Demographics of the Sami population of Kolsky Uyezd in the late XVIII century (based on the statistical report of 1764)

Abstract

The selected topic is at the intersection of such relevant trends of historical science as the history of popular sources, history of demographic processes of the Russian population, and regional history. The appeal to statistical data allows revealing various socioeconomic and demographic indicators, for example: the size and structure of the population, displacement of population, gender and age composition, matrimonial relations, as well as the regional peculiarities of demographic development. The subject of this research is the demographics of the Sami people of Kolksy Uyezd in the late XVIII century. The object of this research is the statistical report of 1764 compiled by order of the governor of Arkhangelsk E. A. Golovtsyn. The history of the Russian North overall and Kolsky Uyezd in particular is studied nonuniformily. The novelty of this article lies in the fact that in the Russian historiography there are no special research dedicated to the demographics of Kolsky Uyezd of that period. The statistical report of 1764 was introduced into the scientific discourse by S. A. Nikonov a short while ago. By giving a more detailed perspective on the subject matter, it draws interest in comparison with other sources used for studying the historical demographics of the region. The following conclusions were made: the main social institutions of the Sami people in the late XVIII century were “pogost” and “vezha”; vezha represented a collective that consisted of four or more families that usually were not blood-related; unlike other sources, statistical report of 1764 has records on the growing male population of the Sami population of Kolsky Uyezd; lineal consanguinity was a prevalent type of family, which included two generations.