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Development of Sign Language Interpreters’ Professional Training in Russia
As of 2024, Russia is the largest country in the world, nearly twice the size of Canada. Forty percent of the land is located in Europe, and the rest, to the east of the Urals, is in Asia. It occupies 11% of the world’s land but has a population of around 146 million people, which places Russia in ninth place among other countries in terms of population size. There are at least 120,000 people in Russia who communicate in Russian Sign Language (RSL). There are approximately 280 different languages with different statuses in the country, and RSL is officially recognized as a separate language that, according to the 2010 census, occupies 38th place among other languages. The Russian Empire (1721–1917) and then the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; 1922–1991) existed in an even bigger territory, which took in other countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The focus of this chapter is primarily on Russia, but we do give a brief review in relation to the former States of the Soviet Union, and more information about the neighboring countries can be seen in Komorova (2022).