A Study on The Current Status and Situation of the Two National Languages in the Republic of Kalmykia in Russian Federation

The Kalmyk ethnic group, indigenous inhabitants of the Republic of Kalmykia, located between the south-easternmost region of the European part of the Russian Federation and the northern region of the North Caucasus, are the only a sub-group of the Mongols and only Buddhists in Europe. The Kalmyks began settling in the space between the Don and Volga Rivers in the 17th century and was annexed by the Russian Empire, and they endured many hardships through various events. The Kalmyks were forcibly deported in 1943 to Siberia, the Ural, and Central Asia on suspicion of collaborating with the German army during World War II, and were not rehabilitated until 1956, allowing them to return home. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, on February 20, 1992, the Kalmyks gained the status of the Republic of Kalmykia and adopted a constitution in 1994. Later, through the Constitution and the Language Law, the Republic granted kalmyk language the status of the Republic’s national language, but Kalmyk language, as the national language only within the Republic, cannot be compared with Russian, the national language of both the Republic and the Russian Federation. Because, for almost all Kalmyks of the multiethnic republic, russian language is not only the de facto only state language, but also the interethnic lingua franca. Although the number and proportion of Kalmyks within the republic still account for more than half, the number and proportion of Russians also remain at a certain level, and following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, the status of Russian has become even more entrenched in schools and under the policy of expanded all-round use, while the kalmyk language is at risk of disappearing. In this study, it was found that although Republic of Kalmykia, as a titular nation(ethnic group), has a large number of capitals and a high proportion, and the government of the Republic has actively promoted policies for the preservation, revival, and development of the Kalmyk language, it has not been successful and is instead facing the risk of extinction due to the Russian Federation’s strengthened policies for establishing the status of the Russian language and expanding its use.