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Mokshas
Finnic ethnic group / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Mokshas (also Mokshans, Moksha people; Moksha: Мокшет/Mokšet) comprise a Mordvinian ethnic group belonging to the Volgaic branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples.[6] They live in Russia, mostly near the Volga and Moksha rivers,[7] a tributary of the Oka River.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Outfit_of_the_bride._%D0%A1hest_decorations._Mordvins-moksha%2C_Tambov_province%2C_Temnikov_uezd%2C_end_of_XIX_-_beg.XX_centuries._06.jpg/640px-Outfit_of_the_bride._%D0%A1hest_decorations._Mordvins-moksha%2C_Tambov_province%2C_Temnikov_uezd%2C_end_of_XIX_-_beg.XX_centuries._06.jpg)
![]() | This article needs attention from an expert in Russia. The specific problem is: Information is badly organized and unclear.. (June 2012) |
![]() Zubu Moksha women. Photo by Ivan Dubasov. | |
Total population | |
---|---|
~ 19,869[1][2][3][4] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 11,801[1] |
![]() | ~ 368 (with Erzya)[5] |
![]() | 8,013 (with Erzya)[3] |
![]() | ? |
![]() | < 15 (with Erzya)[4] |
Languages | |
Moksha, Russian, Tatar | |
Religion | |
Russian Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Paganism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
other Volga Finns, particularly Erzya |
Their native language is Mokshan, one of the two surviving members of the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic language family. According to a 1994 Russian census, 49% of the autochthonal Finnic population in Mordovia identified themselves as Mokshas, totaling more than 180,000 people.[8] Most Mokshas belong to the Russian Orthodox Church; other religions practised by Mokshas include Lutheranism[9] and paganism.