Ethnic groups of Russia: Komi

More than 140,000 members of this Finno-Ugric ethnic group live in Russia, primarily in the Komi Republic in the northwest of the country. According to one version, the ethnonym ‘Komi’ means ‘living on the Kama River,’ while another says it means ‘man, human.’ They are also called Komi-Zyryans, in order to distinguish them from the related Komi-Permyaks.

The southern Komi traditionally engaged in agriculture and livestock breeding, while the northern Komi engaged in hunting and fishing. Those living beyond the Arctic Circle are engaged in reindeer herding. They adopted this practice from the Nenets and at one time were even the largest reindeer herders in the European north.

The ancestors of the Komi-Zyryans could well have been the first skiers on Earth! After all, it was in the Komi Republic that fragments of the world's oldest skis, over 7,000 years old, were found. Today, skiing remains a firmly established popular sport among the region's residents.

The Komi bake open pies called ‘shangi’, filled with potatoes, cottage cheese, cereals, or berries. They either boil reindeer meat or freeze it and slice it thinly. A very unusual national dish is ‘iska cheri’ — fermented fish with a strong, pungent odor.