Minorities in Russia losing languages but retaining identities

07.06.08

Data showing that many smaller Finno-Ugric nationalities in Karelia are losing their national languages in fact highlight something else: members of these groups are retaining their identities even after they lose their language, an indication of both the strengthening of such identifications and the weakening of the assimilatory power of the Russian nation (karelinform.ru//?id=10927). 

Source: Window on Eurasia