DOCSLIB.ORG

Tyumen-Alberta Relations

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Tyumen-Alberta Relations Tyumen OblastOblast – – Alberta AlbertaRelations Relations PROFILE DID YOU KNOW? • Tyumen was founded in 1585 and Area: 159,870 km² (excluding Khanty- • Tyumen Oblast, including Khanty- is the oldest city in Siberia. It was Mansii and Yamal-Nenets) Mansii and Yamal-Nenets, is just under formerly an important center of the size of Quebec. trade with China. Capital: Tyumen Russians account for more than two- • Population: 3.4 million (2009) thirds of the population, with RELATIONSHIP OVERVIEW (including Khanty-Mansii and Yamal- Ukrainians constituting the largest Nenets) minority group, many of whom work in • Tyumen Oblast has international the oil and gas sector. agreements with Finland, Austria, Language: Russian • Tyumen Oblast, with its wealth of oil Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Belarus, Head of Government: and gas, is the largest exporter in the the province of Lower Saxony Governor Vladimir Yakushev Russian Federation. (since November 2005) (Germany), and the Grampian • The living standards of the residents of Region (Scotland). Political Status: Under the 1993 the town of Tyumen are second only to Alberta signed a cooperation Constitution, Khanty-Mansii and Yamal- those of Moscow in Russia. • agreement with the Tyumen Oblast Nenets became fiscally and • The accelerated development of the oil in 1992. Following changes in the administratively independent of the and gas industry has stimulated the Oblast’s constitution, Alberta also Tyumen government. Khanty-Mansii growth of other economic sectors and signed subsequent cooperation and Yamal-Nenets are thus Autonomous has brought about profound socio- agreements with the Autonomous Okrugs (Districts) within Tyumen Oblast economic changes. Okrugs of Khanty-Mansii (1995) (Province). and Yamal-Nenets (1997). • Tyumen Oblast is home to 125 Currency: $1 CDN = 29. 49 Roubles; nationalities with Russians constituting • The Alberta Government had an 1 Rouble = $0.03 CDN (July 2010) the largest ethnic group. Other office in Tyumen City from 1993 to nationalities include Ukrainians, Tatars, Gross Regional Product (GRP): over 1996. Belarusians, Bashkirs, Chuvash, US$10 billion (2006 est.) Germans, Azeris, Moldavians, and Kazakhs. In the autonomous okrugs, Key Industry Sectors: Oil and natural gas, timber the Khanty, Mansii, and Nenets ethnic groups are also represented. Input was provided from the departments of: Advanced Education & Technology, Agriculture & Rural Development, Education and Energy July 2010 RESOURCES AND ECONOMY EDUCATION AND CULTURE RECENT VISITS Figures include Khanty-Mansii and Yamal-Nenets Grant MacEwan University has • • May 2008: Former Governor of • Most of Russia’s oil and gas resources been active in health care Yamal-Nenets, Yuri Neyelov, visited are located in the Province of Tyumen. programming in Russia since 1995. Alberta. In 2006, about 66% of Russia’s crude In 2003 it won the Canadian oil was produced in the Province as a Bureau for International • December 2007: A delegation from whole, making Tyumen the second Education’s Award for Outstanding Khanty-Mansii visited Alberta and largest crude oil producer in the world, Program in International Education met with Treaty 8 Grand Chief after Saudi Arabia. By comparison, for its CIDA-sponsored Health Arthur Noskey and Dene Tha’ Chief Alberta produced 1.7 million bbl/d, or Education Link Project (HELP) in James Ahnassay regarding about 67% of Canada’s crude oil and Tyumen region. economically developing areas equivalent production. traditionally inhabited by indigenous • The current project called the people. • In 2005, Russia was the largest Canada-Russia Initiative in Nursing producer (21.2 Tcf) and exporter (5.34 (2005-2010) has been • April 2007: A delegation from Tcf) of natural gas in the world, and implemented by MacEwan Khanty-Mansii visited Alberta on a had the world’s largest reserves (1,688 University in partnership with CIDA-funded study tour under the Tcf). Capital Health (till 2007) and Canada-Russian Northern Canadian Nurses Association (CAN) • In 2006, about 91% of Russia’s natural Development Partnership Program to assist Russian Ministry of Health gas, or about 21 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) (NORDEP). of natural gas, was produced in and Social Development and Tyumen Province. Russian Nurses Association in • June 2006: A delegation from Yamal- developing new professional and Nenets visited Alberta on a CIDA- • Of more regional significance to the education standards and funded study tour under NORDEP. Tyumen portion of the Province that is educational programs in nursing. not part of Khanty-Mansii and Yamal- Nenets are the timber and wood- • This project, which involves processing industries, mechanical nursing schools and health care DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION engineering, and the rapidly developing facilities in 18 Russian cities from • The Russian Ambassador to Canada petrochemical and electrical energy St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, has is His Excellency Georgy Mamedov. sectors. been recognized by the Russian Ministry of Health and Social • The Canadian Ambassador to Russia • Tyumen Province has the 3rd largest Development as the most is Mr. John Sloan. timber resource in the country; the successful international project in • Russia’s Honorary Consul in Alberta total supply of timber has been the area of nursing. is Mr. Sergey Timoschenko. estimated at 5.4 billion cubic meters. • Tyumen also has large deposits of coal, peat and gold. • Tyumen has more than 4 million hectares of farmland (farmland makes up about 3% of the Province’s territory). Animal husbandry and grain farming are the leading branches of agriculture. Reindeer-breeding, fur- trading, and poultry farming are also developed in the Province. For more information, contact: Alberta Intergovernmental, International and Aboriginal Relations Tel: 780-427-6543 Fax: 780-427-0699 www.albertacanada.com .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Eastern Finno-Ugrian Cooperation and Foreign Relations
    UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Eastern Finno-Ugrian cooperation and foreign relations Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4gc7x938 Journal Nationalities Papers, 29(1) ISSN 0090-5992 Author Taagepera, R Publication Date 2001-04-24 DOI 10.1080/00905990120036457 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Nationalities Papers, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2001 EASTERN FINNO-UGRIAN COOPERATION AND FOREIGN RELATIONS Rein Taagepera Britons and Iranians do not wax poetic when they discover that “one, two, three” sound vaguely similar in English and Persian. Finns and Hungarians at times do. When I speak of “Finno-Ugrian cooperation,” I am referring to a linguistic label that joins peoples whose languages are so distantly related that in most world contexts it would evoke no feelings of kinship.1 Similarities in folk culture may largely boil down to worldwide commonalities in peasant cultures at comparable technological stages. The racial features of Estonians and Mari may be quite disparate. Limited mutual intelligibility occurs only within the Finnic group in the narrow sense (Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Estonians), the Permic group (Udmurts and Komi), and the Mordvin group (Moksha and Erzia). Yet, despite this almost abstract foundation, the existence of a feeling of kinship is very real. Myths may have no basis in fact, but belief in myths does occur. Before denigrating the beliefs of indigenous and recently modernized peoples as nineteenth-century relics, the observer might ask whether the maintenance of these beliefs might serve some functional twenty-first-century purpose. The underlying rationale for the Finno-Ugrian kinship beliefs has been a shared feeling of isolation among Indo-European and Turkic populations.
    [Show full text]
  • Workers' Alliance Against Forced Labour and Trafficking
    165˚W 150˚W 135˚W 120˚W 105˚W 90˚W 75˚W 60˚W 45˚W 30˚W 15˚W 0˚ 15˚E 30˚E 45˚E 60˚E 75˚E 90˚E 105˚E 120˚E 135˚E 150˚E 165˚E Workers' Alliance against Forced Labour and Tracking Chelyuskin Mould Bay Grise Dudas Fiord Severnaya Zemlya 75˚N Arctic Ocean Arctic Ocean 75˚N Resolute Industrialised Countries and Transition Economies Queen Elizabeth Islands Greenland Sea Svalbard Dickson Human tracking is an important issue in industrialised countries (including North Arctic Bay America, Australia, Japan and Western Europe) with 270,000 victims, which means three Novosibirskiye Ostrova Pond LeptevStarorybnoye Sea Inlet quarters of the total number of forced labourers. In transition economies, more than half Novaya Zemlya Yukagir Sachs Harbour Upernavikof the Kujalleo total number of forced labourers - 200,000 persons - has been tracked. Victims are Tiksi Barrow mainly women, often tracked intoGreenland prostitution. Workers are mainly forced to work in agriculture, construction and domestic servitude. Middle East and North Africa Wainwright Hammerfest Ittoqqortoormiit Prudhoe Kaktovik Cape Parry According to the ILO estimate, there are 260,000 people in forced labour in this region, out Bay The “Red Gold, from ction to reality” campaign of the Italian Federation of Agriculture and Siktyakh Baffin Bay Tromso Pevek Cambridge Zapolyarnyy of which 88 percent for labour exploitation. Migrant workers from poor Asian countriesT alnakh Nikel' Khabarovo Dudinka Val'kumey Beaufort Sea Bay Taloyoak Food Workers (FLAI) intervenes directly in tomato production farms in the south of Italy. Severomorsk Lena Tuktoyaktuk Murmansk became victims of unscrupulous recruitment agencies and brokers that promise YeniseyhighN oril'sk Great Bear L.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction. Komi Folklore Studies: Connecting Points1
    https://doi.org/10.7592/FEJF2019.76.introduction INTRODUCTION. KOMI FOLKLORE STUDIES: CONNECTING POINTS1 Liudmila Lobanova Researcher Department of Folklore, Institute of Language, Literature, and History Komi Science Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia Email: [email protected] Nikolay Kuznetsov Lecturer in Finno-Ugric Languages Department of Finno-Ugric Studies University of Tartu Email: [email protected] The special edition of Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore is dedicated to Komi2 folklore and folklore studies. The issue was prepared within the frame- work of cooperation between the Department of Folkloristics of the Estonian Literary Museum and the Folklore Department of the Komi Science Centre by Komi and Estonian folklore researchers. Prior to this, the authors published one of the issues (vol. 17, 2016) of the Sator periodical, which was also dedi- cated to Komi folklore studies. The goal of this issue is to present some of the results of recent Komi folklore studies to wider academic circles, overcoming the natural linguistic obstacles. The majority of articles are written within the research project “Local Folklore Traditions of the European Northeast of Russia: Mechanisms of Development and Adaptation, System of Genres, Ethnocultural Folklore Interaction” (№ AAAA-A17-117021310066-4). The history of Komi folklore studies reveals processes typical for the Rus- sian, Soviet, and post-Soviet research dealing with folklore (the research field extended and became more limited over time), as well as studying the Komi language and culture as part of the general development of Finno-Ugric stud- ies. Traditionally, academician Andreas Sjögren (1794–1855) is considered to have discovered Komi folklore – in 1827, he transcribed folklore texts and published them as examples of the Komi language.
    [Show full text]
  • Drastic Demographic Events Triggered the Uralic Spread to Appear in Diachronica
    Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread To appear in Diachronica Riho Grünthal (University of Helsinki) Volker Heyd (University of Helsinki) Sampsa Holopainen (University of Helsinki) Juha Janhunen (University of Helsinki) Olesya Khanina (Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences) Matti Miestamo (University of Helsinki) Johanna Nichols (University of California, Berkeley; University of Helsinki; Higher School of Economics, Moscow) Janne Saarikivi (University of Helsinki) Kaius Sinnemäki (University of Helsinki) Abstract: The widespread Uralic family offers several advantages for tracing prehistory: a firm absolute chronological anchor point in an ancient contact episode with well-dated Indo-Iranian; other points of intersection or diagnostic non-intersection with early Indo-European (the Late PIE-speaking Yamnaya culture of the western steppe, the Afanasievo culture of the upper Yenisei, and the Fatyanovo culture of the middle Volga); lexical and morphological reconstruction sufficient to establish critical absences of sharings and contacts. We add information on climate, linguistic geography, typology, and cognate frequency distributions to reconstruct the Uralic origin and spread. We argue that the Uralic homeland was east of the Urals and initially out of contact with Indo-European. The spread was rapid and without widespread shared substratal effects. We reconstruct its cause as the interconnected reactions of early Uralic and Indo-European populations to a catastrophic climate change episode and interregionalization opportunities which advantaged riverine hunter-fishers over herders. Keywords Uralic; Finno-Ugric; Indo-European; Yamnaya; Indo-Iranian; Siberia; Eurasia; Seima-Turbino, 4.2 ka event; linguistic homeland Note: In-text references have not yet been fully deanonymized. 2 Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread (Contents, for convenience) Main text (pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Housing Russia
    Housing Russia Danske Bank Markets – Russia Seminar Teemu Helppolainen | St. Petersburg March 12, 2014 YIT operations in 7 countries CEE = Baltic countries and Russia 92% Central Eastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, (900,000) The Czech Republic, Slovakia) Finland 66% (1,215) Finland 57 % (3,515) Russia 27% Russia 32% (497) (1,968) CEE 5% (45,900) CEE 7% CEE 11% (689) (124) Finland 3% (26,200) Revenue (EUR million) Residential market size Personnel in 2013 in 2013 (commissioned) in 2013 YIT | 2 | Housing Russia YIT’s key figures EUR million 10–12/13 10–12/12 Change 1–12/13 1–12/12 Change • Revenue 521 555 -6% 1,859 1,959 -5% • Operating profit 41.2 68.0 -39% 152.8 201.1 -24% % of revenue 7.9 12.2 - 8.2 10.3 - • Operating profit, excluding non-recurring items* 42.4 68.0 -38% 154.0 194.1 -21% % of revenue, excluding non-recurring items* 8.1 12.2 - 8.3 9.9 - • Order backlog 2,714 2,765 -2% 2,714 2,765 -2% • Profit before taxes 32.5 59.1 -45% 122.8 169.6 -28% • Profit for the review period1) 24.3 43.8 -45% 93.9 130.7 -28% • Earnings per share, EUR 0.19 0.35 -46% 0.75 1.04 -28% • Operating cash flow after investments 76.3 8.0 - -87.9 49.9 - • Cash at the end of the period 76.3 74.9 2% 76.3 74.9 2% • Personnel at the end of the period 6,172 6,691 -8% 6,172 6,691 -8% • Dividend, EUR* 0.38 n/a 1) Attributable to equity holders of the parent company Note: A EUR 10.0 million cost provision covering costs related to the ammonia case in St.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia's Peacetime Demographic Crisis
    the national bureau of asian research nbr project report | may 2010 russia’s peacetime demographic crisis: Dimensions, Causes, Implications By Nicholas Eberstadt ++ The NBR Project Report provides access to current research on special topics conducted by the world’s leading experts in Asian affairs. The views expressed in these reports are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of other NBR research associates or institutions that support NBR. The National Bureau of Asian Research is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution dedicated to informing and strengthening policy. NBR conducts advanced independent research on strategic, political, economic, globalization, health, and energy issues affecting U.S. relations with Asia. Drawing upon an extensive network of the world’s leading specialists and leveraging the latest technology, NBR bridges the academic, business, and policy arenas. The institution disseminates its research through briefings, publications, conferences, Congressional testimony, and email forums, and by collaborating with leading institutions worldwide. NBR also provides exceptional internship opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students for the purpose of attracting and training the next generation of Asia specialists. NBR was started in 1989 with a major grant from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Funding for NBR’s research and publications comes from foundations, corporations, individuals, the U.S. government, and from NBR itself. NBR does not conduct proprietary or classified research. The organization undertakes contract work for government and private-sector organizations only when NBR can maintain the right to publish findings from such work. To download issues of the NBR publications, please visit the NBR website http://www.nbr.org.
    [Show full text]
  • Amur Oblast TYNDINSKY 361,900 Sq
    AMUR 196 Ⅲ THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST SAKHA Map 5.1 Ust-Nyukzha Amur Oblast TY NDINS KY 361,900 sq. km Lopcha Lapri Ust-Urkima Baikal-Amur Mainline Tynda CHITA !. ZEISKY Kirovsky Kirovsky Zeiskoe Zolotaya Gora Reservoir Takhtamygda Solovyovsk Urkan Urusha !Skovorodino KHABAROVSK Erofei Pavlovich Never SKOVO MAGDAGACHINSKY Tra ns-Siberian Railroad DIRO Taldan Mokhe NSKY Zeya .! Ignashino Ivanovka Dzhalinda Ovsyanka ! Pioner Magdagachi Beketovo Yasny Tolbuzino Yubileiny Tokur Ekimchan Tygda Inzhan Oktyabrskiy Lukachek Zlatoustovsk Koboldo Ushumun Stoiba Ivanovskoe Chernyaevo Sivaki Ogodzha Ust-Tygda Selemdzhinsk Kuznetsovo Byssa Fevralsk KY Kukhterin-Lug NS Mukhino Tu Novorossiika Norsk M DHI Chagoyan Maisky SELE Novovoskresenovka SKY N OV ! Shimanovsk Uglovoe MAZ SHIMA ANOV Novogeorgievka Y Novokievsky Uval SK EN SK Mazanovo Y SVOBODN Chernigovka !. Svobodny Margaritovka e CHINA Kostyukovka inlin SERYSHEVSKY ! Seryshevo Belogorsk ROMNENSKY rMa Bolshaya Sazanka !. Shiroky Log - Amu BELOGORSKY Pridorozhnoe BLAGOVESHCHENSKY Romny Baikal Pozdeevka Berezovka Novotroitskoe IVANOVSKY Ekaterinoslavka Y Cheugda Ivanovka Talakan BRSKY SKY P! O KTYA INSK EI BLAGOVESHCHENSK Tambovka ZavitinskIT BUR ! Bakhirevo ZAV T A M B OVSKY Muravyovka Raichikhinsk ! ! VKONSTANTINO SKY Poyarkovo Progress ARKHARINSKY Konstantinovka Arkhara ! Gribovka M LIKHAI O VSKY ¯ Kundur Innokentevka Leninskoe km A m Trans -Siberianad Railro u 100 r R i v JAO Russian Far East e r By Newell and Zhou / Sources: Ministry of Natural Resources, 2002; ESRI, 2002. Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages CHAPTER 5 Amur Oblast Location Amur Oblast, in the upper and middle Amur River basin, is 8,000 km east of Moscow by rail (or 6,500 km by air).
    [Show full text]
  • Ukrainians in Russia: a Bibliographic and Statistical Guide
    Research Report No. 55 Ukrainians in Russia: A Bibliographic and Statistical Guide Compiled by Serge Cipko Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press University of Alberta Edmonton 1994 Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press Occasional Research Reports The Institute publishes research reports periodically. Copies may be ordered from the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 352 Athabasca Hall, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E8. The name of the publication series and the substantive material in each issue (unless otherwise noted) are copyrighted by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press. PRINTED IN CANADA Occasional Research Reports Ukrainians in Russia: A Bibliographic and Statistical Guide Compiled by Serge Cipko Research Report No. 55 Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press University of Alberta Edmonton 1994 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/ukrainiansinruss55cipk Table of Contents Introduction 1 A Select Bibliography 3 Newspaper Articles 9 Ukrainian Periodicals and Journals Published in Russia 15 Periodicals Published Abroad by Ukrainians from Russia 18 Biographies of Ukrainians in Russia 21 Biographies of Ukrainians from Russia Resettled Abroad 31 Statistical Compendium of Ukrainians in Russia 33 Addresses of Ukrainian Organizations in Russia 39 Periodicals and Journals Consulted 42 INTRODUCTION Ukrainians who live in countries bordering on Ukraine constitute perhaps the second largest ethnic minority in Europe after the Russians. Despite their significant numbers, however, these Ukrainians remain largely unknown to the international community, receiving none of the attention that has been accorded, for example, to Russian minorities in the successor states to the former Soviet Union. According to the last Soviet census of 1989, approximately 4.3 million Ukrainians live in the Russian Federation; unofficial estimates of the size of this group run considerably higher.
    [Show full text]
  • Khanty-Mansiysk
    Khanty-Mansiysk www.visithm.com Valery Gergiev, People’s Artist of Russia, the Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre: «It is a very big fortune that in Khanty-Mansiysk with its 80,000 inhabitants (let it be 100,000 people as there are a lot of guests) there is such a cultural centre. Not every city with population exceeding one million can afford the same». Dmitry Guberniev, Russian sports commentator: «Khanty-Mansiysk is like home for me. I enjoy visiting it again and again. Furthermore, I have a lot of friends there». Elena Yakovleva, Russian film and stage actress, Honoured Artist of Russia, People’s Artist of Russia: «What I managed to see from the window of a car impressed me greatly. I really envy people who live there as they live in a fairy-tale. These are not just words and I am absolutely sincere. There is a taiga near the houses that attracts and invites to stay here a bit longer». Airport park А Immediately after your cheo landing in Khanty-Mansiysk Ar you can feel Siberian colour of the city. The international The cultural and tourist airport successfully combines complex “Archeopark”, national traditions and located at the base modern style: it is made of of the butte of the advanced materials in the ancient glacier, is one form of Khanty chum (raw- of the main sights of hide tent). the capital of Ugra. Its bronze inhabitants depict the way of life of the Paleolithic people and animals from the Pleistocene time. Almost all ancient animals are made in full size here, and you can make original photos with them.
    [Show full text]
  • International Winter Schools in Russia
    International winter schools in Russia COUNTRY OVERVIEW Geography Russia spans from the eastern plains of Europe to the Pacific Ocean in Asia, making it the largest country in the world. The coasts of Russia are washed by 12 seas and three oceans. There is hardly any country in the world where such a variety of scenery and vegetation can be found: steppes in the south, plains and forests in the midlands, tundra and taiga in the north, highlands and deserts in the east. There are 11 time zones in Russia, which is more than in any other country in the world. Climate Due to its vast territory, Russia is a country of natural contrasts. The northern part of the country is located in arctic and subarctic climate zones, while the southern regions have a subtropical climate. Normally Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan have very warm summers and fairly cold winters, while Tomsk in Siberia often has temperatures of -40 C or colder in winter. Culture Despite its vast area the population is 146 million people, less than the United States, Brazil or Pakistan. However, it is extremely diverse culturally. There are about 185 ethnic groups, whereas Slavs (the first inhabitants of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) comprise the major ethnicity. Russian is the only official language across the country, but there are more than 25 different languages that are considered official in certain regions. Economy Russia is the biggest gas and second biggest oil exporter in the world and also has vast stocks of precious metals. Other important sectors include information technology, defense, agriculture and aerospace.
    [Show full text]
  • Minority Languages in Russia and the Rise of Voluntary Assimilation
    MINORITY LANGUAGES IN RUSSIA AND THE RISE OF VOLUNTARY ASSIMILATION By NIKITA BOZICEVIC SENIOR THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES, AND CULTURES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOR CONSIDERATION OF HONORS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2020 Bozicevic 1 MINORITY LANGUAGES IN RUSSIA AND THE RISE OF VOLUNTARY ASSIMILATION By Nikita Bozicevic May 2020 Majors: FLL-Russian Linguistics ABSTRACT In the Russian Federation, many groups have dedicated extensive time and resources toward minority language preservation, and yet a growing number of minority languages are becoming endangered or extinct. During the mid-twentieth century, this language loss was often caused by forced assimilation directed by the government, but today the issue is far more complex. Despite increased legal protections and funding to support minority languages, as well as various efforts by groups working toward preservation, minority language loss continues to occur. This paper will argue that voluntary assimilation is now one of the major driving forces of minority language loss in the Russian Federation, and it is caused not by one reason, but by a combination of various intertwining societal, political, and economic factors. Bozicevic 2 Introduction When a language is lost, a culture and history is lost with it. It is estimated that there are about one-hundred-fifty minority languages in Russia (Aref'ev, 83), all with varying statuses and preservation efforts. Many of these languages are considered endangered, some having fewer than a thousand speakers left, such as the Archi language (Dobrushina, 77-83), and the Yukaghir language with fewer than fifty. Historically, speakers of these languages struggled against assimilation efforts from the Russian and Soviet governments.
    [Show full text]
  • Nation Making in Russia's Jewish Autonomous Oblast: Initial Goals
    Nation Making in Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast: Initial Goals and Surprising Results WILLIAM R. SIEGEL oday in Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Yevreiskaya Avtonomnaya TOblast, or EAO), the nontitular, predominately Russian political leadership has embraced the specifically national aspects of their oblast’s history. In fact, the EAO is undergoing a rebirth of national consciousness and culture in the name of a titular group that has mostly disappeared. According to the 1989 Soviet cen- sus, Jews compose only 4 percent (8,887/214,085) of the EAO’s population; a figure that is decreasing as emigration continues.1 In seeking to uncover the reasons for this phenomenon, I argue that the pres- ence of economic and political incentives has motivated the political leadership of the EAO to employ cultural symbols and to construct a history in its effort to legitimize and thus preserve its designation as an autonomous subject of the Rus- sian Federation. As long as the EAO maintains its status as one of eighty-nine federation subjects, the political power of the current elites will be maintained and the region will be in a more beneficial position from which to achieve eco- nomic recovery. The founding in 1928 of the Birobidzhan Jewish National Raion (as the terri- tory was called until the creation of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in 1934) was an outgrowth of Lenin’s general policy toward the non-Russian nationalities. In the aftermath of the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks faced the difficult task of consolidating their power in the midst of civil war. In order to attract the support of non-Russians, Lenin oversaw the construction of a federal system designed to ease the fears of—and thus appease—non-Russians and to serve as an example of Soviet tolerance toward colonized peoples throughout the world.
    [Show full text]