Genetic studies on Russians

Genetic studies show that Russians are relatively closest to Finns and Estonians, followed by Poles, Belarusians, Ukrainians and other Slavs as well as Latvians and Lithuanians. Russians display quite significant genetic heterogenity, evidence for multiple genetic ancestries and admixture events, including European and East Asian sources, and high identity-by-descent sharing with the Finnish people.

European genetic structure (based on SNPs) PC analysis

Y-DNA chromosomes

Eight Y chromosome haplogroup subclades, including R1a, N3, I1b, R1b, I2a, J2, N2, and E3b all together, account for >95% of the total Russian Y chromosomal pool. Of the 1228 samples, 11/1228 (0.9%) were classified up to the root level of haplogroups F and K. Around 22.4% fell into haplogroups and subclades of C, Q, N and R2 which are specific to Siberian, East and South-Central Asian populations. The majority, around 70.1% fell into haplogroups and subclades of I, R1a and R1b which are specific to European populations.

The top four Y-DNA haplogroups among the sample of 1228 Russians are:

• Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) – with an average of 46.7%
• Haplogroup I (Y-DNA) – with an average of 17.6%
• Haplogroup N (Y-DNA)  with an average of 21.6%
• Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) – with an average of 5.8%
• 8.3% others

mtDNA chromosomes

The mitochondrial gene pool of Russians are represented by mtDNA types belonging to typical West Eurasian groups. East Eurasian admixture was shown to be minimal and existed in low frequencies in the form of Haplogroup M. The same studies indicate Eurasian haplogroups present at a frequency of 97.8% and 98.5% among a sample of 325 and 201 Russians respectively.

Autosomal DNA

Using the clustering algorithm implemented in ADMIXTURE, ancestral genetic components in Balto-Slavic populations were modeled.

Autosomally, Russians are most similar to populations in Eastern Europe, especially Finns, followed by other Eurasian groups. They display increased Siberian-like ancestry which entered the Eastern European gene pool between 4700–8000 years ago, after having diverged from East Asians 8800–11,200 years ago.

While all Russians, and other Eastern European ethnic groups display variable amounts of such geneflow from East Asian sources, genetic research suggests even higher amounts of Siberian admixture among Northern and Northwestern Russians, who display high identity-by-descent sharing with the Finnish people.

Eastern Siberian-like ancestry was found at an average frequency of ~12–13% among Russians. This Eastern Siberian-like ancestry is maximized among modern Nganasan people and a Bronze Age specimen from Southern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk_Krai_BA), suggesting the assimilation and slavification of formerly Uralic-speaking ethnic groups during the expansion of early Slavs. A study by Wang et al. argued that the levels of "Eastern Siberian" ancestry among Russians, but also Finns, may be linked to the diffusion of paternal haplogroup N-M231.

Overall, the population of Russia displays strong genetic heterogenity. Ethnic Russians primarily descended from the early Slavic peoples, which diverged from other Indo-Europeans, and early absorbed Uralic-speaking groups as well as Eurasian Steppe groups. Subsequently Russians expanded further eastwards, later coming into contact with various other groups, such as Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic peoples as well as Paleo-Siberian groups of Siberia, such as Kets, Yukaghirs and Itelmens. Geneflow between Asian minority groups and Russians contributed to the overall pattern of genome diversity across the different ethno-linguistic groups of Russia.

See also

• Demographics of Russia
• Genetic history of Europe