In 60-70s of the XIXth century many territories of Eastern Siberia were already inhabited by numerous sustained colonies of Jews, Caucasians, Poles, and by sparse settlements of Chinese and Koreans. Those communities had been forming in different periods under the influence of different factors. Though the legal status of minorities was restricted and indeterminate, the official powers behaviour towards them was unequal. The history of Jews and Poles, that were the most notable two immigrant groups in pre-Revolutionary Irkutsk, demonstrates this thesis.

Key words: Eastern Siberia, Irkutsk, diaspora, ethnic minority, receiving society, Jews, Poles, "foreignness".