Population Dynamics and Settlement Transformation of Russians in the Russian Federation in 1990–2010

Abstract

This article compares national census data of 1989, 2002, and 2010 to offer a quantitative description of the distribution dynamics of the Russian people in 1989–2010 based on a classification of Russian regions by the share of Russians in their population and using the Eckel index. Research has found that in regions of the Russian Federation where Russians constitute the absolute or the relative majority, despite the ongoing process of depopulation of Russians, censuses indicate no decline in the share of Russians in the population. The article analyzes the reasons behind this fact. Having contrasted the magnitude of changes in the size of the population of Russians and other peoples of the region in the period concerned, the author concludes specific demographic factors, such as natural Russian population growth/decline as well as migration or assimilation processes, to prevail in the respective region. The author identifies the key regions that were the origin or the destination of migration of Russians in the period under consideration and examines the reasons for such migration. It is found that Russians migrated to such regions as Belgorod Oblast, Moscow, Kaliningrad Oblast, Krasnodarsky Krai, Tyumen Oblast. Among regions that saw a considerable migration outflow of Russians are several republics of the North Caucasus, the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Tuva, Koryak Okrug, as well as some regions of the Russian Arctic. A special focus is given to a trend that has been present in recent censuses, namely, the growing number of people who “did not specify their ethnicity”. If that trend persists, it will evidently lead to a distortion of the overall picture of the ethnic composition of Russia and its regions.