The Arctic Peoples of Europe and Siberia

1 Karelia was seized from Finland after World War II.

2 Komi and Komi-Permyak in the north Urals are rich in minerals

3 The Nenets (35,000) and the Finno-Ugric Khanti (22,000), Mansi (8,000) and Saami (3,000) are largely shamanists

4 Sakha has a high degree of autonomy and is potentially wealthy with gold, diamonds and other minerals

5 Chukotka is the home of the Eskimo-related Chukchi (17,000) and Koryak of the northern Kamchatka Peninsula peoples

6 Bible translation work has begun in all of these Arctic peoples

The North Caucasus peoples

1 The North Caucasus region lies between the Black and Caspian Seas.

2 Islam predominates in all the indigenous peoples except the Ossetians who are largely nominal Orthodox

3 The North Caucasus peoples are some of the least-reached on earth, and certainly live in Europe's least evangelized region

4 The Cherkess (Circassian) people (585,000) were divided by Soviet ethnic engineering into three republics — Adygeya, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkess

5 The Turkic Balkar (80,000) and Karachay (169,000) are nominally Muslim and live among the Cherkess

6 Chechyna has long resisted Russian rule. The wars of the 1990s continue

7 Dagestan is 94% Muslim and home to 34 ethnic groups

8 The Ossetians live in both Georgia and Severnaya-Ossetiya

9 Abkhazia is an unrecognized republic of 525,000 people that emerged from the Georgian-Abkhaz war in the early 1990s

Politics

Russia has known little but autocracy or tyranny since it became a country in the 8^th Century.

Religion

Freedom of religion written into the constitution.

Churches in Russia

Missionaries from Russia

382+ in 17 agencies to 12 countries

Missionaries to Russia

2,200+ in 146 agencies from 35 countries

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Geography

Area 17,075,400 sq.km. The world's largest country extending across 11 time zones between the Baltic and the Pacific.

Population (2000) 146,933,847 -0.16%AGR

Capital Moscow 13,200,000.

Peoples

Indo-European 88.7%; Turkic-Altaic 8.2%; Finno-Ugric 2.3%; Other 0.8%.

Literacy 98%. Official language Russian; local languages in autonomous republics. All languages 96. Languages with Scriptures 3Bi 8NT 40por 80w.i.p.

Economy

Vast natural resources and potentially the world's wealthiest country. HDI 0.747; 71^st/174. Public debt 26% of GNP. Income/person $2,680 (9% of USA).

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