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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Soviet Union
Index
Like the Chuvash, the Mordvins were another nationality having
their own autonomous republic along the middle reaches of the Volga
River in the Russian Republic. The Mordvins, like the other two
nationalities, were Finno-Ugric and like the Chuvash had been a
part of the Kazan' Horde prior to their incorporation into the
Russian Empire in the sixteenth century. Soviet authorities
established the Mordvinian Autonomous Oblast in 1930, which in 1934
became the Mordvinian Autonomous Republic.
The Mordvins, who numbered around 1.2 million people in 1989,
were mostly scattered throughout the Russian Republic. Less than a
third lived in the Mordvinian Autonomous Republic. Mordvins, who
made up less than 32 percent of the population, were the second
largest nationality in their autonomous republic, while Russians,
with 61 percent, constituted a majority.
A predominantly agricultural people, the Mordvins speak their
own language, which belongs to the Finno-Ugric group of languages.
Their written language, which came into being under Soviet rule,
uses a Cyrillic alphabet. In 1989 about 67 percent of the
nationality claimed Mordvinian as their native tongue. Mordvin
religious believers were mostly Orthodox Christians.
Data as of May 1989
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