22.07.2026
Indigenous Peoples of Russia: How the Country Maintains Cultural Diversity
For many years, the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights has remained a key topic in international law. The world has yet to reach a consensus on which people fall under this category and what common criteria could determine this status.
Against this backdrop, the Russian regulatory model has its own unique characteristics. Unlike many international documents, which avoid strict definitions, Russian legislation establishes a specific category—indigenous peoples—and provides a system of legal guarantees for them.
Read about how the Russian model of support for indigenous peoples was formed and how it differs from approaches in other countries in this article by Dmitry Ryakhovsky, Senior Advisor to the Department of Multilateral Cooperation on Human Rights at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The history of the development of support for indigenous peoples in Russia
The Russian model of support for indigenous peoples developed along its own path, distinct from other countries. It is largely linked to the country’s history.
It all began during the period of development of Siberia, the Arctic and the Far East, when over the course of centuries the state gradually built relationships with the peoples already living in these lands.
As noted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ report “On the Situation with the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Individual Countries,” many Arctic states have, in one form or another, implemented assimilationist and discriminatory policies against their indigenous populations, which has created numerous socio-political and cultural problems.
In Russia, as a result of a more peaceful policy of rapprochement with indigenous peoples, governance mechanisms were gradually formed that took into account the peculiarities of the way of life and economic activity of the indigenous peoples.
© RIA Novosti / Vladimir Vyatkin
A key step in the development of these mechanisms was the adoption in 1822 of the statute “On the Governance of Inorodtsy,” prepared by Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky. This work was one of the first attempts to provide a comprehensive legal justification for the status of Russia’s indigenous peoples.
The document established a special procedure for regulating the lives of various population groups. According to the charter, indigenous peoples could enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as other residents of the Russian Empire:
In addition, the charter provided benefits for representatives of indigenous peoples: exemption from conscription and a number of taxes, freedom of religion, and the ability to create local government bodies in areas of compact settlement.
It is important to note that the document was unique for its time: similar legislation outlining the rights of ethnic groups did not exist in any country in the world at the beginning of the 19th century.
Mechanisms for supporting indigenous peoples in modern Russia
The system for regulating the rights of indigenous peoples in Russia received a new boost in development after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the modern Russian legal system.
The term “indigenous peoples” is officially enshrined in Russian legislation. Furthermore, it specifies that indigenous peoples include ethnic groups of fewer than 50,000 people who preserve the traditional way of life, economic activities, and culture of their ancestors. Currently, 47 ethnic groups in the country have the status of indigenous peoples. The use of quantitative criteria allows the state to focus support measures on the most vulnerable communities.
According to Article 69 of the Constitution, the state guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law, as well as international treaties of the Russian Federation.
© RIA Novosti / Alexander Piragis
Moreover, the modern Russian system for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples includes not only constitutional norms, but also special federal laws and regional support measures.
All of them are aimed at preserving the traditional way of life, supporting cultural identity, protecting languages, and preserving traditional economic activities of the indigenous peoples of Russia.
Thanks to state support, indigenous peoples have the opportunity to preserve their historical way of life and continue to pass on their culture and traditional economic practices to future generations.
Differences between the Russian and international approaches
To date, neither the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples nor ILO Convention No. 169 contain a universal definition of indigenous peoples. Instead, international documents use a set of attributes: historical connection to a territory, cultural distinctiveness, historical continuity, and self-identification.
© RIA Novosti / Ilya Timin
In Russia, unlike the rest of the world, it has been possible to create a clear definition of the concept: legislation establishes a specific category—indigenous peoples—and establishes criteria for determining the range of peoples for whom special support measures have been developed.
It can be concluded that the modern Russian model for regulating the rights of indigenous peoples combines both historically established principles of peoples’ integration and modern standards for protecting cultural identity at the legislative level. This model allows for the preservation of Russia’s cultural diversity.
