Pomors
Encyclopedia
Pomors or Pomory are Russian settlers and their descendants on the White Sea
coast. It is also term of self-identification for the descendants of Russian, primarily Novgorod, settlers of Pomorye (Pomorie, Pomor'e, Russian North), living on the White Sea
coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a watershed which separates the White Sea
river basin from the basins of rivers that flow south.
and Onega
estuaries and founded settlements along the sea coasts of Bjarmaland
. Kholmogory
served as their chief town until the rise of Arkhangelsk
in the late 16th century. From their base at Kola
, they explored the Barents Region
and the Kola peninsula
, Spitsbergen
, and Novaya Zemlya
.
Later the Pomors discovered and maintained the Northern Sea Route
between Arkhangelsk and Siberia
. With their ships (koches
), the Pomors penetrated to the trans-Ural
areas of Northern Siberia, where they founded the settlement of Mangazeya
east of the Yamal Peninsula
in the early 16th century.
Some authors speculate that Pomors settled, supposedly in the early 17th century, the isolated village of Russkoye Ustye
in the delta
of the Indigirka, in north-eastern Yakutia.
The name of the Pomors derives from the Pomorsky (literally, "maritime") coast of the White Sea (between Onega
and Kem), having the root of more ' onMouseout='HidePop("94413")' href="/topics/Indo-European">Indo-European
root). The same root appears in the toponym Pomerania
(Polish: Pomorze, German: Pommern).
The term Pomor which originally, in the 10th-12th centuries, meant "a person who lived near sea", gradually extended into one that referred to the population living relatively far away from the sea. And finally in the 15th century it became disconnected from the sea. The sea was not a major part of economy of this region. However, a territory of practically the whole European Russian North, including Murmansk
region, Arkhangelsk
and Vologda
regions, Karelia
and Komi
republics, started to be called Pomor'e.
The traditional livelihoods of the Pomors based on the sea included animal hunting, whaling
and fishing; in tundra
regions they practiced reindeer
herding. Sea trading
in corn and fish with Northern Norway
became important. This trade was so intensive that a kind of Russian-Norwegian pidgin language Moja på tvoja (or Russenorsk) developed on the North Norwegian coast in 1750–1920.
In the 12-15th centuries Pomor'e formed an extensive colony of the state of Great Novgorod. By the early 16th century the annexation of Pomor'e by Moscow
was completed. In the 17th century, in 22 Pomor'e districts the great bulk of the population consisted of free peasants. A portion of the land belonged to monasteries and to the Stroganov merchants. There were no landlords in Pomor'e. The population of Pomor'e districts was engaged in fishing, mica and salt production (Sol'-Kamskay, Sol'- Vychegodskay, Tot'ma, etc.) and other enterprises.
Eminent Pomors include Mikhail Lomonosov
, Fedot Shubin
(both born near Kholmogory
), Semyon Dezhnev
, and Yerofey Khabarov
(both born in Veliky Ustyug
).
Although some people now identify themselves as "Pomor" or of "Pomor origin", this is a new phenomenon. The Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
, in its 1890-1907 edition, classified Pomors as Great Russians or referred to them as Russian traders and trappers of the North. To date, no encyclopedia or encyclopedic dictionary refers to Pomors as a separate ethnic group.
During the 2002 census
, it was possible for respondents to identify themselves as "Pomors", this group being tabulated by the census as a subgroup of the Russian
ethnicity. However, only 6,571 persons did so, almost all of them in Arkhangelsk Oblast
(6,295) and Murmansk Oblast
(127).
Like most other Great Russians, Pomors are traditionally Orthodox Christians; prior to 1917 a large percentage of Russians from Pomorje (or Pomors) were practicing Old Believers
.
into larger entities, a merger of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts, the Komi Republic
, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug
has been proposed, one of the possible names of this new territory being the Pomor Krai.
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
coast. It is also term of self-identification for the descendants of Russian, primarily Novgorod, settlers of Pomorye (Pomorie, Pomor'e, Russian North), living on the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a watershed which separates the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
river basin from the basins of rivers that flow south.
History
As early as the 12th century, explorers from Novgorod entered the White Sea through the Northern DvinaNorthern Dvina
The Northern Dvina is a river in Northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. Along with the Pechora River to the east, it drains most of Northwest Russia into the Arctic Ocean...
and Onega
Onega River
The Onega is a river in Kargopolsky, Plesetsky, and Onezhsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. The Onega connects Lake Lacha with the Onega Bay in the White Sea southwest of Arkhangelsk, flowing in the northern direction. The discharge at the source is and at the mouth is . The river is ...
estuaries and founded settlements along the sea coasts of Bjarmaland
Bjarmaland
Bjarmaland was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas up to the Viking Age and - beyond - in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually seen to have referred to the southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina River and - presumably - some of the...
. Kholmogory
Kholmogory
Kholmogory is a historic village and the administrative center of Kholmogorsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on the left bank of the Northern Dvina, along the Kholmogory Highway, 75 km southeast of Arkhangelsk and 90 km north of the Antonievo-Siysky Monastery. The name...
served as their chief town until the rise of Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
in the late 16th century. From their base at Kola
Kola (town)
Kola is a town and the administrative center of Kolsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kola and Tuloma Rivers, south of Murmansk and southwest of Severomorsk. It is the oldest town of the Kola Peninsula. Population: 11,060 ; -History:The district of Kolo...
, they explored the Barents Region
Barents Region
The Barents Region is a name given, by political ambition to establish international cooperation after the fall of the Soviet Union, to the land along the coast of the Barents Sea, from Nordland in Norway to the Kola Peninsula in Russia and beyond all the way to the Ural Mountains and Novaya...
and the Kola peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
, Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
, and Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
.
Later the Pomors discovered and maintained the Northern Sea Route
Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route is a shipping lane officially defined by Russian legislation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean specifically running along the Russian Arctic coast from Murmansk on the Barents Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering Strait and Far East. The entire route lies in Arctic...
between Arkhangelsk and Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. With their ships (koches
Koch (boat)
The Koch was a special type of small one or two mast wooden sailing ships designed and used in Russia for transpolar voyages in ice conditions of the Arctic seas, popular among the Pomors....
), the Pomors penetrated to the trans-Ural
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
areas of Northern Siberia, where they founded the settlement of Mangazeya
Mangazeya
Mangazeya was a Northwest Siberian trans-Ural trade colony and later city in the 16-17th centuries. Founded in 1600, it was situated on the Taz River, between the lower courses of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean....
east of the Yamal Peninsula
Yamal Peninsula
The Yamal Peninsula , located in Yamal-Nenets autonomous district of northwest Siberia, Russia, extends roughly 700 km and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea, Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the Gulf of Ob on the east...
in the early 16th century.
Some authors speculate that Pomors settled, supposedly in the early 17th century, the isolated village of Russkoye Ustye
Russkoye Ustye
Russkoye Ustye is a village in Allaikhovsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia. For several decades during the Soviet era, the village was officially called Polyarny ....
in the delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
of the Indigirka, in north-eastern Yakutia.
The name of the Pomors derives from the Pomorsky (literally, "maritime") coast of the White Sea (between Onega
Onega (town)
-External links:...
and Kem), having the root of more ' onMouseout='HidePop("94413")' href="/topics/Indo-European">Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
root). The same root appears in the toponym Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
(Polish: Pomorze, German: Pommern).
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
region, Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
and Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
regions, Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
and Komi
Komi
The name Komi may refer to:*Komi Republic, a republic in Russia**Komi peoples**Komi language, languages of the Komi peoples *Komi, a short name for komidashi, a rule used in the board game Go...
republics, started to be called Pomor'e.
The traditional livelihoods of the Pomors based on the sea included animal hunting, whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
and fishing; in tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
regions they practiced reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
herding. Sea trading
Pomor trade
Pomor trade , is the trade carried out between the Pomors of Northwest Russia and the people along the coast of Northern Norway, as far south as Bodø...
in corn and fish with Northern Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
became important. This trade was so intensive that a kind of Russian-Norwegian pidgin language Moja på tvoja (or Russenorsk) developed on the North Norwegian coast in 1750–1920.
In the 12-15th centuries Pomor'e formed an extensive colony of the state of Great Novgorod. By the early 16th century the annexation of Pomor'e by Moscow
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....
was completed. In the 17th century, in 22 Pomor'e districts the great bulk of the population consisted of free peasants. A portion of the land belonged to monasteries and to the Stroganov merchants. There were no landlords in Pomor'e. The population of Pomor'e districts was engaged in fishing, mica and salt production (Sol'-Kamskay, Sol'- Vychegodskay, Tot'ma, etc.) and other enterprises.
Eminent Pomors include Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art,...
, Fedot Shubin
Fedot Shubin
Fedot Ivanovich Shubin is widely regarded as the greatest sculptor of 18th-century Russia.A peasant's son, Shubin was born in a Pomor village near Kholmogory and, inspired by the example of his neighbour Mikhail Lomonosov, he walked all the way to St Petersburg at the age of 18...
(both born near Kholmogory
Kholmogory
Kholmogory is a historic village and the administrative center of Kholmogorsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on the left bank of the Northern Dvina, along the Kholmogory Highway, 75 km southeast of Arkhangelsk and 90 km north of the Antonievo-Siysky Monastery. The name...
), Semyon Dezhnev
Semyon Dezhnev
Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnyov was a Russian explorer of Siberia and the first European to sail through the Bering Strait. In 1648 he sailed from the Kolyma River on the Arctic Ocean to the Anadyr River on the Pacific...
, and Yerofey Khabarov
Yerofey Khabarov
Yerofey Pavlovich Khabarov or Svyatitsky Erofej Pavlovič Chabarov , was a Russian entrepreneur and adventurer, best known for his exploring the Amur river region and his attempts to colonize the area for Russia...
(both born in Veliky Ustyug
Veliky Ustyug
Veliky Ustyug is a town in the northeast of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . It also serves as the administrative center of Velikoustyugsky District, by which it is completely...
).
Although some people now identify themselves as "Pomor" or of "Pomor origin", this is a new phenomenon. The Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary is, in its scope and style, the Russian counterpart to the Encyclopædia Britannica. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps...
, in its 1890-1907 edition, classified Pomors as Great Russians or referred to them as Russian traders and trappers of the North. To date, no encyclopedia or encyclopedic dictionary refers to Pomors as a separate ethnic group.
During the 2002 census
Russian Census (2002)
Russian Census of 2002 was the first census of the Russian Federation carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics .-Resident population:...
, it was possible for respondents to identify themselves as "Pomors", this group being tabulated by the census as a subgroup of the Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
ethnicity. However, only 6,571 persons did so, almost all of them in Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
(6,295) and Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...
(127).
Like most other Great Russians, Pomors are traditionally Orthodox Christians; prior to 1917 a large percentage of Russians from Pomorje (or Pomors) were practicing Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
.
Present day use of the name
One of the three universities of Arkhangelsk is named the Pomor State University. In line with the current Russian trend towards amalgamating the least populated and/or poorest federal subjectsFederal subjects of Russia
Russia is a federation which, since March 1, 2008, consists of 83 federal subjects . In 1993, when the Constitution was adopted, there were 89 federal subjects listed...
into larger entities, a merger of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts, the Komi Republic
Komi Republic
The Komi Republic is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is situated to the west of the Ural mountains, in the north-east of the East European Plain...
, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Nenets Autonomous Okrug is a federal subject of Russia .It has an area of 176,700 km2 and population of 42,628 as of the preliminary results of the 2010 Census , 21,296 of whom live in Naryan-Mar, the administrative center.-Geography and ecology:The arctic ecology of this...
has been proposed, one of the possible names of this new territory being the Pomor Krai.
The Pomortsy
The Pomors should not be confused with the Pomortsy: members of an Old Believer group which arose in the late 17th century in the northern Russia, and have since been represented by small communities throughout Russia and adjacent countries.See also
- Pomor dialectsPomor dialectsPomor dialects are a group of Northern Russian dialects widespread among the Pomors of the former Arkhangelsk Governorate and northern parts of the Olonets and Vologda Governorates....
- Boris SherginBoris SherginBoris Viktorovich Shergin was a Pomor-Soviet writer and folklorist. He was born on July 28, 1896 in Arkhangelsk and died on October 31, 1973 in Moscow.-Biography:...
- Laughter and Grief by the White SeaLaughter and Grief by the White SeaLaughter and Grief by the White Sea is a 1987 Soviet traditionally-animated feature film directed by Leonid Nosyrev made at the Soyuzmultfilm studio...
, a film celebrating the Pomors' culture. - Pomor tradePomor tradePomor trade , is the trade carried out between the Pomors of Northwest Russia and the people along the coast of Northern Norway, as far south as Bodø...