One of the most remote regions of Russia is the Kamchatka Peninsula. The population of this part of the country is rather heterogeneous in terms of national composition, although with a clear predominance of Russians. This ethnic group began to settle in this region only from the beginning of the 18th century. But the indigenous population of Kamchatka, the peoples who have lived on this peninsula since ancient times, are gradually dissolving into the general mass of the population. Let's learn more about these ethnic groups in Kamchatka.
General demographics
Before you start studying the indigenous people, you need to find out what the population of Kamchatka is today as a whole. This will allow us to understand the meaning and role of indigenous peoples in the modern life of the region.
First of all, you need to find out the total population in Kamchatka. This is one of the most important demographic indicators. The population in Kamchatka today is 316.1 thousand people. This is only the 78th indicator out of 85 regions of the Russian Federation.
But in terms of area, Kamchatka Krai ranks tenth in the country among the subjects of the federation. It is 464.3 thousand square meters. km. Knowing the population of Kamchatka and its area, it is possible to calculate the density. This indicator is also considered one of the most important components of demographic statistics. The population density in Kamchatka is currently only 0.68 people/sq. km. This is one of the lowest rates in Russia. According to this criterion, Kamchatka Krai ranks 81st among 85 regions of the country.
National composition
Now we have to look at what the population of Kamchatka is in ethnic terms. This will help us distinguish the indigenous peoples of the region from the general population.
Ethnically, the population of Kamchatka has a nationality that numerically prevails over all the others. These are Russians. Their number is 252.6 thousand people, or more than 83% of the total population of the region. But Russians are not the indigenous people of Kamchatka.
Ukrainians also form a significant role in the population of Kamchatka. There are significantly fewer of them than Russians, but this people ranks second among the ethnic groups of the region, accounting for more than 3.5% of the total population of the region.
Third place - Koryaks. This people already represents the indigenous population of Kamchatka. Its share in the total population of the region is just over 2%.
Other nationalities, both indigenous and nonIndigenous, whose representatives live in Kamchatka, are significantly inferior in number to the three indicated peoples. The total share of each of them does not even reach 0.75% of the total population. Among these small peoples in Kamchatka, the Itelmens, Tatars, Belarusians, Evens, Kamchadals, Chukchis, and Koreans should be singled out.
Indigenous peoples
So what are the indigenous nationalities in Kamchatka? In addition to the Koryaks, which we talked about above, the Itelmens belong to the peoples who are aborigines of this peninsula.
Kamchadals stand apart, being a sub-ethnos of the Russian people, who formed their national identity in Kamchatka.
We will talk about each of these nationalities in more detail below.
Koryaks: general information
As mentioned above, the Koryaks are the third largest nationality of Kamchatka, and thus the first in terms of the number of representatives of the indigenous people of this northern region.
The total number of this nationality is 7.9 thousand people. Of these, 6.6 thousand people live in Kamchatka, which is slightly more than 2% of the total population of the region. Representatives of this nationality mainly live in the north of the Kamchatka Territory, where the Koryak district is located. Also common in the Magadan region and in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Most Koryaks currently speak Russian, but their historical language is Koryak. It belongs to the Chukchi-Koryak branch of the Chukchi-Kamchatka language family. MostChukchi and Alyutor are considered closely related languages. The latter is considered by some linguists as a subspecies of Koryak.
This people is divided into two ethnic groups: tundra and coastal Koryaks.
Tundra Koryaks are self-named Chavchuvens, which translates as "reindeer herders", and lead a predominantly nomadic life in the vast tundra, breeding deer. Their original language is Koryak in the narrow sense of the term. The Chavchuvens are subdivided into the following sub-ethnic groups: Parents, Kamenets, Apukins, Itkans.
The coastal Koryaks are self-named nymylans. They, unlike the Chavchuvens, lead a settled way of life. Their main occupation is fishing. The original language of this ethnic group is Alyutor, which we spoke about above. The main sub-ethnic groups of the Nymylans: Alyutors, Karagins, Palans.
Most believing Koryaks are currently Orthodox Christians, although remnants of shamanism that came from the traditional beliefs of this people remain quite strong.
The dwelling of the Koryaks is the yaranga, which is a special type of portable plague.
History of the Koryaks
Now let's trace the history of the Koryaks. It is believed that their ancestors inhabited the territory of Kamchatka as early as the first millennium of our era. They went down in history as representatives of the so-called Okhotsk culture.
For the first time the name of the Koryaks began to appear on the pages of Russian documents from the 17th century. This was due to the advance of Russia to Siberia and the Far East. The first visit by Russians to thisregion dates back to 1651. From the end of the 17th century, the conquest of Kamchatka by Russia began. It was started by Vladimir Atlasov, who, together with his detachment, captured several Koryak villages. However, the Koryaks revolted more than once. But, in the end, all the uprisings were crushed. Thus, the population of Kamchatka, including the Koryaks, became Russian subjects.
In 1803, the Kamchatka region was founded in the Russian Empire. The Koryaks lived mainly in the Gizhigin and Petropavlovsk districts of this administrative unit.
After the October Revolution in 1930, the Koryaks were granted national autonomy. So the Koryak Autonomous Okrug was formed. In 1934, he became part of the Kamchatka region, retaining its isolation. The administrative center was the urban-type settlement of Palana.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, remaining part of the Kamchatka region, received the rights of a subject of the federation. In 2005, a referendum was held, as a result of which, in 2007, the Koryak Autonomous Okrug was completely merged with the Kamchatka Region. This is how the Kamchatka Territory was formed. The Koryak Autonomous Okrug was liquidated as a subject of the federation, and the Koryak Okrug was formed in its place - a territorial unit that is part of the Kamchatka Territory and has a special status, but is deprived of its former independence. The official languages of this territorial entity are Koryak and Russian.
At the moment, Russians make up 46.2% of the population of the Koryak district, and Koryaks - 30.3%, whichsignificantly higher than in the Kamchatka Territory as a whole.
Itelmens: general characteristics
Another indigenous people of Kamchatka are the Itelmens.
Their total number is about 3, 2 thousand people. Of these, 2.4 thousand live in the Kamchatka Territory, making up 0.74% of the total population there, thus being the fourth largest ethnic group in the region. The rest of the representatives of this nation live in the Magadan region.
The majority of Itelmens are concentrated in the Milkovsky and Tigilsky districts of the Kamchatka Territory, as well as in its administrative center - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Most of the Itelmens speak Russian, but their traditional dialect is Itelmen, which belongs to the Itelmen branch of the Chukchi-Kamchatka language family. Now this language is considered dying.
The Itelmens profess Orthodox Christianity, but, like among the Koryaks, they have rather strong remnants of ancient cults.
The main occupation of the Itelmens, who have not moved to the cities and live in a traditional way, is fishing.
History of Itelmens
Itelmens are the ancient population of Kamchatka. Most of them lived in the southern half of the peninsula, giving the north to the Koryaks. By the time the Russians arrived, their number was more than 12.5 thousand people, thus exceeding the current number by 3.5 times.
After the start of the conquest of Kamchatka, the number of Itelmens began to decline rapidly. The first conquest of thispeople began all the same Vladimir Atlasov. He passed the peninsula from north to south. After his murder by his own associates in 1711, Danila Antsiferov continued the work of conquering the Itelmens. He defeated the Itelmens in several battles, but in 1712 he was burned by them together with his detachment.
Nevertheless, the Itelmens failed to stop the advance of the Russian Empire on Kamchatka, and it was finally conquered. In 1740, the expedition of Vitus Bering laid the foundation for the spread of Russian influence on the peninsula - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Initially, the Russians called the Itelmen Kamchadals, but then this name was assigned to another ethnic group, which we will discuss below.
Who are the Kamchadals?
One of the sub-ethnic groups of Kamchatka, which is considered to be indigenous, are Kamchadals. This ethnic unit is an offshoot of the Russian nation. The Kamchadals are the descendants of the very first Russian settlers in Kamchatka, who partially assimilated the local population, mainly the Itelmens, whom the Russians themselves previously called this ethnonym.
Currently, the total number of Kamchadals is about 1.9 thousand people. Of these, 1.6 thousand live in Kamchatka, and about 300 more live in the Magadan region.
Kamchadals speak Russian, and the basis of their culture is the culture of the titular nation of Russia. True, local peoples, mostly Itelmens, also had a certain influence on it.
Anthropological features of the indigenouspopulation
Now let's look at which group of peoples the indigenous people of Kamchatka belong to.
Koryaks and Itelmens can be safely attributed to the Arctic minor race. In another way, it is called the Eskimo and is the northern offshoot of a large Mongoloid race. This subrace is closer in anthropological terms not to the continental Mongoloids, but to the Pacific ones.
The situation is much more complicated with the Kamchadals, since this nationality belongs to the mixed race. The Kamchadals have combined signs of Caucasoid and Mongoloid types, since, in fact, this ethnic group is the result of a mixture of Russians with the ancient population of Kamchatka. This racial type is called Ural.
Number dynamics
Over the past hundreds of years, the indigenous population of Kamchatka has declined significantly. This situation was caused by several factors at once.
In the era of the colonization of the Russian Empire of Kamchatka, epidemics played a significant role in reducing the local population, as well as the extermination of indigenous people as part of the colonization policy. At a later time, cultural assimilation took place. It was connected with the fact that it became not prestigious to be a representative of indigenous peoples. Therefore, children from mixed marriages preferred to call themselves Russians.
Prospects
Prospects for the further development of indigenous peoples in Kamchatka are very vague. The Russian government began to encourage the self-determination of the nationality of the population of the region in favor of confirmingKoryak, Kamchadal or Itelmen nationality by providing representatives of these nationalities with a number of benefits. But this is clearly not enough, since simply self-identification of a person with representatives of national minorities does not make the original culture of these peoples more widespread. For example, if the total number of Itelmens at the moment is 3.1 thousand people, which is more than twice the figure in 1980, then the number of Itelmen speakers is only 82 people, which confirms its extinction.
The region requires investments in the culture of small peoples in the amount that the population of Kamchatka is ready to master.
General conclusions
We studied the indigenous population of Kamchatka, the peoples inhabiting this northeastern region of our country. Of course, at the moment, the development of the original culture of these ethnic groups leaves much to be desired, but state structures are trying to do everything so that these people, their languages and traditions do not completely disappear.
Let's hope that in the future the number of representatives of the indigenous peoples of Kamchatka will only increase.
