The peoples native to the region are the Khanty and the Mansi, known collectively as Ob-Ugric peoples, but today the two groups only constitute 2.5% of the region's population. The local languages, Khanty and Mansi, are part of the Ugric branch of the Finno-Ugric language family, and enjoy a special status in the autonomous okrug. Russian remains the only official language.
The okrug was established on December 10, 1930, as Ostyak-Vogul National Okrug (Остя́ко-Вогу́льский национа́льный о́круг). In October 1940, it was renamed the Khanty-Mansi National Okrug. In 1977, along with other national okrugs of the Russian SFSR, it became an autonomous okrug (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug). In 2003, the word "Yugra" was appended to the official name.[11]
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug has an area of 523,100 km2, but the area is sparsely populated. The administrative center is Khanty-Mansiysk, but the largest cities are Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, and Nefteyugansk.
Settlements
Largest cities or towns in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
The Indigenous population (Khanty, Mansi, Komi, and Nenets) is only 2.8% of the total population in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. The exploitation of natural gas in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug has attracted immigrants from all over the former Soviet Union. The 2021 Census counted 17 ethnic groups of more than five thousand persons each. The ethnic composition is as follows:
1102,138 people were registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group.[17]
According to a 2012 survey[19] 38.1% of the population of Yugra adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 5% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery) or to Khanty-Mansi native faith. Muslims (mostly Tatars) constitute 11% of the population. In addition, 23% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 11% is atheist, and 10.9% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question.[19]
According to recent reports Jehovah's Witnesses have been subjected to torture and detention in Surgut.[21]
Transport
In Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the primary transport of goods is by water and railway transport; 29% is transported by road, and 2% by aviation. The total length of railway tracks is 1,106 km. The length of roads is more than 18,000 km.
^Russian and Mansi: Ханты-Мансийский автономный округ — Югра, Khanty-Mansiyskiy avtonomnyy okrug — Yugra;, Khanty: Хӑнты-Мансийской автономной округ — Югра
^Президент Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе». Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства РФ", No. 20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
^Госстандарт Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред. Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).