Anthropologists have long been arguing about what a Russian person looks like, and whether the nationality has retained ethnic purity. It is assumed that the neighborhood with representatives of other nationalities over the millennia has caused a mixture of nations, the loss of many distinctive features. However, geneticists are convinced that the Russians are one of the purest peoples of Eurasia. It is possible to establish belonging to them by characteristic features.

How to determine nationality: typical features

Russians are considered a homogeneous population according to anthropological data. Slavic roots predominate in the basis of nationality, but there is a share of Finno-Ugric, Baltic and Pontic ethnic groups.

To imagine what a Russian looks like, it is important to know what race he belongs to. Representatives of the nation are typical Caucasians.

Despite allegations about the influence of Tatars, Mongols and other peoples on the Russian ethnos, geneticists have established that mixing did not lead to a pronounced change in appearance, the features remained the same. The solidity of the people, the stability of genes refutes the opinion that Russians are dying out as a nation.

There are practically no traces of the interaction of nationalities among representatives of the modern northwestern, central, and southern regions of Russia. For example, epicanthus, which is typical for people of the Mongoloid race (with Asian facial features), is extremely rare among Russians (in 12 people out of 8.5 thousand examined).

There are 2 types of origin of the nation: northern and southern. The first population according to Y-chromosomal markers (transmitted through men) is outwardly similar to the Balts. According to mitochondrial DNA (female line), identical features can be traced with representatives of Western and Central Europe.

The south-central population, where most Russians belong, form a genetic group with Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles and Poles. Here the unity of the East Slavic peoples is noted, their difference from the neighboring Finno-Ugric, Turkic, North Caucasian nations.

Based on belonging to a race, anthropology determines the types of appearance of Russians:

Each phenotype has characteristic features.

Face and head shape

The description of the appearance of the nationality includes typical Russian features: the head is medium in size and in shape does not differ from the parameters of Europeans.

There is an unexpressed slope of the forehead, a weak superciliary. The face is of moderate width with a medium high nose bridge.

The photo shows the Russian poet Sergei Yesenin.

Uralids may have a flattened face and a moon-like shape, like Asians, mesognathia, the skin has a darker shade than other types of appearance.

However, Mongoloid features are less pronounced than, for example, among the Mari (Finno-Ugric people in Russia). The Baltids have a short head. Pontids are characterized by narrow cheekbones, thin lips, a high forehead and straight eyebrows.

Nose

It is believed that the national trait of Russians is an upturned, snub-nosed “potato” nose. However, according to anthropological data, this form is inherent in only 16% of the population. 75% have straight noses, 9% have concave noses.

The photo shows the director, actor, screenwriter, producer Nikita Mikhalkov.

Representatives of the Arkhangelsk type of appearance are characterized by a wide organ of smell. A snub nose is not typical for an Eastern Slav and a Slav. This form is possible in representatives of the Ryazan type.

The photo shows one of the most famous Russian singers Nikolai Baskov.

Eyes

For the Russian nationality, predominantly light shades of the eyes are characteristic, the epicanthus is absent.

The anthropological portrait of the Nordid includes blue or green eyes, the Uralid and Pontida are brown.

The photo shows Maria Pogrebnyak, the wife of the Russian oligarch, football player Pavel Pogrebnyak.

Hair

For nationality, light pigmentation of hair is a classic ethnic sign. Light brown color is more common, dark chestnut is common, Uralids have a black tint.

The growth rate of hair, eyebrows, beards is average.

The photo shows actress and TV presenter Yulia Mikhalkova.

Features of Russian appearance

The way to recognize a Russian in a stranger is to identify specific external features. According to them, foreigners identify representatives of Slavic appearance.

Researchers are unanimous in their opinion that Russians are distinguished by soft features. A purely national feature was considered rounded cheeks (in Old Slavonic “lanites”), the beauty of which was emphasized by a pronounced blush.

Characterized by the correct oval of the face, white or fair skin.

Women are perceived as beauties, while they are distinguished by a catchy, sometimes pretentious manner of dressing. Slavic men appear to foreigners as muscular fighters with a powerful torso (“oblique fathoms in the shoulders”).

men

In the villages, pure Russian men have long been valued: strong, powerful heroes who can plow the field and defeat enemies. Their hands are golden, they can do everything with them, if they are not lazy. The definition of "sugary" appearance for Russian men is not suitable.

The representatives of the stronger sex are characterized by medium height, stockiness. Among the male characteristics of Russians, broad shoulders and chest, a massive skeleton, and developed muscles are distinguished.

The photo shows the famous actor, film director, TV presenter, producer, boxer Mikhail Porechenkov.

The portrait of an average man is characterized by features of the European type. Mostly brown-haired with light eyes or brown-eyed are common.

The photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, the European population often considers Russian men to be ugly, who are “not quoted” in comparison with other nationalities. Most note their negligence, neglect, along with a manly appearance, there is a “heavy” look and rudeness.

They are often fat, spoiled and look older than their biological age, a kind of ordinary example of a "new Russian" with a gold chain around his neck, surrounded by young vulgar Russian women.

This opinion is explained by the reluctance of Russian men to stay in noble circles and in the field of world public opinion. Therefore, it often develops according to the analysis of the appearance and manners of individual representatives of the nation.

women

Russian representatives of the weaker sex are distinguished by their beauty. They are characterized by a rounded oval face, high cheekbones, noble and thoroughbred features, fair skin, green, blue, gray or brown eyes, light brown or dark brown hair, blondes are often found.

The photo shows model Natalia Vodianova and singer Valeria.

Natalya Vodyanova

The body type of Russian girls is predominantly "pear" or "hourglass", due to the high level of estrogen - the female hormone. Previously, fat girls were in fashion, thin girls were considered painful. Over time, the standards have changed.

The photo shows a TV presenter, model Victoria Lopyreva.

Foreigners note the grooming of women, as well as the frequent stay “out of fashion”. They are characterized by excessive brightness and pretentiousness of outfits (“like painted nesting dolls”). For example, in Italy, “Russian fashionistas” are women who look tasteless and clumsy.

At the same time, the dignity of Slavic girls is to always look “at the parade”, whether it’s going to a restaurant or going to a store.

children

The researchers' impressions of ancient Russian village life included a description of what large families looked like: "more than 10 people." At the same time, it was noted that children with white hair and outwardly similar to the Franks. A healthy blush distinguishes a child from them.

Children are characterized by features, as in adults: softness, light pigmentation of hair, skin, eyes.

Mixed marriages are common in Russia, when the husband or wife is non-Russian.

The photo shows the Russian-Norwegian Union and the duo of tennis stars Anna Kournikova and Latin American singer Enrique Iglesias.

Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias

At the same time, mestizo children are often distinguished by interesting atypical features of appearance. For example, if the guy is Russian and the girl is Caucasian.

In the photo, the girl's father is Russian, mother is Armenian.

The boy's father is Belgian, his mother is Russian.

Russian character and lifestyle

Historical facts

The history of when and where the nation came from includes various theories. Widespread - the Danube, along which the settlement of the Slavs began to form along the lower reaches of the Danube and the Vistula. Further, the nation moved to the Carpathians, and from there in the 7th-8th centuries to the east and northeast to Ilmen Lake.

Since ancient times, the Russian character and way of life have been influenced by the surrounding socio-cultural conditions: wars, internal conflicts, economic and living conditions, the main features of philosophy (morality, religiosity, and others), interaction with neighboring peoples.

The paintings depict village life and aristocratic figures of Russian nobles.

A calm situation is not typical for the nation, which can be traced through its history: opposition to the Tatars and Mongols, wars against the Turks for the freedom of the Slavs, the salvation of Jews from the Holocaust, and more.

The emerging threats to humanity in the person of Mamai, Napoleon, Hitler and other figures, albeit with heavy losses, were successfully suppressed by the Russians. The improvement of the military arsenal of the state from the notch line in antiquity and of nuclear weapons today exposes Russia as a powerful adversary and forces other countries to reckon with its opinion.

Riots and revolutions within the country left their mark on the development of the nation. Russians are characterized by a constant desire for a just society through struggle and opposition to power.

National culture and science are known all over the world, the largest country in terms of area was inhabited by famous artists, writers, architects, ballerinas, scientists, doctors, athletes, musicians, rock performers, icon painters, who created immortal creations.

The originality of Russian architecture and art is presented in domestic and world museums.

The Slavic character can be traced in folk tales and mythology. According to the latter, the Great Race consists of 4 genera: Darians, Harians, Rasenians and Holy Russians.

Books with old fairy tales, stories of grandparents, parents introduce children to history and reveal the way of life that their ancestors had: their names (Marya, Ivan, Vasilisa), a house with a stove and a bathhouse, nature (river, sea, forest, roads) , activities (hunting, farming, fishing), customs (wedding, holidays), traditions.

The picture shows the rite of how the bride is prepared for the wedding.

Modernity

According to Wikipedia, how many Russians are in Russia, the figure is 133 million people. The nation is dispersed throughout the world, especially in the countries of the former USSR. 77.8% of the Russian population lives in Russia (111 million), where the main places of distribution include: the city of Moscow - about 10 million people and its region - 6 million, St. Petersburg - almost 4 million, Krasnodar Territory - 4.5 million, Rostov region - 3.7 million.

Part of the representatives of the nation lives among the Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Polish, Gypsy population. Russian communities are found among Slovenes, Croats, Hungarians, Serbs, Scandinavians (Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Icelanders) and so on. Large diasporas are represented in the USA, Germany, Canada, Brazil.

Russian emigrants among the reasons why they leave the Russian state are called:

• economic;
• desire to get to know another culture;
• receive foreign education;
• seek qualified medical assistance and others.

The official state language of Russia is Russian. The people are considered the most numerous among Europeans. Nationality is correct to write "Russian" (not Russian).

The flag looks like a canvas, with 3 equal horizontal stripes: white blue and red. The national currency is the ruble.

Difference from other nations

The way to understand belonging to a nation involves studying the family way of life. At the same time, many peoples are similar to each other.

Irish women and Irishmen are similar in behavior to Russian women and men. The former is characterized by a dominant role in the family (matriarchy), the latter love to drink. Russians and Irish alike are not averse to taking a break from work and take a wait-and-see attitude in politics.

To determine some nationalities, real manuals have been developed, for example, how to distinguish a Jew from a Slavic-Russian with visual photos and pictures to compare the Semitic appearance with Russians.

Greeks and Russians are brought together by common Orthodox values, a craving for collectivism. Russian culture has acquired a lot from the ancient one. However, the types of appearance that nations have are different.

Lithuanians and Lithuanians and other Balts act as a kindred nationality, having similar genetics.

The Scandinavian peoples are also characterized by common features with the Russians. Speaking the language of the "Germanic" linguistic family, the nation actually borrowed many words from the Slavs. Genetic analyzes also indicate kinship between peoples.

Among the representatives of Russian nationality, you can meet the Dinaric race. Usually this means mixing with Ukrainian blood.

A comparison of the types of appearance of representatives of different nationalities is shown in the photographs.

Many nations do not favor representatives of Russian nationality. There are stereotypes about the latter, incorrect or correct, strict, serious or funny, reflecting the mentality of the people and defining belonging to it.

Famous actors and actresses

A feature of Russian nationality is pride in the country and patriotism. The people are above all cultural values, they do not forget, honor, respect and remember artists: artists, musicians, poets, writers, actors and actresses.

The list of the latest with photos is given below.

• Russian actors are charismatic, extraordinary, courageous. Dmitry Nagiyev, a popular showman, became famous for such qualities. The celebrity acts as an actor in the serial genre and TV presenter.

  

• Sergei Bezrukov is recognized as a talented artist, playing bright roles, often opposite ones - from Jesus to a crime boss.

  

• The young and handsome actor Alexei Vorobyov is rapidly developing his creative career, acting in films, TV shows, shows, recording songs.

  

• One of the most sought-after and talented cinematographers is Oleg Tabakov, who appeared in a variety of roles and images.

  

• Vladimir Mashkov is considered a master of disguise, a popular theater and film actor, director.

  

• Among Russian actresses, Ekaterina Guseva, Honored Artist of Russia and singer, stands out with her beauty and talent.

  

• Ekaterina Klimova is considered the owner of acting skills, expressive appearance.

  

• A popular theater, film and television actress is Svetlana Khodchenkova with a zest-mole in the corner of her mouth, whose last name is known from the film “Bless the Woman”. In it, she represents the type of a classic devoted, understanding and patient Russian woman.

  

• Ekaterina Volkova is known for playing in the series "Voronins", participates in theatrical productions.

  

• Honored Artist of Russia, beautiful and talented theater and film actress, charismatic TV presenter is Larisa Guzeeva

  

What is the "Russian type of appearance"? Answering this question is not as easy as it seems. For example, what kind of nose does a Russian person have? There is more than one option here.

The myth of snub-nosed Russians

It is traditionally believed that a typical Russian nose is upturned (snub-nosed) or "potato". In this, in theory, Russians should differ from other Europeans.

Since the 17th century, anthropologists have tried to classify the world's population by racial type, based on the similarity of external features.

Let us recall the Nordic theory, which the ideologists of Nazism liked so much. Its ancestor is considered to be the Russian-French anthropologist Joseph Deniker, who claimed that the representatives of the "Nordic race" are characterized by blond hair, blue and green eyes, a straight nose, an oblong skull and pink skin.

According to him, this "race" is distributed throughout Northern Europe, northwestern Russia and the western part of the Baltic states. In turn, the Swedish anatomist Christian Schreiner wrote that this Caucasoid type is most common in the central part of Scandinavia.

The sub-Nordic race, according to Deniker, is distinguished by a square face and an upturned nose. It includes the peoples of the east of the Baltic and northern Germany. Finally, the Oriental race is characterized by light golden or straw-yellow hair, a square face, blue or gray eyes, and an upturned nose. It includes mainly Eastern Slavs and Finns.

So, in the descriptions of the "Nordic sub-race" the straight form of the nose appears. Whereas for the Eastern European peoples, including Russians, “snub-nosedness” seems to be characteristic.

Meanwhile, the Soviet anthropologist V.V. Bunak in his book "The Origin and Ethnic History of the Russian People", summing up the results of many years of scientific research, writes that in 75% of cases Russians have straight noses, while throughout Europe this number is no more than 70%. Only 16% of Russians have a convex nose and only 10% have a concave one.

Snub noses are generally not typical of the Eastern Slavs. An upturned nose is noted only in 7% of Russians. There are much more snub-nosed individuals among the Germans - more than 25%.

Moreover, the Russians are one of the most “pure European” peoples. This was proved by joint research by Russian, British and Estonian geneticists, the results of which were published in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

The experts came to the conclusion that the Russian ethnos, from the point of view of genetics, consists of two parts. The first is the indigenous population of South and Central Russia, which reveals a genetic relationship with other Slavic peoples.

The second is the population of the North, which reveals kinship with the Finno-Ugric peoples. But the connection with the Mongoloids is practically not visible. That is, we are pure Europeans.

Anthropological types of Russian appearance

In addition, there is no single concept of "Russian anthropological type". Natives of different localities, even those with Russian roots, have a slightly different appearance.

So, anthropologists distinguish several types of Russian appearance. For example, representatives of the western Upper Volga or Klyazma type have straight noses, while representatives of the Arkhangelsk type have wide ones. Representatives of the so-called Ryazan type have straight or snub-nosed small noses. In representatives of the eastern Upper Volga type, a concave nasal bridge is less common than in others.

Percentage

According to the RAE data for 1955-1959, in 63.1% of cases, Russians have a medium-wide nose, in 8.7% - a concave back of the nose, in 16.3% - a convex one, and in 75% - a straight one. Raised base and raised tip of the nose occur in 27.9% and 27.1% of cases, respectively.

Measurements of the shape of the nose, as reported by Professor I.P. Pantyukhov, summarizing the results of anthropological studies, showed that Russians living in the Volga basin have larger noses than those in the west and south of Russia. Among the residents of the Vladimir region, 92% have straight noses, 5% have humpbacked ones, and 3% have upturned ones. In the central regions of Russia, a straight nose is less common. There, more often come across noses of large size, pear-shaped, and also of great length - up to 55-56 mm.

Who can be called a truly Russian person? Is there a "standard of a Russian person"? This issue was recently discussed at the Russian Thought seminar at the Russian Christian Academy for the Humanities. The report was made by Ph.D. Associate Professor Alexei Alekseevich Gosudarev.

Once European ambassadors asked the Russian emperor what a Russian person is. The emperor pointed to the Bashkirs, Kalmyks, Tatars. "Where are the Russians?" they asked him. “And all together they are Russians,” the emperor replied.

According to the encyclopedia, "Russians are an East Slavic people united by a common history, culture, language and ethnic origin."
The number of Russians in the world is currently 150 million people. As of January 1, 2011, out of 141 million people in Russia, about 80% are Russians.

Today, Russians cannot be defined as a nation. There are only Russians - who live within the borders of Russia, know and reproduce the language, culture, history and traditions of this state.

Russians are the only ones who define their nationality precisely by nation, and not by country of residence, region, etc. Russians are Russians everywhere, while many nations have an internal division into "subspecies" (for example, Germans / Prussians, Italians / Sicilians).

You can remain Russian and be a German, and an American, and even an African. Because "Russian" is an adjective (like the word "good"). This means that the Bashkirs, and the Tatars, and the Kalmyks, and the Chukchi - all these are good Russian people!

The adjective always goes together with the noun. Therefore, there is a Russian pagan, a Russian Orthodox, a Russian worker, a Russian programmer, a Russian artist, a Russian traveler, a Russian German, a Russian American…

The Old Russian adjective russk(-yi) is formed from the root rus- with the help of the suffix -ьsk-, which forms derivatives of locality names. Rus (s) s, Russians, Russians, Great Russians.

Even in the Arabic and Greek sources of the 9th century, there is a short form Rus / Ross. Under the influence of the Greek language in the 16th-17th centuries, the book form of rossy (the adjective rosskiy) appeared in Russian. In the 18th century, the word rossy gets finalized in the "Russified" form Russians (other rare variants: Russians, Russians, and the adjective Russian). However, this word did not designate residents or subjects of the Russian Empire, but marked precisely the ethnic belonging to the Russian people.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries, a new collective ethnonym Russians was introduced, which denoted all three East Slavic peoples at once. Rus - was also the name of the state of the Eastern Slavs.

Since the middle of the 19th century, the distinction between a Russian as belonging to the state, and Russian (a person, language) as belonging to a people has been developed. Also in the XVII-XIX centuries, a theory was formed about the division of the Russian people into three branches: Great Russians (Great Russians), Little Russians, Belarusians. Since the 1920s Russians began to designate only Great Russians.

According to G. Vernadsky, the term "Rus" is borrowed from the Alanian language of the 8th century, where "ruhs" means "bright".

In most world languages, the root Rus- is used. (Rus, Rusyn, Rusak, Russian). Therefore, it would be more correct to call the country Russia, which is what foreigners do.

A Western citizen has a stereotype that a Russian is either a drunkard or a bandit. Gogol is known for describing Russians in the poem "Dead Souls". In Chekhov's portrayal, the Russian intellectual is a frustrating loser. Dostoevsky said: Russian people are wide, I would narrow it down.

Russians tend to be bipolar. We are constantly thrown from one extreme to another. Because, probably, we don’t have an intermediate “purgatory” either: either straight to heaven or hell.

The fact that I am Russian does not mean that I am somehow better or worse than representatives of other nationalities.
All disputes about national self-identification are in fact a veiled "divide and conquer" strategy.

Nation-states invented elites for the purpose of unhindered exploitation of the population living in it. It was they who staged wars to protect their interests. Elites fought, but people died! The number of civil wars prevails over the number of interstate wars. Moreover, the vast majority of them were conducted on an interethnic and religious basis.

Europe is gradually abandoning politically correct multiculturalism. The dissolution of representatives of other nations and cultures in the dominant culture of the so-called "titular nation" is already being promoted.

I am not against patriotism. Although there is an opinion that patriotism is a refuge for scoundrels.
Patriotism is love for one's own. Chauvinism is hatred of strangers. Nationalism is national egoism. Fascism is superiority over all.
Under the banner of the idea of ​​"national (racial) superiority" other peoples were destroyed.
The nationalist slogan "Germany above all" led to the outbreak of World War II.

For all the temptation of the slogan "Russia for Russians" in fact, this is absurd, because how to define what a "Russian person" is. Maybe the structure of the skull?

The following features that distinguish Russians from Western European populations can be noted: lighter pigmentation; the proportion of light and medium shades of hair and eyes is increased, the proportion of dark ones is reduced; reduced growth of eyebrows and beards; moderate width of the face; the predominance of an average horizontal profile and a medium-high nose bridge; less slope of the forehead and weaker development of the brow.

IN MY OPINION, nationality, in a metaphysical sense, is a passing thing. At the Last Judgment there will be neither a Greek nor a Jew.
If ethnic groups are a reality, then nation-states are an invention of the ruling elites for the exploitation of the peoples living in a given territory.
Until recently, we were offered to philosophize about the "Soviet people", now about the "Russian people".

A Russian is someone who has Russian citizenship. And a “Russian” is someone who identifies with Russian culture and lives according to the traditions of Russian culture.

If the Western citizen strives for personal happiness, then the Russian strives for universal happiness.
Western people are "every man for himself." And in Russia, we have long understood that it is POSSIBLE TO SAVE ONLY TOGETHER! – this is the essence of the “Russian Idea”.

It is necessary to argue not from the standpoint of the interests of one nation, but from the universal positions.
Not a single power has yet been able to fulfill its plans for world domination, but it itself collapsed from the impossibility of this mission.
Any claim to world domination, no matter how good progressive goals it is justified, always inevitably led to wars.

Political scientist D. Held speaks about the trend of the withering away of the nation-state in the global world. National sovereignty becomes an obstacle in the way of transnational corporations that divide the world and actually control the world; and national governments are like the fifth wheel in a cart for them.

Along with globalization, glocalization arises as a compromise strategy that offers the creation of new industries in the regions and adjustment to the needs of buyers and consumer tastes.

There is a desire of small nations for self-preservation through the creation of national states. In large multinational states and megacities, large diasporas arise, seeking to protect their traditions, language and culture from the dominance of the culture of the titular nation.

For some reason, ethnic groups do not want to dissolve in the global cultural "mess", to lose their own identity. A person wants to be a part of universal humanity, belonging to a special community and at the same time retaining his originality, individuality.

Galina Starovoitova (a well-known politician and sociologist, whom I personally knew from my work at Leningrad University), compared the creation of a single community of “Soviet people” and “American people” with the process of cooking soup, when in the end you still get vinaigrette. That is, complete dissolution into a single community does not work - each nation seeks to preserve its uniqueness.

Isn't the desire of nations for isolation and self-preservation a confirmation of Boris Porshnev's hypothesis about the reasons for the settlement of people around the planet due to intolerance for the psyche of someone else's suggestion (as a reaction to suggestion, counter-suggestion arises)?

A year ago, I participated in the II Cultural Congress "Cultural diversity: from the past to the future." I, like many others, are concerned about the problem of the RUSSIAN WORLD. Of course, this concept is not so much territorial as ethno-cultural.
Russian and Russian concepts are close, but not synonymous. Russian may not be Russian. And not a Russian can be Russian in spirit, in mentality.
If every seventh inhabitant of the planet lived on the territory of the Russian Empire, now every fiftieth lives in Russia!
Russian is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world. 300 million consider him native.

If we recall the words of Martin Heidegger that “language is the house of being”, then it is no coincidence that only Russian is an adjective, while other nations are a noun.

After the column "nationality" disappeared in the passport, the question arose of how to determine one's nationality. After all, you can specify anything in the census. For example, that mom is Russian, and dad is ... a lawyer.
Now there is no nationality column in the passport, but only citizenship is indicated. So now I am not Russian, I am a Russian, that is, I live in Russia.

Sometimes they tell me that I look like a Tatar, others ask if I'm Jewish. Does it really matter if I'm Russian, Tatar or Jew. If we believe that Peter the Great's arap was from the royal Ethiopian family, descended from the Queen of Sheba, who lived with Tsar Solomon, then perhaps Pushkin was a Jew.

Man is a programmable being. In what culture he grows up, he will call himself that, regardless of skin color. Therefore, a Russian born Russian can become an American, and an American can be Russian.

In theory, to determine citizenship, there is a "principle of land" (according to the place of birth) and a "principle of blood" (according to the citizenship of parents). When the father is Russian, the mother is Jewish, was born in St. Petersburg, studied in London, worked in France, Portugal, Spain, Israel; has dual citizenship (Israeli and Russian); loves Russian literature, considers himself a believer, but does not adhere to any particular religion - what is his nationality with all this?

Some say: where your home is, there is your homeland. Others say: where it is good, there is the homeland.
If I move to live in America, will I become an American or remain Russian? Or maybe I'll become a Russian American? Probably, this is not just a change of nationality, but a change in attitude.

Many emigrants of the "first wave" did not take root in the West, did not lose their Russianness, did not change their attitude. And how do you change it? This is not clothes, not a passport, not a house - this is a state of mind! Vladimir Nabokov remained a Russian writer. Joseph Brodsky, when asked who he feels himself to be, replied that he was a Russian poet, an English-speaking essayist and a citizen of the United States.

The more I travel, the more I feel like a citizen of the world. In Russia they take me for an Orthodox, in Egypt for a Muslim, in Finland for a Protestant. But does it really matter who I am? Much more important is who I am.
I am a Russian citizen of the World!

Anyone who says that life is bad in Russia has traveled little. Even the blind cannot help but feel a clear change for the better in our daily lives. When I return from the store, I always remember the end of Soviet times with the card system and fights in line for vodka.

It's not about whether your homeland is good or bad, what matters is that it's YOURS!
I love my Russia regardless of the change of political regimes.
Scolding your country is like scolding your wife and thus yourself.

Following Chaadaev, I could repeat: “I prefer to scourge my homeland, I prefer to upset her, I prefer to humiliate her, if only I don’t deceive her!”

Marina Tsvetaeva wrote: “Motherland is not a convention of territory, but the immutability of memory and blood.”
“Russian is not a nationality, it is a worldview! We have the soul of a child! Compared to other nations, we seem to be stuck in childhood. It is difficult to understand us, how difficult it is for an adult to return to childhood. And do not look in Russia for what is in the West. Russia will never be a country of comfort - neither material nor spiritual. It was, is and will be the country of the Spirit, the place of his incessant fight for the hearts of people; and therefore its path is different from other countries. We have our own history and culture, and therefore our own path. Perhaps the fate of Russia is to suffer for all of humanity, freeing the peoples from the dominance of evil on earth. To live in Russia means to be responsible for the fate of the world. Each nation has its own path and its own destiny. Russia has been and will be a country of free spirit. This is the place where fate is known. Therefore, one can only believe in Russia.”
(from my novel "Alien Strange Incomprehensible Extraordinary Stranger" on the site New Russian Literature

And how do you define a Russian person?

© Nikolay Kofyrin - New Russian Literature - http://www.nikolaykofyrin.ru

Immediately it is worth mentioning that there is no and cannot be any obligatory, template “portrait” of a Russian beauty. After all, Russian was formed over many centuries and under different conditions. For example, people inhabiting the north of Russia (Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, Pskov regions) are genetically and anthropologically very close to the peoples of Northern Europe. Therefore, girls of the northern Russian type, as a rule, are fair-haired. Among them there are many not only owners of light blond hair, but also blondes. The eye color of most of them is gray or light green. Noses are usually slightly upturned (snub-nosed).

The behavior of the northern Russians is characterized by calmness and unhurriedness. They are not prone to a violent manifestation of emotions, they may seem phlegmatic. This is exactly how the “average” North Russian girl behaves.

Of course, there are exceptions to this general rule.

Residents of the central part of Russia, and especially the southern part, are much more like representatives of other Slavic peoples - Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, etc. Among them are many girls with dark blond hair, as well as brunettes. Eye color can be anything: gray, dark green, brown. Therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish such a Russian girl from, for example, only by her face. Here it is necessary to consider other signs, and not just appearance.

How to distinguish a Russian girl from a Ukrainian woman by behavior

In most cases, the girl behaves more calmly, more restrained than the Ukrainian. Most Ukrainian women are very emotional, direct in communication. They talk a lot and loudly, gesticulating vigorously at the same time. Ukrainian women are very sociable, it is a common thing for them - not at all embarrassed, immediately enter into a conversation in anyone, even a complete stranger. Therefore, from the outside, they may even seem too importunate, tactless.

In the Ukrainian language there is even a saying about this: “One woman is a market, and two women are already a fair.”

Russian girls, as a rule, are more restrained and less sociable. Finally, girls prefer to dress less flashy than their Ukrainian friends. They wear less jewelry and use less flashy makeup. However, there are exceptions to any. Among Russian people, there are those who like to be different from others, for example, by dyeing their hair pink or dressing up in bright clothes. That is, in some cases it does not play a special role.

We hear all the time that Russians are not a people united by blood, kindred by blood, but a conglomerate of people united by a common culture and territory. Everyone remembers Putin's catch phrases "There are no pure Russians!" and "scratch every Russian, you will certainly find a Tatar." Say, we are “very different in blood”, “not sprouted from the same root”, but were a melting pot for the Tatar, Caucasian, German, Finnish, Buryat, Mordovian and other peoples who ever ran, entered, strayed on our land, and we accepted them all, let them into the house, took them into relatives. It has become almost an axiom in use by politicians who blur the concept of Russian, and at the same time for everyone it was an entrance ticket to the environment of the Russian people.
This approach, raised to the flag by numerous Russophobic a la "human rights" organizations and Russian Russophobic media outlets, flooded the airwaves. But, sooner or later, Putin and others like him will have to answer for their words of humiliation of the Russian people. The verdict of scientists is merciless:
1) In 2009, a complete “reading” (sequencing) of the genome of a representative of the Russian ethnic group was completed. That is, the sequence of all six billion nucleotides in the genome of the Russian man has been determined. His entire genetic economy is now in full view.
(The human genome consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes: 23 from the mother, 23 from the father. Each chromosome contains one DNA molecule formed by a chain of 50-250 million nucleotides. The genome of the Russian man was sequenced. The Russian genome was deciphered on the basis of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", on the initiative of the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk. According to information received from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Kurchatov Institute spent approximately $ 20 million only on the purchase of equipment for sequencing. Center "Kurchatov Institute" has a recognized scientific status in the world).
It is known that this is the seventh deciphered gene behind the Ural ridge: before that there were Yakuts, Buryats, Chinese, Kazakhs, Old Believers, Khanty. That is, all the prerequisites for the first ethnic map of Russia have been created. But all these were, so to speak, composite genomes: pieces assembled after deciphering the genetic material of different representatives of the same population.
The full genetic portrait of a particular Russian man is only the eighth in the world. Now there is someone to compare the Russians with: with an American, an African, a Korean, a European ...
“We did not find noticeable Tatar introductions in the Russian genome, which refutes theories about the destructive influence of the Mongol yoke,” emphasizes Academician Konstantin Skryabin, head of the genomic direction at the Kurchatov Institute. - Siberians are genetically identical to the Old Believers, they have one Russian genome. There are no differences between the genomes of Russians and Ukrainians - one genome. Our differences with the Poles are scanty.”
Academician Konstantin Skryabin believes that "in 5-6 years a genetic map of all the peoples of the world will be drawn up - this is a decisive step towards understanding the susceptibility of any ethnic group to medicines, diseases and products." Feel what it costs... Americans in the 1990s gave the following estimates: the cost of sequencing one nucleotide is $1; according to other sources - up to 3-5 dollars.
(Sequencing - spelling the genetic code - mitochondrial DNA and human Y-chromosome DNA - is the most advanced DNA analysis method to date. "Climbed off a tree in East Africa. And the Y chromosome is only found in men and therefore is also transmitted to male offspring almost unchanged, while all other chromosomes, when transmitted from father and mother to their children, are shuffled by nature, like a deck of cards before distribution. Thus , unlike indirect signs (appearance, body proportions), sequencing of mitochondrial DNA and DNA of the Y chromosome indisputably and directly indicates the degree of relationship of people).
2) An outstanding anthropologist, researcher of human biological nature, A.P. Bogdanov wrote at the end of the 19th century: “We often use expressions: this is purely Russian beauty, this is the spitting image of a hare, a typical Russian face. One can be convinced that not something fantastic, but real, lies in this general expression Russian physiognomy. In each of us, in the sphere of our “unconscious”, there is a rather definite concept of the Russian type ”(A.P. Bogdanov“ Anthropological Physiognomy ”. M., 1878).

A hundred years have passed, and now the modern anthropologist V. Deryabin, using the latest method of mathematical multidimensional analysis of mixed features, comes to the same conclusion: “The first and most important conclusion is to ascertain the significant unity of Russians throughout Russia and the impossibility to single out even the corresponding regional types, clearly delimited from each other” (“Issues of Anthropology”, Issue 88, 1995). How is this Russian anthropological unity expressed, the unity of hereditary genetic traits, expressed in the appearance of a person, in the structure of his body?

First of all - hair color and eye color, the shape of the structure of the skull. According to these features, we Russians differ both from European peoples and from the Mongoloids. And we cannot be compared with Negroes and Semites at all, the differences are too striking. Academician V.P. Alekseev proved a high degree of similarity in the structure of the skull among all representatives of the modern Russian people, while specifying that the “proto-Slavic type” is very stable and has its roots in the Neolithic, and possibly the Mesolithic. According to the calculations of the anthropologist Deryabin, light eyes (gray, gray-blue, blue and blue) are found in 45% of Russians, in Western Europe only 35% are light-eyed. Dark, black hair in Russians is found in 5%, in the population of foreign Europe - in 45%. The conventional wisdom about the "snub-nosedness" of the Russians is not confirmed either. In 75% of Russians, a straight nose profile is found.

Conclusion of anthropologists:
“Russians in their racial composition are typical Caucasians, who by most anthropological features occupy a central position among the peoples of Europe and are distinguished by somewhat lighter pigmentation of their eyes and hair. It should also recognize the significant unity of the racial type of Russians throughout European Russia.
“A Russian is a European, but a European with physical characteristics peculiar only to him. These signs make up what we call a typical hare.”
Anthropologists seriously scratched the Russian, and - there is no Tatar, that is, a Mongoloid, in the Russians. One of the typical signs of a Mongoloid is epicanthus - a Mongolian fold at the inner corner of the eye. In typical Mongoloids, this fold occurs in 95%, in a study of eight and a half thousand Russians, such a fold was found in only 12 people, and in an embryonic form.

Another example. Russians literally have a special blood - the predominance of the 1st and 2nd groups, which is evidenced by the many years of practice of blood transfusion stations. In Jews, for example, the predominant blood type is the 4th, negative Rh factor is more common. In biochemical blood tests, it turned out that Russians, like all European peoples, are characterized by a special gene PH-c, this gene is practically absent in Mongoloids (O.V. Borisova “Polymorphism of erythrocyte acid phosphatase in various population groups of the Soviet Union.” “Issues of Anthropology” Issue 53, 1976).
It turns out, no matter how you scrape a Russian, you still won’t find a Tatar, you won’t find anyone else in him. This is confirmed by the encyclopedia “Peoples of Russia”, in the chapter “Racial Composition of the Population of Russia” it is noted: “Representatives of the Caucasoid race make up more than 90% of the country's population, and about 9% are representatives of forms mixed between Caucasoids and Mongoloids. The number of pure Mongoloids does not exceed 1 million people "(" Peoples of Russia ". M., 1994).
It is easy to calculate that if there are 84% of Russians in Russia, then all of them are exclusively a people of the European type.

The peoples of Siberia, the Volga region, the Caucasus, the Urals are a mixture of the European and Mongolian races. This was beautifully expressed by the anthropologist A.P. Bogdanov in the 19th century, studying the peoples of Russia, he wrote, refuting from his far, far away the current myth that the Russians poured foreign blood into their people during the era of invasions and colonizations:
“Maybe many Russians married native women and became settled, but most of the primitive Russian colonialists throughout Rus' and Siberia were not like that. It was a trading, industrial people, anxious to arrange themselves according to their own, in accordance with their own ideal of well-being created for themselves. And this ideal of a Russian person is not at all such that it is easy to twist his life with some kind of "trash", as even now a Russian person honors a non-believer quite often. He will conduct business with him, will be affectionate and friendly with him, will enter into friendship with him in everything, except for intermarrying, in order to introduce a foreign element into his family. Ordinary Russian people are still strong for this, and when it comes to the family, to the rooting of their home, here he has a kind of aristocracy. Often settlers of different tribes live in the neighborhood, but marriages between them are rare.
For thousands of years, the Russian physical type has remained stable and unchanged, and has never been a cross between different tribes that inhabited our land from time to time. The myth has been dispelled, we must understand that the call of blood is not an empty phrase, that our national idea of ​​the Russian type is the reality of the Russian breed. We must learn to see this breed, admire it, appreciate it in our close and distant Russian relatives. After all, in fact, we are all from a single root, from one kind - the Russian kind.
3) Anthropologists were able to identify the appearance of a typical Russian person. To do this, they had to translate into a single scale all the photographs from the photo library of the Museum of Anthropology with full-face and profile images of typical representatives of the population of the Russian regions of the country and, combining them in the pupils of the eyes, overlay each other. The final photo portraits turned out, of course, blurry, but they gave an idea of ​​the appearance of the reference Russian people. This was the first truly sensational discovery. Indeed, similar attempts by French scientists led to a result that they had to hide from the citizens of their country: after thousands of combinations with the received photographs of the reference Jacques and Marianne, gray faceless ovals of faces looked. Such a picture, even among the French most distant from anthropology, could cause an unnecessary question: is there a French nation at all?
Unfortunately, anthropologists did not go further than creating photographic portraits of typical representatives of the Russian population in different regions of the country and did not superimpose them on top of each other in order to obtain the appearance of an absolute Russian person. In the end, they were forced to admit that such a photo could get them into trouble at work. By the way, the “regional” sketches of the Russian people were published in the general press only in 2002, and before that they were published in small editions only in scientific publications for specialists. Now you can judge for yourself how similar they are to the typical cinematic Ivanushka and Marya.
Unfortunately, mostly black and white old archival photos of the faces of Russian people do not allow us to convey the height, physique, skin color, hair and eyes of a Russian person. However, anthropologists have created a verbal portrait of Russian men and women. They are of medium build and medium height, light brown-haired with light eyes - gray or blue. By the way, in the course of the research, a verbal portrait of a typical Ukrainian was also obtained. The reference Ukrainian differs from the Russian only in the color of his skin, hair and eyes - he is a swarthy brunette with regular features and brown eyes. The snub nose turned out to be absolutely uncharacteristic of the Eastern Slav (found only in 7% of Russians and Ukrainians), this feature is more typical for Germans (25%).
4) In 2000, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research allocated about half a million rubles from state budget funds for the study of the gene pool of the Russian people. It is impossible to implement a serious program with such funding. But it was rather a landmark than just a financial decision, indicating a change in the country's scientific priorities. For the first time in Russian history, scientists from the Laboratory of Human Population Genetics of the Medical Genetic Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, who received a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, were able to fully focus on studying the gene pool of the Russian people, and not small peoples, for three years. And limited funding only spurred their ingenuity. They supplemented their molecular genetic studies with an analysis of the frequency distribution of Russian surnames in the country. This method was very cheap, but its information content exceeded all expectations: a comparison of the geography of surnames with the geography of genetic DNA markers showed their almost complete coincidence.
Unfortunately, the interpretations of family analysis that appeared in the media after the first publication of the data in a specialized scientific journal could create a false impression of the goals and results of the huge work of scientists. The project manager, Doctor of Sciences Elena Balanovskaya, explained that the main thing was not that the surname Smirnov turned out to be more common among Russian people than Ivanov, but that for the first time a complete list of truly Russian surnames was compiled by regions of the country. First, lists were compiled for five conditional regions - Northern, Central, Central-Western, Central-Eastern and Southern. In total, about 15 thousand Russian surnames were accumulated in all regions, most of which were found only in one of the regions and were absent in others. When regional lists were superimposed on each other, scientists identified a total of 257 so-called "all-Russian surnames". Interestingly, at the final stage of the study, they decided to add the names of residents of the Krasnodar Territory to the list of the Southern Region, expecting that the predominance of Ukrainian surnames of the descendants of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks evicted here by Catherine II would significantly reduce the all-Russian list. But this additional restriction reduced the list of all-Russian surnames by only 7 units - to 250. From which followed the obvious and not for everyone pleasant conclusion that the Kuban is inhabited mainly by Russian people. And where did the Ukrainians go and were there at all Ukrainians is a big question.
For three years, the participants of the Russian Gene Pool project went around with a syringe and a test tube almost the entire European territory of the Russian Federation and made a very representative sample of Russian blood.
However, cheap indirect methods for studying the genetics of the Russian people (by surnames and dermatoglyphics) were only auxiliary for the first study in Russia of the gene pool of the titular nationality. His main molecular genetic results are available in the monograph Russian Gene Pool (Luch ed.). Unfortunately, due to the lack of state funding, scientists had to carry out part of the study jointly with foreign colleagues, who imposed a moratorium on many results until joint publications were published in the scientific press. Nothing prevents us from describing these data in words. So, according to the Y-chromosome, the genetic distance between Russians and Finns is 30 conventional units. And the genetic distance between a Russian person and the so-called Finno-Ugric peoples (Mari, Veps, etc.) living on the territory of the Russian Federation is 2-3 units. Simply put, genetically they are almost identical. The results of the analysis of mitochondrial DNA show that the Russians from the Tatars are at the same genetic distance of 30 conventional units that separate us from the Finns, but between the Ukrainians from Lviv and the Tatars the genetic distance is only 10 units. And at the same time, Ukrainians from the left-bank Ukraine are genetically as close to Russians as Komi-Zyryans, Mordvins and Mari.