Negidals (; Negidal: ''элькан бэйэнин'', ''elkan bayenin'', "local people")The Negidals - The Red Book of the Peoples of Russian Empire
/ref> are a people in the Khabarovsk Krai in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, who live along the

Amgun River The Amgun () is a river in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia that flows northeast and joins the river Amur from the left, 146 km upstream from its outflow into sea. The length of the river is . The area of its basin is . The Amgun is formed by the c ...

and Amur River. The ethnonym "Negidal" is a Russification of the Ewenki term ''ngegida'', which means "coastal people".

Language

The Negidal language belongs to the Tungusic language family and is closely related to the

Evenk language Evenki (Ewenkī), formerly known as Tungus or Solon, is the largest member of the northern group of Tungusic languages, a group which also includes Even, Negidal, and the more closely related Oroqen language. The name is sometimes wrongly given ...

Origin

The Negidals are

Evenks The Evenks (also spelled Ewenki or Evenki based on their endonym )Autonym: (); russian: Эвенки (); (); formerly known as Tungus or Tunguz; mn, Хамниган () or Aiwenji () are a Tungusic people of North Asia. In Russia, the Eve ...

by origin, who settled along the Amgun and interbred with the

Nivkhs The Nivkh, or Gilyak (also Nivkhs or Nivkhi, or Gilyaks; ethnonym: Нивхгу, ''Nʼivxgu'' (Amur) or Ниғвңгун, ''Nʼiɣvŋgun'' (E. Sakhalin) "the people"), are an indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the northern half of Sakhalin Islan ...

, Nanais and

Ulchs The Ulch people, also known as Ulch or Ulchi, (russian: ульчи, obsolete ольчи; Ulch: , nani) are an indigenous people of the Russian Far East, who speak a Tungusic language known as Ulch. Over 90% of Ulchis live in Ulchsky District ...

Religion

They are officially considered

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...

s but preserved their own

animistic Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, ...

beliefs and shamanism.

Population

According to the 2002

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, there were 567 Negidals in

, 147 of which still spoke the Negidal language. According to the 2010 census, there were 513 Negidals in Russia, 75 of which still spoke the Negidal language.2010 census in Russia
/ref> 52 Negidals live in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Of these, 31 declared Negidal as their native language, 11 are Russian-speaking and for 9 the mother tongue is another language.

References

{{Authority control Ethnic groups in Russia Tungusic peoples Khabarovsk Krai Indigenous peoples of North Asia Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East