Autonomous Oblast Research Articles

Археологические материалы из раскопок 1929–1937 гг. на территории Калмыкии (по фондам Саратовского областного музея краеведения)

Introduction. The history of archaeological studies on the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia began with the 1929 archaeological-ethnographical expedition of the Saratov Oblast´ Museum of Local Studies. The expedition’s field work included archaeological probings and diggings. The aim of the present study is to do a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the archaeological collections of Saratov Museum recovered during archaeological excavations in the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast´ in the period between 1929 and 1937. Results. In general, the methodological level of the seexcavations directed by P. S. Rykov was quite good for the time they were conducted. The fact that most of the findings were accepted by the Museum immediately after the field season was closed maybe seen as the evidence of the professionalism of the team during the planning of the expedition and its actual work. Notably, practically all the results of the archaeological research (1929–1937) were published. The numbering of finds in the registration cards largely corresponds to that of the field report, which indicates that the field inventory was compiled in the process of field and laboratory work. In addition, some of the finds in the field inventory are listed as fragmented clay vessels, while in the Museum, they are recorded as whole items, which also indicates the methodological level of the work done.Conclusion. The collections in questionare a valuable source as far as the archaeology of the Volga-Manych steppes is concerned, because the physical material that they include is illustrative of the main types of archaeological sites recovered on the territory of modern Kalmykia, i. e. relating to settlement types (settlements, camps, selishcha) and burial types (burials under earth mounds and scattered burials). These collections feature items from allmajor eras: Eneolithic, Bronze, Early Iron, and Middle Ages.

Regional features of birth and mortality rate in the Volga-Vyatka, Middle Volga and Orenburg regions during the famine of 1932–1933

The paper analyzes the vital statistics of the 19321933 famine in the Volga-Vyatka, Middle Volga and Orenburg regions (Gorkovsky and the Middle Volga Krais with national autonomous areas and the Tatar ASSR within the 1933 borders). It has been established that a high level of vital statistics registration occurred in most studied regions, high underestimating occurred in the rural areas of the Middle Volga Krai and Mordovia especially. High underestimating mortality among non-local residents and unidentified residents has not been established. Birth and mortality rate of non-local residents and unidentified residents were registered by local statistical service structures and were included in regional statistical reports, but their presence in central statistical reports has not been established. A high percentage of dead migrants in the towns has been shown, it refutes the opinion of administrative migration limit during the famine. It has been established that mortality in the town population was not lower and even exceeded rural mortality in some cases. It refutes the opinion that peasantry suffered from the famine most of all. The author proves that there was no sociocide or ethnocide (genocide) in the studied regions during the 19321933 famine. The high population loss in the Low Volga region was compensated by natural population increase in the Volga-Vyatka and Middle Volga regions. The mortality as well as birth rate varied dramatically within different administrative borders, indicating specific local conditions (local government response, natural and climate conditions, etc.), that invalidate hypothesis of authorities-made famine. The mortality peaks in 19321933 may indicate not only the famine, but seasonal epidemics as well and require additional research. The author has established that it is necessary to consider regional climatic conditions when analyzing vital statistics during the 19321933 famine. The entire number of deaths excess during the 19321933 famine totaled up to 324 000 in the Volga-Vyatka, Volga (excluding the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast in 1933) regions and 48 000 deaths excess in the Gorkovsky and Middle Volga Krais, and Tatar ASSR in 1934. The total demographic losses due to a decreased birth rate in the Volga-Vyatka, Volga (excluding Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast in 1933) and Orenburg Regions in 19321934 came to 306 000 people.

Activity of the Prosecutor's Office of Khakass Autonomous Oblast in the 1960s (based on archival materials)

Leaning on the archival materials, this article examines the work of the Prosecutor's Office of Khakass Autonomous Oblast in the 1960s, as well as highlights positive and negative aspects therein. The object of this research is the Soviet Prosecutor's Office. The subject is the activity of the Prosecutor's Office of Khakass Autonomous Oblast in the 1960s. Archival sources contain meeting protocols, briefing notes on the work of city and district prosecutor's offices of Khakass Autonomous Oblast, internal reports on the work of the prosecutor's office, etc. The article employs the historical-comparative method for studying the types of activity of district prosecutor’s offices of Khakass Autonomous Oblast and criminal situation in these districts; quantitative methods for tracing the amount of crime, percentage ratio, number of cases, etc.; systemic-functional method for consideration of tasks faced by the prosecutor's office. The main types of activity in the 1960’s indicate oversight activity, crime prevention, legal propaganda, monitoring the execution of the decrees of the Prosecutor General of the Soviet Union, participation of the prosecutors in court hearings, consideration and resolution of citizens’ complaints.

Pteridophyte distribution of the Urals and adjacent areas: a dataset.

BackgroundData on the species diversity and distribution of pteridophytes (lycophytes and ferns) in the Urals and adjacent areas are presented. The dataset includes 13,742 observations of two classes Lycopodiopsida and Polypodiopsida. In total, the dataset contains information on 16 families, 28 generas, 65 species, four subspecies and nine interspecies hybrids. All records are for lycophytes and ferns collected over 170 years between 1853 and 2021. The dataset presented is based on herbarium specimens, published data and field research conducted by the authors. This dataset is the first and important step towards generalising information on the current diversity and geographical distribution of pteridophytes in the Urals and adjacent areas.New informationThe dataset contains 13,742 records of 65 species of pteridophytes occurrences in the Urals and adjacent territories: Udmurt Republic (42,100 km2); Perm Krai (160,600 km2); Sverdlovsk Oblast (194,800 km2); Chelyabinsk Oblast (87,900 km2); Republic of Bashkortostan (143,600 km2); Tyumen Oblast (160,100 km2); Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (769,300 km2); Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (534,800km2) and Kurgan Oblast (71,500 km2). Each record includes a geographical description of the place of discovery and habitat, year of discovery, author of the finding and determination, as well as a link to a literary source (if the data were published) or the place of storage of the herbarium specimen. The presented dataset supplements the information on the occurrence of pteridophytes in the Russian Federation as a whole and clarifies their distribution in the Urals.

Species of the genus Notaris Germar, 1817 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from Siberia and Russian Far East

Seven described species (N. (Erirhinus) aethiops (Paykull, 1792), N. (Asionotaris) eversmanni Faust, 1882, N. (A.) altaica (Legalov, 1997), N. (N.) acridulus (Linnaeus, 1758), N. (N.) daurica Faust, 1882, N. (N.) oryzae (Ishida, 1902), and N. (N.) scirpi (Fabricius, 1792) with two subspecies: N. (N.) scirpi scirpi (Fabricius, 1792) and N. (N.) scirpi mandschurica Voss, 1940) of the genus Notaris Germar, 1817 are known from Siberia and the Russian Far East. The distributions of these species are specified. There are the first records of N. (Erirhinus) aethiops for Republic of Khakassia, N. (Asionotaris) eversmanni for Sakhalin Is., N. (N.) acridulus for Altai Krai and Jewish Autonomous Oblast, N. (N.) scirpi scirpi for Irkutsk Oblast and N. (N.) scirpi mandschurica for Zabaikalskii Krai. A new subgenus Asionotaris subgen. n. (type species – Erirhinus altaicus Legalov, 1997) of the genus Notaris is described. Keys for subgenera of the genus Notaris and species of this genus from Siberia and the Russian Far East are completed. Distribution maps of the considered Notaris species are given.

Civil War, Famine and the Persistence of Human Capital: Evidence from Tajikistan

The dissolution of the Soviet Union and 1992–96 Tajik civil war resulted in huge human and economic losses. Nevertheless, contemporary data suggest the persistence of investments in human capital in the region most affected by famine and least favoured since the cessation of hostilities, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast. Famine-affected women have greater stature and final educational attainment, later ages at marriage and lower fertility than do those in the neighbouring border province, Khatlon. Educational interactions between adults and children under age six are much more frequent. The continued emphasis on human capital after economic collapse is consistent with a locational imperative for households to earn incomes outside of agriculture, and with a higher relative status of women in non-agrarian societies.

Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang international railway bridge: transit functions in the cross-border area

Strengthening interaction in a cross-border area corresponds to the presence of linear infrastructure connecting border areas of neighbouring states. One of the projects, which has been implemented since 2008 in the Russian Far East to connect the Russian and Chinese parts of the Amur area (Priamurie), is the Nizhneleninskoye (Jewish Autonomous Oblast) – Tongjiang (Heilongjiang Province) railway bridge construction. The first combined data on the ongoing changes in the transport infrastructure, the potential trade and industrial development and interaction of border areas near the constructing railway bridge are presented in the paper. It was revealed that the key project result at present is the development of transport and logistics infrastructure that provides a connection between the industrial bases of the Northern China and the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia. The possibilities of developing an industrial cluster in the bridge sites of the two countries are still being discussed.

Expert system application for reactive power compensation in isolated electric power systems

Effective electricity use can be an option which enables to achieve significant economy while generating and transmitting of electricity. One of the most important things is to improve the electricity quality through reactive power correction up to optimum values. The current article presents the solution to compensate the reactive power in the distribution networks, in GornoBadakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) with the use of the advanced technologies based on the data collection within real time. The article describes the methodology of fuzzy logic application and bio-heuristic algorithms for the suggested solution effectiveness to be determined. Fuzzy logic application to specify the node priority for compensating devices based on the linguistic matrix power loss and voltage gives the possibility to the expert to take appropriate solutions for compensating devices installation location to be determined. The appropriate (correct) determination of the compensating devices installation location in the electric power system ensures the effective regulation of the reactive power with the least economic costs. Optimization problems related to the active power loss minimization are solved as well as the cost minimization with compensating devices to ensure the values tan(φ) not exceeding 0.35 through reducing multi-objective problem to the single-objective one using linear convolution.

Leveraging low state capacity for economic development: a case study of Tajik–Afghan cross-border markets

ABSTRACT Discussions about state capacity and special economic zones (SEZs) arise in disparate academic circles, despite the fact that they both often address the relative level of state intervention in economic activity. Can the economic limitations of low state capacity be mitigated by the benefits of an SEZ? Drawing from interviews with non-governmental organization workers, bureaucrats and traders in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region of Tajikistan, this paper presents the case of the Tajik–Afghan cross-border free-trade markets as an example of a popular SEZ in a region marked by enduring diminished administrative state capacity. Highlighting the use of the administrative capacity of non-state actors, and its periodically contentious intersection with state coercive capacity, this paper illustrates the novel creation of SEZs to facilitate economic growth in contexts of enduring low administrative state capacity.

Об археологических коллекциях Саратовского областного музея краеведения из раскопок в Калмыцкой автономной области (1929–1937 гг.)

Introduction. The archaeological collections obtained during excavations in Kalmykia are currently stored at several museums of Russia, namely: Saratov Oblast Museum of Local History and Lore (Saratov), State Historical Museum (Moscow), Palmov National Museum of Kalmykia (Elista), etc. Having been a central museum of the Lower Volga Krai that comprised Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast as well, the Saratov museum still houses findings excavated in Kalmykia during the pre-war period (1929–1937). The scope of work performed included excavations of 153 burials and explorations of 12 localities. Goals. The paper attempts an analysis of archaeological collections excavated in Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast from 1929 to 1937 and stored at Saratov Oblast Museum of Local History and Lore. Results. The work compiles a list of all findings from published field reports (List 1). A review of the Incoming Delivery Register has resulted in a List of Findings accepted by the Saratov museum (List 2). The subsequent comparative analysis of these two lists develops List 3 mentioning some identified findings never delivered to the Saratov museum. Conclusions. List 1 contains data on findings from 180 burials, while List 2 considers excavated items from 153 burials. So, findings from 27 burials never arrived in the Saratov museum, 23 of the former having contained one to three items only. The four remaining findspots are distinguished by quite a variety of tools extracted: burial 3, kurgan 28, Three Brothers-1 (Russ. Tri Brata) mound group (East Manych Catacomb Culture) — 5 items; burial 6, kurgan 28, Three Brothers-1 mound group (Early Iron Age) — 5 items; burial 1, kurgan 11, Three Brothers-1 mound group (Early Iron Age) — 10 items; burial 1, kurgan 12, Three Brothers-1 mound group (Middle Ages) — 18 items. The integrity level of the examined archaeological collections at the Saratov museum is 80 % (as compared to the number of items that had been registered).

Этноязыковая ситуация в Горно-Бадахшанской Автономной Области Республики Таджикистан

In this paper I researched the language situation of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast’ of Tajikistan. In the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast’ the status of Pamiris is now very low, and even they are ignored. And their languages are serving as a colloquial language in everyday life. Until the 1920s, Pamir languages are regarded as a different languages, but in 1926 it fell to dialects of Tajik language. In post-Soviet Tajikistan, Pamir languages are still a minority languages. Although the Language law adopted by Tajikistan in 1989 created conditions for the preservation, use and development of Pamir languages of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast’, there is still ostensible preservation, use and development, and described their function problems as autonomous areas of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast’, the status of these languages is still low. The issue of ethnic minority language was completely excluded from everyday life during the Tajikistan civil war, and as political centralization accelerated after the civil war, there is no meaningful policy for Gorno-Badakhshan at present. The declarative status of Gorno-Badakhshan s need to support and develop ethnic minority languages is only ostensible and does not exist.

Рукопись Д. С. Бембеева-Сальмина «Примечания к сборнику калмыцких пословиц и поговорок, собранных в 1935–[19]42 гг. в совхозе „Улан-Хееч“»

Introduction. The article continues to explore folklore materials recorded by D. S. Bembeev-Salminduring the pre-war years (1935–1942) in the territory of Kalmykia. The collected data, scientific works and biographical documents are currently stored at Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS and comprise his personal collection (call no. Ф. 10), the latter numbering a total of 12 items dated 1931–1962. Goals. The study aims at analyzing and introducing a complete manuscript of D. S. Bembeev-Salmin’s folklore survey conducted among residents of Ulan Kheech Sovkhoz (Tsentralny District of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast) from 1935 to 1942. Materials. The paper examines manuscript documents of D. S. Bembeev-Salmin that contain Kalmyk proverbs and sayings, a word list and notes to the collection. The scholar’s papers are regularly explored by researchers and some of the former’s findings have been published already. The unpublished ones are Oirat triads recorded by D. S. Bembeev-Salmin from shepherds of Ulan Kheech Sovkhoz in 1931. Results and Conclusions. Quite a number of renown scientists have explored and published Kalmyk proverbs and sayings. Such publications comprise translations, interpretations, comments — but fail to provide any essential stories behind the idioms. The more reason why the presented D. S. BembeevSalmin’s notes to proverbs that briefly outline such stories are that interesting.

Формирование автономных образований в РСФСР в 1920-х годах: проблемы населения и территории (на материалах Калмыцкой автономной области)

Introduction. Soviet Kalmykia’s historiography comprises quite a cluster of publications to have dealt with the shaping and development of the ethnic statehood. Such works primarily focus on preparatory and constitutive activities, economic beginnings. However, the formation of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast’s territory and population have been covered by separate papers only fragmentarily. Goals. The study aims at investigating Kalmykia’s border-related problems and migrations of dispersed Kalmyk groups towards the region. In order to facilitate this, the article shall explore why territorial and border-related issues turned essentially difficult tasks and how the problems were being solved, describe the roadmap of the Kalmyk Oblast Executive Committee to comprehensively tackle the emerged territorial and migration challenges. Materials and Methods. The paper centers around archival sources, quite a share of the latter being thus newly introduced into scientific discourse. The key methods employed are those of comparativism and source analysis. Results. According to the nationalities policy set forth by the Bolsheviks in 1920, the Soviet Government granted the Kalmyk people an ethnic statehood in the form of an administrative autonomy within the latter’s historical territory — Kalmyk Steppe. Once the autonomy was established, its territory and borders were determined in accordance with the then state policies and without any essential dissents from neighboring provinces. Migrations of minor Kalmyk groups to the autonomous oblast were supported by the Government and encountered no resistance, except for disputes between the Salsk Okrug Executive Committee and that of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast over the territorial issue when it came to the resettlement of Salsk Kalmyks. The prolonged mutual tension resulted in the establishment of Kalmytsky (‘Kalmyk’) District within Salsk Okrug of North Caucasus Krai.

Morphobiological characteristics and taxonomic status of weather loaches (Misgurnus) in the Pad Bolshaya (Middle Amur River)

Morphological signs (32 plastic and 7 meristic) and biological parameters (size, weight, age and sexual structure, fecundity) are considered for weather loaches of gen. Misgurnus inhabiting the Pad Bolshaya (Jewish Autonomous oblast), with the body length Ad 60.2-182.4 mm, body weigh 2.3-55.3 g, age 1-8 years and sex ratio about 1 : 1 (53 % males, 47 % females). Sexual dimorphism is found for antedorsal, anteventral and ventroanal distances, tail fin base length, base length and height of pectoral, pelvic and anal fins, and maximum body height. Ontogenetic variability of morphological indices in dependence on body length is detected for 26 of 32 plastic signs, whereas the dependence of anteanal, antedorsal, pectoventral, and anteventral distances, and maximum and minimum body height on the body length is not statistically significant. Males grow slower than females. Age of puberty is 4-6 years, mean individual absolute fecundity is 7409 eggs. The analysis concluded that the weather loaches Misgurnus in the Pad Bolshaya belonged to the species Misgurnus nikolskyi (Vasil’eva, 2001).

PRESCHOOL CAMPAIGN AS AN ELEMENT OF CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF THE LATE 1920S - EARLY 1930S: BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE KOMI-ZYRYAN AUTONOMOUS OBLAST

The paper discusses the features of the phenomenon of "Preschool campaign" as part of the cultural revolution in Soviet Russia. General trends in the development of preschool education in Soviet Russia are described. The main attention is paid to the peculiarities of the "Preschool campaign" in the Komi-Zyryan Autonomous oblast. The problems of formation and development of the preschool system, their financing, material resources forming, training, organization of food, medical care and improving the methodology of working with preschoolers are analyzed. The authors point to ways to attract the population to the problems of public preschool education. It was revealed that the implementation of the "Preschool campaign" was accompanied by measures to promote a new, Marxist-Leninist ideology. The ideological component has become a mandatory component of all measures to expand the system of pre-school institutions and develop methods of pre-school education. The researchers believe that the implementation of the "Preschool campaign" in the Komi autonomy, even if various shortcomings were identified, contributed to large-scale changes in the system of upbringing of young children, and the activation of women workers in the social and production life of the region. It was identified that pioneer, Komsomol, Trade Union and party organizations played an important role in conducting the "Preschool campaign". The authors note the development of methods of working with preschoolers as a positive phenomenon. The improvement of methodological assistance consisted not only in practical assistance to teachers, but also in showing the best experience through the press. It is shown that in order to overcome the shortage of professional staff for preschool institutions in the Komi region, they went beyond the existing short-term pedagogical courses and sometimes attracted casual workers. In 1931, a pre-school Department of the Syktyvkar Pedagogical College was opened. During the "Preschool campaign" in the Komi-Zyryan Autonomous oblast, it was possible not only to open a significant number of new pre-school institutions, to diversify the measures of pre-school education in towns and rural areas, but also to force population to reconsider it views on raising children.

Geography of the Location of Chinese Kazakh and problems of Migration between Kazakhstan and China

The article is aimed at a demographic study of the geographical distribution and ethnic composition of the population of the Ili Autonomous Region as part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xin Jiang) of the People’s Republic of China (China). Based on the geographical location, territory, border countries and borders, and the natural and resource potential of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region, which occupies an important geopolitical and geo-economic place for China. In addition, the article paid special attention to the population of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Oblast and their territorial-administrative division, as well as the distribution of the ethnic nation in the city and settlements of this region, based on new literary sources based on natural growth, fertility and mortality of the population. The article analyzes the share of immigrants and emigrants between the Republic of Kazakhstan and China, the migration difference, and statistical indicators of migrants between regions. And socioeconomic issues between Kazakhstan and China are considered on the basis of indicators. Another relevance of the article is the use of statistical demographic indicators obtained from the statistics Committee of the Ministry of national economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the period from 2013 to 2020. These quantitative data play an important role in the analysis and assessment of the real state of external migration between the two countries.

СТАНОВЛЕНИЕ КАБАРДИНО-БАЛКАРСКОЙ АВТОНОМНОЙ ОБЛАСТИ: МЕХАНИЗМЫ, ЭТАПЫ, ЗНАЧЕНИЕ

In 2022, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Kabardin-Balkar Republic will take place. At the turn of the 1980–1990s. the historical experience of the early 1920s. and, above all, the circumstances of the creation and the institutional structure of the Kabardin-Balkar Autonomous Region were at the center of ethno-political collisions. The views on these issues that took shape at that time are still latently present in the public consciousness and are periodically updated in the political statements of individual public organizations. The subject of the proposed article is the political events in the region of the Central Caucasus (Terek Oblast, Gorskaya ASSR, Kabarda and Balkaria), which unfolded after the end of the civil war and the establishment of Soviet power in March 1920, and ended with the institutionalization of the system of power of the Kabardin-Balkar Autonomous Oblast in December 1922. The purpose of the study is to present a fairly complete, chronologically ordered picture of political events, struggles and decisions on the basis of systematization and analysis of documentary material, which makes it possible to reveal the mechanisms, identify the stages and assess the significance of creating a united Soviet autonomy for the Kabardian and Balkarian peoples. The novelty of the approach lies in the fact that the work is performed in the genre of documentary chronicle, aimed at but possibly complete and "dense" coverage of the course of events over the course of three years – from March 1920 to December 1922. Analysis and generalization of the involved material are included in the final section. The materials considered in the article show that the creation of the Kabardin-Balkar autonomy was not a one-time act, but a process that had as its content the coordination of the national interests of Kabarda and Balkaria and the development of a common form of their institutionalization.

Рецензия на книгу: Ойротия в зеркале литературы: антология. Под ред. Э. П. Чининой, Т. П. Шастиной. Горно-Алтайск: Изд-во Полиграфика, 2020. 308 с.

The anthology under review is a collection of journalistic, literary, and academic texts in Russian and Altai that appeared in local and central periodicals and textbooks and poetic anthologies published in Moscow and various Siberian cities. The chronological period of the anthology covers the entire period of the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast existence: from 1922 to 1948. These years brought significant changes to the region: the mass spread of literacy, the Altai literature’s appearance, and the standard Altai language development. The anthology shows the formation and evolution of the image of Oyrotia, a national Soviet autonomy. The essays, articles, and poems collected under one cover reflect the perception of Oyrotia by different authors: local Altaians, travelers, writers, and journalists. The Oyrot Autonomous Oblast continued to exist until 1948 and was later renamed. The renaming order closes the anthology. A review article by T. P. Shastina, written in a deeply analytical manner, opens the book, tracing the image of Altai in documentary literature and literary fiction up to E. Limonov’s Book of Water and V. Sorokin’s Telluria. The book is provided with a dictionary, with five appendixes containing Altai lexis (old words and words found in Russian text), Siberian lexis, obsolete words, lists of persons, and texts sources. The photos from the State Archive of the Altai Republic are used as illustrations. This anthology is considered to be significant not only for Gorny Altai but also for the whole of Russia, being equally valuable for experts and readers interested in the history and culture of Gorny Altai.

Fish fauna of Honghe, Bachadao (Heilongjiang, China) and Bastak (Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia) nature reserves located in the Middle Amur River basin

Fish fauna of Honghe, Bachadao (Heilongjiang, China) and Bastak (Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia) nature reserves located in the Middle Amur River basin

Spatial Development of the Amur River Regions: Social Aspect

The article deals with the actual problems of spatial development of the Russian Amur River regions — the Khabarovsk Krai, the Amur Oblast` and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast`. The results of a field sociological study conducted by the authors in these regions in September 2020 are presented and also-for comparison — the social well-being of the population of the regions of the north and south of the Far East according to the results of the survey in August-September 2019. The sample is constructed on the model which is using key characteristics of the general totality and based on the principles of quota-proportional and territorial methods. The total sample size is 659 respondents. The empirical object of the study is the adult population of the regions. The social situation of the population of the Amur River region, migration attitudes and attitudes towards labor migrants from abroad, the assessment of the economic situation and the dynamics of the development of key enterprises of the mesoregion are considered. The article considers the main causes of mass migration sentiments. The social stratification in the regions and the growing differentiation in income levels also remain a serious problem. The population of the Amur River region is acutely aware of the growing income inequality in the mesoregion and points to the lack of social justice as an important factor in motivating moving to a new place of residence. In fact, in order to retain and attract the population to the Amur River region, it is necessary to maintain a higher standard of living in these regions than in European Russia. The remoteness and more severe climatic conditions of the Far East require compensatory mechanisms in other areas as well.