National and Regional Identity of the Krasnodar Residents: Ethnosociological Study

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2026-3/369-385

Authors

  • Eduard Onufrienko the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

Keywords:

identity, regional identity, Krasnodar Krai, Kuban region, Cossacks, Kuban Cossacks

Abstract

This article examines the national and regional identities of the population of the Krasnodar city. Research methods included a mass survey of the city population (over 400 respondents) and in-depth interviews with city residents and employees of educational and cultural organizations, including Cossack ones. The analysis revealed the persistent dominance of a pan-Russian national identity, with regional and local identities existing alongside it rather than as alternatives. The concept of homeland is multilayered: the "greater" homeland — Russia — coexists with the smaller homelands, which are understood in a variety of ways by members of different groups. Because Krasnodar Krai is a hub of intra-Russian migration, informants who arrived in the regional capital from another region of the country or from another district of Kuban maintain ties to their place of birth or previous place of residence. The desire to establish themselves in a new place leads them to perceive it as a new homeland. The concept of "homeland" also varies among the different generations of Krasnodar residents. Some young people in Krasnodar are first- or second-generation residents, meaning they are the children or grandchildren of people who moved to Kuban from other regions of the country. This leads these young people to perceive Kuban and the regional capital as their homeland. However, for their parents and older relatives, a sense of belonging to the region of their birth remains important. An examination of Krasnodar residents' attitudes towards modern Kuban Cossacks and their role in the region's life also allows us to assess the role of the military community in forming a distinctive, culturally charged regional Kuban identity, which manifests itself in an awareness of the place of modern Cossack culture in regional society and the maintenance of Cossack traditions among the younger generation of Kuban residents.

Author Biography

  • Eduard Onufrienko, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Onufrienko, Eduard A. — Junior Researcher at the Center for the Study of

    Interethnic Relations, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russia Federation). E-mail: audawardiusanafar@gmail.com

    For citation: Onufrienko, E. A. 2026. National and Regional Identity of the Krasnodar Residents: Ethnosociological Study. Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii) 3: 369—385.

    Funding: The study was carried out as a part of the research plan of the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology.

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Published

21.09.2026

Issue

No. 3 (2026): Vestnik antropologii (Herald of Anthropology)

Section

Anthropological Mosaic: Young Scholars' Perspectives