Udmurts
Total population | |
---|---|
396,000 (2021) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Udmurtia | |
Russia | 386,465 (2021) |
Kazakhstan | 5,824 (2009) |
Ukraine | 4,712 (2001) |
Estonia | 193 (2011) |
Latvia | 179 - 197 (2023) |
Languages | |
Udmurt, Russian | |
Religion | |
Majority: Russian Orthodoxy Minority: Udmurt Vos Protestantism Pentecostalism Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Permians Especially Besermyan |
The Udmurts (Udmurt: Удмуртъёс, Udmurtjos) are a Permian (Finnic) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. During the course of the Russian Empire, Udmurts have been referred to mainly as Chud Otyatskaya (чудь отяцкая), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks, all being exonyms. Today such exonyms are considered offensive by Udmurts themselves and are mainly used against those who have forgotten the Udmurt language. The Udmurts are close to Komis to their north both linguistically and culturally.
Etymology
The name Udmurt comes from *odo-mort 'meadow people,' where the first part represents the Permic root *od(o) 'meadow, glade, turf, greenery', and the second part, murt means 'person' (cf. Komi mort, Mari mari, Mordvin mirď-), probably an early borrowing from an Iranian language (such as Scythian): *mertä or *martiya 'person, man' (cf. Persian mard), which is thought to have been borrowed from the Indo-Aryan term *maryá- 'man', literally 'mortal, one who is bound to die' (< PIE *mer- 'to die'), compare Old Indic márya 'young warrior' and Old Indic marut 'chariot warrior', both connected specifically with horses and chariots. This is supported by a document dated 1557, in which the Udmurts are referred to as lugovye lyudi 'meadow people', alongside the traditional Russian name otyaki.
On the other hand, in the Russian tradition, the name 'meadow people' refers to the inhabitants of the left bank of river in general. Most relevant in this regard is the recent theory proposed by V. V. Napolskikh and S. K. Belykh. They suppose that the ethnonym was borrowed from Proto-Iranian entirely: *anta-marta 'resident of outskirts, border zone' (cf. Antes) → Proto-Permic *odə-mort → Udmurt udmurt.
Distribution
Most Udmurt people live in Udmurtia. Small groups live in the neighboring areas of Kirov Oblast and Perm Krai, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Mari El.
The Udmurt population is shrinking; the Russian Census reported 552,299 in 2010, down from the 2002 Russian census figure of 637,000, in turn down from 746,562 in 1989. The 2021 census counted fewer Udmurts than had the 1926 census.
Census | 1926 | 1939 | 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | 2002 | 2010 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Population | 503,970 | 599,893 | 615,640 | 678,393 | 685,718 | 714,883 | 636,906 | 552,299 | 386,465 |
Percentage | 0.54% | 0.55% | 0.52% | 0.52% | 0.50% | 0.49% | 0.45% | 0.40% | 0.30% |
Culture
The Udmurt language belongs to the Uralic family.
The Udmurts have a national epic called Dorvyzhy. Their national musical instruments include the krez zither (similar to the Russian gusli) and a pipe-like wind instrument called the chipchirghan.
A chapter in the French Description de toutes les nations de l'empire de Russie from 1776 is devoted to the description of the Wotyak people. James George Frazer also mentions a rite performed by the people in his book The Golden Bough.
Many Udmurt people have red hair, and a festival to celebrate the red-haired people has been held annually in Izhevsk since 2004.
The Udmurts used to be semi-nomadic forest dwellers that lived in riverside communities. However, most Udmurts now live in towns. Although the clan-based social structure of the Udmurts no longer exists, its traces are still strong and it continues to shape modern Udmurt culture.
Genetics
About 70% of Udmurt men carry the haplogroup N. The second most common Y-DNA haplogroup among them is R1a (19%).
When it comes to the autosomal ancestry of Udmurts, around 30% of it is Nganasan-like. The rest can be modelled to be Srubnaya-like.
See also
- Besermyan (considered a subgroup of the Udmurts)