HUNMAGYAR.ORG - TURAN

Location
The Komi Republic is situated in the east of the European part of the Russian Federation, near the Ural mountain range. The Zyryan Komis or simply Zyryans live in the Republic of Komi (415,900 sq. km., capital city Syktyvkar) and in the surrounding regions, on the Kola Peninsula, in the Nenets Autonomous District of the Archangelsk Province and in many different places in Siberia. In the upper reaches of the Kama river live the Kirov Permyaks of Zyuzdin Komis.

Population
Approximately 1,250,8470 people live in the Komi Republic, representing more than 70 different ethnic groups. Russian immigrants comprise the largest population group - 58%, followed by the indigenous Komi people - 23%. Other groups include Ukrainians (8%), Belarussians (2%) and Tatars (2%).

Year	In Komi	In the Russian Federation	Knowledge of the native language
1917	80,000
1926	191,200	226,300
1959	245,200	282,800
1970	276,200	315,300	88.0%
1979	280,800	320,100	81.7%
1989	291,500	336,400	76.1%

The Komi population increased steadily until the 1970s; after that there has been a considerable decrease in their knowledge of the native language.

Languages
There are two official languages in the Republic - Komi, which belongs to the Finnic group of languages, and Russian. 74,3% of Komi people speak their mother tongue.

Organisations
The Komi are represented in the UNPO by the Komi National Revival Committee.

Economy
The Komi Republic is rich in natural resources as coal, oil, gas, forest, minerals and metals.

Turning Points in the History of the Komis
The historical Perm formed a much wider entity than, for instance, the modern Perm region, situated to the west of the Ural mountains. The legendary Perm (or Biarmia as Scandinavian Vikings called it) covered a considerable part of eastern Europe, which Russians mentioned in the 12-14th century as Perm the Great. The term "perm" comes from Russian chronicles where it sounded originally like "perem". Continuing traditions of their Viking forefathers, the Novgorod merchants and river pirates were seeking for lands rich with fur and silver, as well as for new tax sources. The name "perm" was adopted from the Veps tribes living in the basin of the gateway river of Suhona. On the way eastwards the Novgorod boats met the locals who talked about some "perämaa" laying far there, what means in western Finnish dialects "back country" or "lands far away". Nowadays the ancient Perm is represented mostly by archeological excavations and legends, but the descendants of the Perm still exist as Komis, Permyaks and Udmurts, together forming a population of about 1.5 million in Russia and representing the eastern branch (or Perm group) of the nations speaking Finnish languages. Also there are many modern Russians around the Kama river and in the Ural region (Kirov, Perm and Ekaterinburg administrative regions) who descend from the same people and call themselves Permians but do not identify themselves as Finnish people any more. The Permian nations, known today as Komi (including Permyaks) and Udmurts, descend from ancient Finnic peoples of the Kama basin and Ugrians.

1930's: Mental and physical destruction of the intellectuals, closing of the Komi national societies, Beginning of the intense Russification of the Komis;

1950-1960: Schools were no longer allowed to teach the native languages, permitting only Russian. Massive immigration of Russians to the Komi territory, as the abundant natural resources of the Komi region are ruthlessly exploited; migrants are encouraged to settle in the northern areas by offers of higher salaries and other benefits.

1992: The Komi was renamed the Republic of Komi. The Komi people became a member of the UNPO.

1996: An agreement in the area of self-determination was signed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Komi. This agreement gave the Komi government the opportunity to further develop the Republic.

Danger Signs
The ethnic composition of the Komi Republic has changed more drastically than that of other Finno-Ugric republics. The population of the Komi Republic has tripled since World War II due to immigration, which means that the Zyryans have become a minority in their native territory. The percentage of the Komis in the Komi Republic based on census figures is as follows:

Year	1926	1939	1959	1970	1979	1989
Komis in their Republic	85.0%	72.5%	30.1%	28.6%	25.3%	23.0%

The cities of the Komi Republic have a Russian appearance. Only 1/3 of the population of Syktyvkar are Komis, the mining town of Vorkuta has approximately 1% of Komi population and the gas mining city of Ukhta has less than 1%. In the rural areas the Komis are still in the majority, but the economic importance of the rural areas is constantly decreasing and the mass departure from the villages continues. The reason for massive immigration is the industrial exploitation of the northern Komi territories (coal mining in Vorkuta, the utilization of oil resources, natural gas and extensive forest resources in Uza and Ukhta). In spite of all that the Komi Republic is a backward area because it serves only as a source of raw materials. The Komis have no right to decide how much coal should be mined, how much oil should be extracted or how much forest should be cut and at what price it is sold. A Komi village is socially even more backward and that is why young people do not want to stay in the country but migrate to the cities, into the Russian environment. The oil leakage of 1994 alone resulted in devastation of large areas in the northern part of the Komi Republic, which will definitely increase the number of those who move to the cities. A plague for the Komi region are the great state prison camps.

The opportunity to use the Komi language has long been negligible: it has been expurgated from the school system, from governmental offices and management. In 1994 one national newspaper and four regional papers were published in the Komi language (by way of comparison 11 newspapers in the Komi language were published in the 1930's). There are 1/2 hours of radio broadcasts daily and about 1 hour of television broadcasts weekly in the Komi language. National nihilism is spreading, being especially common among the urban Komi. One third of the urban Komis identify themselves as Russians. The knowledge of the Komi language among local Russians (non-Komis) is almost non-existent: only 1.2% of the Russians living in Komi Republic had any command of the Komi language in 1979. At the same time, almost 80% of the Komi know Russian.

Signs of Hope
In the most recent times the sphere of usage of the Komi language has widened. As a result of the efforts made by the Komi Congress, the Komi Republic was the first Finno-Ugrian area of Russia where the local language was instituted as the official language parallelly with Russian. However, it is still not possible to communicate in Komi in most of the governmental offices. The school instruction in the Komi language during the first four school-years was reintroduced in 1994/95; the language is also taught as one of the subjects until the end of the secondary school. Although school instruction in the Komi language is officially supported, it still cannot be obtained everywhere and anywhere, and parents who have been educated in Russian prefer to enroll their children in Russian schools. At present only 37% of Komi school-children learn the native language. In the first half of the 1990s the publication of Komi books has increased.

Current situation
The Komi Republic started to recover from the severe environmental damage caused by oil spills and fires. The recognition of the Komi national movement within the political framework of the Komi Republic has benefited the Komi people’s efforts to maintain and develop their own national identity. Komi representatives continue to effectively participate in the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, as well as the Inter-sessional Working Group developing a declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Location
The Permyak Komis live in the Komi-Permian Autonomous District (32,900 sq. km., capital city Kudymkar) of the Perm Province, in the north-western part of the Perm and Kirov provinces of the Russian Federation, and in many parts of Siberia (Tyumen Province). The Permyak Komis include also the Yazva Komis or Krasnovishersk Permyaks, who live in the north-western part of the Perm Province.

Year	In Komi-Permian Autonomous District	In the whole Russian Federation
1926	117,400	149,400
1939	111,700
1959	126,200	143,000
1970	123,600	150,200
1979	105,600	146,000
1989	95,400	147,300

The number of the Permyaks has not increased in their original territory since the 1970's.

Turning Points in the History of the Permyaks
1472-1505: The Permyaks are converted by force to Orthodoxy and subjected to the Grand Duchy of Moscow; beginning of colonization and Russification;

16th c.: The Permyak-inhabited areas become the base for the Russian conquest and colonization of Siberia; the Komis are forced to retreat from the pressure of the advancing colonists, part of them join the wave;

Early 18th c.: Emperor Peter the Great grants the Russian great landowner Grigori Stroganov the greater part of the Permyak-inhabited areas as his "eternal and hereditary domain"; the Permyak Komis become serfs;

1861: The uprising of the Permyaks against the servitude to the Stroganovs is bloodily crushed (38,000 out of 59,000 Permyaks were serfs to the Stroganov family);

1930's: Most of the Permyak intellectuals, including the authors of the Permyak Komi school textbooks, scientists, researchers and pioneers of the Permyak Komi national literature, are killed or detained in prison camps;

1960's: Beginning of a massive emigration of the Permyaks from their traditional settlements.

Danger Signs
For decades the Permian Autonomous District has been regarded only as the source of raw materials. Therefore, the public services and commodities in the area are in a very poor condition and the young people are leaving in great numbers. For an example, between 1959 and 1979, 79,000 Permyaks or 1/3 of the population left the area. Young people are losing the knowledge of their mother tongue, inasmuch as they have lost contact with their native settlements. There were 161,000 people living in the territory at the time of the 1989 census, of whom 61.4% were Permyaks. In the rural areas, the Permyaks are in the majority and their numbers there have increased even more, as the non-Permyaks leave the villages at a greater rate than the Permyaks do. Russification of the Permyaks in their territory takes place at a quick pace, especially in the administrative centres and larger towns. The use of the Permyak language has been deleted from public use, it is not taught even in many of the so-called "national" schools. In fact, the Permyak national school has practically ceased to exist. In 1989 there were 23 national secondary schools and 23 primary 8-year national schools in the Perm territory, but even those use the name symbolically as the curriculum follows that of the Russian schools and the Permyak language is not taught in them. Only 22% of the Permyak children were learning the native language in 1989. The Permyaks hold their native language in low esteem. Since 1958 there has been no newspaper published in the Permyak language. The regional newspaper is printed in Russian and only occasionally an article will appear in the Permyak language. Since 1990 the local radio broadcasts only 40 minutes of programmes in the Permyak language weekly. The publication of books in the Permyak language has practically ceased.