Abstract: This article presents the results of studying Russian population of Barguzin Baikal region, examines its establishment, and evolution of relationships within the local groups in the early XX century. The role of sociopolitical changes in formation of the indigenous ethnic communities is demonstrated. The research leans on the archival and literary sources, and field materials of the author. The historical-geographical approach allows identifying the peculiarities of formation of population structure and ancestry within the Russian local communities of Barguzin Baikal region, confined to agricultural and farming areas. Research methodology considers the specificities of communication inside the local group, and presents the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of population. The author determines the factors of formation of ethnic groups, as well as socio-cultural development of the territory. The article also explores the role of migrations, natural conditions, and economic specificity of the new population settlements, successiveness, geographical and social mobility of the Russian population, demographic development in the localities of Barguzin Baikal region, reflected in the archival sources.

Abstract: This article is dedicated to analysis of the names of gol dmines of Barguzinsky District in the late XIX – early XX centuries. Based on the archival records of Barguzinsky District, the author examines over three hundred names, considering their location, area, owner information and registration date for the plot. The study of the names of gold mines of Barguzinsky District is conducted in the context of typological tradition of cultural geography. The author carries out the classification of names, determines the differentiating factors of nomination of sociocultural space in private gold mining; examines the interrelation between the subject of gold mining through the prism of the names of mines. The characteristic features of naming the mines in the context of cultural landscape are demonstrated. The growth of mining sites alongside the expansion of types of their nomenclature is noted. The analysis of the names of mining sited underlines the importance of gold mining with regards to strengthening increasing the size of the Barguzin Jewish community, as well as the growing role of gold industry in life sustenance of the Jewish and Russian peasants. The increase of their number reflects the expansion of gold mining areas and is directly related to migration process of the late XIX century. The repletion of name indicates massive increase in the number of the owners of gold mines and their role in the formation of toponymy. The system of creation of new names borrowed the native toponymies of the region to a lesser extent. Majority of them emerged as a result of reinterpretation of the name by a native speaker.

Abstract: This article provides the results of filed research of ethno-economic relations between the local communities of Barguzinsky Districts and Chinese migrants in the early XX century. The study focuses on the integration of Chinese community, sociocultural practices of its interaction with the local population. It is based on the secondary sources, qualitative data, fragments of personal memory, as well statistical indexes of the rural household register from the district archive. Spatial localization of the majority of Chinese migrants is associated with the northeastern part of the territory of research. The author determines the ethno-territorial areal of the community of local level, as well as the factors substantiating its boundaries. The role of the sociocultural factors and natural environment in the maintenance of life and the mechanism of self-structuring of the ethnic group is underlined. A conclusion is made on sustainability of perceptions of the local population about their territorial integrity and ethnical tolerance of the Barguzin community. The inclusion of qualitative methods of cultural geography allowed restoring the facts of cooperation of the communities, record the level of neighborship and closeness of relations, as well as determine the changes in ethnic and territorial identification, economic borrowings and economic practices of the local community.