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Ethnologue: Languages of the World
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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Europe > Russian Federation (Europe) > Russian

Russian

A language of Russian Federation (Europe)

ISO 639-3: rus

Population  116,000,000 in Russian Federation (2002 census). Population total all countries: 143,553,950.
Region  Also in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan.
Language maps  European Russia
European Russia, reference number 26
Alternate names   Russki
Dialects  North Russian, South Russian.
Classification  Indo-European, Slavic, East
Language use  National language. 110,000,000 L2 speakers.
Language development  Fully developed. Bible: 1680–1993.
Writing system  Cyrillic script.
Comments  SVO; prepositions; genitives after noun heads; articles, adjectives, numerals before noun heads; question word initial; 1 prefix on a word; recursive addition of suffixes allowed; nontonal. Christian.

Also spoken in:

China

Language name   Russian
Population  2,940 in China (Shearer and Sun 2002). Ethnic population: 15,609 (2000 census).
Region  North Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi, Karamay (Kelamayi), Changji, Tacheng cities; Yili Prefecture (esp. Yi’ning City); Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, E’erguna Enhe Russian Autonomous District (Hulunbeier banner); Heilongjiang Province, Heihe City.
Language map  China
Alternate names  Eluosi, Olossu, Russ, Russki
Language use  Most in China have an indifferent attitude toward Russian. Also use Mandarin Chinese [cmn] or Uyghur [uig].
Language development  Literacy rate in L2: 94%.
Comments  Classified as Russian nationality. Agriculturalists; animal husbandry; beekeepers; repair shops; craftsmen; transport services. Christian, secular.
 

Israel

Language name   Russian
Population  750,000 in Israel (1999 H. Mutzafi).
Alternate names  Russit, Russki
Language use  Also use Hebrew [heb].
Comments  Jewish.
 

Kazakhstan

Language name   Russian
Population  6,230,000 in Kazakhstan.
Language map  Kazakhstan
Language use  Official language.
 

Kyrgyzstan

Language name   Russian
Population  1,410,000 in Kyrgyzstan (1996).
Language map  Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
Language use  Official language.
Comments  Christian.
 

Mongolia

Language name   Russian
Population  4,000 in Mongolia (Johnstone 1993).
Alternate names  Russki
Comments  Russian permanent residents are ‘Mectny Oros’. Widely taught in schools and for higher education. Atheist.
 

United States

Language name   Russian
Population  706,000 in United States (2000 census).
Alternate names  Russki
Language use  The Doukhobors and Molokans are conservative religious groups who speak Standard Russian. Some have long-standing residence; others have come more recently.
 

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

WATT, Milton L., author. 2008. Review of: Le Ton Beau de Marot: in praise of the music of language, by Douglas R. Hofstadter.  Available online