Samoyedic peoples

The name derives from the obsolete term Samoyed used in Russian Empire for some of the Indigenous peoples of Siberia, see Samoyedic languages#Etymology for comments of the etymology.

Nenets Autonomous Okrug Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug Traditionally, Samoyedic languages and peoples have been divided into two major areal groups: Northern Samoyedic (Nenets, Yurats, Enets, Nganasans), and Southern Samoyedic (Selkups) with a further subgroup of Sayan-Samoyedic (Kamasins, Mators) named after the Sayan Mountains.

The largest of the Samoyedic peoples are the Nenets, who mainly live in two autonomous districts of Russia: Yamalo-Nenetsia and Nenetsia.

Some of the Nenets and most of the Enets and Nganasans used to live in the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District.

Most of the Selkups live in Yamalo-Nenetsia, but there is also a significant population in Tomsk Oblast.

Geographical distribution of Samoyedic-speaking peoples in the 17th (hatched area) and 20th (solid color) centuries