Natives of the Post-Soviet Countries in the Population of Russia: International Migrants or Not?

Abstract

In this article, the role of natives from the former republics of the USSR in forming the population of Russia is analysed. In spite of the fact that Russia formally was ranked to be the second country in the world after the USA in regards to the numbers that were born abroad, only a small part of them are international migrants. From 11 million people, only one-third arrived to Russia after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, they are not repatriates, they returned home to be representative of the people that traditionally live in Russia. In this article, not only are the scales of resettlement in Russia calculated, but also an attempt to estimate the survival of migrants, by an accommodation assessment in place of their installation being made. The vast majority of migrants from Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Abkhazia and South Ossetia lived in Russia for more than 10 years, and it is difficult to distinguish them from locals. Among the natives of these countries, included: Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Armenia. A high share of those who lived in a residence for less than 3 years, are considered to be new settlers. A large number of the arrived return to their countries, even if they at first wished to remain in Russia on a permanent residence. A large migratory turnover does not cause a large number of the saved-up migrants in case of their low survival.