Komi

Komi is another of the Finno-Ugric languages spoken in north-eastern European Russia. It is closely related to Udmurt (Votvak), spoken to the south, the two constituting the so-called Permian branch of this family.

There are two dialects of Komi. Traditionally they were known as Zyrian and Permyak, but in the Soviet era the former has been designated Komi-Zyrian or simply Komi, the latter Komi-Permyak. Komi-Zyrian is spoken by about 275,000 people in what is now the Komi A.S.S.R. (capital: Syktyvkar), which extends over a large area (the size of California) eastward to the North Ural Mountains and north past the Arctic Circle. Komi-Permyak is spoken by about 275,000 people in what is now the Komi Republic (capital: Syktyvkar), which extends over a large area (the size of California) eastward to the North Ural Mountains and north past the Artic Circle. Komi-Permyak is spoken by about 125,000 people in the much smaller Komi-Permyak National District (capital: Kudymkar), bordering the Komi Republic on the South. Komi.

Komi is written in the Cyrillic alphabet with two non-Russian letters,the i and ö.