The Corpus of Eastern Sources on the Oirats’ history and the study of Qing multilingual texts is the primary focus of the present article. Focusing on Chinese “Fanglue” and Manchu version of “Bodogon-i bithe”, the author presents to Russian scholars the earlier unknown results of overseas research in Orats studies, comparing multilingual texts of the same source. It is stated that the Manchu text proves to be more complete, whereas the Chinese one contains errors, omissions and deliberate corrections. The Manchu “Zòuzhé” texts are valuable for their being the primary source in multilingual collections, and, since many of them were not included in the “Fanglue” and even forbidden from being translated into Chinese, the valuable information was preserved only in Manchu. “Zòuzhé” is a collection of confidential reports from the local Qing trustees to the Emperor about the facts on the ground. The reports were sent to the Emperor directly, bypassing any intermediate instances. Every day the Emperor received 50-60 “Zòuzhé”. Twice a day reports, reviewed personally by the Emperor, would go to the Great Council (Junjuchu軍機處) to be copied (wai ji 外纪) twice and sent to the archive and a person in charge. The original of the document with the resolution of the Emperor (Zhupi Zòuzhé 硃批奏摺) was sent to the reporter to review and returned them back; the violation of this rule was punishable by death. Written in the Manchu language “Zòuzhé” of that period often listed intelligence reports to the Emperor marked in Chinese “not for translation”. They contained confidential information on the situation along the Qing army’s proposed route, reports about Galdan and Tsewang-Rabdan, etc. “Zòuzhé” texts are now available for studies by Oirats researchers without a need to visit the archives of China or Taiwan for searching and selecting relevant documents. Multi-volume collection of “Zòuzhé” was published in the Chinese language by the National Palace Museum in Taiwan and then by the First Historic Archive in Beijing. Russian researchers are taking their first steps introducing valuable sources in Manchu on the history of Oirats in the scholarly practice of Mongolian studies.

Along with the issues on defining the legal status of the Kalmyk people in the Russian Empire, the Imperial Decrees of the first half of the XIX century were issued to introduce tax obligations. Apart from the fixed tax rate, Kalmyks had to carry a tax burden two or three times higher than they had to pay before. Gathering as an institution of local self-government was authorized to examine and settle matters of social, economic and cultural life of the community and its members. To ensure the satisfaction of the basic needs of the population, within the jurisdiction of the public administration, public administration bodies independently formed, approved and executed the local budget, fulfilling, the financial and economic function of the local government. Local authorities were almost devoid of adequate government support in performing state tasks, both in material and in other respects. Only from the 1890s having freed zemstvo (rural elected assembly) from «mandatory» spending, such as the maintenance of arrest premises, cart and guard services, the government could finally increase the local government spending on cultural needs - the construction and maintenance of schools and hospitals, including the Kalmyk steppe. The integrated study of various budgetary sources containing data on revenues and expenditures allowed to understand the complex issues of the economic development in the Kalmyk steppe. The critical analysis of the sources showed that the primary forms of financial and accounting reports for ulus administration were standard and the budget was scanty. According to the financial documents, among the main reasons for money pressure was a big mandatory spending on providing public services. Despite the limited financial resources, financial and economic relations could guarantee a relative economic independence of the institutions of local government whose budget was closely related to the needs of the population of a given territory and contributed to the development of its activity.

At the end of the XIX century there were different ways of collecting data on the Kalmyk Steppe. Along with annual reports of the Astrakhan Committee of Statistics, there were survey expedition of the Steppe, military-horse census and population census. Military-horse census had been carried out twice a year since 1902. On the whole, there were nine censuses organized from 1875-1912 in pre-revolutionary Russia. In organizational terms, the census was carried out by the warden of the ulus and ulus rulers. Census data included the following information: the name of the uyezd (district), the number of military horse section, the name of the volost (small rural district) and the name of horses roundup. All-Russian Rural Administrative Division was mentioned in the heading of each census table. After 1892 the Administration of the Kalmyk people had undergone the process of reorganization. The analysis of annual reports of the Chief Administration shows that the officials were charged with the collection of a huge amount of information on statistics and accounting. The given summary table, based on the reports of the Chief Administration for 1893-1917 years, demonstrates not only the specifics of its staff, but the scope of its activities in the field of statistical data collection. On the 15^th of September 1918 it was decreed to establish local statistical offices.

This article gives a complex analysis of the special characteristics and main tendencies of ethnopolitical processes in Kabardino-Balkaria in the early 21st century. Current situation in the region is characterized by a long-term ethnopolitical crisis which has switched to latency state. Among the key factors that form the ethnopolitical tension in Kabardino-Balkaria are low level of socio-economic development and the lack of public confidence in state and municipal authorities. During the post-Soviet period the state authorities failed to overcome a range of problems, which include the crisis of economy, subsidized character of the region, mass unemployment, low standard of living, terrorism. The issues of municipal units delimitation have not yet been resolved and the land reform in accordance with the requirements of the Land Code of the Russian Federation has not been implemented. Ethnopolitical processes are substantially influenced by demographic and migration factors. High natural increase rate coupled with insufficient economic growth rates induce excess workforce and migration. A matter of great concern is outmigration of the Russian population, which acts a consolidate basis for interethnic concord. In this context it seems rational to monitor political and socio-economic state of the society. Along with this, current ethnopolitical situation in Kabardino-Balkaria necessitates to concentrate the efforts of the executive authorities and municipal governments on implementing complex and consistent measures aimed at enhancing the economic, social and cultural development of the republic. For this purpose it is necessary to secure the development of the regional labor market, create workplaces as a result of deployment of new production facilities, increase business recruitment needs, raise the pay, and intensify residential development.

The article is devoted to the scientific biography of the talented contemporary scholar, academician Gennady Matishov. The authors pays attention to the profound contributions G. Matishov has made to the major field of his scientific interest in polar oceanography, marine ecology, geomorphology, paleogeography of the ocean, as well as the creation of prediction models of the evolution of Arctic ecosystems and comprehensive study of the fishery resources in the Southern Federal District. Particular attention is given to his socio-political studies of the situation in the South of Russia, aimed at the prevention of conflicts, his works on the history of the Great Patriotic War as well as some projects on military issues, implemented under his leadership. Speaking about Matishov himself, we can note his devotion to science, talent as a science organizer and his role in creating and developing the southern scientific center of the Russian Academy of Sciences during the period of radical changes in the country.

The major part of burial grounds of the Don and Manych basins were erected around the barrows of the Early Bronze Age. Their topography is fully determined by the character of the region’s terrain. The researchers managed to define the relief items, which are more appropriate for the location of burial mounds as well as those, which significantly reduce labor costs for mound construction. Besides, they distinguished four types of topographic position of burial grounds (terraced and cape; floodplain; watershed; slope) and established four types of burial mounds (round, elongated, double and with jumpers). The remains of digging tools with flint bone tips were discovered during the excavations of burial mounds. According to the calculations, made by archeologists, only about 1 million people appeared to have been buried in the barrows (erected from the 5 cent. BC to the 15 century BC) in the Rostov region. Hence, it becomes evident that not all of the population used mounds for the burial. It was also found that, in accordance with modern standards of grazing, cattle breeding form of economy in the Rostov region could theoretically provide livelihoods for nearly 0.5 million people. However, no one knows for certain why the difference between the number of buried people and environmental resources of the steppe was so huge.

The Museum of Kalmyk Traditional Culture named after Zaya-Pandita at the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities of the Russian Academy of Sciences has undergone some changes before being transformed into the museum. In 2001 there was Zaya-Pandita’s memorial study. In this connection in 1999 an exposition devoted to the anniversary of the Kalmyk national system of writing - «todo bichig» was organized. It contained manuscripts in both Tibetan and in «Clear Script», Oirat and Kalmyk settlement maps, as well as Buddhist cult objects and works of art. The purpose of the exposition was to show the activity of Zaya Pandita or Namkhaijamts (1599-1662) as a scholar and a founder of the Kalmyk-Oirat written language. The Museum of Kalmyk Traditional Culture named after Zaya-Pandita as a research unit of the Kalmyk Institute of the RAS has become a part of the academic museums of Russia. As a result of the museum’s conceptual development of the permanent exposition - «Kalmyk traditional culture in the historical context of ethnogenesis» was created which was supported by the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (Grant 02-01-1000 4б) within the framework of the museum project implementation. The study of culture is integrated into the museum, which functions not only as a repository and an educational institution, but also as an ethnocultural research center. Having been reconstructed by museum means, the structured model of the Universe has covered such aspects as the life of the nomads, as well as the time and space of traditional culture. Сoupled with culture, science and education, museum work is becoming an important social project in developing various conceptions. The museum embodies a qualitatively new content of the exposition in order to meet the needs of the visitors who are in search for cultural identity and adaptation in a changing social space of the modern world. The culturological conception of the exposition expresses the evolution of ethnic culture reflected in the art of the 19^th-20^th centuries. Folk art, decorative and applied art, as well as fine arts of Buddhism refer to material and cultural wealth of the Kalmyk ethnos. In accordance with the new exposition, arts and culture are interdependent in their historical development. The symbolic picture of the Universe has been recreated by means of art with the help of a selected collection of objects from the exposition. The evolution of the permanent exhibition of the Museum of the Kalmyk Traditional Culture is outlined by the movement from formal to conceptual artistic image.

The article assesses the data collected by the anthropologists and the geneticists of the N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, and Moscow State University Museum and Research Institute of Anthropology, who performed a complex anthropometric research of a Sart-Kalmak ethnic group during the 2013 expedition. Body measurements of 84 female and 119 male Sart-Kalmak adults, 830 photographic portraits, fill-out recording forms related to racial traits, and 197 blood samples for genetic analyses were obtained for the study. The average anthropometric measurement values do not vary much among the groups studied. This could be due to either the insufficient number of the collected samples, or the fact that there are in fact no significant differences between the Sart-Kalmaks, the Kyrgyz and the mixed-race as to their somatic features and the size of their head and face. Some peculiarities still need to be noted. Male Sart-Kalmak adults are the tallest of all, whereas the Kyrgyz tend to be more corpulent and their body mass index (BMI) is in the overweight range. Females of the mixed origin tend to be the tallest, however having the least weight and the lowest BMI as compared with the other groups. Kyrgyz male adults show more subcutaneous fat deposition, which is not typical for the women. As for the cephalic index it is the highest in both Sart-Kalmak male and female adults. Sart-Kalmaks and mixed-race men tend to have larger zygomatic diameter and a longer face than the Kyrgyz, whereas females have no such features in their face structure. Both the Sart-Kalmak and the mixed-race males show distinctive difference from the Kyrgyz only by the height of the upper lip and the thickness of the lips. Age-related changes of some morphological parameters in Sart-Kalmak men and women show standard dynamics common for many other ethnic groups. The increase in subcutaneous fat deposition with ageing is the main reason for waistline growth, particularly around the abdomen of both men and women. Most women experience an increase in hip circumference, associated with the manifestation of sexual dimorphism. The fact, that women over 50 tend to grow more abdominal fat, is mentioned by many researchers as menopause-related and accompanied by the accumulation of adipose tissue, mainly, in visceral fat depots. The current research presents the preliminary results of the morphological status analysis of the surveyed groups of the Sart-Kalmaks, the Kyrgyz and those of mixed origin. Based on the data obtained in 2014 from the anthropological survey of sub-ethnic groups of the Kalmyks, we will conduct a comparative analysis of their anthropometric indices with those of the Sart-Kalmaks of Kyrgyzstan. The present research highlights the major trends in the current development of this ethnic group.

A proper noun, particularly a personal name, is a part of an individualizing function, and generates such features as “distinctness and concreteness” in speech because it indicates a certain denotation that is closely related to the onym. It means that the extra linguistic factors play an important role in the formation of the proper nouns. These factors are of historical and cultural events, and they highlight components in society’s vital activities that are indicative of any fundamental aspects of either a social or cultural appurtenance. Complex researches of a language, in particular, researches of proper nouns’ system, are reasonable. This necessity probably gave birth to the direction some have taken in the fields of cognitive linguistics. The main components that help form the extralinguistic conditions, the essential sources of formation that are used to create personal name systems like Buryats, Kalmyks, derived from a Mongol cultural aspect are examined in the article. The information is analyzed from the history of Mongolian clans’ contacts with other ethnic groups. Also, some features from the main cultural component extracted from their religious practices were characterized, peculiarly, to reflect the eclecticism during the period of the Middle Ages. Mongols are one of the most ancient people of the world, and their system of thinking can be viewed from their unique history, distinctive culture, peculiar traditions, and customs. Mongols’ military campaigns under the leadership of Chingis-Khan in large areas caused remaining of their proper nouns to stay intact. The proof of it is in such marks as geographical names of Mongolian language origin. In addition, there was foreign vocabulary in Mongolian anthroponymicon. Turkisms and sinologisms became later manchurism attributes. Religious eclecticism: the original religion- Shamanism, Christianity, Islam are reflected on personal names’ system, as well. Later Buddhism’s distribution is also reflected on this system of personal names. So, some original personal names in “The Secret History of the Mongols” have shamanic roots. Scientists have found Christian origin in the name of the fifth son of Jochi-Syban. The main medieval Mongolian tradition of giving names to people still exists in the culture of the modern Mongolian people.

The aim of the article is to lay down punctuation rules on participles and misrelated participles in a Kalmyk sentence when preparing texts of epic songs for compiling “Explanatory dictionary of the Kalmyk heroic epos Dzhangar”. Punctuation of particles and misrelated participles in Kalmyk language like in many other languages is strongly dependent on syntax. However, the meaning in the speech is a crucial moment to be taken into account, when building a sentence and choosing punctuation marks. It should be noted that the rules, laid down by the authors, are relevant only for the language materials of the epos Dzhangar. The main assumption is that it refers to the early historical period of the Oirat literary language, to its origin. For it bears the marks of the literary language due to its literary processing (arranged set of formulas - poetic, oratory, legal, everyday), its supradialectal form, as well as functional and stylistic diversity.

The article is devoted to describing clichés-interpretations of color adjectives in the Kalmyk language. Since the explanatory dictionary is the first of its kind in the history of Kalmyk lexicography, there is no previous experience in making definitions by a group of authors, which is why it is necessary to implement the initial stage with understanding how to develop a system for word defining and show their connections within the language, presenting them in a unified and consistent way. The clichés-formulas obtained will allow providing the fullest and most accurate definitions to head words in ‘The explanatory dictionary of the Kalmyk epic ‘Dzhangar’, as well as create the environment for a more systematic definition process when describing lexical units of one theme group following the same formulas. Definitions of adjectives denoting color are presented in the explanatory dictionary in comparison with an object that is suitable and comprehensible for all Kalmyk speakers: хар - көөһин, нүрснә өңгтә ‘black - soot or coal-colored’; цаһан - цасна, үснә өңгтә ‘white - snow or milk-colored’; улан - цусна өңгтә ‘red - blood-colored’. Secondary colors, which are referred to as composite colors, include light blue, orange, gray, and brown: цеңкр - чилгр теңгрин өңгтә, цәәвр көк ‘light blue - color of a clear sky’; оошк - цәәвр улан ‘pink - light red’; күрң - чииктә һазрин өңгтә ‘brown - color of wet soil’. Besides the key adjectives with one-part structure, the epic also features color entities which consist of two equitable colors or shades (compound color adjectives), which specify their combination: 1) шар өңгин деер олн зүсн өңгтә толв ‘mottled yellow - yellow with multicolored spots’ 2) нег өңгтә биш ‘non-uniform yellow’; 3) сәәхн эрәтә шар өңгтә ‘flamboyant, bright, extravagant yellow’. The epic features words, traditionally found in folklore, which denote a color figuratively, for instance, lexical units with the primary meaning of natural material: алтн - гилвкр шар өңгтә, алтн өңгтә ‘gold -shiny yellow, color of gold’; мөңгн - өңгәрн эс гиҗ гилвкәрн цаһан мөңг дурасн, гилвкр цаһан ‘silver - resembling silver in color or in shine; shiny white’. The presented interpretation formulas for adjectives denoting color provide a basis for improving the practices for adequate interpretation and further development of clichés-interpretations for other groups in the explanatory dictionary of the Kalmyk epic ‘Dzhangar’.

The article deals with the issues of folk lexicon as a system, employing the notion of clusters and cluster analysis for the detection of national and cultural identity of nominal lexicon of the Kalmyk historical songs recorded by A.V. Burdukov. A cluster is represented as a system of interrelated subclusters, which frame an integral character of a certain fragment of worldview expressed in a song. The article is based on the corpus of clustered nominal lexemes identified in the lyrics of the songs, recorded in Kalmykia in 1937 by a renowned mongolist A.V. Burdukov. The manuscript resides in the sound archive of the Institute of Russian Culture (Pushkin’s house) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The data collected has been generalized and classified in keeping with the cluster approach. The paper employs ethnolinguistic approach to folk text studies. Our key objective has been to carry out a lexical analysis of Kalmyk historical texts, recorded in 1930s, and identify the nouns that constitute such clusters as sociofact ‘social and marital status, profession, occupation, sociometric status’, naturfact (natural object), artifact (any material culture object), and mentifact (product of the mind) in their contextual environment, accompanied with their significance evaluation and the proportion of every (sub)cluster in the worldview expressed in the songs. The clusters that prevail in the analyzed song corpus are ‘naturfacts’ (6 subclusters, 36 lexemes) and ‘sociofacts’ (5 subclusters, 67 lexemes). Among other clusters found are ‘artifacts’ (12 lexemes) and ‘mentifacts’ (3 subclusters, 9 lexemes). The results obtained may serve as a basis for further analysis of lexical structure of song lyrics.

Studying phraseological units of the Kalmyk language is a topical objective of contemporary Kalmyk linguistics. The difficulty of studying set-expressions stems from the fact that their meaning is not defined by the meanings of their individual components. Besides, their grammatical meaning, which appear as grammatical archaisms, does not comply with the norms of the modern language. On the other side, they add emphasis to speech, and highlight ethnical features and the uniqueness of a language. Employing the data of the Kalmyk language, the article studies the generalized system of special linguistic aspects of phraseological units in relation to their structure, semantics, and speech function. The author reviews the linguo-stylistic aspects of usage and functioning of the basic phraseological lexicon in the works by Kalmyk authors. From the artistic point of view phraseological units impart strong emotional tone and define the individual features of Kalmyk writers, as well as convey the universals of the Kalmyk people worldview.

The article is devoted to the issue of the ethnic and cultural specifics of the Kalmyk and English proverbs and phraseological units containing ‘an animal component’. The main assumption is that each nation and each linguistic community perceives and reflects the world under the influence of its cultural and national customs, traditions and history, and creates its own worldview. The ethno-cultural character of any community’s worldview is clearly fixed in the language. Moreover, the language preserves the culture of the people and transfers it further to the next generations. The aim of the article is to give a structural description of the Kalmyk and English paremiological units. For this purpose, the ethnic peculiarity of each nation is examined and compared with that of the other one. Paremiological units with the structure of complex sentences present compound, complex and conjunctionless sentences. According to the comparative analysis, the most common type for both languages are paremiological units with the structure of complex sentences. The complex sentence structure with subordinate clauses of condition, time, place, as well as attributive and concessive subordinate clauses are mainly found in the Kalmyk proverbs. Whereas, complex, compound and conjunctionless sentences are often found in the structure of English proverbs. However, most Kalmyk proverbs have the structure of conjunctionless sentence and compound sentences are rarely used.

The article contains a brief biography of F. Khisamitdinova, the prominent Bashkir scientist, who made a great contribution to the development of Bashkir linguistics, particularly, to such scientific courses as historical phonetics, lexicology, lexicography, ethnolinguistics and turkology as a whole.

The article deals with the interpretation of the essence of literature by prominent European and American scientists, who left a rich literary heritage, focusing their research on the concepts of phenomenology and hermeneutics. Phenomenological critique called for a completely immanent, independent reading of the text, the meaning of which, as they believe, is the very embodiment of the author’s mind. Literature is not a lifeless scheme designs and themes, it is a reality, organized and experienced by the subject. Phenomenological critique is interested in the way the author feels the time and space, relations between him and the world, his perception of the material world. Hermeneutics, on the one hand, has borrowed the idea of phenomenology as a whole, but, on the other hand, promotes to understanding the essence of literature as reading, considered virtually technological ideas about the real possibilities of the computer age of the reader. Hermeneutics argues specifics of literary texts that only this true artistic level makes reading really meaningful. At the same time the idea of phenomenology and hermeneutics are similar in what they emphasized the priority of the given act of creativity and event, in which the writer must intuitively express the hidden sequence of spiritual traditions, history. Evaluation of methods of phenomenology and hermeneutics helps penetrate deeper into the specifics of verbal art.

The article contains historical and literary commentary on the line “You don`t prattle in French…” from A. Pushkin’s Address “To a Kalmyk Maiden” (May 15-22, 1829). To comment it a number of draft quatrains are involved, which contrast Kalmyk Maiden portrait description with an epigrammatic generalized portrait of Russian noblewoman with her cardinal trait - halfeuropean halfenlightenment. Addressing to some fragments of the poem “Earl Nulin”, the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin”, to Pushkinian literary criticism, to historical and literary as well as to historical and everyday materials of the era, is necessary to cover a subject matter of the Russian language and national culture, mentioned in the commented line of the address “To a Kalmyk Maiden”.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to rationalize the environmental and economic mechanisms for sustainable land use, to form some organizational and economic tools of rational use of land resources in the natural-economic complex of the Republic as the basis of ecological and economic systems of the arid region. Methods: Such scientific methods as analysis and synthesis, dialectical, abstract and logical, system analysis of the processes of social development have created the methodological basis of the research. Results: The author of the article concludes that it is necessary to prepare and adopt the national strategy for sustainable development of rural areas, taking into account not only universal, but ethnic peculiarities of the Russian rural lifestyle (special, due to the spatial specificity), and the role of the village in social and economic life of the Russian society. Discussion: Since the land resources are one of the major resource components in agriculture, their rational and efficient use is reflected on the whole agrarian society. The effectiveness of the regional system of agricultural land use can not be improved because of limited land resources: low level of natural fertility of arid lands, the constant threat of desertification, loss of productivity of forage lands, low bioclimatic potential, on the one hand, and the lack of the comprehensive environmental remediation of the site with the financing of security and restoration activities for the development of infrastructure in rural areas on the other. All these factors do not allow to increase the efficiency of the regional system of agricultural land use.

Public-private partnership is one of the most promising tools for financing projects, which includes benefits for both the state (improved fiscal, economic and social benefits of infrastructure projects) and the private sector (the guaranteed cash flow for a long time). The choice of financing mechanisms is a key issue of joint investment projects between state and private sector. Another important issue is a financial security in the implementation of public-private partnership projects that pre-determines the level of its investment potential and cost-effectiveness. Since capital investment requires rational, economically profitable placement, it is necessary to find such solutions which would provide proper business profitability of the investment at a reasonable risk allocation and resolve issues within the competence of the state. The equity investment and credit resources of private banks are considered to be the main financing sources of the public-private partnership projects. The state support provides guarantee and direct budget investments in order to encourage investors and develop the market. Combining different funding sources of the project allows the state and municipal authorities to improve fiscal, economic and social effectiveness of the project and attract a large number of potential investors and lenders. The state can vary the proposed financing model for each project, which makes it possible to supervise its attractiveness for both the society and investors. The types and forms of the state and private sector participation in financing the projects on the base of mutual interests for both parties are considered in the article.

Purpose: The employment of the population is one of the major socio-economic indexes characterizing the labour market situation and social and labor sphere of society in general, which influences the quality of life of the population. Therefore, employment of the economically active population is one of the priority directions in the field of social policy of the state including the regional level. Based on the official statistical data of Rosstat for 2005-2012, the article gives the general characteristic of the population employment in the Republic of Kalmykia. Methods: The research involved historical, statistical and systems methods. Results: The general characteristic of the population employment of Kalmykia has been given in the article on the basis of the data of official statistics. Social and demographic indicators like age group, sex, population type (city, rural), education level of the employed and unemployed population, as well as economic aspects of employment such as forms of the ownership, types of economic activity have been analyzed in the research. Discussion: These indicators differ from those of the all-Russian ones. For instance, there is a high proportion of the working population with higher education, and those who are employed in the state and municipal sector of the economy. At the same time, there is a lower proportion of the working population who are a part of the private sector, and a high proportion of those who are self-employed. However, a steady tendency of the interregional labor migration out of the borders of the region remains high.

To give a complete description of society it is necessary to determine the characteristics of the ethnic dispersion structure of a particular territory and to analyze its spatial and demographic changes. In this regard, the article considers the features of the dispersion process of ethnic groups in the Republic of Kalmykia. Based on the analysis of statistical materials, the article examines the ethnic structure of the region, the distribution of ethnic groups in the republic. The ethnic composition of the Republic of Kalmykia, as in other regions of the country is rather complex. According to the Russian Сensus of 2010, the population of the republic is 289,481 people who are representatives of more than 91 nationalities. Analyzing the process of ethnic dispersion in the multinational region one can adequately determine the causes of socio-political and cultural phenomena. It is also important to take into account spatial development of ethnic processes which can, to a greater extent, have a positive influence on the implementation of regional policy.

When studying social adaptation, it is vital to review the factors affecting the process and the strategies of social adaptation. Scientific literature encompasses a large number of approaches to adaptation factor analysis. This article deals with the demographic factors affecting the formation of the directions of social adaptation for the youth of indigenous ethnic minorities of the North who study in urban environment. The article presents analysis of the primary sociological data collected among the youth of indigenous ethnic minorities of the North who study in urban environment in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic in the cities of Yakutsk, Neryungri and Aldan. The empirical data was gathered through the questionnaire survey method by multistage quote (proportional) sampling. The related quote sample selection attributes include gender, age, educational institution type, ethnicity, and year of studies. The following demographic factors are reviewed for the analysis of social adaptation: migrants’ gender, marital and reproductive attitudes of the young respondents. The factors for their demographic adaption (i.e. age, marital and reproductive attitudes) are inherently controversial. On the one side, the youth has undoubtedly high adaptation potential owing to their age. On the other side, the reviewed socio-demographic group lacks any experience of adaptation and interaction with urban environment. The analysis of migrant students revealed gender imbalance, i.e. high migration activity of young women, although the proportion of young male migrants has increased over recent years. The results of the questionnaire survey demonstrated the differences in marital and reproductive attitudes between school students, college (secondary vocational educational institutions) students, and university students.

The article discusses the difference between such notions as non-local / local community (migrant/non-migrant) in terms of N. Luhmann’s communicative systems theory and ‘geophilosophy’ developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. The analysis has been performed with the assistance of the empirical data collected in three cities of Yakutia. It has shown that labor and educational migration rate is higher in Mirny and in Yakutsk, rather than in Lensk. Respondents have been conventionally divided into several groups according to the number of times they changed their place of residence. Thus, there are four groups found: 1) the «traditionally changing their place of residence» migrants (1 move), 2) «active» migrants (2 to 3 times), 3) «intermediate» migrants (4 to 5 times) and 4) «hyperactive» migrants (6 or more times). Besides, they have been asked to express their attitude towards «settling (in a new place)» when completing the questionnaire column titled «native/non-native.»

The article examines the phenomenon of corruption in the Commonwealth of Independent States (Russian Commonwealth or CIS) and focuses on the anti-corruption policies undertaken by this regional international organization, whose major mission is to maintain cooperation between independent states, former republics of the USSR. The article studies the nature of corruption and some possible reasons for its thriving in CIS countries, as well as the major types of bribery and corruption offences, widespread in post-soviet areas: “state capture”, administrative, business, political corruption, etc. The author focuses on the main provisions of anti-corruption laws, issued by the international regional organization, the major goals, the tasks and the competence of the Interstate Council for the Fight against Corruption in CIS countries. CIS countries attach great importance to international cooperation in the field of fighting corruption, enacting the modeling laws “On Fighting Corruption” and “Bases of the legislation on anti-corruption policy” which are aimed at maintaining cooperation within CIS. Further effective cooperation between CIS countries in their fight against corruption needs harmonization of national legislation systems, developing provisions for legislative bases improvements, coordination of competent authorities interactions, providing the enforcement of anti-corruption acts and documents issued by CIS.