Evens

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Evens

эвэсэл · эвены
Group of Even (Lamut) women with national costumes. Okhotsk okrug. Beginning of the 20th century.
Total population
c. 22,487 [1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Russia:  Sakha  Chukotka  Magadan Oblast  Kamchatka Krai  Khabarovsk Krai	22,383[1]
Ukraine	104[2]
Languages
Russian, Even, Sakha
Religion
Shamanism, Russian Orthodoxy
Related ethnic groups
Evenks

The Evens /əˈvɛn/ (Even: эвэн; pl. эвэсэл, evesel in Even and эвены, eveny in Russian; formerly called Lamuts) are a people in Siberia and the Russian Far East. They live in regions of the Magadan Oblast and Kamchatka Krai and northern parts of Sakha east of the Lena River, although they are a nomadic people. According to the 2002 census, there were 19,071 Evens in Russia. According to the 2010 census, there were 22,383 Evens in Russia. They speak their own language called Even, one of the Tungusic languages; it is heavily influenced by their lifestyle and reindeer herding. It is also closely related to the language of their neighbors, the Evenks. The Evens are close to the Evenks by their origins and culture, having migrated with them from central China over 10,000 years ago. Officially, they have been considered to be of Orthodox faith since the 19th century, though the Evens have retained some pre-Christian practices, such as shamanism. Traditional Even life is centered upon nomadic pastoralism of domesticated reindeer, supplemented with hunting, fishing and animal-trapping. Outside of Russia, there are 104 Evens in Ukraine, 19 of whom spoke Even. (Ukr. Cen. 2001)