From an ethnographic standpoint, the Tungus peoples are made up
of a series of ethnic groups today dispersed over a vast
territory covering all of Siberia, northern China and Mongolia,
which speak languages from the Tungusic branch of the Altaic
language family.Author(s): R. Hamayon, A. Lavrillier In Siberia
the Tungus population is comprised of small groups strung from
the Yenissei River to the Okhotsk Sea and from Lake Baikal to
the Arctic Ocean (c. 73,616 persons in all). These small groups
are located in hard-to-reach areas with few exploitable
resources outside of hunting (forests), fishing (the Amur
Valley) and husbandry (everywhere). The Tungus as a whole number
44,200 individuals in China and 1,000 in Mongolia, which,
counting those living in Siberia, brings the total number to
118,816. The Tungus of Siberia are divided into two groups: 1.
The Amur Tungus (including Sakhalin Island). These are the Nanai
(formerly called Golds) (12,023), the Ulch (formerly Mangun)
(3,173), the Orok (also Ultía) (400) a