The Nordic people of Saami are celebrating the International Saami Day today. The main celebrations will take place in the surroundings of the Russian Arctic city of Murmansk.
A small Nordic nation of Sami has a total worldwide population of 80,000 people.
Two thousand people live in Russia. The Sami people (also known as the Sámi or the Saami) are a Finno-Ugric people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses large parts of Norway and Sweden, northern parts of Finland, and the Murmansk Oblast (area) of Russia.
Their traditional languages are the Sami languages and are classified as a branch of the Uralic language family.
Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding.
Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently, about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding, providing them with meat, fur, and transportation.
The lifestyle and economy of indigenous peoples of the Russian North are based upon reindeer herding, fishing, terrestrial and sea mammal hunting, and trapping.
Many groups in the Russian Arctic are semi-nomadic, moving seasonally to different hunting and fishing venues.
