Udmurts
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (637,000 (2002)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Udmurtia | |
 Russia
|
552,299 (2010) |
 Ukraine
|
4,712 (2001) |
 Estonia
|
193 (2011) |
| Languages | |
| Udmurt, Russian | |
| Religion | |
|
Orthodox Christianity (Russian Orthodox Church) and Udmurt Vos Minorities: Protestant, Pentecostal,Islam |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Uralic peoples (particularly Permic peoples such as the Komi) | |
The Udmurts are a people who speak the Udmurt language. In the course of history, Russian-speakers have referred to them as Chud Otyatskaya (чудь отяцкая), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks (the most-known name). Tatar-speakers call the Udmurts Ar.
There have been claims that they are the "most red-headed" people in the world. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus described the long-extinct Budini tribesmen, possible relatives of the modern Udmurts, as predominantly red-headed.
The name Udmurt probably comes from *odo-mort 'meadow people,' where the first part represents the Permic root *od(o) 'meadow, glade, turf, greenery', and the second part murt means 'person' (cf. Komi mort, Mari mari), an early borrowing from an Iranian language (such as Scythian): *mertä or *martiya 'person, man' (cf. Urdu/Persian mard). This is supported by a document dated 1557, in which the Udmurts are referred to as lugovye lyudi 'meadow people', alongside the traditional Russian name otyaki .
On the other hand, in the Russian tradition, the name 'meadow people' refers to the inhabitants of the left bank of river in general. Recently, the most relevant is the version of V. V. Napolskikh and S. K. Belykh. They suppose that ethnonym was borrowed from the Iranian entirely: *anta-marta 'resident of outskirts, border zone' (cf. Antes) → Proto-Permic *odə-mort → Udmurt udmurt.
Most Udmurt people live in Udmurtia. Small groups live in the neighboring areas of Kirov Oblast and Perm Krai of Russia, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Mari El.
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Wikipedia