Articles in Siberia
Cannabis Growing and Eradication in Buryatia
3.3 metric tons of drugs were confiscated in Buryatia last year, of which cannabis made up to 95 percent. Cannabis covered an area of 3,400 hectares in the republic last year, 150 hectares more than in 2010.
Alaskan Sovereignty Issues: Wrangles Over Wrangel
Sovereignty issues have recently been appearing in Alaskan newspapers. On February 22, the Alaska Dispatch noted that former U.S. senate candidate Joe Miller was lambasting Barak Obama for relinquishing control of several sizable “oil-rich” Alaskan islands, ostensibly because of the Obama administration’s hostility to the petroleum industry.
Days of Iranian culture… in Novosibirsk, Siberia
Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest city, is now hosting the “Days of Iranian culture”, the first exposition of its kind. But this cultural festival is by no means a purely local affair: under its auspices, the city of Novosibirsk was visited by an official delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Water Troubles in Yakutia (Sakha)
Many regions of the world suffer from shortages of fresh, potable water. But Yakutia (or the Russian internal republic of Sakha) joining the list of places suffering from inadequate potable water supply is surprising.
Celebrating Buddhism in Russia
A Buddhist art exhibit opened in Saint Petersburg, Russia as a key event of the Days of Tibetan Culture in Saint Petersburg festival, which run through March 18. Elsewhere in Russia, Days of Buddhist Culture have been celebrated by hundreds of Buddhists who took a plunge in near-freezing Lake Baikal.
Introduction to Siberia
For the next month or so, GeoCurrents will examine Siberia. Siberia is an important yet often overlooked region, and hence merits extended consideration. Few parts of the world are so consistently ignored, at least in the English-language media, which almost always focuses on the western, or European, parts of Russia, particularly Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the troubled North Caucasus. Thus, …
Traditionalism vs. Assimilation Among Indigenous Peoples of Siberia
As is the case for many indigenous groups around the world, native peoples of Siberia struggle to fit into the modern global village while retaining their ethnic identity and cultural distinctiveness. Since the end of World War II, the indigenous peoples of Siberia have had a special legal status which allows for certain “affirmative action”-like quotas and benefits. However, the …
Great Animation Festival Opens in Krasnoyarsk, Russia
The fifth annual “Great Animation Festival” opens on today, March 23 in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, with support from the Cultural Initiatives Foundation, a private charitable foundation of Mikhail Prokhorov, a runner-up in the recent presidential election. Russian animation has a long and glorious history.
Indigenous Languages of Siberia: An Overview
Although Siberia is land of little linguistic diversity, the languages that it does possess present a number of interesting issues. Scholars continue to disagree on the basic classification of most Siberian tongues.
The Altaic Family Controversy
The previous GeoCurrents post described the less commonly spoken indigenous Siberian languages and suggested that they elude easy familial classification. The other languages of Siberia fall into three separate language families: Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic. It has been hypothesized that these three families can be grouped together into a single Altaic language family. But the issue of genetic relatedness of …
Russification of Siberia
Siberia is a heavily Russified area – linguistically and culturally – of the Russian Federation. Not only do many ethnic Russians live there, but most members of the indigenous groups speak Russian, at varying degrees of fluency.
How to save the Itelmen language?
The Itelmen are at the bottom of the list of Siberian native groups when it comes to the degree of indigenous language preservation: according to the 2002 census, only 12% of ethnic Itelmen speak their native language, and even this figure is probably too high.
Chukchis In Russian Jokes and In History
Anyone familiar with the contemporary Russian humorous folklore (jokelore, or in Russian anekdoty) knows that one of the most popular series of such jokes revolves around the Chukchis, the native people of Chukotka, the most remote northeast corner of Russia. These jokes, especially popular in 1990s and 2000s, fit the international genre of ethnic stupidity jokes, discussed by Christie Davies …
The cuisines of Siberia
Since Siberia is distinguished by harsh climates, its inhabitants – both the indigenous peoples and the Russian settlers – had to develop unique culinary approaches in order to utilize the region’s scanty foods, adapt to the cold temperatures and avoid vitamin deficiencies.
Evidential markers in Yukaghir languages
When a character in an English-language mystery novel says “The butler did it!”, we do not know if this person witnessed the crime, heard someone else make the accusation, or infers the butler’s guilt from some indirect evidence, such as his fingerprints on the murder weapon. But in many other languages, these situations call for distinct forms of expression. For …
Terranova: The Black Petaltail - A Novel
Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development (5th Edition)
Globalization and Diversity: Geography of a Changing World (3rd Edition)
