ECOLOGICAL ADAPTATION OF KOMI RESETTLED GROUPS

The Komi [Zyriane or Zyrian] people have inhabited the European Northe ast of Russia since ancient times. Komi groups first appeared in the V ychegda River basin in the first millennium A.D. In the course of the following centuries, they spread into the Pechora River basin. The nor thernmost groups, who adopted reindeer husbandry from the Nentsy, spre ad with their herds as far as the shores of the arctic Ocean. At prese nt, the main body of the Komi, numbering about 300,000, occupies the t erritory of the Komi Autonomous Republic of the former USSR. Their lan guage belongs to the Finno-Ugric linguistic family. However, as a resu lt of migration processes, about 46,000 Komi now reside outside of the ir autonomous territory. Among this number are groups which live in co mpact ethnic enclaves developed in the course of their history. This p aper is focused on these groups. The factors by means of which ecologi cal adaptation is achieved in new territories are examined. The proble m of recreating-in a new environment-the traditional economic system, which functioned as the basis of stability of the traditional cultural -economic complex as a whole, is given special attention.