The Mari language, formerly known as the Cheremiss language, spoken by approximately 400,000 people, belongs to the Uralic language family. It is spoken primarily in the Mari Republic of the Russian Federation, as well as in the area along the Vyatka river basin and eastwards to the Urals. Mari speakers, known as the Mari, are found also in the Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, and Perm regions.
The Udmurts are a Permian (Finno-Ugric) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. They mainly live in the republic of Udmurtia in Russia.
Udmurtia, officially the Udmurt Republic, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is administratively part of the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Izhevsk.
Mari El, officially the Mari El Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is in the European region of the country, along the northern bank of the Volga River, and administratively part of the Volga Federal District. The republic has a population of 696,459. Yoshkar-Ola is the capital and largest city.
The Mari, also formerly known as the Cheremis, are a Finno-Ugric people who have traditionally lived along the Volga and Kama rivers in Russia. Almost half of Maris today live in the Mari El republic, with significant populations in the Bashkortostan and Tatarstan republics.
Mordvins is an official term used in the Russian Federation to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928.
Merya or Meryanic is an extinct Finno-Ugric language, which was spoken by the Meryans. Merya began to be assimilated by East Slavs when their territory became incorporated into Kievan Rus' in the 10th century. However some Merya speakers might have even lived in the 18th century. There is also a theory that the word for "Moscow" originates from the Merya language. The Meryan language stretched to the western parts of Vologda Oblast and Moscow.
Of all the languages of Russia, Russian, the most widely spoken language, is the only official language at the national level. There are 25 other official languages, which are used in different regions of Russia. These languages include; Ossetic, Ukrainian, Buryat, Kalmyk, Chechen, Ingush, Abaza, Adyghe, Cherkess, Kabardian, Altai, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Karachay-Balkar, Khakas, Nogai, Tatar, Tuvan, Yakut, Erzya, Komi, Hill Mari, Meadow Mari, Moksha, and Udmurt. There are over 100 minority languages spoken in Russia today.
Hill Mari or Western Mari is a Uralic language closely related to Northwestern Mari and Meadow Mari, in which Hill Mari forms a Western Mari group with the former. Hill Mari is spoken in the Gornomariysky, Yurinsky and Kilemarsky districts of Mari El, Russia. It is written using the Hill Mari Cyrillic script and is co-official with Russian as well as Meadow Mari in the Mari El Republic.
The Mari Autonomous Oblast was created on November 4, 1920, as a region of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In 1936 it was re-established as the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which dissolved in 1990, then developing into the modern Mari El Republic within Russian Federation.
The Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, succeeding the Mari Autonomous Oblast. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Mari ASSR became the Mari El Republic, a federal subject of the Russian Federation.
Mari religion, also called Mari paganism, is the ethnic religion of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group based in the republic of Mari El, in Russia. The religion has undergone changes over time, particularly under the influence of neighbouring monotheisms. In the last few decades, while keeping its traditional features in the countryside, an organised neopagan revival has taken place.
The Volga Finns are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and the Moksha as well as speakers of the extinct Merya, Muromian and Meshchera languages.
The flag of Mari El, a federal subject and republic in the Russian Federation, was adopted by the Parliament of Mari El on 1 June 2011.
Northwestern Mari is a Uralic language variety closely related to Hill Mari and Meadow Mari. With the first of them Northwestern Mari joins as a dialect group of Western Mari language. Northwestern Mari is the language of Northwestern Mari people, who live in Russia in the Yaransky, Tuzhinsky, Kiknursky, Sanchursky districts of Kirov Oblast, Tonshayevsky, Sharangsky and Tonkinsky districts of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and partly in Kilemarsky and Medvedevsky districts of Mari El. It is written using the Northwestern Mari Cyrillic script, but doesn't have an official status in any subjects of Russian Federation.
Mari Ushem is a Russian non-governmental organization, whose activity is dedicated to preservation of the Mari culture.
Meadow Mari are a subgroup of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group concentrated in the Mari El Republic of Russia. Meadow Mari comprise the majority of Mari in the Mari El republic. Meadow Mari mainly practice traditional Mari religion. They are believed to be descendants of the Azelinskaya culture.
Hill Mari or Mountain Mari are a subgroup of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group of Russia. They are concentrated in Gornomariysky District of the Mari El Republic.
The Eastern Mari are a subgroup of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group of Russia. Eastern Mari comprise those Mari living outside of the Mari El Republic, east of the Vyatka River in the Kama and Ural regions. They are concentrated in Bashkortostan, particularly in the Mishkinsky District, Birsky District, and in Neftekamsk. Eastern Mari populations are also found in southern Sverdlovsk Oblast and in Perm Krai. They make up between a quarter and a third of the general Mari population. According to academic Seppo Lallukka, Eastern Mari is more of a scholarly category than an ethnically unified subgroup.
