The Udege are a small minority of the Russian Federation, living in the southern area of the Far East. The population from the pre-revolutionary period to the present day has stayed below two thousand people. The total number according to the All-Russian Population Census of 2010 is 1496.
The industrial complex is the most developed part of the economy of Primorye. It accounts for almost a third of the gross regional product. 30% of fixed production assets and 27% of the Territory’s employed population are concentrated here. The main industries are fish processing, electric power and coal production, mechanical engineering and ship repair, mining, forestry and woodworking. The forestry and woodworking are the oldest sectors of the economy of the Primorsky Territory. Timber harvesting is carried out mainly in the northern regions, where valuable tree species have been preserved. It is these areas where the Udege mainly live and where their hunting grounds are located.
The spiritual culture of the Udege was based on a belief in the existence of countless spirits inhabiting the world around them. Being animists, they endowed animals and trees with souls, there were master-spirits in rivers, streams, mountains and forests. The spirits of ancestors were just as important.