place. They also dominated the tribal system. In the south of Siberia, in the upper reaches of the Yenisei, lived Khakass cattle breeders. Buryats lived in Uangara and Baikal. Their main occupation was cattle breeding. The Buryats were already on the way to becoming a class society. In the Amur region lived the tribes of Daurs and Duchers, more economically developed.
The Yakuts occupied the territory formed by Lena, Aldan and Amgoyu. Separate groups were placed on the river. Yana, the mouth of Vilyui and the Zhigansk region. In total, according to Russian documents, the Yakuts at that time numbered about 25 - 26 thousand people. By the time the Russians appeared, the Yakuts were a single people with a single language, a common territory and a common culture. The Yakuts were at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system. The main large social groups were tribes and clans. In the economy of the Yakuts, the processing of iron was widely developed, from which weapons, blacksmith accessories and other tools were made. The blacksmith enjoyed great honor among the Yakuts (more than a shaman). The main wealth of the Yakuts was cattle. The Yakuts led a semi-sedentary life. In the summer they went to winter roads, they also had summer, spring and autumn pastures. In the economy of the Yakuts, much attention was paid to hunting and fishing. The Yakuts lived in yurts-balagans, insulated with turf and earth in winter, and in summer - in birch bark dwellings (ursa) and in light huts. Great power belonged to the ancestor-toyon. He had from 300 to 900 heads of cattle. The Toyons were surrounded by servants - chakhardars - from slaves and domestic servants. But the Yakuts had few slaves, and they did not determine the mode of production. The poor rodovici were not yet the object of the birth of feudal exploitation. There was also no private ownership of fishing and hunting lands, but hay lands were distributed among individual families.

Siberian Khanate

At the beginning of the XV century. in the process of the disintegration of the Golden Horde, the Siberian Khanate was formed, the center of which was originally Chimga-Tura (Tyumen). The Khanate united many Turkic-speaking peoples, who rallied within its framework into the people of the Siberian Tatars. At the end of the XV century. after lengthy civil strife, power was seized by Mamed, who united the Tatar uluses along the Tobol and the middle Irtysh and placed his headquarters in an ancient fortification on the banks of the Irtysh - "Siberia", or "Kashlyk".
The Siberian Khanate consisted of small uluses, headed by beks and murzas, who constituted the ruling class. They distributed pastures and fishing grounds and turned the best pastures and water sources into private property. Islam spread among the nobility and became the official religion of the Siberian Khanate. The main working population consisted of "black" ulus people. They paid the murza, or bek, annual "gifts" from the products of their household and tribute-yasak to the khan, carried military service in the detachments of the ulus bek. The khanate exploited the labor of slaves - "yasyrs" and poor, dependent community members. The Siberian khanate was ruled by the khan with the help of advisers and karachi (vizier), as well as yasauls sent by the khan to the uluses. Ulus beks and murzas were vassals of the khan, who did not interfere in the internal routine of the life of the ulus. The political history of the Siberian Khanate was full of internal strife. The Siberian khans, pursuing an aggressive policy, seized the lands of part of the Bashkir tribes and the possessions of the Ugrians and Turkic-speaking inhabitants of the Irtysh region and the basin of the river. Omi.
Siberian Khanate by the middle of the 16th century. located on a vast expanse of the forest-steppe of Western Siberia from the basin of the river. Tours in the west and to Baraba in the east. In 1503, the grandson of Ibak Kuchum seized power in the Siberian Khanate with the help of Uzbek and Nogai feudal lords. The Siberian Khanate under Kuchum, which consisted of separate, economically almost unrelated uluses, was politically very fragile, and with any military defeat inflicted on Kuchum, this state of Siberian Tatars was condemned to cease to exist.

Accession of Siberia to Russia

The natural wealth of Siberia - furs - has long attracted attention. Already at the end of the XV century. enterprising people penetrated the "stone belt" (Urals). With the formation of the Russian state, its rulers and merchants saw in Siberia an opportunity for great enrichment, especially since those undertaken since the end of the 15th century. the search for ores of precious metals has not yet been successful.
To a certain extent, the penetration of Russia into Siberia can be put on a par with the penetration of certain European powers into overseas countries at that time in order to pump out jewels from them. However, there were also significant differences.
The initiative in developing relations came not only from the Russian state, but also from the Siberian Khanate, which in 1555, after the liquidation of the Kazan Khanate, became a neighbor of the Russian state and asked for patronage in the fight against the Central Asian rulers. Siberia entered into vassal dependence on Moscow and paid tribute to it in furs. But in the 70s, due to the weakening of the Russian state, the Siberian khans began attacks on Russian possessions. The fortifications of the merchants Stroganovs stood in their way, who were already beginning to send their expeditions to Western Siberia to buy furs, and in 1574. received a royal charter with the right to build fortresses on the Irtysh and own lands along the Tobol to ensure the trade route to Bukhara. Although this plan was not carried out, the Stroganovs managed to organize a campaign of the Cossack squad of Ermak Timofeevich, who went to the Irtysh and by the end of 1582, after a fierce battle, took the capital of the Siberian Khanate, Kashlyk, and expelled Khan Kuchum. Many vassals of Kuchum from among the Siberian peoples subject to the khan went over to the side of Yermak. After several years of struggle, which continued with varying success (Yermak died in 1584), the Siberian Khanate was finally destroyed.
In 1586, the Tyumen fortress was established, and in 1587, Tobolsk, which became the Russian center of Siberia.
A stream of trade and service people rushed to Siberia. But besides them, peasants, Cossacks, townspeople, who fled from feudal oppression, moved there.

The average number of peoples - West Siberian Tatars, Khakasses, Altaians. The rest of the peoples, due to their small number and similar features of their fishing life, are assigned to the group of “small peoples of the North”. Among them are the Nenets, Evenki, Khanty, noticeable in terms of numbers and the preservation of the traditional way of life of the Chukchi, Evens, Nanais, Mansi, Koryaks.

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

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

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

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

The indigenous peoples of Eastern Siberia and the Far East are Mongoloid according to the main features of their anthropological types. The Mongoloid type of the Siberian population could genetically originate only in Central Asia. Archaeologists prove that the Paleolithic culture of Siberia developed in the same direction and in similar forms as the Paleolithic of Mongolia. Based on this, archaeologists believe that it was the era Upper Paleolithic with its highly developed hunting culture, it was the most suitable historical time for the widespread settlement of Siberia and the Far East by “Asian” - Mongoloid in appearance - ancient man.

Mongoloid types of ancient “Baikal” origin are well represented among modern Tungus-speaking populations from the Yenisei to the Okhotsk coast, also among the Kolyma Yukagirs, whose distant ancestors may have preceded the Evenks and Evens in a significant area of ​​Eastern Siberia.

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

Sustainable economic and cultural types of the indigenous peoples of Siberia:

1. foot hunters and fishermen of the taiga zone;
2. wild deer hunters in the Subarctic;
3. sedentary fishermen in the lower reaches of large rivers (Ob, Amur, and also in Kamchatka);
4. taiga hunter-reindeer breeders of Eastern Siberia;
5. reindeer herders of the tundra from the Northern Urals to Chukotka;
6. sea ​​animal hunters on the Pacific coast and islands;
7. pastoralists and farmers of Southern and Western Siberia, the Baikal region, etc.

Historical and ethnographic areas:

1. West Siberian (with the southern, approximately to the latitude of Tobolsk and the mouth of the Chulym on the Upper Ob, and the northern, taiga and subarctic regions);
2. Altai-Sayan (mountain-taiga and forest-steppe mixed zone);
3. East Siberian (with internal differentiation of commercial and agricultural types of tundra, taiga and forest-steppe);
4. Amur (or Amur-Sakhalin);
5. northeastern (Chukotka-Kamchatka).

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

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

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

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

Development of socio-economic relations

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

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

Industrial and domestic relations between men and women in the family and the local community were built on the basis of the division of labor by sex and age. The significant role of women in the household was reflected in the ideology of many Siberian peoples in the form of the cult of the mythological “mistress of the hearth” and the associated custom of “keeping fire” by the real mistress of the house.

The Siberian material of the past centuries, used by ethnographers, along with the archaic, also shows obvious signs of the ancient decline and decay of tribal relations. Even in those local societies where social class stratification did not receive any noticeable development, features were found that overcame tribal equality and democracy, namely: individualization of the methods of appropriation of material goods, private ownership of craft products and objects of exchange, property inequality between families , in some places patriarchal slavery and bondage, the separation and exaltation of the ruling tribal nobility, etc. These phenomena in one form or another are noted in documents of the 17th-18th centuries. among the Ob Ugrians and Nenets, the Sayano-Altai peoples and the Evenks.

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

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

Economic and cultural types

By the time the Russians arrived, cattle breeding had developed much more than agriculture. But since the 18th century agricultural economy is increasingly taking place among the West Siberian Tatars, it is also spreading among the traditional pastoralists of the southern Altai, Tuva and Buryatia. Accordingly, material and everyday forms also changed: stable settled settlements arose, nomadic yurts and semi-dugouts were replaced by log houses. However, the Altaians, Buryats and Yakuts for a long time had polygonal log yurts with a conical roof, according to appearance imitating a felt yurt of nomads.

The traditional clothing of the cattle-breeding population of Siberia was similar to the Central Asian (for example, Mongolian) and belonged to the swing type (fur and cloth robe). The characteristic clothing of the South Altai pastoralists was a long-skinned sheepskin coat. Married Altai women (like the Buryats) put on a kind of long sleeveless jacket with a slit in front - “chegedek” over a fur coat.

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

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

The general course of the historical process in various regions of Siberia was drastically changed by the events of the 16th-17th centuries, connected with the appearance of Russian explorers and, in the end, the inclusion of all of Siberia into the Russian state. The lively Russian trade and the progressive influence of Russian settlers made significant changes in the economy and life of not only the cattle-breeding and agricultural, but also the fishing indigenous population of Siberia. Already by the end of the XVIII century. Evenks, Evens, Yukaghirs and other fishing groups of the North began to widely use firearms. This facilitated and quantitatively increased the production of large animals (wild deer, elk) and fur-bearing animals, especially squirrels - the main object of fur trade in the 18th-early 20th centuries. New occupations began to be added to the original crafts - a more developed reindeer husbandry, the use of the draft power of horses, agricultural experiments, the beginnings of a craft based on a local raw material base, etc. As a result of all this, the material and everyday culture of the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia also changed.

Spiritual life

The area of ​​religious and mythological ideas and various religious cults succumbed to progressive cultural influence least of all. The most common form of beliefs among the peoples of Siberia was.

A distinctive feature of shamanism is the belief that certain people - shamans - have the ability, having brought themselves into a frenzied state, to enter into direct communication with the spirits - patrons and helpers of the shaman in the fight against diseases, hunger, loss and other misfortunes. The shaman was obliged to take care of the success of the craft, the successful birth of a child, etc. Shamanism had several varieties corresponding to different stages community development the Siberian peoples themselves. Among the most backward peoples, for example, among the Itelmens, everyone could shaman, and especially old women. The remnants of such "universal" shamanism have been preserved among other peoples.

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

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

It acquired complicated forms from the Buryats under the influence, and from the end of the 17th century. generally began to be replaced by this religion.

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

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Literature

1. Ethnography: textbook / ed. Yu.V. Bromley, G.E. Markov. - M.: Higher school, 1982. - S. 320. Chapter 10. "Peoples of Siberia".

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

This article will talk about common features the population of Siberia, about largest cities and development history of the area.

Siberia: general characteristics of the region

Most often, the southern border of Siberia coincides with the state border of the Russian Federation. In the west it is bounded by ridges Ural mountains, in the east - the waters of the Pacific, and in the north - the Arctic Oceans. However, in historical context Siberia also covers the northeastern territories of modern Kazakhstan.

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

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

The population of Siberia: density and total number

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

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

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

Demographic problems of Siberia

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

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

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

The indigenous population of Siberia: a list of peoples

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

The top ten indigenous peoples in the region are:

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

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

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

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

Natural resources and economics

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

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

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

History of the development of the region

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

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

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

Main cities

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally

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