About the Mansi language
Mansi belongs to the Ob-Ugrian sub-group of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic languages.
Where the speakers live
Mansi is spoken along the western tributaries of the river Ob (mainly along the Northern Sosva and the Ljapin). Separate groups of Mansi speakers live along the river Konda.
Northern Mansi
The Northern Mansi speakers live along the banks of the rivers Sosva (the villages Ust'-Manja, Janypaul', Njaksymvol', Khanglasy, Khulim-Sunt, Menkja, Sangitur, Nil'dino, Kimkjasuj, Patrasuj, Kugi, Sartynja, Tobol'dino, Altatump, Anejevo, Igrim, Ljuljukary, Vozetur, Rezimovo, Malejevka, Narykary, Protochnoe, Vizhakary); Sygva (the villages Schekurja, Saranpaul', Khangla, Pulak, Khoshlog, Khurumpaul, Lombovozh) and Upper Lozva (the village Suevat).
Eastern Mansi
Some Eastern Mansi speakers live along the Konda valley (settlement Jukondoj). The speakers of this dialect were still fairly numerous in the 1920s. The number of speakers has decreased noticeably since, and today it is spoken only by a few elderly people.
The Southern and Western Mansi no longer speak their ethnic language.