The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire
Encyclopedia
The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire is a book
about the small nation
s of the Russian Empire
, the Soviet Union
, and the Russia
and some other post-Soviet states
of today. It was published in Estonian in 1991 and in English in 2001.
The foreword of the book explains the book's approach by saying, "the authors of the present book, who come from a country (Estonia) which has shared the fate of nations in the Russian and Soviet empires, endeavour to publicize the plight of the small nations whose very existence is threatened as a result of recent history."
(The names are given in the spelling of the original translation of the book.)
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
about the small nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
s of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and some other post-Soviet states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
of today. It was published in Estonian in 1991 and in English in 2001.
The foreword of the book explains the book's approach by saying, "the authors of the present book, who come from a country (Estonia) which has shared the fate of nations in the Russian and Soviet empires, endeavour to publicize the plight of the small nations whose very existence is threatened as a result of recent history."
Described peoples
The authors' intention for the book was to include the peoples according to the following criteria:- are not yet extinct,
- whose main area of settlement is on ex-Soviet territory,
- whose numbers are below 30,000,
- of whom less than 70 % speak their native language,
- who form a minority on their ancient territory,
- whose settlement is scattered rather than compact,
- who have no vernacular school, literature or media.
(The names are given in the spelling of the original translation of the book.)
- Abazians (Abaza) - AbkhazAbkhaz peopleThe Abkhaz or Abkhazians are a Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. A large Abkhazian diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the emigration from the Caucasus in the late 19th century known as Muhajirism...
- AgulsAgulsAguls are a people in Dagestan, Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were 28,297 Aguls in Russia . The Aghul language belongs to the Lezgian language family, a group of the Northeast Caucasian family. Ethnically, the Aguls are close to the Lezgins...
- Akhvakhs - Aleuts - Altaics - Aliutors - AndisAndisAndis is a variant of Andes, a personal name popular among the Illyrians inhabiting the territory of what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, more specifically the southern parts of ancient province of Panonia and much of the northern parts of ancient Dalmatia...
- ArchisArchi peopleThe Archins are an ethnic group who live in eight villages in Southern Dagestan, Russia. Archib is the parent village of these. From Archib the other seven villages grew and for three months a year the whole community used to reassemble in Archi to engage in communal work...
- Asiatic Eskimos - Bagulals - Baraba Tatars - Bartangs - BatsBats peopleThe Bats people or the Batsbi are a small Nakh-speaking community in the country of Georgia who are also known as the Ts’ova-Tush after the Ts’ova Gorge in the historic Georgian province of Tusheti , where they are believed to have settled after migrating from the North Caucasus in the 16th...
- Bezhtas - BotlikhsBotlikh peopleThe Botlikh people are one of the Andi-Dido peoples of Dagestan. Until the 1930s they were considered a distinct people...
- Budukhs - Central Asian Jews - ChamalalsChamalal peopleThe Chamalals are an indigenous people of Dagestan, Russia living in a few villages in the Tsumada District on the left bank of the Andi-Koisu river. They have their own language, Chamalal, and primarily follow Sunni Islam, which reached the people around the 8th or 9th century. There are about...
- ChukchisChukchi peopleThe Chukchi, or Chukchee , ) are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language...
- Chulym Tatars - Crimean Jews - Crimean TatarsCrimean TatarsCrimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language... - DidosTsez peopleThe Tsez are an indigenous people of the North Caucasus, also known as the Dido or the Didoi. Their unwritten language, also called Tsez or Dido, belongs to the Northeast Caucasian group with some 15,354 speakers. For demographic purposes, today they are classified with the Avars with whom the...
(Tsez) - DolgansDolgansDolgans are a Turkic-speaking people, who mostly inhabit Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The 2002 Census counted 7,261 Dolgans. This number includes 5,517 in former Taymyr Autonomous Okrug. There are 26 Dolgans in Ukraine, four of whom speak Dolgan .Dolgans speak Dolgan language. Some believe that it is... - EnetsEnets peopleThe Enets people , or Yenetses, Entsy, Entsi, Yenisei, Yenisei-Samoyed, Yenisey Samoyeds or Yeniseian people are a traditionally nomadic people who live on the east bank, near the mouth, of the Yenisei River. Many live in the village of Potapovo in Krasnoyarsk Krai in western Siberia near the...
- EvensEvensThe Evens or Eveny are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in some of the regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of the Lena River. According to the 2002 census, there were 19,071 Evens in Russia...
- EvenksEvenksThe Evenks are a Tungusic people of Northern Asia. In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of 35,527... - Georgian JewsGeorgian JewsThe Georgian Jews are from the nation of Georgia, in the Caucasus...
- GodoberisGodoberi peopleThe Godoberi are one of the Andi-Dido peoples of Dagestan. They numbered 1,425 in 1926 and about 2,500 in 1967.Most Godoberi are followers of Sunni Islam... - Hinukhs - Hunzibs
- IngriansIngriansThe term Ingrians may refer to one of the following.*Inhabitants of Ingria in general.*Izhorians, Finnic indigenous people of Ingria.*Ingrian Finns, the descendants of Lutheran emigrants from present-day Finland in the 17th century....
- Ishkashmis - ItelmensItelmensThe Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. The Itelmen language is distantly related to Chukchi and Koryak, forming the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family, but it is now virtually extinct, the vast...
- IzhoriansIzhoriansThe Izhorians , along with the Votes are an indigenous people of Ingria. Small numbers can still be found in the Western part of Ingria, between the Narva and Neva rivers in northwestern Russia.- History :The history of the Izhorians is bound to the history of Ingria... - Kamas - Karaims - KaratasKaratasKarataş is a small city and a district in Adana Province, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 47 km from the city of Adana, between the rivers of Seyhan and Ceyhan, the Pyramos of Antiquity...
- KareliansKareliansThe Karelians are a Baltic-Finnic ethnic group living mostly in the Republic of Karelia and in other north-western parts of the Russian Federation. The historic homeland of Karelians includes also parts of present-day Eastern Finland and the formerly Finnish territory of Ladoga Karelia...
- KereksKereksKereks are an ethnic group of people in Russia. According to the 2002 census, there were only 8 people registered as ethnic Kereks in Russia. According to the 1897 census there were 102 Kerek. During the twentieth century, Kereks were almost completely assimilated into the Chukchi.-Language:Their...
- Kets - Khakass - Khants - Khinalugs - Khufis - KhwarshisKhwarshi peopleThe Khwarshi people are a Caucasian people living in Dagestan, in several small settlements. The Khwarshi are originally from the southeastern part of Tsumadinsky District, where seven Khwarshi settlements are located: Upper- and Lower Inkhokwari village , Kwantlada village , Santlada village ,...
- Kola Lapps - KoryaksKoryaksKoryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...
- KrytsKryts peopleThe Kryts people of Azerbaijan, residing in several villages in Cuba, Khachmaz, Ismayilli and Gabala regions, as well as in the cities of Baku and Sumgait....
- Kurds - Lithuanian Tatars - Livonians
- Mansis - Mountain JewsMountain JewsHighland Jews, Mountain Jews or Kavkazi Jews also known as Juvuro or Juhuro, are Jews of the eastern Caucasus, mainly of Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They are also known as Caucasus Jews, Caucasian Jews, or less commonly East Caucasian Jews, because the majority of these Jews settled the eastern part...
- Nanais - NegidalsNegidalsNegidals are a people in the Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, who live along the Amgun River and Amur River...
- NenetsNenetsNenets may refer to:*Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia*Nenets people, a Samoyedic people...
- Nganasans - Nivkhs - Nogays - Orochis - Oroks - Oroshoris
- Peoples of the Pamirs
- Roshanis - RutulsRutulsRutuls are an ethnic group in Dagestan and some parts of Azerbaijan. According to the 2002 Russian Census, there were 29,929 Rutuls in Russia . In Azerbaijan there are more than 45.000 Rutuls. Today, total population of rutuls in the world - more than 97 500 people...
- Selkups - ShorsShorsShors or Shorians are a Turkic people in the Kemerovo Oblast in Russia. Their self designation is Шор, or Shor. They were also called Kuznetskie Tatars , Kondoma Tatars , Mras-Su Tatars in some of the documents of the 17th-18th centuries.Most of Shors live in the Tom basin along the Kondoma and...
- Shughnis - TabasaransTabasaran peopleThe Tabasarans are an ethnic group who live mostly in Dagestan, Russia. Their population in Russia is about 200,000. They speak the Tabasaran language. They are mainly Sunni Muslims. Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva is half Tabasaran....
- TalyshTalyshTalysh may refer to:*Talysh people*Talysh language*Talysh Khanate*Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic - a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993*Talysh Mountains*Talış, Agsu, Azerbaijan*Talış, Hajigabul, Azerbaijan...
- TatsTatsTats are an Iranian people, presently living within Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia ....
(Tatians) - Tindis - Tofalars - Trukhmens (Turkhmens) - Tsakhurs - Udeghes - Udis - Ulchis
- Veps - VotesVotesVotes are a people of Votia in Ingria, the part of modern day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east of the Estonian border-town of Narva. Their own ethnic name is Vadjalain . The Finnic Votic language spoken by Votes is close to extinction. Votians were one of...
- Wakhs
- Yaghnabis - Yazgulamis - Yukaghirs