The population of the USSR

The population of the territory of the USSR (within the borders before 1991) changed as follows:

86.3 million people - January 1, 1870
124.6 million people - January 1, 1897
159.2 million people - at the end of 1913
194.1 million people - January 1, 1940
178.5 million people - January 1, 1950
208.8 million people - January 15, 1959
241.7 million people - January 15, 1970
257.9 million people - on January 1, 1977
286.7 million people - on January 20, 1989

Despite the huge losses associated with the two world wars and the Civil War, the population grew quite rapidly. By 1940, the USSR had 22% more inhabitants than Russia in 1913. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. the direct losses of the USSR amounted to over 20 million people; indirect losses were also great (a decrease in the birth rate and an increase in mortality). The pre-war population was restored only by 1955.

In 1989, the All-Union Population Census was conducted- the last census of the entire Soviet Union. It was carried out for 8 days - from January 12 to January 19, 1989 - by polling at the place of actual residence of citizens. The survey and recording of answers in the census sheets were carried out by specially trained enumerators recruited from enterprises, institutions, and organizations. Information was recorded from the words of the respondents without requiring documents confirming the correctness of the answers.
Three months after the end of the census - in April 1989 - preliminary results were published on the size and distribution of the population in individual regions of the country. At the beginning of 1990, on the basis of automated processing of census forms, final results were obtained on the size and age composition of the population, marital status, number and size of families, level of education, nationality and languages, sources of livelihood. According to the census, the present population as of January 12, 1989, was 286.7 million. In the 10 years that have passed since the 1979 census, it has increased by 24.3 million people, or 9%.

Tab. 1 - Results of the All-Union Census of the USSR in 1989

The census took into account 73.1 million families, which is 6.8 million (10%) more than in 1979. The largest increase in the number of families was in the republics of Central Asia and the Azerbaijan SSR (22-29%), as well as in the Kazakh SSR (16%) and the Moldavian SSR (12%). The average family size in the country as a whole was 3.5 people, in urban areas - 3.3 people, in rural areas - 3.8 people. In the Union republics, the average family size ranges from 6.1 people in the Tajik SSR to 3.1 people. in the Latvian SSR and the Estonian SSR, which is mainly due to the number of children in the family.
In 1989, 255.8 million people lived in families. (89% of the country's population). In addition, 13 million (5%) family members lived separately from the family, but were connected to it by a common budget. 16.4 million (6%) did not have a family or lost material connection with it (single people). The proportion of family members who lived separately from the family and singles is especially small in the republics of Central Asia, the Georgian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, where it was 4-6%, and more significant in the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, and the Baltic republics (11-15% ).

Tab. 1a - The population of the Union republics according to the All-Union census of the population of the USSR in 1989

(Labutova T. Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Issue 34. pp. 007-011, Moscow 1990)

population reproduction

The Russian Empire was characterized by high natural population growth with high birth and death rates. After the October Revolution (until 1941), the natural increase increased even more, mainly due to a decrease in mortality (Table 2).

Tab. 2 - Vital movement of the population

Year	Number of births	Number of deaths	natural growth	Deaths of children under the age of 1 year per 1000 births
1913	45,5	29,0	16,4	268,6
1926	44,0	20,3	23,7	174,0
1939	36,5	17,3	19,2	167,3
1940	31,2	18,0	13,2	181,5
1950	26,7		17,0	80,7
1960	24,9		17,8	35,3
1970	17,4			24,7
1974	18,0			27,9

More significant shifts in its structure occurred after the Great Patriotic War. By 1950, the mortality rate of the population had decreased by almost half compared with 1940 (primarily due to a decrease in child mortality). For 1950-59 were characterized by a stable birth rate and a fairly high natural increase (between 16 and 17.4 per 1000 people.). The demographic situation began to noticeably change from 1960. During the 1960-70s. the average annual birth rate decreased from 24.9 to 17.4 per 1000 people, the death rate increased slightly (which reflected a sharp increase in the proportion of older people), and the natural increase decreased from 17.8 in 1960 to 8.8 in 1975 In 1975, the birth rate was 18.1 per 1,000 people, and the death rate was 9.3.
Compared with pre-revolutionary times, the overall mortality rate has decreased by 3.3 times, and infant mortality by 10 times. Decrease in mortality is observed in all age groups. The growth of the average life expectancy of the population is characteristic: 32 years in 1896 - 1897; 44 years - in 1926-27; 47 years - in 1938-39; 70 years in 1971-72 (64 years for men and 74 for women).
Differences in the structure of population reproduction were observed in the Union republics, especially in birth rates (Table 3).

Tab. 3 - Birth rate in the union republics (per 1000 people)

Republic	1940	1970	1975
RSFSR	33,0	14,6	15,7
Ukrainian SSR	27,3	15,2	15,1
BSSR	26,8	16,2	15,7
Uzbek SSR	33,8	33,6	34,5
Kazakh SSR	40,8	23,4	24,1
Georgian SSR	27,4	19,2	18,2
Azerbaijan SSR	29,4	29,2	25,1
Lithuanian SSR	23,0	17,6	15,7
Moldavian SSR	26,6	19,4	20,7
Latvian SSR	19,3	14,5	14,0
Kirghiz SSR	33,0	30,5	30,4
Tajik SSR	30,6	34,8	37,1
Armenian SSR	41,2	22,1	22,4
Turkmen SSR	36,9	35,2	34,4
Estonian SSR	16,1	15,8	14,9

Mortality rates differed much less between the republics: for example, in 1975 they were 7.2-8.1% in the Central Asian republics, 9.8% in the RSFSR, 9.5-12.1% in the Baltic republics. Natural population growth in the Central Asian republics varied in 1975 from 2.2 to 2.9%, while in the Baltic republics, the Byelorussian SSR, the Ukrainian SSR, and the RSFSR, from 0.2 to 0.7%. The rapid growth of the proportion of the urban population, the increase in the age of marriage, and other reasons caused a decrease in the birth rate. Traditions, way of life, family way of individual peoples, socio-psychological factors also had a noticeable impact. In particular, republics with a high birth rate were distinguished by an increased percentage of the rural population and early marriages (especially women). Traditions of early marriages are characteristic of the population of the Central Asian republics and Azerbaijan; in the Baltic republics, on the contrary, people marry later.
The extension of the terms of study and the spread of higher education, the rise in the cultural level led to later marriages, especially among women (Table 4).

Tab. 4 - Number of married people aged 16-19 (per 10,000 people of a given sex and age)

	1939	1959	1970
Men
Women

Age and sex structure of the population

The change in the age structure compared with the pre-war period is shown in Table. 5.

Tab. 5 - Dynamics of the age structure of the population (%)

	1939	1959	1970
Up to 15 years	37,7	30,4	30,9
16-59 years old	55,5	60,2	57,2
60 years and older			11,8

These changes are a consequence of an increase in average life expectancy and fluctuations in the birth rate in different years. Total percentage of children under the age of 15 in 1959 and 1970 was approximately the same, but their age composition has undergone significant changes. Thus, as a result of the observed decrease in the birth rate, the percentage of children under 4 years of age decreased from 11.7 in 1959 to 8.5 in 1970. The reduction in the birth rate in 1915-20. and 1942-45. This was reflected in the fact that in 1970 the share of the age groups 50-54 and 25-29 was relatively small. In 1975, 56.3% of the total population was aged 16-59 (men) and 16-54 (women).
The age structure was affected by a continuous and fairly rapid increase in the number of older people. The number of people aged 60 and over increased from 13 million in 1939 to 33.5 million in 1975. The age structure of the population differed markedly both in individual republics and in regions. The largest proportion of young people was characteristic of the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia (Table 6).

Tab. 6 - Age structure of the population (according to the 1970 census) (%)

Republic	Up to 14 years old	15-59 years old	60 years and older
USSR	29,0	59,2	11,8
RSFSR	26,5	61,6	11,9
Ukrainian SSR	24,9	61,2	13,9
BSSR	29,0	57,9	13,1
Uzbek SSR	45,1	46,2
Kazakh SSR	37,5	54,2
Georgian SSR	30,6	57,5	11,9
Azerbaijan SSR	44,1	47,9
Lithuanian SSR	27,0	58,0	15,0
Moldavian SSR	32,2	58,1
Latvian SSR	21,6	61,1	17,3
Kirghiz SSR	41,7	49,4
Tajik SSR	46,6	45,9
Armenian SSR	39,2	52,5
Turkmen SSR	44,9	47,9
Estonian SSR	22,1	61,1	16,8

In the USSR, as well as throughout the world, 5-6% more boys were born than girls. Due to the relatively lower mortality of girls, the proportion of men and women levels off by 27-28 years. Before the October Revolution, the difference between the number of men and women was comparatively small (in 1913 there were 1 million more women). The First World War of 1914-18 and in particular the Great Patriotic War caused huge losses, especially among the male population. According to the 1926 census, there were 5 million more women than men, and according to the 1959 census, 20.7 million more. The 1970 census recorded a decrease in the gap between the number of women and men (Table 7).

Tab. 7 - Sex ratio (%)

years	Men	Women
1913	49,7	50,3
1940	47,9	52,1
1951	44,0	56,0
1959	45,0	55,0
1961	45,3	54,7
1970	46,1	53,9
1976	46,5	53,5

The gender disproportion persisted only at the expense of older ages: the number of men and women under 47 was approximately the same, while at ages over 48, women accounted for 2/3 of the population (this is not only the result of the war, but also the significantly longer life expectancy of women).
In all the union republics, there were more women than men, but in Central Asia and the Transcaucasus (except Georgia) this gender disproportion did not manifest itself as sharply as in other regions. In 1970, women accounted for: in the Ukrainian SSR - 54.8%, in the RSFSR - 54.4%, in the Latvian SSR and the Estonian SSR - 54.3%, and in the Tajik SSR and the Turkmen SSR - 50.8%, in the Armenian SSR - 51.2%, in the Uzbek SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR - 51.5%. There were areas of the USSR where there were more men than women: in the Komi ASSR and the Yakut ASSR, as well as in the Kamchatka and Magadan regions - areas of rapid development of various branches of heavy industry, characterized by a harsh climate.

Population migrations

The geographical redistribution of the population due to the internal colonization of the sparsely populated lands that were part of the Russian state took place already in the 17-18 centuries. Interregional migration increased from the middle of the 19th century, especially after the peasant reform of 1861, and was determined mainly by the needs of the ruined peasants or the search for work. External migration did not play a significant role in pre-revolutionary Russia. After the October Revolution of 1917 The driving forces behind internal migration were positive motives for the development of new natural and economic resources and the organized bringing of the distribution of the population and labor resources in line with the plans for the territorial redistribution of production. Migration processes in the USSR were characterized by two main trends: a steady outflow of the rural population to the cities and population shifts to the eastern regions. For 1926-39 about 4.7 million people moved to the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and the Far East. During the Great Patriotic War, there were sharp territorial shifts in the distribution of the population in connection with its evacuation to the eastern regions from the temporarily occupied regions and from the front line (for 1941-42 - about 20-25 million people; most of them then returned to former residence). In the post-war period, migrations to new industrial areas, to new buildings, to virgin land development areas continued intensively (in 1959-70 alone, the net influx of population into Kazakhstan and Central Asia amounted to 1.2 million people). As a result, did you live in the East of the country by 1970? the entire population. The role of external migration in the USSR is hardly noticeable.

Population placement

The average population density in the USSR was 11.5 people per square kilometer. km, incl. in the European part - 34 people per 1 sq. km (as of January 1, 1976), fluctuated greatly across the union republics and regions (Table 8).

Tab. 8 - Average population density in the republics (1976), (persons per 1 sq. km)

RSFSR .......................................... 7.9
Ukrainian SSR.............................. 81.3
BSSR................................... 45.1
Uzbek SSR ........................ 31.5
Kazakh SSR.............................. 5.3
Georgian SSR ........................ 71.1
Azerbaijan SSR........... 65.7
Lithuanian SSR ........................ 50.8
Moldavian SSR ..................... 114.3
Latvian SSR ........................ 39.2
Kirghiz SSR...................... 17.0
Tajik SSR ........................ 24.4
Armenian SSR ......................... 95.1
Turkmen SSR ........................ 5.3
Estonian SSR.............................. 31.9

The center, regions of the European part of the USSR, especially the interfluve of the Oka and Volga, as well as the regions of the Donbass and Right-Bank Ukraine, the Moldavian SSR, and many regions of the Transcaucasus and Central Asia were most densely populated. The average density in the most densely populated regions was: Moscow (with Moscow) - 294.6 people per 1 km2, Andijan - 299.9, Tashkent (with Tashkent) - 214, Donetsk - 194, Khorezm - 148, Kiev (with Kiev) - 134.5, Lviv - 115.5. The northern regions of the country were the most poorly populated: in the Evenk national district - 0.02 people. per 1 sq. km, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) - 0.05, Koryak and Yamal-Nenets - 0.2, Nenets and Chukotka - 0.2. A very low density was in the Yakut ASSR - 0.2 per 1 sq. km. km; in the Magadan, Kamchatka and Tyumen regions - 0.4, 0.8 and 1.1 people per 1 sq. km, respectively. km.
The more densely populated space in the central zone of the USSR formed a wedge, as it were, narrowing towards the East (the so-called main zone of settlement). The base of this wedge is the western frontier of the USSR, from Leningrad to Moldova. In the European part of the USSR, its northern border passed through Cherepovets, Vologda, Kirov, Perm; southern - through Kherson, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Kuibyshev, Chelyabinsk. In Siberia, the main zone of settlement included Tomsk, Novosibirsk, the cities of Kuzbass, then passed in a narrow strip through Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and went to the Pacific Ocean near Vladivostok - Nakhodka. Outside this zone, there were significant concentrations of population only in Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Almost all major cities of the USSR lay within the main zone of settlement or named areas.

urban settlement

The USSR is a country with a predominantly urban population. The extremely rapid growth in the proportion of the urban population (Table 9) is a consequence of the transformation of the USSR from a backward agrarian country into an industrial one. In the general growth of the urban population, there was a trend towards a decrease in the proportion of population migration from the countryside (Table 10).

Tab. 9 - Changes in the urban-rural population ratio

years	In million people			In % of the total population
	All population	Incl. urban	Incl. rural	urban	rural
1913	159,2	28,5	130,7
1940	194,1	63,1	131,0
1959	208,8	100,0	108,8
1970	241,7	136,0	105,7
1976	255,5	156,6	98,9

Tab. 10 - Urban population growth

Tab. 11 - Growth in the number of urban settlements and their distribution according to the number of inhabitants

The highest percentage of the urban population, on the one hand, is in old industrial areas (Leningrad region together with Leningrad - 91%, Donetsk region - 89%, Moscow region together with Moscow - 88%, Sverdlovsk region - 85%, Chelyabinsk region - 82%); on the other hand, in regions of the North and the Asian part of the USSR unfavorable for agriculture, the industrial development of which began during the years of Soviet power (Murmansk region - 89%, Kemerovo region - 86%, Karaganda region - 86%, Kamchatka region - 83%, Magadan region - 78% ). At the same time, in areas dominated by agriculture, the proportion of urban residents did not exceed 1/3 of the population. The largest (more than 500 thousand inhabitants) and large (100-500 thousand) cities grew the fastest (Table 12). In 1939, there were 2 cities in the USSR with a population of over 1 million, in 1959 - 3, in 1976 - 14, of which (in thousand people, as of January 1, 1976): Moscow - 7734, Leningrad - 4372 , Kiev - 2013, Tashkent - 1643, Baku - 1406, Kharkov - 1385, Gorky - 1305, Novosibirsk - 1286, Minsk - 1189, Kuibyshev - 1186, Sverdlovsk - 1171, Tbilisi - 1030, Odessa -1023, Omsk - 1002 (Moscow , Leningrad, Baku and Minsk - together with urban settlements subordinate to their city councils); from 500 thousand to 1 million inhabitants numbered (in thousand people): Chelyabinsk (989), Dnepropetrovsk (976), Donetsk (967), Kazan (958), Perm (957), Yerevan (928), Ufa (923), Volgograd (918), Rostov-on-Don (907), Alma-Ata (851), Saratov (848), Riga (806), Voronezh (764), Zaporozhye (760), Krasnoyarsk (758), Krivoy Rog (634), Lviv (629) ), Yaroslavl (577), Karaganda (570), Krasnodar (543), Novo-Kuznetsk (530), Vladivostok (52G), Izhevsk (522), Irkutsk (519), Barnaul (514), Khabarovsk (513), Tula (506). In cities with a population of over 100 thousand people lived 58% of all urban residents and 36% of the total population of the country.
During the years of Soviet power, 1151 cities were formed (1976). In their formation, the main role was played by the development of various industries. The development of new coal deposits led to the creation of cities such as Karaganda, Vorkuta, and others; the emergence of Almetyevsk, Nefteyugansk, and others is associated with the extraction and processing of oil; with the development of ferrous metallurgy - Magnitogorsk, Rustavi; non-ferrous metallurgy - Norilsk, Balkhash; chemical industry - Angarsk, Novokuibyshevsk, Kirovsk, Soligorsk. Along with large power plants, Bratsk, Vollssky arose; Togliatti and Komsomolsk-on-Amur became the largest centers of mechanical engineering. Dushanbe and Nukus were created as administrative centers. Many old cities also grew strongly, in particular the capitals of the union and autonomous republics and the centers of autonomous regions (from 1939 to 1976 the number of inhabitants in Alma-Ata increased 3.8 times, in Yerevan, Minsk and Frunze - 4-5 times , in Syktyvkar and Cheboksary - 7-9 times).
Those of the old cities in which industry developed rapidly grew. The main industrial centers, as a rule, have grown at least twice; the population of Kuibyshev, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Krivoy Rog, Ulyanovsk, Ryazan, Tyumen increased by 3-4 times, by more than 5 times by Lipetsk and Kurgan, by more than 7 times by Cherepovets, etc. At the same time, due to with the fact that further concentration of the population in large cities can lead to a number of negative consequences, measures were taken to curb the growth of the largest of them; one means of this is the development of satellite towns.

rural settlement

As the USSR urbanized, its rural population decreased not only relatively, but absolutely (Table 10). The bulk of the rural population was concentrated in the southern and central regions of the European part of the USSR; its high density (over 100 people per 1 sq. km) was characteristic of the Dniester valley and some regions of Ukraine. The density of the rural population was much lower in the zone of taiga forests and, especially, the tundra of the European North, where the population was almost completely concentrated in the valleys of large rivers; a very rare population was also characteristic of the dry steppes and semi-deserts of the South-East of the European part of the USSR. In the Caucasus, the river valleys and the Black Sea coast were densely populated (over 150 people per 1 sq. km). In the Asian part of the USSR, areas along the Siberian railway, the foothills of the Urals and Altai, the Amur region, the south of Primorye, as well as the valleys and foothills of the republics of Central Asia were relatively densely populated (with the highest rural population density in the USSR - over 200 people per 1 sq. km. ); in other regions - the taiga and tundra of Siberia and the Far East, in the deserts and semi-deserts of Central Asia and the dry steppes of Kazakhstan, the population was very rare (less than 1 person per 1 sq. km).
According to the 1970 census, there were 469,300 rural settlements in the USSR (rural settlements predominated, in which the bulk of the population was engaged in agriculture); in 1970, the average population of 1 rural settlement was about 225 people. In general, 7.1% of the rural population lived in settlements with a population of 100 or less people, 49.1% - in settlements with 101 to 1000 inhabitants, 43.8% - over 1000 inhabitants. Rural settlement in the European part was characterized by an increase in the population of villages from north to south. Especially small rural settlements were in the north-west of the USSR (for example, in the Pskov region, 61% of the rural population lived in settlements with 100 or less inhabitants). The situation was different in the south of the European part: in the Odessa region. only 0.8% of the rural population lived in settlements with a population of 100 or less people, 85% of it was concentrated in settlements where the number of inhabitants exceeded 500 people. For the middle zone of the European part, for the Urals and Siberia, the predominance of medium-sized settlements was typical.

(Great Soviet Encyclopedia. (Third Edition). - Volume 24. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia", 1977. - P. 14-21.)

According to the statistical yearbook "The National Economy of the USSR for 1990". - Goskomstat, 1991.

Bibliography

1. Labutova T. Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. issue 34. pp. 007-011, Moscow 1990
2. Gozulov A. I., Censuses of the world population, M., 1970; Results of the All-Union Population Census of 1970, vols. 1-7, M., 1972-74
3. Kvasha A. Ya., Problems of economic and demographic development of the USSR, M., 1974
4. Kovalev S. A., Rural resettlement, M., 1963
5. Kozlov V. I., Dynamics of the number of peoples, M., 1969
6. Lappo G. M., Geography of cities with the basics of urban planning, M., 1969
7. Migration mobility of the population in the USSR, M., 1974
8. The national economy of the USSR in 1975. Stat. yearbook, M., 1976
9. Population of the countries of the world. Handbook, ed. B. D. Urlanis, M., 1974
10. Peoples of the European part of the USSR, [vol.] 1-2, M., 1964
11. Peoples of the Caucasus, [vol.] 1-2, M., 1960-62
12. Peoples of Siberia, M.-L., 1956
13. Peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, [vol.] 1-2, M., 1962-1963
14. The population of the globe. Country Handbook, ed. S. I. Brook, M., 1965
15. The population of the USSR. Handbook, ed. A. Ya. Boyarsky, M., 1974
16. Fundamentals of the theory of population, M., 1973
17. Pokshishevs k i y V. V., Geography of the population of the USSR. Economic and geographical essays, M., 1971
18. Semyonov-Tya n-Shansky V. P., City and Village in European Russia, St. Petersburg, 1910
19. Khorev B. S., Problems of cities, 2nd ed., M., 1975.
20. Essays on general ethnography. Asian part of the USSR, M., 1960;
21. Essays on general ethnography. European part of the USSR, M., 1968.

Determining the population

Demography is the science of the laws of population reproduction in their socio-historical conditionality. Demography studies the regularities of phenomena and processes that together form the process of population reproduction (birth rate, mortality, marriage rate), age and sex and marriage and family structures of the population, their dependence on living conditions, cultural characteristics, environmental factors, etc. On this basis, demography learns the laws (causes) of the level and dynamics of demographic processes, develops forecasts of the future size and composition of the population, as well as measures to manage demographic processes.

The population of the Russian Federation compared to the population of the USSR.

In the early 1990s, Russia entered a period of acute demographic crisis. The population of the former USSR at the time of its collapse was 290 million people, of which 149 million lived in the RSFSR. In 1986, the natural increase in the population amounted to 988 thousand people. Since mid-1991, the death rate in Russia has exceeded the birth rate for the first time in the last century. 1994 1 million 420 thousand were born Russians and 2 million 300 thousand died. As a percentage, these indicators were: the birth rate was 0.93%, the death rate was 1.5%, the difference between them was minus 0.57%. This is no longer a natural increase, but a "decline" of the population.

Natural growth has been preserved only in Dagestan, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Kalmykia, Tuva, Yakutia-Sokha, the Altai Republic, in the Tyumen region and in some northern autonomous regions.1

Under the influence of an unfavorable combination of demographic factors, the population of the country decreased from 148.3 million people in 1992 to 146.3 million people in 1998, or by 1.3 percent. A further decrease in the population occurred in 1999, when in just one year it decreased by 784.5 thousand people, or 0.5%. As of January 1, 2000, according to preliminary data, the population of Russia amounted to 145.5 million people.

A characteristic feature of the demographic situation in Russia in recent years has been a decrease in the country's population in most regions. Until 1990, natural population decline was observed in only 9 regions of the country, in 1991 the number of such regions increased to 29, in 1992 - up to 43. In 1998, processes of natural population decline were observed in 68 regions, where more than 105 million people (72% of the country's population). In 1999, the number of regions where natural population decline was recorded increased to 74. According to preliminary data, in 1999, population losses due to natural decline, both in absolute and relative terms (per 1,000 population) were the largest after 1992.

The most unfavorable indicators of natural population decline (1.5-2 times higher than the average Russian level) have developed in the regions of the North-West, the Central region, and most regions of the Central Black Earth region. All this testifies to the menacing rate of reduction in the number of, first of all, the indigenous, Russian population in Russia.

A decrease in the population in 1998 compared to 1997 was noted in 68 of the 89 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where more than 105 million people currently live (72% of the country's population). These are the territories of the Northern, Northwestern and Far Eastern regions, Central (except for Moscow), Volga-Vyatka (except for the Chuvash Republic), Central Black Earth (except for the Belgorod region), Volga region (except for the Republic of Tatarstan), East Siberian (except for the Republic of Tuva and Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug) districts, as well as the Republic of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkess and the Republic, Altai and Krasnodar Territories, Kemerovo, Kurgan, Omsk, Perm, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Tomsk Regions and Komi-Permyatsky Autonomous Okrug. Significant rates of decrease in the number of inhabitants were noted in the Chukotka (by 4.8%), Koryaksky (by 2.8%), Evenki (by 2.5%) autonomous districts, in the Magadan and Sakhalin regions and the Taimyr Autonomous District (by 2.3%). -1.9%), Murmansk, Kamchatka regions, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (by 1.6-1.5%) and the Chechen Republic

The population has increased in 21 regions of the country. In the Republics of Altai, Dagestan, Ingushetia, the Tyumen Region, and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, a noticeable increase in the number of inhabitants (by 1.4-0.5%) was ensured by both natural and migration growth.

Only due to the excess of births over the dead, there were more residents of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Republic of Tuva, the Yamalo-Nenets and Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrugs. In the Chuvash and Udmurt Republics, the Republics of Tatarstan, North Ossetia-Alania, Bashkortostan, the Stavropol Territory, Belgorod, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk Regions and Moscow, the increase in the population was ensured only by the influx of migrants.

In general, until recently, the natural decline in the population was largely compensated for by the migration increase in the population. After the collapse of the USSR, more than 880 thousand internally displaced persons and 80 thousand refugees moved to Russia. Of these, about 500 thousand arrived in Russia from the CIS countries. However, in all likelihood, this source has lost its role as a significant compensatory element in the short term. If in 1992-1995 the natural population decline due to migration was compensated by 70%, then in 1996-1998 - by 44%. And in 1999, compensation was only 15%.

Against the backdrop of population decline in Russia and in a number of other European countries, the continuous growth of the population in a number of countries in Asia and Africa is becoming an increasingly significant factor. On May 11, 2000, the birth of the billionth inhabitant of this country was registered in India. According to UN demographers, by 2051, 1.6 billion people will live in India. Thus, India could overtake China, which by then will have a population of 1.5 billion, according to forecasts.

According to E. Zhilinsky, an employee of the Institute of Social and Economic Population Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the current situation will inevitably lead to the migration of people from densely populated areas (Asia, Africa) to sparsely populated areas. He notes: “It is already being felt in Europe, where the indigenous population is rapidly declining. Demographic expansion will also affect Russia.”

In general, the general characteristics of the current demographic crisis in the Russian Federation can be formulated as follows.

The demographic crisis is largely predetermined by the severe consequences of social upheavals in the first half of the 20th century, as well as by the serious socio-economic losses of the transition period of the 1990s. The loss of a significant potential for demographic growth against the background of the supermortality of the Russian population led to a decline in the population and a deterioration in its age and sex structure. Deterioration of health and persistently high level of mortality of the population, especially in working age, low birth rates and life expectancy, especially among men, high infant mortality, an increase in general and age-sex morbidity against the background of aging and an absolute decline in the population, and at the same time a decrease in the level and quality of life pose a significant threat to Russia's national security.

Birth rate in Russia.

Birth rate, frequency of births in a certain population group: the number of live births per 1 thousand population in 1 year. Along with mortality, infant mortality and life expectancy, it is an important indicator of the natural movement of the population.

Since the second half of the 20th century, Russia has experienced a steady decline in the birth rate. Intra-family regulation of childbearing is becoming widespread, becoming an integral part of people's lifestyle and becoming the main factor determining the level of fertility. The beginning of this process falls on the post-war years and continues today, and since the beginning of the 90s, sharp shifts in the political and socio-economic life of the country have also influenced the birth rate.

The decline in the birth rate in the 1950s was largely facilitated by the abolition in 1955 of the ban on artificial termination of pregnancy. In the next decade, the dynamics of fertility rates reflected the continuation of the transition to a new type of reproductive behavior.

Since the end of the 60s in Russia, the model of a family with 2 children has become predominant. The birth rate has fallen to a level slightly lower than necessary to ensure simple reproduction of the population in the future (for simple reproduction of the population, the total birth rate should be 2.14 - 2.15). At the same time, the total fertility rate of the urban population was in the range of 1.7-1.9. In rural areas, the birth rate was higher: from 2.4 to 2.9 births per woman.

In general, over the years of the current decade (1991-1998), repeated births decreased by 1.9 times. At present, according to this indicator, Russia has taken a place among the countries of the world with the lowest birth rate.

On a national scale, as noted above, the birth rate has a clearly defined downward trend, which, in specific historical conditions and taking into account the strategic tasks facing Russia, cannot be regarded otherwise than as a negative phenomenon.

In the foreseeable future, it is difficult to count on a change in the reproductive behavior of Russians. In December 1992, according to a survey conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Russia, only 8% of childless spouses did not express their desire to have a child. According to the 1994 microcensus, almost a quarter (24%) of women aged 18-44 who did not have children at the time of the survey did not intend to have them. Among women of this age who have one or two children, 76% and 96%, respectively, did not plan subsequent births. Thus, in a short period of time, the reproductive plans of families have noticeably adjusted in the direction of reducing the number of children, although, of course, there are exceptions.

One of the negative phenomena of the emerging demographic situation is the ever-increasing number of births of children outside of a registered marriage. In 1998, unmarried women gave birth to 346,000 children (27 percent of the total number of births). The trend towards an increase in the number of children born out of a registered marriage has been observed since the mid-80s, but then the number of illegitimate children did not exceed 12-13% of the total number of births.

In the past few years, due to birth out of wedlock, about 300,000 single-parent families have arisen annually, children in which, from the first day of birth, are not only materially disadvantaged, but also defective in their psychological well-being. Given the current trend, we can assume a significant increase in the number of families that are initially incomplete, with all the ensuing economic and social consequences.

Mortality in Russia.

Mortality, a demographic indicator that characterizes the state of health of the population: the number of deaths per 1 thousand population in 1 year.

The mortality rate in the Russian Federation compared with the mortality rate in the USSR.

From 1965 to 1980 In Russia, there was a steady increase in the death rate of the adult population, especially men. At the same time, there was an extremely irregular trend in infant mortality, which can generally be characterized as a slow decline. In 1981-1984 the death rate stabilized, with male life expectancy averaging 61.8 years and women 73.2 years.

The anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR that began in 1985 led to an increase in life expectancy for both men and women, which in 1986-1997 was 65 years for men and 75 years for women.

Since 1988, the increase in the death rate has resumed, reaching its peak at the height of the "shock therapy". The transition to a market economy in the early 1990s further exacerbated the existing problems. The accumulation of unfavorable changes in public health over the past decades, combined with a sharp decline in the living standards of the majority of the population in the context of the unsatisfactory state of the social sphere and basic medicine, the unavailability of highly effective treatments for the majority of the population, environmental troubles and an increase in crime have exacerbated the situation with mortality in the country.

In 1994, compared with 1991, the mortality rate (the number of deaths per 1,000 population) increased 1.3 times - from 11.4 to 15.7. In the next four years (1995-1998), the mortality rate decreased somewhat, which, apparently, was associated with a certain socio-economic stabilization. However, the emerging positive changes turned out to be short-term, and after another sharp decline in the standard of living of the absolute majority of the population, caused by the consequences of the August crisis of 1998, its new noticeable growth followed (1998 - 13.6; 1999 - 14.7). Thus, in general, the 1990s were marked in Russia by the highest level of mortality since the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Analyzing the causes of this phenomenon, the head of the Laboratory for Systemic Health Research, Doctor of Medical Sciences I. Gundarov, expresses the following point of view: “The epidemic of supermortality in Russia in the 1990s is the result of spiritual values ​​that are historically and culturally alien to us. The Western type of thinking, in every possible way introduced into the consciousness of a Russian person, contradicts his moral and emotional genotype, and the extinction of a nation is a specific reaction of rejection to an alien spirituality.

At the same time, it should be noted that over the recent period, an increase in mortality has been noted for all major classes of causes.

Attention is drawn to the growth of pathologies, such as hypertension, the death rate from which has increased by 1.7 times in the last year alone. The mortality rate from tuberculosis has increased significantly - from 7.7 in 1989 to 20.0 per 100,000 people in 1999. The mortality rates of the population from diseases of the respiratory system, digestion, and neoplasms have increased.

As before, the most acute problem is the high level of premature mortality of the population. For 10 years it has increased by more than 100 thousand people of working age and is over 520 thousand people a year.

At the same time, the main causes of death of people of working age are unnatural causes - accidents, poisoning, injuries and suicides. The death rate of the working-age population from unnatural causes is the same as it was in Russia 100 years ago. It is almost 2.5 times higher than the corresponding indicators in developed countries and 1.5 times in developing countries. Thus, more than a third of all those who died at working age (202.0 thousand people, or 39%) in 1998 became victims of accidents, poisoning and injuries (including suicides and murders).

One of the leading places in the structure of mortality of the working-age population is occupied by diseases of the circulatory system - 114.1 thousand, or 28% of the dead. In connection with the increase in the number of deaths in ever younger age groups, there is a rejuvenation of the average age of death from these diseases. In men of working age, it is already below 50 years (49.5 years).

The high mortality rate of the able-bodied population from cardiovascular diseases, which exceeds that of the European Union by 4.5 times. Premature mortality of men has negative socio-demographic consequences - the number of potential suitors is decreasing, the number of single-parent families is growing. As of January 1, 1999, 1.8 million children were registered with the social protection authorities and were granted survivors' pensions.

This has created an unprecedented - more than 10 years - gap in life expectancy between men and women.

The life expectancy of Russian men in 1998 was 61.3 years, which is 13-15 years shorter than that of the male population of developed countries, and 72.9 years for women (shorter by 5-8 years). If the current age-sex and age-sex mortality rate persists in the future, of today's young men who have reached the age of 16, 40% will not live to be 60 years old.

According to official sources of information, the population of the USSR was constantly increasing, the birth rate was growing, and the death rate was falling. Such a demographic paradise in a single country. But, in fact, everything was not so simple.

Population censuses in the USSR and initial demographic data

In Soviet times, seven all-Union censuses were conducted, covering the entire population of the state. The 1939 census is “superfluous”, it was carried out instead of the 1937 census, the results of which were found to be incorrect, since only the actual population was taken into account (the number of people who are in a particular settlement on the day of registration). On average, a census of the population of the republics of the Soviet Union was carried out every ten years.

According to the general census conducted back in 1897 in the then Russian Empire, the population was 129.2 million people. Only men, representatives of taxable estates were taken into account, so the number of persons of non-taxable classes and females is unknown. Moreover, a certain number of people of the taxable estates took refuge in order to avoid the census, so the data are underestimated.

Population census of the Soviet Union in 1926

In the USSR, the population was first determined in 1926. Prior to this, there was no well-established system of state demographic statistics in Russia at all. Some information, of course, was collected and processed, but not everywhere, and bit by bit. The 1926 census was one of the best in the USSR. All data was openly published, analyzed, forecasts were developed, and research was carried out.

The reported population of the USSR for 1926 was 147 million. The majority were rural residents (120.7 million). About 18% of citizens, or 26.3 million people, lived in cities. Illiteracy was over 56% among people aged 9-49. There were less than one million unemployed people. For comparison: in modern Russia with a population of 144 million people (of which 77 million are economically active), 4 million are officially unemployed, and almost 19.5 million have no official employment.

The majority of the population of the USSR (by years and statistics, demographic processes can be observed, some of which will be described in detail later) were Russians - almost 77.8 million people. Further: Ukrainians - 29.2 million, Belarusians - 47.4 million, Georgians - 18.2 million, Armenians - 15.7 million. There were also Turks, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Tatars, Chuvashs, Bashkirs in the USSR, Yakuts, Tajiks, Ossetians and representatives of many other nationalities. In a word, a truly multinational state.

Dynamics of the population of the USSR by years

We can say that the total population of the Union grew from year to year. There was a positive trend, which, according to statistics, was overshadowed only by the Second World War. So, the population of the USSR in 1941 was 194 million people, and in 1950 - 179 million. But is everything really so rosy? In fact, demographic information (including the population of the USSR in 1941 and previous years) was classified, it even came to falsification. As a result, in 1952, after the death of the leader, demographic statistics and demographics were literally a scorched desert.

But more on that later. For now, let's observe general demographic trends in the Land of the Soviets. Here is how the population of the USSR changed over the years:

1. 1926 - 147 million people.
2. 1937 - the census was declared "wrecking", the results were confiscated and classified, and the workers who carried out the registration were arrested.
3. 1939 - 170.6 million
4. 1959 - 208.8 million
5. 1970 - 241.7 million
6. 1979 - 262.4 million
7. 1989 - 286.7 million

This information is unlikely to make it possible to determine demographic processes, but there are intermediate results, studies, and accounting data. In any case, the population of the USSR by years is an interesting field for research.

Classification of demographic data since the early 30s

Classification of demographic information has been going on since the early thirties. Demographic institutions were liquidated, publications disappeared, and demographers themselves were repressed. In those years, even the total population of the USSR was not known. 1926 was the last year in which statistics were collected more or less clearly. The results of 1937 did not suit the leadership of the country, but the results of 1939, apparently, turned out to be more favorable. Only six years after Stalin's death and 20 years after the 1926 census, a new count was carried out, according to these data, one can judge the results of Stalin's rule.

The decline in the birth rate in the USSR under Stalin and the ban on abortion

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia had a really high birth rate, but by the mid-1920s it had declined very significantly. The rate of decline in the birth rate accelerated even more after 1929. The maximum depth of the fall was reached in 1934. To normalize the figures, Stalin banned abortion. The years following this were marked by some rise in the birth rate, but insignificant and short-lived. Then - war and a new fall.

According to official estimates, the population of the USSR grew over the years due to a drop in mortality and an increase in the birth rate. With the birth rate, it is already clear that everything was completely different. But as for mortality, by 1935 it had decreased by 44% compared with 1913. But many years had to pass for the researchers to get to the real data. In fact, the death rate in 1930 was not declared 16 ppm, but about 21.

The main causes of demographic disasters

Modern researchers identify several demographic disasters that overtook the USSR. Of course, one of them was the Second World War, in which the losses, according to Stalin, amounted to "about seven million." Now it is believed that about 27 million died in battles and battles, and this amounted to about 14% of the population. Other demographic catastrophes were political repression and famine.

Some events of demographic policy in the USSR

In 1956, abortion was again allowed, in 1969 a new family code was adopted, and in 1981 new child care benefits were established. in the country from 1985 to 1987. an anti-alcohol campaign was carried out, which somewhat contributed to the improvement of the situation with the population. But in the nineties, due to the deepest economic crisis, any actions in the field of demography were practically not taken at all. The population of the USSR in 1991 was 290 million people.

Demographic changes are not good for the Russian language

The 20th century was the period of the widest dissemination of the Russian language. In 1915, it was owned by an estimated 140 million people in the world, mostly subjects of the Russian Empire, the total population of which (together with Poland and Finland) was 182 million people on January 1, 1915. In terms of the number of its subjects, Russia ranked first in the world among the so-called. civilized countries, and the Russian language at that moment in history, in terms of its prevalence, was on the same level as English and, perhaps, even somewhat ahead of it.

By the last decade of the 20th century (by 1990), the number of those who spoke Russian reached its highest figure - 312 million people (Table 1). This was facilitated primarily by the socio-economic and scientific-technical achievements of the Soviet Union. The Russian language was one of the world's leading languages ​​used in all major international organizations. So, after the Second World War, it became one of the working languages ​​of the UN (along with English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and French), the official or working language in other international organizations.

Table 1. Change in the share of those who speak Russian in the total population of the Earth in 1900-2050 (estimation and forecast)

years	global	Population of the Russian Empire, USSR, RF, million people		Number of those who spoke Russian, million people	Share in the global population, %

The collapse of the USSR and Russia's loss of its former economic, technological and geopolitical influence in the world also affected the position of the Russian language. Not only the absolute number of those who spoke Russian, but also their share in the total population of the Earth, became more and more noticeable and steadily declining.

If in 1990 the USSR, where the Russian language was the state language and compulsory for learning, ranked third in the world in terms of its population (290 million people) (and the RSFSR, which was part of it, if taken separately, was in sixth place), then as of December 2011 The Russian Federation, according to the estimates of the Census Bureau (USA), was in 9th place (Table 2).

Table 2. Largest countries in the world by population in 1990 and 2011

1990			2011
Countries	Population, million people	Share in the global population, %	Countries	Population, million people	Share in the global population, %
3. USSR (RSFSR)
			4. Indonesia
5. Indonesia			5. Brazil
6. Brazil			6. Pakistan
			7. Nigeria
8. Pakistan			8. Bangladesh
9. Bangladesh
10. Nigeria			10. Japan
Other countries			Other countries
All countries of the world			All countries of the world

Over the past two decades, the population of Russia has declined markedly, and the absolute number of Russians in the Russian Federation has been steadily decreasing. According to the data of the all-Russian population census held in 2010, the number of those who indicated their nationality as Russians amounted to 111.02 million, which is almost 5 million less than during the previous 2002 census, and 9 million less than during the 1989 census years in the RSFSR (119.9 million).

Most noticeably, the number of ethnic Russians as the main bearers of the Russian language and culture has decreased over the past 20 years in the former Soviet republics of the USSR - almost twice (from 25.3 million in 1989 to 14.9 million in 2010). The reasons for this reduction are not only natural decline and migration, but also a change in national identity due to the need for self-realization in a new ethno-cultural environment. The most significant (in absolute terms) this reduction was in Ukraine (from 11.4 million people in 1989 to 7.4 million in 2010), Kazakhstan (from 6.2 to 3.8 million people) and Uzbekistan (from 1. 7 to 0.7 million). The number of Russians in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkmenistan has decreased three times, in Armenia by 5 times, in Tajikistan by 10 times. In non-CIS countries, the number of ethnic Russians is estimated at 3.2 million, including about one million in the United States (during the 2000 national census, 730,000 Americans declared Russian as their mother tongue), over 350,000 in Germany (the vast majority the majority of emigrants from Russia and the USSR to this country are people of German nationality), etc. The total number of Russians in the world at present is 129 million people, over 4/5 of which live in Russia (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Distribution of Russians by nationality in the world in 2010, in %

Over the past 20 years, the number of those for whom Russian is their native language has significantly decreased: from 164.6 million people (1990) to 146.9 million (2010), i.e. by almost 18 million people, including in the Russian Federation itself - by 7.5 million people. Of course, this happened differently in Russia itself, in other former republics of the USSR and in the countries of the "far abroad" (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. The number of Russians by nationality, the number of those who consider Russian as their native language, and the number of those who spoke Russian in 1990 and 2010 in the world, million people

The total number of people who spoke Russian in the world in 2010 was about 260 million people. This is 52 million less than in 1990 and 18 million less than in 2004. Moreover, over the last period (from 2004 to 2010), the number of those who spoke Russian decreased the most in the CIS countries (by 9.2 million people in total, and primarily in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and in Eastern European and Balkan countries ( by 5.4 million people, primarily in Poland, Bulgaria and the republics of the former Yugoslavia) (Fig. 3). The number of those who speak Russian in Asian countries also decreased (by more than half a million people, mainly due to a decrease in interest in Russian in Mongolia, Japan, Korea), but at the same time this figure remained almost unchanged for Western Europe and North America, mainly due to the ongoing emigration to these countries of Russian speakers from Russia and other former Soviet republics. It is expected that by 2015 the number of those who speak Russian (as a mother tongue or as a second language, or who know Russian well as a foreign language) will decrease by almost 17 million people. (Table 3).

Figure 3. Russian speakers in various countries / regions of the world in 1990–2010, million

Table 3. Russian speakers in various countries / regions of the world in 1990–2015, million people (estimate and forecast)

Countries / regions of the world	1990	2004	2010	2015
Other former republics of the USSR
Eastern Europe and the Balkans
Western Europe
Middle East and North Africa
Africa south of the Sahara
Latin America
USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

The current distribution of Russian-speakers and Russians by nationality in each of the former Soviet republics is presented in Table. 4. The leaders in absolute terms are Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Table 4. Those who speak Russian in the post-Soviet space outside of Russia (2009-2012), thousand people

	All insects leniya	Russians by nationality news	Russian native language	Total moisture deyut rus- skim language	Degree of ownership
					Vla- are active	Own pass- sively	Do not wet children
Belarus
Moldova
Transnistria
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Azerbaijan
South Ossetia

In far-abroad countries, the leading countries in terms of the number of residents who speak Russian are today Poland, Germany, and the United States (Table 5).

Table 5. Non-CIS countries with the largest number of people who spoke Russian in 2010

Countries	Number of those who spoke Russian, thousand people	Total population, thousand people	Share of those who knew Russian in the total population, in %
2. Germany
4. Bulgaria
7. Slovakia
8. Mongolia
9. Israel

As mentioned above, in terms of prevalence (in terms of the total number of those who speak it as a native, second or foreign language), Russian, which ranked 4th in the world in 1990 (after Chinese, English and Spanish), has now moved to 6th. place. It is outpaced by English (with an estimated 1.5 billion fluent speakers), Chinese (1.4 billion, including speakers of dialects other than standard Putonghua), Hindi/Urdu (over 600 million, including regional dialects) , Spanish (500 million people), Arabic (350 million people). Until 2020, Russian will be ahead in terms of prevalence (“moving” to 8th place) and languages ​​​​such as Bengali and Portuguese (currently they are fluent in about 250 million people each), gradually “catching up” with the leading group of world languages ​​​​and French ( 220 million people who were fluent in it in 2010), and in the next decade, Russian may even “fall out” of the top ten world languages.

According to such a key (and more specific) indicator as the number of those for whom a particular language is native, Russian, according to foreign experts, is currently in 8th place in the world (Fig. 4).

Figure 4. Number of native speakers, million people, 2009 In brackets - the number of countries in which the language is in circulation

Compiled by: Ethnologue: Languages ​​of the World. sixteenth edition. Dallas, 2009. Online version: http://www.ethnologique.com/

In most of the former Soviet republics, the Russian language has lost its dominant status. Now it is proclaimed state, in addition to Russia, only in Belarus (together with Belarusian). Russian is recognized as the official language (used along with the state language in various institutions) in Abkhazia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Transnistria and South Ossetia, the language of interethnic communication - in Moldova, Ukraine (in practice it was the language of a national minority, currently in a number of eastern regions recognized as a regional language), Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan (in the last two countries, Russian is actually a foreign language). Russian is a foreign language in all the Baltic countries, as well as in Azerbaijan and Armenia (in fact). Of the far abroad countries, Russian has the status of a regional or national minority language in Poland, Romania, Croatia and Finland.