Russian diaspora

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Russian diaspora refers to the global community of ethnic Russians. The largest number of Russians outside Russia itself can be found in former republics of the Soviet Union; sizeable Russian-speaking populations also exist in the USA, in the European Union and in Israel. According to Russian government data, there are almost ten million Russians in Central Asian countries (over half of them in Kazakhstan see Russians in Kazakhstan), 11 million in Ukraine, about one million in the independent republics of the Caucasus, 1.3 million in Belarus, half a million in Moldova, and a million and a half in the three Baltic states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union (800,000 in Latvia, 430,000 in Estonia and 340,000 in Lithuania). The rest of the European Union is home to roughly 200,000 Russian speakers; as many as 850,000 live in the USA. Many Russians also live in Brazil (70,000), Canada (60,000), and Argentina (50,000), as well as Australia and New Zealand (20,000).

Contents 1 Terminology 2 History 3 By region 3.1 Former USSR 3.2 Other 4 References

[edit] Terminology

The term Russian diaspora refers to the global community of ethnic Russians, usually more specifically those who maintain some kind of connection, even if ephemeral, to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Russian national identity within a local community.

The term "Russian speaking or Russophone diaspora" (русскоговорящая диаспора) is used primarily to describe non-Russians who were citizens of the USSR or Russian Federation and for whom Russian is a first language (i.e. Jews, Tartars). An alternate, more traditional term to collectively refer to this group is Rossiyane (россияне).

[edit] History

A sizable wave of ethnic Russians emigrated during a short time period in the wake of the October Revolution and Civil War, known collectively as the White emigres. A smaller wave of Russians (often referred to by Russians as the second emigration or second wave) had also left during World War II, many were refugees, eastern workers, or surviving veterans of the Russian Liberation Army and other anti-communist armed units who evaded forced repatriation. In the immediate post-World War II period, the largest Russian communities in the emigration were to be found in Germany, Canada, the USA, United Kingdom and Australia.

During the Soviet period, ethnic Russians migrated throughout the area of former Russian Empire and Soviet Union, sometimes encouraged to re-settle in borderlands by Tsarist and later Soviet government. On some occasions ethnic Russian communities such as Lipovans who settled in Danube delta or Doukhobors in Canada immigrated as religious dissidents fleeing the central authority.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, significant emigration of citizens of the Russian Federation to various parts of the world has taken place. Israel and Germany have received the largest shares of Russian speaking immigrants in the nineties, because of incentives institutionalized by the governments of both countries.

[edit] By region

Ukraine: 8,334,000 (2001 census)[1] Kazakhstan: 4,480,000 (1999 census)[2] Belarus: 1,142,000 (1999)[3] USA: 750,000 (2000)[4] Latvia: 685,000 (2002)[5] Uzbekistan: 620,000 (2005)[6] Kyrgyzstan: 604,000 (1999)[7] Estonia: 345,000 (2006)[8]

Brazil: 500,000 (2006)[9] Lithuania: 220,000 (2001)[10] Moldova: 202,000 (2004)[11] Germany: 178,600 (2003)[12] Canada: 158,850[13] Azerbaijan: 144,000[14] Turkmenistan: 142,000[15] France: 115,000[citation needed]

United Kingdom: 100-200,000[citation needed] Tajikistan: 69,000 (2000)[16] Georgia: 67,671 (2002 census)[17] Australia: 60,200[18] Romania: 30,000[19] Finland: 20,000[20] Bulgaria: 15,595 (2001 census)[21] China: 15,600 (2000 census)[22] Armenia: 14,660 (2002 census)[23]

• Israel: 1,000,000

[edit] Former USSR

Today largest ethnic Russian diasporas outside of Russia live in former Soviet states such as Ukraine (about 8 million), Kazakhstan (about 4.5 million), Belarus (about 1.2 million), Latvia (about 700,000), Uzbekistan (about 650, 000) and Kyrgyzstan (about 600,000). There are also small Russian communities in the Balkans, Eastern and Central European nations such as Germany, as well as in China and Latin America. These communities may identify themselves either as Russians or citizens of these countries, or both, to varying degrees.

The governments and the majority public opinion in Estonia and Latvia, which has the largest share of ethnic Russians among the Baltic countries, hold the view that many of the ethnic Russians arrived in these countries as part of a Soviet-era colonization and deliberate Russification by changing the countries' ethnic balance. Among the many Russians who arrived during the Soviet era most came there for economic reasons, or in some cases, because they were ordered to move.

People who had arrived in Latvia and Estonia during the Soviet era, mostly Russians, were only provided with an option to acquire naturalised citizenship which required passing a test demonstrating knowledge of the national language as well as knowledge of the country's history and customs. The language issue is still contentious, particularly in Latvia, where ethnic Russians have protested against plans to educate them in the national language instead of Russian. Since 1992, Estonia has naturalized some 137,000 residents of undefined citizenship. 118,800 person (mainly ethnic Russians) or 8.7 per cent of the total population, are of undetermined citizenship.

Both the European Union and the Council of Europe, as well as the Russian government, expressed their concern during the 1990s about minority rights in several countries, most notably Latvia. In Moldova, the Russian-dominated Transnistria region broke away from government control amid fears the country would soon reunite with Romania. In June of 2006 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plan to introduce national policy aiming at encouraging ethnic Russian immigration to Russia. ^[24]

In Estonia, Nochnoy Dozor ^[25] is a political pressure group made up mainly of Russians living in Estonia. The group was set up in the summer of 2006 to rally against the removal of the monument to the Soviet Liberator Warrior from the heart of the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

[edit] Other

A significant amount of Russian Jews were permitted to emigrate from the Soviet Union beginning with the late 1960s to Israel, sometimes referred to as the third wave (Russian: третья волна). Many of them began arriving from Israel to the United States where they formed several Russian speaking enclaves, such as the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn in New York City. 700,000 Russian Jews moved to Israel during the period immediately preceding and following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russians (eluosizu) are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China (as the Russ), and there are approximately 15,600 Russian Chinese living mostly in northern Xinjiang, and also in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang. See also Harbin Russians and China Far East Railway.

There are also smaller numbers of Russians in Japan.

[edit] References