| Demographics of Russia | |
|---|---|
Population (in millions) 1950 – January 2010.[1] |
|
| Population: | 142,946,800 (2010 Russian Census)[2] |
| Growth rate: | -0.06% (2010) |
| Birth rate: | 12.5 births/1,000 population (2010) |
| Death rate: | 14.2 deaths/1,000 population (2010) |
| Life expectancy: | 68.98 years (2010) |
| –male: | 63.03 years |
| –female: | 74.87 years |
| Fertility rate: | 1.54 children born/woman (2009) |
| Infant mortality rate: | 7.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2010) |
| Net migration rate: | 1.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010) |
| Age structure: | |
| 0-14 years: | 14.9% |
| 15-64 years: | 71.8% |
| 65-over: | 13.3% (2009) |
| Sex ratio: | |
| Total: | 0.86 male(s)/female (2009) |
| At birth: | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| Under 15: | 1.05 male(s)/female (male 10,806,895/female 10,285,532) |
| 15-64 years: | 0.92 male(s)/female (male 48,864,763/female 53,048,315) |
| 65-over: | 0.46 male(s)/female (male 5,969,976/female 12,928,498) |
| Nationality: | |
| Nationality: | noun: Russian(s) adjective: Russian |
| Major ethnic: | Russians |
| Language: | |
| Spoken: | Russian, others |
The demographics of Russia is about the demographic features of the population of the Russian Federation, including population growth, population density, ethnic composition, education level, health, economic status, and other aspects of the population.
The population of Russia was 142,946,800 as per the results of the 2010 Census.[3] The population hit a historic peak at 148,689,000 in 1991, just before the breakup of the Soviet Union, but then began a decade-long decline, falling at a rate of about 0.5% per year due to declining birth rates and rising death rates. However, the decline began to slow considerably in recent years, and in 2009 Russia recorded annual population growth for the first time in 15 years, with growth of 23,300.[4][5]
According to the 2010 census, ethnic Russians make up 81% of the total population,[2][6] while six other ethnicities have a population exceeding 1 million – Tatars (3.9%), Ukrainians (1.4%), Bashkir (1.1%), Chuvash (1%), Chechens (1%) and Armenians (0.9%). In total, 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples live within the Russian federation's borders.
It is important to note that in the 2010 Census, almost 6 million people (about 4% of the overall population.) did not declare any ethnic origin, compared to about 1 million in the 2002 Census. This is due to the fact that those people were counted from administrative databases and not directly, and were therefore unable to state their ethnicity.[2][6][7] Therefore, the percentages mentioned above are taken from the total population that declared their ethnicity, given that the non-declared remainder is thought to have an ethnic composition similar to the declared segment.[8]
Russia's population density is 8.4 people per square kilometre (22 per square mile), making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. The population is most dense in the European part of the country, centering around Moscow and Saint Petersburg. 74% of the population is urban.
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The population of Russia peaked at 148,689,000 in 1991, just before the breakup of the Soviet Union. Low birth rates and abnormally high death rates caused Russia's population to decline at a 0.5% annual rate, or about 750,000 to 800,000 people per year from the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s. The UN warned in 2005 that Russia's then population of about 143 million could fall by a third by 2050 if trends did not improve.[11][12] However, the Russian state statistics service Rosstat had more optimistic forecasts in 2009, whose Medium variant predicted that Russia's population would only fall to 139 million by 2030[13] (Low: 127 million; High: 147 million). Furthermore, in 2008 one demographic analyst (correctly) predicted a resumption in population growth by 2010.[14]
The number of Russians living in poverty has halved since the economic crisis following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and the improving economy had a positive impact on the country's low birth rate. The birth rate of Russia rose from its lowest point of 8.27 births per 1000 people in 1999 to 12.6 per 1000 in 2010. Likewise, the fertility rate rose from its lowest point of 1.16 in 1999 to 1.54 in 2009. 2007 marked the highest growth in birth rates that the country had seen in 25 years, and 2009 marked the highest total birth rate since 1991.[15] For comparison, the United States[16] birth rate in 2009 was 13.8 per 1000 . While the Russian birth rate is comparable to that of other developed countries, its death rate is much higher, especially among working-age males due to a comparatively high rate of fatalities caused by heart disease and other external causes such as accidents. The Russian death rate in 2010 was 14.3 per 1000 citizens. For comparison, the US[16] death rate in 2009 was 8.4 per 1000 .
The causes for this sharp increase in mortality are widely debated, with some academics citing alcohol abuse as the main culprit,[17] and others citing the drastic and widely negative changes in lifestyle caused by economic reforms that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union. According to a 2009 report by The Lancet,[18] a British medical journal, mass privatization, an element of the economic-reform package nicknamed shock therapy, clearly correlates with higher mortality rates. The report argues that the advocates of the economic reforms ignored the human cost of the policies they were promoting, such as unemployment and human suffering, leading to an early death. These conclusions were criticized by The Economist.[19] According to the Russian demographic publication Demoscope,[20] the rising male death rate was a long-term trend from 1960 to 2005. The only significant reversion of the trend was caused by Mikhail Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign, but its effect was only temporary. According to the publication, the sharp rise of death rates in the early 1990s was caused by the exhaustion of the effect of the anti-alcohol campaign, while the market reforms were of only secondary importance. The authors also claimed the Lancet's study is flawed because it used 1985 death rate as the base, while that was in fact the very maximum of the effect of the anti-alcohol campaign.[20]
Government measures to halt the demographic crisis was a key subject of Vladimir Putin's 2006 state of the nation address.[21] As a result, a national programme was developed with the goal to reverse the trend by 2020. Soon after, a study published in 2007 showed that the rate of population decrease had begun to slow: if the net decrease in January–August 2006 was 408,200 people, it was 196,600 in the same period in 2007. The death rate accounted for 357,000 of these, which is 137,000 less than in 2006. At the same time period in 2007, there were just over 1 million births in Russia (981,600 in 2006), whilst deaths decreased from 1,475,000 to 1,402,300. In all, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 1.3 times, down from 1.5 in 2006. Eighteen of the 83 provinces showed a natural growth of population (in 2006: 16). The Russian Ministry of Economic Development expressed hope that by 2020 the population would stabilize at 138–139 million, and by 2025, to increase again to its present day status of 143–145, also raising the life expectancy to 75 years.[22]
The natural population decline continued to slow through 2008—2010 due to declining death rates and increasing birth rates, and in 2009 the population saw yearly growth for the first time in 15 years.[4][5] In September 2009, the Ministry of Health and Social Development reported that Russia recorded natural population growth for the first time in 15 years, with 1,000 more births than deaths in August.[23] In April 2011 the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged to spend the 1.5 trillion rubles (£32.5 billion or $54 billion) on various measures to boost Russia's declining birthrate by 30 per cent in the next four years.[24]
total: 38.8 years
male: 36.1 years
female: 41.1 years (2009)[26]
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.46 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2009)[26]
No exact vital statistics for Russia are available for the period before WW II. Andreev[27] made the following estimates:
| Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1,000) | Crude death rate (per 1,000) | Natural change (per 1,000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1927 | 94,596,000 | 4,688,000 | 2,705,000 | 1,983,000 | 49.6 | 28.6 | 21.0 |
| 1928 | 96,654,000 | 4,723,000 | 2,589,000 | 2,134,000 | 48.9 | 26.8 | 22.1 |
| 1929 | 98,644,000 | 4,633,000 | 2,819,000 | 1,814,000 | 47.0 | 28.6 | 18.4 |
| 1930 | 100,419,000 | 4,413,000 | 2,738,000 | 1,675,000 | 43.9 | 27.3 | 16.7 |
| 1931 | 101,948,000 | 4,412,000 | 3,090,000 | 1,322,000 | 43.3 | 30.3 | 13.0 |
| 1932 | 103,136,000 | 4,058,000 | 3,077,000 | 981,000 | 39.3 | 29.8 | 9.5 |
| 1933 | 102,706,000 | 3,313,000 | 5,239,000 | -1,926,000 | 32.3 | 51.0 | -18.8 |
| 1934 | 101,922,000 | 2,923,000 | 2,659,000 | 264,000 | 28.7 | 26.1 | 2.6 |
| 1935 | 102,684,000 | 3,577,000 | 2,421,000 | 1,156,000 | 34.8 | 23.6 | 11.3 |
| 1936 | 103,904,000 | 3,899,000 | 2,719,000 | 1,180,000 | 37.5 | 26.2 | 11.4 |
| 1937 | 105,358,000 | 4,377,000 | 2,760,000 | 1,617,000 | 41.5 | 26.2 | 15.3 |
| 1938 | 107,044,000 | 4,379,000 | 2,739,000 | 1,640,000 | 40.9 | 25.6 | 15.3 |
| 1939 | 108,785,000 | 4,329,000 | 2,600,000 | 1,729,000 | 39.8 | 23.9 | 15.9 |
| 1940 | 110,333,000 | 3,814,000 | 2,561,000 | 1,253,000 | 34.6 | 23.2 | 11.4 |
| Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1,000) | Crude death rate (per 1,000) | Natural change (per 1,000) | Fertility rates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 98,028,000 | 2,546,000 | 1,210,000 | 1,336,000 | 26.0 | 12.3 | 13.6 | |
| 1947 | 98,834,000 | 2,715,000 | 1,680,000 | 1,035,000 | 27.5 | 17.0 | 10.5 | |
| 1948 | 99,706,000 | 2,516,000 | 1,310,000 | 1,206,000 | 25.2 | 13.1 | 12.1 | |
| 1949 | 101,160,000 | 3,089,000 | 1,187,000 | 1,902,000 | 30.5 | 11.7 | 18.8 | |
| 1950 | 102,833,000 | 2,859,000 | 1,180,000 | 1,719,000 | 27.8 | 11.5 | 16.7 | |
| 1951 | 104,439,000 | 2,938,000 | 1,210,000 | 1,779,000 | 28.1 | 11.6 | 17.0 | |
| 1952 | 106,164,000 | 2,928,000 | 1,138,000 | 1,807,000 | 27.6 | 10.7 | 17.0 | |
| 1953 | 107,828,000 | 2,822,000 | 1,118,000 | 1,696,000 | 26.2 | 10.4 | 15.7 | |
| 1954 | 109,643,000 | 3,048,000 | 1,133,000 | 1,932,000 | 27.8 | 10.3 | 17.6 | |
| 1955 | 111,572,000 | 2,942,000 | 1,037,000 | 1,921,000 | 26.4 | 9.3 | 17.2 | |
| 1956 | 113,327,000 | 2,827,000 | 956,000 | 1,906,000 | 24.9 | 8.4 | 16.8 | |
| 1957 | 115,035,000 | 2,880,000 | 1,017,000 | 1,916,000 | 25.0 | 8.8 | 16.7 | |
| 1958 | 116,749,000 | 2,861,000 | 931,000 | 1,982,000 | 24.5 | 8.0 | 17.0 | |
| 1959 | 118,307,000 | 2,796,228 | 920,225 | 1,876,003 | 23.6 | 7.8 | 15.9 | 2,58 |
| 1960 | 119,906,000 | 2,782,353 | 886,090 | 1,896,263 | 23.2 | 7.4 | 15.8 | 2,56 |
| 1961 | 121,586,000 | 2,662,135 | 901,637 | 1,760,498 | 21.9 | 7.4 | 14.5 | 2,47 |
| 1962 | 123,128,000 | 2,482,539 | 949,648 | 1,532,891 | 20.2 | 7.7 | 12.4 | 2,36 |
| 1963 | 124,514,000 | 2,331,505 | 932,055 | 1,399,450 | 18.7 | 7.5 | 11.2 | 2,30 |
| 1964 | 125,744,000 | 2,121,994 | 901,751 | 1,220,243 | 16.9 | 7.2 | 9.7 | 2,18 |
| 1965 | 126,749,000 | 1,990,520 | 958,789 | 1,031,731 | 15.7 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 2,11 |
| 1966 | 127,608,000 | 1,957,763 | 974,299 | 983,464 | 15.3 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 2,12 |
| 1967 | 128,361,000 | 1,851,041 | 1,017,034 | 834,007 | 14.4 | 7.9 | 6.5 | 2,03 |
| 1968 | 129,037,000 | 1,816,509 | 1,040,096 | 776,413 | 14.1 | 8.1 | 6.0 | 1,98 |
| 1969 | 129,660,000 | 1,847,592 | 1,106,640 | 740,952 | 14.2 | 8.5 | 5.7 | 1,99 |
| 1970 | 130,252,000 | 1,903,713 | 1,131,183 | 772,530 | 14.6 | 8.7 | 5.9 | 2,00 |
| 1971 | 130,934,000 | 1,974,637 | 1,143,359 | 831,278 | 15.1 | 8.7 | 6.3 | 2,02 |
| 1972 | 131,687,000 | 2,014,638 | 1,181,802 | 832,836 | 15.3 | 9.0 | 6.3 | 2,03 |
| 1973 | 132,434,000 | 1,994,621 | 1,214,204 | 780,417 | 15.1 | 9.2 | 5.9 | 1,96 |
| 1974 | 133,217,000 | 2,079,812 | 1,222,495 | 857,317 | 15.6 | 9.2 | 6.4 | 2,00 |
| 1975 | 134,092,000 | 2,106,147 | 1,309,710 | 796,437 | 15.7 | 9.8 | 5.9 | 1,97 |
| 1976 | 135,026,000 | 2,146,711 | 1,352,950 | 793,761 | 15.9 | 10.0 | 5.9 | 1,96 |
| 1977 | 135,979,000 | 2,156,724 | 1,387,986 | 768,738 | 15.9 | 10.2 | 5.7 | 1,92 |
| 1978 | 136,922,000 | 2,179,030 | 1,417,377 | 761,653 | 15.9 | 10.4 | 5.6 | 1,90 |
| 1979 | 137,758,000 | 2,178,542 | 1,490,057 | 688,485 | 15.8 | 10.8 | 5.0 | 1,87 |
| 1980 | 138,483,000 | 2,202,779 | 1,525,755 | 677,024 | 15.9 | 11.0 | 4.9 | 1,87 |
| 1981 | 139,221,000 | 2,236,608 | 1,524,286 | 712,322 | 16.1 | 10.9 | 5.1 | 1,88 |
| 1982 | 140,067,000 | 2,328,044 | 1,504,200 | 823,844 | 16.6 | 10.7 | 5.9 | 1,96 |
| 1983 | 141,056,000 | 2,478,322 | 1,563,995 | 914,327 | 17.6 | 11.1 | 6.5 | 2,11 |
| 1984 | 142,061,000 | 2,409,614 | 1,650,866 | 758,748 | 17.0 | 11.6 | 5.3 | 2,06 |
| 1985 | 143,033,000 | 2,375,147 | 1,625,266 | 749,881 | 16.6 | 11.4 | 5.2 | 2,05 |
| 1986 | 144,156,000 | 2,485,915 | 1,497,975 | 987,940 | 17.2 | 10.4 | 6.9 | 2,18 |
| 1987 | 145,386,000 | 2,499,974 | 1,531,585 | 968,389 | 17.2 | 10.5 | 6.7 | 2,23 |
| 1988 | 146,505,000 | 2,348,494 | 1,569,112 | 779,382 | 16.0 | 10.7 | 5.3 | 2,14 |
| 1989 | 147,342,000 | 2,160,559 | 1,583,743 | 576,816 | 14.7 | 10.7 | 3.9 | 2,03 |
| 1990 | 147,969,000 | 1,988,858 | 1,655,993 | 332,865 | 13.4 | 11.2 | 2.3 | 1,91 |
| 1991 | 148,394,000 | 1,794,626 | 1,690,657 | 103,969 | 12.1 | 11.4 | 0.7 | 1,74 |
| 1992 | 148,538,000 | 1,587,644 | 1,807,441 | -219,797 | 10.7 | 12.2 | -1.5 | 1,56 |
| 1993 | 148,459,000 | 1,378,983 | 2,129,339 | -750,356 | 9.3 | 14.3 | -5.1 | 1,39 |
| 1994 | 148,408,000 | 1,408,159 | 2,301,366 | -893,207 | 9.5 | 15.5 | -6.0 | 1,40 |
| 1995 | 148,376,000 | 1,363,806 | 2,203,811 | -840,005 | 9.2 | 14.9 | -5.7 | 1,34 |
| 1996 | 148,160,000 | 1,304,638 | 2,082,249 | -777,611 | 8.8 | 14.1 | -5.2 | 1,28 |
| 1997 | 147,915,000 | 1,259,943 | 2,015,779 | -755,836 | 8.5 | 13.6 | -5.1 | 1,23 |
| 1998 | 147,671,000 | 1,283,292 | 1,988,744 | -705,452 | 8.7 | 13.5 | -4.8 | 1,24 |
| 1999 | 147,215,000 | 1,214,689 | 2,144,316 | -929,627 | 8.3 | 14.6 | -6.3 | 1,16 |
| 2000 | 146,597,000 | 1,266,800 | 2,225,332 | -958,532 | 8.6 | 15.2 | -6.5 | 1,21 |
| 2001 | 145,976,000 | 1,311,604 | 2,254,856 | -943,252 | 9.0 | 15.4 | -6.5 | 1,25 |
| 2002 | 145,306,000 | 1,396,967 | 2,332,272 | -935,305 | 9.6 | 16.1 | -6.4 | 1,30 |
| 2003 | 144,566,000 | 1,477,301 | 2,365,826 | -888,525 | 10.2 | 16.4 | -6.1 | 1,31 |
| 2004 | 143,821,000 | 1,502,477 | 2,295,402 | -792,925 | 10.4 | 16.0 | -5.5 | 1,33 |
| 2005 | 143,114,000 | 1,457,376 | 2,303,935 | -846,559 | 10.2 | 16.1 | -5.9 | 1,29 |
| 2006 | 142,487,000 | 1,479,637 | 2,166,703 | -687,066 | 10.4 | 15.2 | -4.8 | 1,30 |
| 2007 | 142,115,000 | 1,610,122 | 2,080,445 | -470,323 | 11.3 | 14.6 | -3.3 | 1,41 |
| 2008 | 141,956,000 | 1,713,947 | 2,075,954 | -362,007 | 12.1 | 14.6 | -2.6 | 1,49 |
| 2009 | 141,909,000 | 1,761,687 | 2,010,543 | -248,856 | 12.4 | 14.2 | -1.8 | 1,54 |
| 2010 | 142,938,285 | 1,788,948 | 2,028,516 | -239,568 | 12.6 | 14.2 | -1.7 | 1,59 |
total population: 68.98 years
male: 63.04 years
female: 74.87 years (2010)[30]
In 1990, just prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia's total fertility rate (TFR) stood at 1.89. Fertility rates had already begun to decline in the late 80s due to the natural progression of Russia's demographic structure, but the rapid and widely negative changes in society following the collapse greatly influenced the rate of decline.[33] The TFR hit an historic low of 1.16 in 1999 and has since begun to rise again, reaching 1.59 in 2010 (growth of 37%).[34] The only federal subject of Russia to see a decline in fertility since 1999 is Ingushetia, where the TFR has fallen by 20% from 2.44 to 1.97 as of 2009.[35]
In 2009, 8 of Russia's federal subjects had a TFR above 2.1 children per woman (the approximate minimum required to ensure population replacement). These federal subjects are Chechnya (3.38), Tyva (2.81), Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug (2.73), Agin-Buryat Okrug (2.63), Komi-Permyak (2.16), Evenk Okrug (2.58), Altai Republic (2.36), Nenets Autonomous Okrug (2.1). Of these federal subjects, four have an ethnic Russian majority (Altai, Evenk, Ust-Orda and Nenets).[35][36]
In every region in Russia rural areas reported higher TFR compared to urban areas. In most of the federal subjects in Siberia and the Russian Far East, the total fertility rates were high, but not high enough to ensure population replacement. For example, Zabaykalsky Krai had a TFR of 1.82, which is higher than the national average, but less than the 2.1 needed for population replacement.[35]
Compared to other G8 countries, in 2010, Russian TFR of 1,59 children/ woman)[34] was significantly lower than that of the USA (2,06), France (2,01), the UK (1,92). Yet it approximately equals to the TFR of Canada (1,57), and is higher than in other G8 countries: Germany (1,36), Japan (1,39), and Italy (1,40).
Compared to other most populous nations, Russia has a lower TFR than Nigeria (4,82), Pakistan (3,13), India (2,65), Indonesia (2,28), Brazil (2,19), the USA, and higher TFR than China (1,54).
Compared to its neighbors, in 2010 Russia has a lower TFR than Kazakhstan (2,67), Mongolia (2,22), Azerbaijan (2,03), Norway (1,97), North Korea (1,94), Finland (1,88) and Estonia (1,63). Russian TFR is close to the Chinese one, and is higher than in Lithuania (1,54), Georgia (1,52), Belarus (1,47), Ukraine (1,44), Poland (1,38) and Latvia (1,17).
The Russian Federation is home to as many as 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples. As of the 2010 census, 80.9% of the population that disclosed their ethnicity (111,016,896 people) is ethnically Russian, followed by (groups larger than one million):[2][6]
It is important to note that in the 2010 Census, almost 6 million people (about 4% of the overall population.) did not declare any ethnic origin, compared to about 1 million in the 2002 Census. This is due to the fact that those people were counted from administrative databases and not directly, and were therefore unable to state their ethnicity.[2][7] Therefore, the percentages mentioned above are taken from the total population that declared their ethnicity, given that the non-declared remainder is thought to have an ethnic composition similar to the declared segment.[8]
Most smaller groups live compactly in their respective regions and can be categorized by language group The ethnic divisions used here are those of the official census, and may in some respects be controversial. The following lists all ethnicities resolved by the 2010 census, grouped by language:[2]
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The demographic structure of Russia has gradually changed over time. In 1970, the Soviet Union had the third largest population of Jews in the world, estimated at 2,150,000, following only that of the United States and Israel. By 2002, due to Jewish emigration, their number fell as low as 230,000. A sizeable emigration of other minorities has been enduring, too. Predominantly these are European peoples like Germans, Czechs, Greeks and members of their families. The main destinations are the USA (Jews, Belarussians, Chechens, Meskhetian Turks, Ukrainians and others), Israel (Jews), Germany (Germans and Jews), Poland (Poles and Jews), Canada (Finns and Ukrainians), Finland (Finns), France (Jews, Armenians and Romani) and the United Kingdom (mainly rich Russians).
At the same time, Russia experiences a constant flow of immigration. On average, close to 300,000 legal immigrants enter the country every year; about half are ethnic Russians from the other republics of the former Soviet Union. In addition, There are an estimated 4 million illegal immigrants from the ex-Soviet states in Russia.[37] There is a significant inflow of ethnic Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Ukrainians into big Russian cities, something that is viewed unfavorably by some citizens.[38]
Median ages of ethnic groups vary considerably between groups. Ethnic Russians and other Slavic and Finnic groups have higher median age compared to the Caucasian groups.
Median ages are strongly correlated with fertility rates, ethnic groups with higher fertility rates have lower median ages, and vice versa. For example, in 2002, in the ethnic group with the lowest median age – Ingush – women 35 or older had, on average, 4.05 children; in the ethnic group with the highest median age – Jews – women 35 or older averaged only 1.37 children.[39] Ethnic Jews have both the highest median age and the lowest fertility rate; this is a consequence of Jewish emigration.
Ethnic Russians represent a significant deviation from the pattern, with second lowest fertility rate of all major groups, but relatively low median age (37.6 years). This phenomenon is at least partly due to the fact that children from mixed marriages are often registered as ethnic Russians in the census. The most noticeable trend in the past couple of decades is the convergence of birth rates between minorities (including Muslim minorities) and the Russian majority.
The following table shows the variation in median age and fertility rates according to 2002 census.[40]
| Ethnic Group |
Median Age |
Male |
Female |
Urban |
Urban M |
Urban F |
Rural |
Rural M |
Rural F |
Children / woman (15+) |
Children / woman (35+) |
Predominant religion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | 37.6 | 34.0 | 40.5 | 37.1 | 33.5 | 40.1 | 39.0 | 35.7 | 41.7 | 1.446 | 1.828 | Christianity |
| Tatar | 37.7 | 35.3 | 39.6 | 37.2 | 34.7 | 39.1 | 38.8 | 36.5 | 41.1 | 1.711 | 2.204 | Islam |
| Ukrainian | 45.9 | 44.7 | 47.3 | 45.6 | 44.5 | 46.8 | 47.0 | 45.2 | 49.0 | 1.726 | 1.946 | Christianity |
| Bashkir | 34.2 | 32.1 | 36.2 | 32.9 | 30.6 | 34.7 | 35.4 | 33.3 | 37.6 | 1.969 | 2.658 | Islam |
| Chuvash | 38.6 | 36.4 | 40.4 | 37.9 | 36.3 | 39.1 | 39.4 | 36.5 | 42.5 | 1.884 | 2.379 | Christianity |
| Chechen | 22.8 | 22.1 | 23.5 | 22.9 | 22.5 | 23.4 | 22.7 | 21.9 | 23.5 | 2.163 | 3.456 | Islam |
| Armenian | 32.8 | 33.4 | 32.0 | 33.0 | 33.7 | 32.2 | 32.1 | 32.6 | 31.5 | 1.68 | 2.225 | Christianity |
| Mordvin | 44.4 | 42.1 | 46.9 | 44.2 | 42.3 | 45.9 | 44.7 | 41.7 | 48.5 | 1.986 | 2.303 | Christianity |
| Avar | 24.6 | 23.8 | 25.4 | 23.8 | 23.4 | 24.1 | 25.1 | 24.0 | 26.2 | 2.09 | 3.319 | Islam |
| Belarusian | 48.0 | 45.9 | 50.2 | 47.7 | 45.8 | 49.6 | 49.1 | 46.1 | 52.4 | 1.765 | 1.941 | Christianity |
| Kazakh/Kyrgyz | 30.2 | 29.4 | 31 | 29.5 | 29 | 30.1 | 30.6 | 29.7 | 31.4 | 2.015 | 2.964 | Islam |
| Udmurt | 40.0 | 37.4 | 42.0 | 41.2 | 39.0 | 42.6 | 38.9 | 36.1 | 41.3 | 1.93 | 2.378 | Christianity |
| Azerbaijani | 29.5 | 31.9 | 24.6 | 30.0 | 32.3 | 24.7 | 26.5 | 28.7 | 24.1 | 1.83 | 2.619 | Islam |
| Mari | 36.7 | 34.5 | 38.5 | 36.4 | 34.6 | 37.7 | 36.9 | 34.5 | 39.3 | 1.917 | 2.493 | Christianity |
| German | 39.7 | 38.2 | 41.2 | 39.6 | 38.0 | 41.0 | 40.0 | 38.4 | 41.4 | 1.864 | 2.443 | Christianity |
| Kabardin | 28.2 | 27.1 | 29.3 | 28.8 | 27.4 | 30.2 | 27.7 | 26.9 | 28.4 | 1.799 | 2.654 | Islam |
| Ossetian | 34.1 | 32.5 | 35.7 | 34.0 | 32.2 | 35.7 | 34.4 | 33.2 | 35.6 | 1.665 | 2.267 | Christianity |
| Dargwa | 24.6 | 23.9 | 25.3 | 24.3 | 23.8 | 24.8 | 24.8 | 24.0 | 25.6 | 2.162 | 3.476 | Islam |
| Buryat | 28.6 | 26.6 | 30.5 | 27.6 | 25.7 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 27.4 | 31.5 | 1.949 | 2.861 | Buddhism |
| Yakut | 26.9 | 25.1 | 28.7 | 26.9 | 25.2 | 28.5 | 27.0 | 25.1 | 28.8 | 1.972 | 2.843 | Christianity |
| Kumyk | 24.6 | 23.7 | 25.4 | 24.8 | 23.9 | 25.6 | 24.4 | 23.5 | 25.2 | 1.977 | 3.123 | Islam |
| Ingush | 22.7 | 22.4 | 23.0 | 22.9 | 22.5 | 23.4 | 22.5 | 22.3 | 22.7 | 2.325 | 4.05 | Islam |
| Lezgian | 25.4 | 25.2 | 25.7 | 25.0 | 25.2 | 24.8 | 25.9 | 25.2 | 26.6 | 2.045 | 3.275 | Islam |
| Komi | 38.8 | 35.8 | 41.0 | 39.4 | 35.5 | 41.6 | 38.3 | 36.0 | 40.4 | 1.869 | 2.363 | Christianity |
| Tuvan | 23.0 | 21.7 | 24.2 | 22.3 | 21.4 | 23.3 | 23.6 | 22.0 | 25.1 | 1.996 | 3.407 | Buddhism |
| Jewish | 57.5 | 55.7 | 61.1 | 57.6 | 55.7 | 61.2 | 53.5 | 52.0 | 55.3 | 1.264 | 1.371 | Judaism |
| Karachay | 29.5 | 28.3 | 30.5 | 27.6 | 26.4 | 28.9 | 30.5 | 29.5 | 31.5 | 1.86 | 2.836 | Islam |
| Kalmyk | 31.3 | 29.2 | 33.3 | 28.6 | 26.3 | 31.3 | 33.9 | 32.6 | 35.1 | 1.853 | 2.625 | Buddhism |
| Adyghe | 34.2 | 32.4 | 36.0 | 32.0 | 30.3 | 33.7 | 36.2 | 34.2 | 38.2 | 1.757 | 2.363 | Islam |
| Permyak | 40.8 | 38.6 | 42.7 | 41.3 | 39.5 | 42.5 | 40.5 | 38.1 | 42.8 | 2.145 | 2.604 | Christianity |
| Balkar | 30.1 | 29.5 | 30.7 | 29.3 | 28.8 | 29.8 | 30.9 | 30.1 | 31.9 | 1.689 | 2.624 | Islam |
| Karelian | 45.7 | 42.4 | 48.6 | 44.7 | 41.3 | 47.2 | 47.0 | 43.5 | 51.2 | 1.823 | 2.108 | Christianity |
| Kazakh | 30.7 | 28.4 | 32.9 | 30.1 | 27.9 | 32.4 | 31.2 | 28.8 | 33.5 | 1.872 | 2.609 | Islam |
| Altay | 27.5 | 25.5 | 29.4 | 22.7 | 21.5 | 24.2 | 28.9 | 26.9 | 30.8 | 2.021 | 2.933 | Buddhism |
| Cherkess | 31.2 | 30.1 | 32.3 | 29.7 | 28.3 | 30.9 | 32.1 | 31.1 | 33.3 | 1.807 | 2.607 | Islam |
Russian is the common official language throughout Russia understood by 99% of its current inhabitants and widespread in many adjacent areas of Asia and Eastern Europe. National subdivisions of Russia have additional official languages (see their respective articles). There are more than 100 languages spoken in Russia, many of which are in danger of extinction.
The most widespread religion in Russia is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, represented by the Russian Orthodox Church. A survey by ВЦИОМ in 2010 (with a 3.4% margin of error) found that 73% of the Russian population is Orthodox and 6% is Muslim. 1% believed in other faiths and the remainder were non-religious, or self-identified atheists or agnostics (self identified religious people and non-religious people can be atheists or agnostics). 16% of the population observed fasting during Lent.[41]
Over 80% of ethnic Russians identify themselves as Orthodox. Of these, approximately 2–4%[42] of the general population are integrated into church life (воцерковленные), while others attend on a less regular basis or not at all. Many non-religious ethnic Russians identify with the Orthodox faith for cultural reasons.[43] The majority of Muslims live in the Volga–Ural region and the North Caucasus, although Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and parts of Siberia also have sizable Muslim populations.[44][42] Other branches of Christianity present in Russia include Roman Catholicism (approx. 1%), Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutherans and other Protestant churches (together totalling about 0.5% of the population) and Old Believers. There is some presence of Judaism, Buddhism, and Krishnaism, as well. Shamanism and other pagan beliefs are present to some extent in remote areas, sometimes syncretized with one of the mainstream religions.
According to the 2002 Census, 9.96% of the Russian population belongs to ethnic groups which had traditionally practiced Islam (such as Tatars, Bashkirs, Chechens and Azeris). However the actual number of Muslims is expected to be much lower than this amount, due to the existence of a large number of Christian congregations among these groups (Keräşens and Nağaybäks among Tatars, Mozdok Christians among Kabardians, etc. According to Vyacheslav Sanin, one-third of Adzharians, 25% each of Tatars and Adyghe and more than 10% of Kazakhs living in Russia practice Christianity, with many more being atheist[45]). The number of Muslims among other ethnic groups is believed to be much smaller, amounting to only a few thousand.[46] Most of the Russian sources give a figure of around 6% of the total population based on surveys,[47] while Western sources give a figure of 10% to 15%.[48] Depending on sources the population varies, Muslim population has also been estimated as high as 20 million, the Dawn newspaper says this value is a usual estimate.[49]
Roman Silantyev, an expert on Islam in Russia, claims that there are between 5,500 and 6,000 ethnic Slavs who are Muslim. At the same time there are more than 500,000 people of traditionally Muslim ethnicities who believe in Orthodoxy. One percent of all the adherents and over 400 priests in the Russian Orthodox Church are from Muslim ethnic groups.[46]
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total literacy: 99.4% (2002)
male: 99.7%
female: 99.2%[44]
Russia's free, widespread and in-depth educational system, inherited with almost no changes from the Soviet Union, has produced nearly 100% literacy. 97% of children receive their compulsory 9-year basic or complete 11-year education in Russian. Other languages are also used in their respective republics, for instance Tatar (1%), Yakut (0.4%) etc.
About 3 million students attend Russia's 519 institutions of higher education and 48 universities. As a result of great emphasis on science and technology in education, Russian medical, mathematical, scientific, and space and aviation research is generally of a high order.[50]
The Russian labour force is undergoing tremendous changes. Although well-educated and skilled, it is largely mismatched to the rapidly changing needs of the Russian economy. The unemployment rate in Russia was 8.1% as of 2009. Unemployment is highest among women and young people. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union and the economic dislocation it engendered, the standard of living fell dramatically. However, since recovering from the 1998 economic crisis, the standard of living has been on the rise. As of 2007 about 15% of the population was living below the poverty line, compared to 40% in 1999.[51][52] The average yearly salary in Russia was $7,680 (about $13,800 PPP) as of May 2008, up from $455 per year in August 1999.[53][54]
According to the FMS, as of 2011, there were 7,000,000 immigrants working in Russia. Half of these were from Ukraine, while the remainder was mostly from Central Asia. Only 3 million or less than half of all the immigrants are legal. Illegal immigrants number 4 million, mostly from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Moldova.[37] The Census usually covers only a part of this population and the last one (2002 Census) counted one million non-citizens.
In 2010, 1,140,368, or 56% of all deaths in Russia were caused by cardiovascular disease. The second leading cause of death was cancer which claimed 292,310 lives (14.3%). External causes of death such as suicide (1.7%), road accidents (1.4%), murders (0.9%), accidental alcohol poisoning (0.7%), and accidental drowning (0.5%), claimed 206,336 lives in total (10.2%). Other major causes of death were diseases of the digestive system (4.5%), respiratory disease (3.6%), infectious and parasitic diseases (1.6%), and tuberculosis (1.1%).[57] The infant mortality rate in 2010 was 7.5 deaths per 1,000 (down from 8.2 in 2009 and 16.9 in 1999).[31][58]
As of 2010, the average life expectancy in Russia was 63.03 years for males and 74.87 years for females.[30] The average Russian life expectancy of 68.98 years at birth is nearly 10 years shorter than the overall average figure for the European Union, or the United States.[59] The largest contributing factor to the relatively low life expectancy is high mortality among working-age males due to preventable causes such as accidents, alcohol poisoning, violent crimes, heart disease etc. Some infectious diseases are also implicated, such as AIDS/HIV and tuberculosis, which became more widespread in Russia in the 1990s because of the deterioration in the healthcare system. In the late 1950s, the USSR had a higher life expectancy than the United States,[60] but the Soviet Union has lagged behind Western countries in terms of mortality and life expectancy since the late 1960s. The life expectancy was about 70 in 1986,[61] prior to the transition-induced disruption of the healthcare system. The turmoil in the early 1990s caused life expectancy in Russia to steadily decrease while it was steadily increasing in the rest of the world. Recently however, Russian life expectancy has again begun to rise. Between 2005—2010 the male life expectancy in Russia rose by over four years, increasing the overall life expectancy by nearly 4 years to 68.98.[30]
In the 1980s only 8–10% of married Russian women of reproductive age used hormonal and intrauterine contraception methods, compared to 20–40% in developed countries. This led to much higher abortion rates in Russia compared to developed countries: in the 1980s Russia had a figure of 120 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age compared with only 20 per 1,000 in Western countries. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union many changes took place, such as the demonopolization of the market for contraceptive drugs and media liberalization, which lead to a rapid conversion to more efficient pregnancy control practices. Abortion rates fell in the first half of the 1990s for the first time in Russia's history, even despite declining fertility rates. From the early 1990s to 2006, the number of expected abortions per women during her lifetime fell by nearly 2.5 times, from 3.4 to 1.2. As of 2004, the share of women of reproductive age using hormonal or intrauterine birth control methods was about 46% (29% intrauterine, 17% hormonal).[62]
Despite clear progress in family planning, the target of desired children at the desired time for a large portion of Russian families has not yet been achieved. According to a 2004 study, current pregnancies were termed "desired and timely" by 58% of respondents, while 23% described them as "desired, but untimely", and 19% said they were "undesired". The share of unexpected pregnancies remains much lower in countries with developed family planning culture, such as the Netherlands, whose percentage of unwanted pregnancies 20 years ago was half of that in Russia today.[62]
| Rank | Core city | Name in Russian | Federal subject | Pop. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow | Москва | Moscow | 11,800,992 | ||||||
| 2 | Saint Petersburg | Санкт-Петербург | Saint Petersburg | 4,900,520 | ||||||
| 3 | Novosibirsk | Новосибирск | Novosibirsk | 1,397,191 | ||||||
| 4 | Yekaterinburg | Екатеринбург | Sverdlovsk | 1,332,264 | ||||||
| 5 | Nizhny Novgorod | Нижний Новгород | Nizhny Novgorod | 1,272,527 | ||||||
| 6 | Samara | Самара | Samara | 1 164 900 | ||||||
| 7 | Kazan | Казань | Tatarstan | 1 143 600 | ||||||
| 8 | Omsk | Омск | Omsk | 1,129,120 | ||||||
| 9 | Chelyabinsk | Челябинск | Chelyabinsk | 1,093,699 | ||||||
| 10 | Rostov-on-Don | Ростов-на-Дону | Rostov | 1,048,991 | ||||||
| 11 | Ufa | Уфа | Bashkortostan | 1,024,842 | ||||||
| 12 | Volgograd | Волгоград | Volgograd | 1,021,200 | ||||||
| 13 | Krasnoyarsk | Красноярск | Krasnoyarsk | 990,601 | ||||||
| 14 | Perm | Пермь | Perm | 985,794 | ||||||
| 15 | Voronezh | Воронеж | Voronezh | 843,496 | ||||||
| 16 | Saratov | Саратов | Saratov | 830,953 | ||||||
| 17 | Tolyatti | Тольятти | Samara | 720,346 | ||||||
| 18 | Krasnodar | Краснодар | Krasnodar | 710,686 | ||||||
| 19 | Izhevsk | Ижевск | Udmurtia | 611,043 | ||||||
| 20 | Yaroslavl | Ярославль | Yaroslavl | 606,336 | ||||||
| Rosstat (2009)[63][64] | ||||||||||
Rural life in Russia is distinct from many other nations. Russia is one of few nations that have small towns hundreds of kilometres from major population centres. Relatively few Russian people live in villages—rural population accounted for 26% of the total population according to the 2010 Russian Census. Some people rent village houses and use them as dachas (summer houses).
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