Nani people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (18,000 (est.)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Russia, China | |
 Russia Khabarovsk Krai
|
12,160 |
 China Heilongjiang Province |
5,354 |
| Languages | |
| Nanai, Russian (in Russia), Mandarin Chinese (in China) | |
| Religion | |
| Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism | |
The Nanai people (self-designation нани Nani means 'natives, locals, people of the land/earth'; self-designation Hezhen means 'people of the Orient'; Russian: нанайцы, nanaitsy; Chinese: 赫哲族, Hèzhézú; formerly also known as Golds, Goldes, Goldi and Samagir) are a Tungusic people of the Far East, who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang (Amur), Songhuajiang (Sunggari) and Ussuri rivers on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanais were the Jurchens of northernmost Manchuria.
The Nanai/Hezhe language belongs to the Manchu-Tungusic languages. According to the 2010 census there were 12,003 Nanais in Russia.
Own names are [kilən] ([nanio] and [nabəi]) and [χədʑən] ([nanai]).[na] means 'land, earth, ground, country' or, in this context, 'native, local' and [nio], [bəi], [nai] means 'people' in different dialects.
The Russian linguist L. I. Sem gives the self-name [xədʑən] in the Cyrillic form, хэǯэ най (Hezhe nai) or хэǯэны (Hezheni), and explains it as the self-name of the Nanais of the lower Amur, meaning, "people who live along the lower course of the river". It is the source of the Chinese name for the Nanais, formerly "黑斤" (Heijin), "赫哲哈喇" (Hezhehala), and modern Chinese name "赫哲" (Hezhe).
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