ABSTRACT
The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region of Northern Russia, created in 1930, occupies over 750,000 sq km: it stretches 1,200km from north to south, from the islands of the Arctic Ocean, where only moss and lichen grow, to the Siberian taiga in the south, and 1,130 km from west to east, starting in the Arctic section of the Urals. The inhabitants number approximately half a million, and of these the indigenous population accounts for some 35,000, among whom are 21,000 Nentsy, 7,300 Khanty, 1,500 Selkupy and 5,700 Komi. Some 2,500 of the representatives of these indigenous peoples lead a traditional way of life: they do not usually own flats or houses in towns or villages, but wander across hundreds of kilometres with their herds of deer, catch fish and hunt.
