Komis

There are around 345,000 Komis (Zyryans) (160,000 speakers). They live mainly in the Komi Republic, which is located west of the Ural Mountains and the capital city of which is Syktyvkar. Komis also live further west in the Kola Peninsula and in the Arkhangelsk Oblast as well as east of the Urals in Western Siberia.

Komi is rich in natural resources. Silver ore deposits were found in Komi as early as the 1400s, and today the main economic activities in the Komi region are mining as well as oil, coal and gas production. Timber and its processing are also significant livelihoods, and there is also some livestock farming and reindeer husbandry.

There are a total of around 94,000 Komi-Permyaks (60,000 speakers). In 1925, a titular Komi-Permyak Okrug was established for them, with the capital city, Kudymkar, as its administrative centre. The okrug was merged with Perm Oblast to form Perm Krai in 2005.

Sources

In Murros – Suomalais-ugrilaiset kielet ja kulttuurit globalisaation paineissa [Transformation – Finno-Ugric Cultures and Languages Facing Pressures of Globalisation]. Eds. Sirkka Saarinen & Eeva Herrala. Uralica Helsingensia 3. Helsinki University Department of Finno-Ugrian Studies – Finnish Academy of Science and Letters – Société Finno-Ougrienne – Finno-Ugrian Society.

Uralilaiset kansat – tietoa suomen sukukielistä ja niiden puhujista [Uralic Peoples – Information about Languages Related to Finnish and Their Speakers]. Ed. Johanna Laakso. WSOY 1991.

From the Volga to Siberia. The Finno-Ugric Peoples in Today’s Russia. Ed. Ildikó Lehtinen. Finnish Literature Society 2012.