Geoforum 9172 7

Population of the USSR - Changes in Its Demographic, Social, and Ethnic Structure

Die BevSlkerung der UdSSR - Vergnderungen ihrer demographischen, sozialen und ethnischen Struktur

La population de I’URSS - changements de sa structure dbmographique, sociale et ethnique

S. I. BROOK, Moscow*

Abstract: The article brings under consideration the changes in the composition of the population of the USSR and its

distribution by Union and Autonomous Republics. The analysis is based on census data (especially on the two latest

censuses - that of 1959 and 1970). The components of natural population change are shown (birth and death rates, etc.),

changes in the sex and age structure, and in the conditions of reproduction as a whole; as are trends in ethnic composi-

tion and linguistic affiliation, in educational levels, and other indices.

Zusammenfassung: Der Aufsatz behandelt die Verfnderungen in der Bevolkerungszusammensetzung der UdSSR, aufge-

schliisselt nach Unions- und Autonomen Republiken. Die Analyse griindet sich auf Zensusdaten, vor allem auf die beiden

letzten Volkszahlungen von 1959 und 1970. Aufgezeigt werden die Merkmale der natiirlichen Bevolkerungsbewegung

(Geburts- und Sterberaten), Veranderungen in der Geschlechts- und Altersstruktur, sowie der Bevolkerungsentwicklung

im allgemeinen. Schlieglich werden Tendenzen der ethnischen Zusammensetzung, der sprachlichen Zugehorigkeit, des

Bildungsniveaus und anderer lndizes beleuchtet.

Resume: L’article Ctudie les changements dans la composition demographique de la population de I’URSS, par republique

fed&de et par rdpublique autonome. L’analyse s’appuie sur des donnees de recensements, en particulier sur celles des

deux derniers, de 1959 et 1970. Sont prdsente’es les caractdristiques du mouvement nature1 de la population (taux de

natalitd et de mortalite), les changements dans la composition par sexe et par age, ainsi que le developpement de la

population en g&&al. L’ktude Porte dgalement sur I’evolution d’autres indices, parmi lesquels, la composition ethnique

et linguistique ainsi que le niveau de culture.

In the Soviet period, the population of the USSR has under-

gone radical changes both as to numbers and territorial

distribution. The percentages of urban and rural popula-

tion have also changed. As a result of socialist reconstruc-

tion, radical changes have taken place in the class and

social structure of the population and in educational stand-

ards. Owing to new conditions prevailing in the country,

demographic processes (reproduction of the population,

migrations) have taken a new course. In this paper, we

shall try to trace some aspects of those changes drawing

widely for our conclusions upon data from the recent

population census in the USSR.

Here and below all data on the population of the USSR refer

to the present-day boundaries of the USSR; only for 1926,

data is given within the boundaries that existed prior to Septem-

ber 17, 1939.

Prof. Dr. Solomon I. BROOK, institute of Ethnography,

USSR Academy of Sciences, Dmitriya Ulianova 19, Moscow

V-36, USSR

In the last one hundred years, the population of the USSR

has changed as follows (in millions).l)

Jan. I,1870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86.3

Jan. I,1897 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124.6

Endof 1913 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _. 159.2

Ian. I,1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194.1

Jan. I,1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178.5

Jan. 151959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208.8

Ian. T5,1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241.7

In spite of great population losses suffered during two

world wars and the Civil War, the population of the country

has been growing at a fairly rapid rate. In one hundred

years it grew 2.8 times, and it doubled in approximately

75 years. In 1970, the population of the USSR exceeded

that of prerevolutionary Russia by 82.5 million or by

51.9 %. In the last twenty years, it increased by 63.2

million or by 35.4 % (during the same period of time the

population of the rest of Europe increased only by 17.9 %).

8 Geoforum 9/72

During the eleven years since the 1959 census, the popula-

tion of our country has grown by 32.9 million (15.8 %)

with an average annual population growth rate of almost

3 million or 1.34 % (for comparison it may be noted that

during the same period the population growth rate in the

USA was 1.27 %, while in Great Britain, France, the Federal

Republic of Germany, and Japan this rate varied within

0.6-l .l % limits).

In comparison with the prerevolutionary period, the popu-

lation of the Middle Asian Union republics and Kazakhstan

increased more than 2.5 times, and in the Transcaucasian

republics it more than doubled. At the same time, the

population in all the western republics of the USSR was

growing more slowly (lo-40 %). The only exceptions are

the Moldavian SSR, where the population increased by

73.6 %, and the Latvian SSR, where it even decreased a

little.

Population trends also vary considerably within the large

republics of the USSR. During 1940-1970 in the Russian

Federation, the population increased by 44.3 % in the

Ural area, by 32.0 % in West Siberia, by 51.9 % in East

Siberia, by 83.2 % in the Far East, and by 36.1 % in North

Caucasus; at the same time the population of the Volga-

Vyatka economic region decreased by 6.0 %, and in the

Central Black Earth economic region by as much as 13.7 %.

As for the Ukrainian SSR, population in the southern

region of the republic increased by 28.4 %, while the in-

crease for the southwestern region was only 3.6 %.

In the autonomous republics of the various nationalities,

population growth was also uneven, but on the average the

rates in these republics were somewhat higher than that for

the country as a whole. During 1959-l 970, population

grew by 18.0 % in the autonomous republics, by 16.9 %

in the autonomous oblasts, and by 33.2 % in the national

districts; its increase was most rapid in the Checheno-

lngush ASSR, the Nakhichevan ASSR, and the Kabardino-

Balkarsk ASSR (40-50 %), and most slow in the autono-

mous republics of the Volga region and in the Karelian

ASSR. (In these republics population growth amounted

only to 3-l 1 %). The Khanti-Mansi and the Chukotsk

national districts hold a “record” in population growth;

their population more than doubled in the last eleven years.

Uneven population increases in various regions of the

country can be attributed to a wide variety of reasons.

With the beginning of industrialization of the country’s

economy, population started migrating to poorly devel-

oped eastern and southeastern regions of the country. The

Great Patriotic War has also left its aftereffects. As is well

known, the western regions of the country suffered most

severely, having lost a considerable percentage of their

population in the course of military operations and during

the temporary occupation of these regions by the German

fascist troops; in addition, a part of the population moved

to the central and eastern regions of the country. In the

fifties and sixties, a considerable contingent of the popula-

tion moved from these regions to the virgin and long-

fallow lands. Nevertheless, for most USSR regions, dif-

ferences in the population growth rates depend first of

all upon the characteristics of population reproduction,

i. e., upon the correlation of birth and death rates (see be-

low).

Average population density in the USSR in 1970 was

10.9 persons per km2 ; density slightly exceeded 30 per-

sons per km* in the European part of the country and was

only 3 persons per km2 in the Asian part.

Average population density (per km*) in the Union re-

publics of the USSR as of January 15, 1970 is shown

below.

Russian Federation - 7.6

Ukrainian SSR - 78.1

Byelorussian SSR - 43.4

Uzbek SSR _ 26.6

Kazakh SSR _ 4.7

Georgian SSR - 67.3

Azerbaijan SSR _ 59.0

Lithuanian SSR _ 48.0

Moldavian SSR - 106.0

Latvian SSR _ 37.1

Kirghiz SSR ~ 14.8

Tajik SSR _ 20.3

Armenian SSR _ 83.7

Turkmen SSR _ 4.4

Estonian SSR _ 30.1

Central regions of the European part of the USSR, es-

pecially those between the Volga and the Oka rivers, as

well as regions of the Donets basin and the right-bank

Ukraine, the Moldavian SSR, and many regions of Trans-

caucasia and Middle Asia are the most densely populated

areas of the USSR. According to the recent population

census, the average population density in the most densely

populated oblasts of the country was: in Moscow oblast

(city of Moscow included) ~ 273.1 persons per km’, in

Andizhan oblast - 246.5, in Fergana oblast - 187.4, in

Donets oblast - 184.7, in Tashkent oblast (city of Tash-

kent included) - 183.6; in Khorezm oblast - 123.2, in

Kiev oblast (city of Kiev included) - 119.6, in Lvov ob-

last - 111.4, in Namangan oblast - 108.6, in Tchernowitsi

oblast - 104.3 persons per sq. km. The population density

was lowest in the national districts: the Evenk district -

0.02 persons per sq. km, Taimyr (Dolgano- Nenets) dis- trict - 0.04, Koriyak, Chukotsk, and Yamal-Nenets dis-

tricts - 0.1 each, Nenets district - 0.2, Khanti-Mansi district

- 0.5 persons per sq. km. Very low population density is

shown by the Yakut ASSR --. 0.2 persons per sq. km,

Magadan, the Kamchatka, and the Tiumen oblasts ~ 0.3,

0.6, and 1 .O persons per sq. km respectively, by Kras-

noyarsk Kray - 1.2, the Tuva ASSR - 1.4, the Gorno-

Badakhshan autonomous oblast ~ 1.5 persons per km*.

Geoforum 9/72 9

The bulk of the rural population lives in the southern and

central regions of the European part of the USSR with the

highest densities (over 100 persons per km2) in the

Dniester valley and some regions of the Ukraine. The rural

population density is much lower in the taiga forest zone

and especially in the tundra zone of the European North,

where the population is almost exclusively concentrated

in the valleys of the major rivers; rural population is also

rather sparse in the arid steppes and semideserts of the

southeastern area of the European part of the USSR. In

the Caucasus, the river valleys and the Black Sea coast are

densely populated (over 150 persons per km2). In the

Asian part of the USSR, the regions along the Transsiberian

railway, the foothills of the Ural, and the Altay mountains,

the Amur river region, the southern part of, the Primorye

territory, as well as the valleys and the foothills in the

Middle Asian republics (these latter feature the highest

rural population density in the USSR - over 200 persons

per km2) are comparatively densely populated; as to the

rest of the USSR territory - the taiga and tundra zones of

Siberia and the Far East, the deserts and semideserts of

Middle Asia, and the arid steppes of Kazakhstan - popula-

tion is extremely sparse (less than one person per km2).

The proportion of urban population is steadily rising in

the USSR; it increased from 18 % in 1926 to 56 % in 1970.

An actual numerical decrease in rural population was

registered as early as the 1939 census; this was a result of

rural-urban migration.

In 1961, the urban population of the USSR first outnum-

bered the rural population.2)

The highest percentage of urban population is characteristic,

on the one hand, of the old industrial regions (Leningrad

oblast including the city of Leningrad - 90 %, Donets

oblast - 87 %, Moscow oblast including the city of Moscow

- 86 %, Voroshilovgrad oblast - 83 %, Sverdlovsk oblast

- 81 %, Cheliabinsk oblast - 78 %, Dniepropetrovsk

oblast - 76 %) and, on the other hand, of the northern

and eastern regions of the USSR where industrial develop-

ment began in the postrevolutionary period (Murmansk

oblast - 89 %, Kemerovo oblast - 82 %, Karaganda oblast

- 81 %, Sakhalin oblast - 78 %, Khabarovsk Kray - 78 %,

Kamchatka oblast - 76 %, Magadan oblast - 75 %). At the

same time in oblasts where agriculture predominates, the

urban population does not exceed a quarter of the total

(Surkhandaria oblast, Kashkadaria oblast, Khorezem oblast,

Syrdaria oblast and Andijan oblast of the Uzbek SSR,

Ternopol oblast and Vinnitsa oblast of Ukrainian SSR).

In 1970, the number of urban settlements in the USSR

reached 5,500. This number as well as urban population

numbers are steadily increasing. There is quite a number

of towns that have come into being in the Soviet period

2) For details see papers by V. V. POKSHISHEVSKY and S. A.

KOVALEV published in this issue of Geoforum

where no habitation existed before, mainly as a result of

the development of various industries. Only in the post-

World War I I period, 25 cities of over 50,000 population

each have sprung up in the USSR. Two of these cities

(Togliatti and Angarsk) now number over 200,000 popula-

tion each; five more (Bratsk, Volzhskiy, Salavat, Nakhodka,

Novokuibishevsk) have each over 100,000 inhabitants. Old

cities have also grown larger, especially capitals of the

Union republics, autonomous republics, and autonomous

oblasts.3) The largest industrial centres have as a rule not

less than doubled in comparison with the prewar period

(1939); population in Kuibishev, Cheliabinsk, Krasnoyarsk,

Krivoi-Rog, Karaganda, Ulyanovsk, Ryazan, Tiumen,

Chimkent, Vladimir, and Orsk has been more than tripled;

in Lipetsk and Kurgan it increased more than fourfold; in

Cherepovets almost six times and in Ust-Kamenogorsk -

11.5 times.

Urbanization has profoundly influenced demographic and

ethnic processes. In urban places the birth and natural in-

crease rates are, as a rule, somewhat lower than in the

countryside; this results in a smaller percentage of children

in urban regions. Urban population is more ethnically

mixed owing to the inflow of population from various

regions of the country. In urban centres, processes of

ethnic mixing take place more rapidly owing to close con-

tacts, characteristic of urban population, and to higher

social mobility.3

1. Demographic Characteristics

1 .I. Population reproduction

The most important demographic characteristics of popula-

tion reproduction (birth rate, death rate, rate of natural

increase) exert a very strong influence upon trends and

distribution of population, upon changes in the composi-

tion of population by nationality, and upon a number of

other characteristics. Therefore, in Soviet population

statistics great attention is paid to reproduction processes

(Table 1).

Before the October Revolution, a high rate of natural in-

crease (one of the highest in the world at that time) was

characteristic of the Russian Empire; this was the result

of a very high birth rate and high death rate. After the

Revolution, natural increase became even higher mainly

owing to the rapid drop in the death rate (the birth rate

For example, the population of Alma-Ata increased from 1939

to 1970 more than three times, that of Erevan and Minsk al-

most four times, of Frunze - 4.5 times, of Elista, Syktyvkar,

Nukus - 5-7 times.

Ethnic processes taking place in the USSR at present are spe-

cially discussed in V. I. KOZLOV’s paper published in this issue

of Geoforum.

10 Geoforum 9172

Table 1

Birth and death rates and infant mortality for selected years

Geburts- und Sterberaten sowie S;iuglingssterblichkeit in ver-

schiedenen Jahren

Taux de nataliti, taux de mortalit& et taux de mortalite’ infan.

tile entre 1913 et 1969

Years

1913

1926

1939

1940

1950

1960

1965

1969

Per 1,000 population l- Births

45.5

44.0

36.5

31.2

26.7

24.9

18.4

17.0

Deaths Natural

increase

Infant mortality

(number of deaths of

children under 1 year

of age per 1,000 births)

29.1 16.4 269

20.3 23.7 174

17.3 19.2 167

18.0*) 13.2 182

9.7 17.0 81

7.1 17.8 35

7.3 ‘) 11.1 27

8.1 *) 8.9 26

*) One of the reasons for a certain increase in the death rate in

1940 was the inclusion into the USSR of certain regions with

a high death rate. The increase in recent years is due to the

longer average life span resulting in a higher proportion of older

population groups.

during the first two decades under Soviet rule was also

falling, though very slightly). Sharp changes in the structure

of the natural increase took place after World War I I. As

early as in 1950, i. e., only five years after the end of that

murderous and destructive war, the USSR managed almost

to halve the death rate in comparison with prewar 1940.

This was achieved primarily through a sharp reduction of

infant mortality. The 1950-l 959 decade showed a stable

birth rate (with variations between 24.9 and 26.7 per

1 ,OOO), a certain decrease in the death rate (from 9.7 to

7.2), and a fairly high rate of natural increase (between

17.0 and 18.1).

At that time, the USSR had one of the lowest death rates

and one of the highest natural increase rates among the

highly developed countries of the world.

The demographic situation began to change substantially

since 1960. During the sixties, the average annual birth

rate dropped from 24.9 to 17.0 per 1,000 population (this

decline in the birth rate is to a great extent due to the fact

that during this decade young people born in 1941-1945,

when the birth rate was at its lowest, began marrying), the

death rate remained stable at its previous level or even in-

creased slightly (owing to the sharp increase in the pro-

portion of older age groups), and the natural growth rate

dropped from 17.8 in 1960 to 8.9 in 1969.

The average birth rate for the USSR in the last five years

is 17.6 per 1,000 population, the death rate - 7.6, and

the natural growth rate - 10.0. The USSR still has a lower

death rate and higher natural increase in comparison with

most developed countries. It may be mentioned in this con-

nection that a marked fall in birth rates and natural increase

rates during the last decade is a phenomenon common for

all highly developed countries of the world without excep-

tion. The reproduction indices for the major states are

shown in Table 2.

Table 2

Birth and death rates and natural increase rates for selected

countries

Geburts- und Sterberaten sowie natiirliche Zuwachsraten in

ausgewahlten Lindern

Taux de natalitd, taux de mortalitd et taux d’accroissement

nature1 dans quatre pays

Country

USA

Birth rate

Death rate

Natural increase rate

Great Britain

Birth rate

Death rate

Natural increase rate

France

Birth rate

Death rate

Natural increase rate

Federal Republic of Germany

Birth rate

Death rate

Natural increase rate

,,,I,,,, I

23.7 17.7 18.1

9.5 9.5 9.5

14.2 8.2 8.6

17.5 16.6 17.5

11.5 11.9 11.7

6.0 , 4.7 5.8

Average for

the last

five years

17.2

11.1

6.1

16.8

11.5

5.3

It should be pointed out that after 1967 the birth rate in

the USSR almost stopped declining as age groups born

after the war started marrying (these groups greatly ex-

ceed groups born in wartime).

In comparison with the prerevolutionary period, general

mortality in the USSR has decreased 3.8 times (infant

mortality - more than IO times); in comparison with 1940

-2.5 times.

Before the Revolution, 43 out of every hundred children,

born died under the age of 5, while now this percentage is

only 3.6 %. As a result of the drop in mortality, average

life expectancy rose from 32 years in 1896-l 897 and 44

years in 1926-l 927 to 70 years (65 years for male and

74 years for female population) in 1968-l 969.

In the USSR, the death rate is almost the same in rural and

in urban settlements. The average birth rate is much lower

Geoforum 9172 11

Table 3

Urban and rural birth rates for selected years

Geburtsraten in Stadt und Land in verschiedenen Jahren

Taux de natalitk pour la population urbaine et pour la popula-

tion rurale entre 1913 et 1969

Years

1913

1926

1940

1950

1960

1965

1969

T Birth rate per 1,000 population

I Total

45.5

44.0

31.2

26.7

24.9

18.4

17.0

Urban Rural

30.2 48.8

34.1 46.1

30.5 31.5

26.0 27.1

22.1 27.7

16.3 20.8

15.9 18.3

in the cities, but in the 1940-l 950 period this difference

was considerably reduced (Table 3).

The biggest cities show particularly low birth rates. In 1969,

this rate was as follows: Moscow - 11.2 births per 1,000

population, Leningrad - 11.9, Riga - 13.1, Kharkov -

13.3, Kuibishev - 13.5, Gorky - 13.7. But big cities of

Middle Asia differ in this respect. Their birth rates are as

follows: Frunze - 19.9, Tashkent - 20.0, Ashkhabad -

21.9, Dushanbe - 22.2 per 1,000.

Differences in the birth rate between Union republics are

much greater (Table 4).

This table shows comparatively slight variations in the

death rates as between the republics (between 13.0 and

21.6 deaths per 1,000 population in 194Os), 7.6 and 14.4

in 1950, 6.0 and 10.5 in 1960, 5.9 and 11.3 in 1969). No

correlation between death rates and ethnic grouping of the

pop.ulation can be established.

As to birth rates, the situation is quite different. Data on

1940 birth rates flatly disprove the widespread view that

birth rates in Middle Asia and in the Caucasus region were

from time immemorial much higher than in the rest of,the

country; in 1940 only in the Armenian and the Kazakh

republics these rates were much higher than the average

rate for the USSR as a whole, while in the Estonian and

the Latvian Union republics they were much below this

average (the latter two republics have indeed been noted

for tow birth rates for many decades). In 1950, the changes

in the situation were not important; only the Moldavian

and Turkmen Union republics joined the high birth rate

group of Union republics. It was only after 1950 that

Table 4

Birth rates, death rates and natural increase rates in the Union Republics of the USSR per 1,000 population

Geburts-, Sterbe- und natiirliche Zuwachsraten in den Unionsrepubliken der UdSSR (pro 1000 Einwohner)

Taux de natalitd. taux de mortalit et taux d’accroissement nature1 dans les Re’publiques fe’de’re’es de I’URSS

Republics

Russian Federation 33.0 20.6 12.4 26.9 10.1 16.8 23.2 7.8 15.8 14.2 8.5 5.7

Ukrainian SSR 21.3 14.3 13.0 22.8 8.5 14.3 20.5 6.9 13.6 14.6 8.6 6.0

Byelorussian SSR 26.8 13.1 13.7 25.5 8.0 17.5 24.4 6.6 17.8 15.9 7.4 8.5

Uzbek SSR 33.6 13.2 20.4 30.9 8.8 22.1 39.9 6.0 33.9 32.7 5.9 26.8

Kazakh SSR 41.1 21.6 19.5 37.6 11.7 25.9 37.3 6.6 30.7 23.5 6.2 17.3

Georgian SSR 27.4 8.8 18.6 23.5 7.6 15.9 24.7 6.5 18.2 18.7 7.5 11.2

Azerbaijan SSR 29.4 14.7 14.7 31.2 9.6 21.6 42.7 6.7 36.0 29.3 7.0 22.3

Lithuanian SSR 23.0 13.0 10.0 23.6 12.0 11.6 22.5 7.8 14.7 17.4 8.7 8.7

Moldavian SSR 26.6 16.9 9.7 38.9 11.2 27.7 29.2 6.4 22.8 18.9 7.4 11.5

Latvian SSR 19.3 15.7 3.6 17.0 12.4 4.6 16.7 10.0 6.7 14.0 11.1 2.9

Kirghiz SSR 33.0 16.3 16.7 32.4 8.5 23.9 36.9 6.1 30.8 30.1 7.5 22.6 Tajik SSR 30.6 14.1 16.5 30.4 8.2 22.2 33.5 5.1 28.4 34.7 6.1 28.6 Armenian SSR 41.2 13.8 27.4 32.1 8.5 23.6 40.1 6.8 33.3 22.8 5.2 17.6 Turkmen SSR 36.9 19.5 17.4 38.2 10.2 28.0 42.4 6.5 35.9 34.3 7.0 27.3 Estonian SSR 16.1 17.0 - 0.9 18.4 14.4 4.0 16.6 10.5 6.1 15.5 11.3 4.2 USSR as a whole 31.2 18.0 13.2 26.7 9.7 17.0 24.9 7.1 17.8 17.0 8.1 8.9

r Births Deaths

1940

Natural

increase

T

Births Deaths

1950

Natural

increase Births Deaths

1960 1969

Natural

increase Births Deaths

Natural

increase

“) Data on death rates in Georgia in 1940 have not been taken in-

to account as they appear to be incomplete.

12 Geoforum 9/72

there arose a sharp differentiation in birth rates between

the Middle Asian and Transcaucasian republics (except the

Georgian SSR which never featured particularly high birth

rates) and all other regions of the USSR; in the former,

these rates continue to grow, in the latter they tend to

decline.

limitations on sexual relations) as well as on the attitude of

the marriage partners and the social environment towards

marriage, fertility, childlessness, etc.

After 1960, there began a general decline in the birth rates,

but in the first group of Union republics this decline pro-

ceeds at a much slower rate. As a result, in 1969 the birth

rates in the Middle Asian Union republics and in Azerbaijan

were twice as high as in the rest of the Union republics

(in Armenia the birth rates have sharply declined recently).

According to the birth rates in the last decade, all the

Union republics of the USSR may be divided into four

major groups (Table 5).

1.2. Age and sex composition

Since the establishment of a regular scientific system of

population statistics, women have always outnumbered

men in prerevolutionary Russia and in the USSR (Table 6).

Table 6

Sex composition of the population for selected years

Zusammensetzung der BevGlkerung nach ihrem Geschlecht

Composition par sexe de la population

Table 5

Birth rates by groups of Union Republics

Geburtsraten nach Gruppen der Unionsrepubliken

Taux de natalitd par groupes de RCpubliques fe’de’re’es

Birth rates

1960 1969

1. Middle Asian republics,

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan 33.5-42.7 23.5-34.7

2. Georgia, Armenia, Moldavia 1 24.7-40.1 1 18.7-22.8

3. Russian Federation, Ukraine,

Byelorussia, Lithuania

2. 5_24 4 . . 14.2-17.4

4. Estonia, Latvia 16.6-16.7 14.0-15s

As a whole, the annual natural population growth rates in

the Middle Asian Union republics in 1969 varied from 2.3

to 2.9 %, while in the Baltic republics, Byelorussian SSR,

Ukrainian SSR, and the Russian Federation they varied

from 0.3 to 0.9 %. Population reproduction became the

major factor that explained population trends in most

regions of the USSR.

What causes bring about differences in birth rates among

different peoples? While the causes of death rate varia-

tions are clear enough (the social-economic development

level of a people, population welfare, health system devel-

opment, the age composition of the population, etc.), it

is not so easy to single out the causes that influence varia-

tions in the birth rate. Side by side with socioeconomic

factors (educational level, level of prosperity, differences

in urbanization levels, economic life peculiarities), dif-

ferences in birth rates depend upon the sex and age com- position of the population and upon social traditions and

customs historically formed among various peoples which

regulate marriage and sexual behaviour (marriage and its

dissolution, forms of marriage and family, age of marriage,

Years Percent of the population total

1897

1913

1926

1939

1950

1959

1965

1970

Female Male

51.0 49.0

50.3 49.7

51.7 48.3

52.1 47.9

56.1 43.9

55.0 45.0

54.3 45.7

53.9 46.1

But in prerevolutionary Russia, the difference between

the number of women and men was comparatively slight

(in 1913 women outnumbered men by only one million).

The situation changed considerably after World War I and

the Civil War, and especially after World War I I which re-

sulted in tremendous human losses, especially among the

male population of the country. The 1926 census already

showed 5 million more women than men. The 1959 census

recorded a still greater gap; it showed 20.8 million more

women than men; this disproportion was presumably even

greater immediately after the end of World War I I (since

by 1959, i. e., 14 years after the end of the war, the dis-

proportion between male and female population must

have been somewhat smoothed down through the advent

of younger generations). This disproportion is maintained

owing to the role of older age groups.6)

The population census of 1970 has recorded a further

narrowing of the gap between the numbers of the female

and the male group, but still women outnumbered men

by 19.1 million and accounted for 53.9 % of the country’s

population against 55 % in 1959. Within age groups under

44, the male and female population have become even, but

women of 44 years of age and older still constitute 64.8 %

6) The borderline in this respect was 32 years of age. In age groups

under 32, men slightly outnumbered women. In age groups 32

years and over, women accounted for 62.5 %.

Geoforum 9172 13

of the population of this age group. This disproportion, as

we already pointed out above, is the result of the last war.‘)

In urban places, the male population percentage is slightly

higher than in the countryside (46.3 % and 45.8 % re-

spectively). Regions with highly developed heavy industries

show a higher male population percentage, while it is

usually somewhat lower in regions where agriculture and

light industries predominate. Male population percentage

is particularly high in the northern and eastern regions of

the country. In the Komi ASSR and the Yakut SSR, and

in the Kamchatka and Magadan oblasts men have already

outnumbered women as early as 1959.

Rather interesting regularities can be detected if one con-

siders the sex composition of population in each Union

republic (Table 7).

Table 7

0 Percentage of female population by Union Republics

l Anteil der weiblichen Bevolkerung nach Unionsrepubliken

l Pourcentage de la population feminine par Republique fed&e

Russian Federation 52.8 55.4 54.4

Ukrainian SSR 52.1 55.6 54.8

Byelorussian SSR 51.5 55.5 54.0

Uzbek SSR 48.4 52.2 51.3

Kazakh SSR 48.0 52.5 51.9

Georgian SSR 50.1 53.8 53.0

Azerbaijan SSR 48.7 52.4 51.5

Lithuanian SSR 52.0 54.1 53.1

Moldavian SSR 50.4 53.8 53.4

Latvian SSR 52.9 56.1 54.3

Kirghiz SSR 49.1 52.8 52.2

Tajik SSR 48.1 51.3 50.8

Armenian SSR 49.5 52.2 51.2 Turkmen SSR 48.4 51.8 50.8 Estonian SSR 53.5 56.1 54.3 USSR, as a whole 52.0 55.0 53.9

Percent female oooulation

1939

.

1959 1970

These figures show that before World War I I, while in the

country as a whole female population predominated, in all

the Middle Asian Union republics, the Kazakh SSR, the

Azerbaijan SSR, and the Armenian SSR males outnumbered

females. This phenomenon is probably due to the oppressed

state of oriental women in the past.8)

7) As to new-born children, in the USSR (as in the rest of the world)

more boys are born (106 boys per 100 girls).

8, ln almost all countries of Asia outside the USSR, women are

now as before heavily outnumbered by men (female popula-

tion in Pakistan accounts for 47.4 %, in Ceylon - 47.5 %, in

China - 48.2 %, and in India - 48.5 % of the population

totals). As to Europe and America, in most countries female

population exceeds male population. This is due to the longer

life span of women and (in the case of European countries)

to the heavy losses suffered by the male population during

two world wars. In Africa, the female and male population

are roughly equal in numbers.

Industrialization of the national outlying regions of the

country had played its role too as it called for migration

to these regions of considerable population contingents

(mainly male population).

Both in 1959 and 1970, women outnumbered men in all

the Union republics. But in Middle Asia and in Trans-

caucasia (except Georgia) disproportion between the sexes

was not so sharp as in other regions of the USSR.

The sex composition of the urban and the rural population

also differ in all Union republics. Although almost every-

where the percentage of males is higher in urban than in

rural regions, this difference varies rather markedly in dif-

ferent Union republics. The maximum difference char-

acterizes the Ukraine, where the male population accounts

for 46.7 % in urban places and only 44.3 % in rural areas.

The Uzbek SSR and Kirghiz SSR are the only exceptions:

the percentage of males here is higher in rural areas than in

cities.

196 million Soviet people (81 % of the population) were

born after the October Revolution. During the last three

decades, the age structure of the USSR population under-

went considerable changes (percent of total population) as

shown in Table 8.

Table 8

l Composition of the population by broad age groups

l Zusammensetzung der Bevolkerung nach Altersgruppen

l Composition par groupes d’ige de la population

These changes are the result of the rise in the average life

span and of variations of birth rates in different periods.

Although the total percentage of children under 16 years

of age was roughly equal in 1959 and 1970, the age com-

position of the child population underwent considerable

changes between these dates. For example, owing to the

recent drop in birth rates, the percentage of children under

5 years of age declined from 11.7 % in 1959 to 8.5 % in

1970. On the other hand as a result of the higher birth

rates in the 1955-l 960 period, the number of children in

the 10-l 5 years age group has grown since 1959 by 9.5 million.

The age pyramid of the USSR population features three

distinct anomalies. The population age structure has been

greatly influenced by wars which led not only to direct

human losses but called forth a decline in birth rates and in natural population growth rates. As a result of the sharp

14 Geoforum 9/72

decline in birth rates in 1914-1920 and 1941-1945, the

proportion of 50-54 and 25-29 age groups in 1970 was

relatively small. The birth rate decline in the early thirties

(a result of industrialization that involved intensive migra-

tions as well as of difficulties in the socialist reorganiza-

tion of the country’s agriculture) led to a decline in the

proportion of the 35-39 age group in 1970.

A continuous and fairly rapid increase in the numbers of

aged persons should be stressed; it is a result of the great

efforts made in our country to perfect public health service.

The USSR features a high percentage of long-lived persons.

In 1959 in every 100,000 population 10 persons were

100 and over in age (in the USA there were only 3, in

Great Britain - 0.6, and in Japan - 0.1 such persons).

Long-lived persons are especially numerous in the Caucasus.

The number of persons of 60 years and over increased

from 13.0 million in 1939 to 19.7 million in 1959 and

to 28.5 million in 1970, i.e., this population group grew

2.2 times in 30 years.

Owing to the longer life span of the female population in

comparison with the male population and to the loss of

male population during the last world war, there are in

the USSR only 477 men over 60 years of age per 1,000

women of the same age. The following characteristic

feature of the age structure should be noted: the propor-

tion of aged persons (60 years and over) is much higher

in the countryside than in urban places. In 1959, this group

accounted for 10.9 % of the rural population against only

7.8 % of the urban population.

Differences in the age structure of the population between

the Union republics depend mainly upon the population

reproduction structure. Union republics having a high birth

rate are distinguished by a higher percentage of children.

As to the older age population groups (60 years and over),

the situation is quite opposite: in Estonia and Latvia the

percentage of population in older age groups is almost

twice as high as in the Middle Asian Union republics.

2. Social Transformations

Before the October Revolution, the stage of social develop-

ment reached by Russia’s population varied from region

to region. While tribal structures still predominated among

certain minor people in the North, capitalist relations

already prevailed in the more developed and long populated

regions in the European part of the country. The Revolu-

tion initiated radical social, economic, cultural, and wel-

fare transformations. The social structure of the country

was reconstructed; class privileges and private property in

means of production were abolished; the isolation and

cultural dissociation of individual social strata overcome.

Industrialization of the country, growth of large cities,

formation of national autonomies, ceaseless economic

assistance to formerly backward peoples - all these meas-

ures have led to the elimination of economic and cultural

backwardness and to a more nearly equal level of develop-

ment between urban and rural population, between various

regions, and between various peoples inhabiting the

country. Data on the present-day level of popular educa-

tion in the USSR are indicative of the great social trans-

formations carried out in the USSR.

Illiteracy has been practically eliminated in the USSR. The

earliest data on the percentage of literate population in

our country were obtained in the 1897 population census.

At that time literates formed only 28.4 % of the total

population (40.3 % of the men and 16.6 % of the women).g)

Among the rural population, literates formed an even

smaller component (23.8 % of the total, 35.5 % of the male

and 12.5 % of the female population). The indigenous

population of Middle Asia, the Extreme North, and other

national outlying regions of tsarist Russia was almost uni-

versally illiterate.

During the first years of Soviet rule as a result of the cul-

tural revolution, the percentage of illiterates considerably

declined. By 1926 the percentage of literate population

had doubled in comparison with 1897 (literacy among

women increased 2.6 times). Before World War II, the pro-

portion of illiterates was already only 12.6 % and in 1959

~ 1.5 %. The 1970 census recorded only 170,000 illiterate

men and 269,000 women, mainly persons who had been

prevented from going to school by their poor health.

Almost one third of the USSR population is studying at

various educational institutions (78,640,OOO in the 1969/

1970 academic year). The number of students in institutes

and in various vocational schools is increasing rapidly. In

comparison with the prewar period the number of students

in the higher educational institutions increased 5.6 times

and in vocational schools - 4.4 times. The number of

persons who had graduated from higher and secondary

educational institutions is increasing each year: it increased

by 62 %‘O) from 1959 to 1970, while the number of those

graduated only from the higher educational institutions

more than doubled (increased by 119 %). At present, 653

out of each 1,000 persons employed are graduates of

higher or secondary educational institutions. It is char-

acteristic that the proportion of graduates from higher or

secondary educational institutions among men and among

women are drawing nearer; among employed men and

women these proportions are practically equal. Educational

levels of rural and urban population are also drawing nearer.

In 1939, the proportion of graduates from higher or sec-

ondary educational institutions was 4.3 times lower among

rural than among urban population (as far as higher educa-

tion is concerned this difference was even greater ~ 9.5

9) All data on literacy refer to the 9-49 years age population

group.

Geoforum 9/72 15

times). By 1970, among the rural population the percentage

of graduates from higher or secondary educational institu- tions increased 6.4 times (from higher institutions - 7

times), and the difference in educational levels of rural and

urban population has markedly smoothed down (though the countryside still lags behind with regard to the pro-

portion of population graduated from higher educational

institutions).

In the Soviet period and especially after World War II, the

educational level of formerly backward national regions of

the country rose sharply. In 1970 the number of persons

graduated from higher and secondary educational institu- tions increased in comparison with 1939 as follows: in the

Tajik SSR - 10.5 times, in the Kirghiz SSR - 9.8 times,

in the Uzbek SSR - 8.3 times, in the Turkmen SSR - 7.3

times, in the Moldavian SSR - 7.0 times, in the Kazakh

SSR - 5.7 times, in the Byelorussian and Lithuanian SSR - 4.7 times, in the Russian Federation - 4.5 times, in Azerbaijan SSR - 4.2 times, in the Ukrainian SSR - 4.1 times, in the Armenian SSR - 4.0 times, in the Georgian

SSR - 3.4 times, in the Estonian SSR - 3.1 times, in the Latvian SSR - 2.9 times (the average increase for the

Soviet Union as a whole was 4.5 times).

As for the autonomous republics, more than half of them

now show a higher educational level of the employed population in comparison with the USSR as a whole. This

level is especially high in the Adjar, Abkhazian, North Ossetian, Tatar, Komi, and Karelian autonomous republics.

It is of interest to compare the major nationalities of our country with regard to the number of students in higher institutions per 1,000 population of the given nationality

(data for the 1969/l 970 academic year; for the country

as a whole the number is 19).

Russians 21 Moldavians 11

Ukrainians 15 Latvians 16

Byelorussians 14 Kirghiz 17

Uzbeks 16 Tajiks 13

Kazakhs 19 Armenians 22

Georgians 27 Turkmens 15

Azerbaijanians 20 Estonians 18

Lithuanians 18

Thus there are no very sharp variations in this index be-

tween the major nationalities of the Union republics.

The average number of students of higher educational in-

stitutions per 1,000 aboriginal population in the autono-

mous republics and autonomous oblasts is 14. This index

is highest for the Buryats (34), Circassians (28), Ossets

(27), Abkhaz (27), Adyghe (26), Karachays (23), Balkars

(23), and Yakuts (21).

‘0) Here and below we refer to both complete (1 O-l 1 years) and

incomplete (8 years) secondary education.

In the Soviet period, the cultural revolution has been suc-

cessfully carried out in the USSR. It is not only a matter

of training numerous skilled labour for various branches

of the country’s economy, science, and culture; of an

even greater social importance is the fact that a high educa-

tional, cultural, and professional level was achieved both

by Soviet men and women, both by urban and rural popu-

lation, both by peoples living in the central parts of the

country and the peoples of formerly backward outlying

regions.

3. Ethnic Compostion of the Population

The Soviet Union is one of the most multinational states

of the world. Its territory is populated by more than 100

peoples speaking languages belonging to different linguistic

families and groups. These peoples inhabit a vast territory

comprehending different geographical zones; they have

traversed a path of complex historical development that

naturally affected their customs and traditions.

The national development of the USSR peoples is char-

acterized by two major trends: on the one hand, by the

development of national forms of culture and, on the other

hand, by the drawing together of socialist nationalities in

the course of building socialism. The processes of cultural

interaction have especially gained strength among peoples

living within large historical-ethnographic areas - Middle

Asia, the Caucasus, the Baltic region, the Volga regions,

etc. Territorial mingling of population as a result of migra-

tion and increase in the number of mixed marriages leads

to a more and more rapid rapprochement in cultural and

everyday life. This rapprochement is accompanied by an

expansion of bilingualism and by the increasing importance

of the Russian language and culture. A new historical

community - the Soviet people - has sprung up during

the period of socialist construction in our country.

The above trends do not, however, nullify factors of na-

tional selfconsciousness, linguistic, cultural, and other dif-

ferences between Soviet peoples. These factors have played

and will long play an important role in the life of such a

multinational state as the Soviet Union. Consequently,

examination of national and linguistic grouping and the

study of national processes are of prime scientific and

practical importance. In particular, the importance of

analysing the linguistic situation for the further expansion

of cultural development in the USSR can hardly be over-

estimated.

This is the reason all Soviet population censuses have nec-

essarily included the determination of the national and

linguistic composition of the country’s population among

their most important aims. In the 1970 census as in pre-

vious censuses, the national affiliation of individuals was

determined according to their selfconsciousness with the

16 Geoforum 9/72

aid of a direct question on national affiliation. The na-

tionality of children was determined by their parents;

only if the mother and father were of different nationali-

ties and found it difficult to determine the nationality of

their child, it was recommended by the census takers to

give preference to the mother’s nationality. The linguistic

composition of the population was determined by a question

on mother tongue. If an individual found it difficult to

name any language as his mother tongue, then the language

this individual spoke best or the one commonly used in

his family was registered as his mother tongue. As to chil-

dren who could not yet speak, the language usually spoken

in the family was entered as their mother tongue. A second

language (common in the USSR) if fluently spoken by an

individual was also registered.“)

The 1959 population census showed 109 nationalities in

the USSR. The list of peoples in the 1970 census differs

only slightly from the 1959 list. Up to the present, data on

91 peoples numbering over 10,000 persons each have been

published; in addition, a number of small peoples are in-

cluded in the “other nationalities” column.

The number of nationalities (peoples) recorded by censuses

markedly decreased during the postrevolutionary period.

This decrease reflects a natural and progressive march of

events, i. e., intensive processes of ethnic consolidation and

assimilation. These processes consist of the merging of

territorial, tribal, and other population groups closely re-

lated to each other in origin, language, and culture, into

larger nationalities and nations. They also consist of the

loss by individual groups of certain peoples, living in the

midst of another people and having prolonged contacts

with that people, of peculiar features of their national cul-

ture and way of life, and the adoption of the other people’s

culture and language. Such groups cease to recognize their

affiliation with their former ethnic community.

Such large nations as the Kazakhs, the Kirghiz, and the

Turkmens and such comparatively small nationalities as

11 > During the population census it was not unusual for individuals

to claim affiliation not with a nationality but with some ethno-

graphic group forming part of a nationality. They also some-

times recognized a dialect as their mother tongue. Sometimes

census takers were given an obsolete or inaccurate denomina-

tion of a nationality. In order to reduce all these replies to a

common denominator, the Central Statistical Bureau of the

USSR in conjunction with appropriate scientific bodies (In-

stitute of Ethnography, Institute of Linguistics of the USSR

Academy of Sciences, etc.) prepared a list of nationalities and

languages and of widespread ethnic and linguistic denomina-

tions before each census. The list prepared for the 1970 census

covered over 800 ethnic denominations corresponding to 122

major nationalities, and over 300 linguistic and dialectal de-

nominations corresponding to 114 languages spoken by the

peoples of the USSR. Thus the census takers record all (with-

out exception) denominations suggested by the individuals

being interviewed; for processing, use is made of the official

list of denominations of the nationalities and languages.

the Altayans and the Khakass were formed from separate

tribal groups. The Megrels, the Svans, the Laz, and the

Adjars have merged with the Georgians; the Kipchaks, the

Turki, and the Kurama have been dissolved among the

Uzbek people. National processes in Dalghestan are very

complex in their character. The Andi-Tsezi are intensively

merging with the Avars; the Kaitaks and the Kubachins

with the Dargins; at the same time there exists also a trend

towards the merging of all the Daghestan peoples into a

single ethnic community.

Great changes have also taken place in the numbers of all

the peoples of the USSR. To examine these changes in

detail, it has been found advisable to group all the peoples

registered in the 1970 census into three tables. The first

of these (Table 9) shows the data for the major peoples of the Union republics of the USSR; the second (Table 10)

for the major peoples of the autonomous republics, auto-

nomous oblasts, and the national districts; the third (Table

11) for those peoples that do not form national autonomies.

Table 9

Trends in the numbers of the major peoples of the Union

Republics

Bevijlkerungsentwicklung in den wichtigsten Vdlkern der

Unionsrepubliken

Evolution nume’rique des principales nationalites

Peoples 1926 1959 1970

Russians 77,791 114,114 129,015

Ukrainians 31,195 37,253 40,753

Uzbeks 3,928 6,015 9,195

Byelorussians 4,739 7,913 9,052

Kazakhs 3,968 3,622 5,299

Azerbaijanians 1,715 2,940 4,380

Armenians 1,568 2,787 3,559

Georgians 1,821 2,692 3,245

Moldavians 279 2,214 2,698

Lithuanians 42 2,326 2,665

Tajiks 980 1,397 2,136

Turkmens 764 1,002 1,525 Kirghiz 763 969 1,452

Latvians 151 1,400 1,430

Estonians 155 989 1,007

Numbers (in thousands) i

Number in 1970

as percent of:

1926

165.8

. .

234.1

. .

133.5

255.4

227.0

178.2

.

.

218.0

199.6

190.3

.

1959

113.1

109.4

152.9

114.4

146.3

149.0

127.7

120.6

121.9

114.6

152.9

152.2

149.9

102.2

101.9

*) Here and below data for 1926 refer to state boundaries of the

USSR that existed before September 17, 1939; data for other

years refer to the present-day boundaries of the USSR. For this

reason, no percentages of growth in the 1926-l 970 period are

computed for those peoples whose numbers have considerably

changed as a result of changes in the state boundaries of the

USSR (the Ukrainians, the Byelorussians, the Moldavians, the

Baltic peoples, the Gipsies, the Hungarians, the Romanians,

and some others).

Geoforum 9172 17

Table 10 Table 11

l Trends in the numbers of the major peoples of the autonomous l Trends in the numbers of peoples that do not form national

republics, oblasts, and national districts autonomies

l Bevolkerungsentwicklung der wichtigsten Volker der autonomen

Republiken, der Oblasts und der Nationaldistrikte

l ZahlenmaBige Entwicklung der nicht-selbstandigen Volksgruppen

l Evolution nume’rique des nationalitis non autonomes

l Evolution numerique des principaux peuples des Republiques

autonomes, des Oblasts et des districts nationaux

Peoples

1

Tatars

Jews

Chuvashes

Peoples of

Daghestan

Mordvinians

Bashkirs

Udmurts

Chechens

Maris

Ossetes

Komis and

Komi-

Permyaks

Buryats

Yakuts

Kabardinian

Karakalpaks

lngushes

Peoples of tl

r

the Far Eas

Karelians

Touvinians

Kalmyks

Karachays

Adyghe

Abkhazians

Khakasses

Bal kars

Altayans

Circassians

Numbers (in thousands)

1926

3,311

2,666

1,117

698

4,968 5,931

2,268 2,151

1,470 1,694

119.4

94.8

115.3

945 1,365*)

1,340 1,285 1,263

714 989 1,240

514 625 704

319 419 613

428 504 599

272 413 488

179.1

. . . 151.7

195.6

94.3

173.7

137.0

192.2

140.0

179.4

144.5

98.3

125.4

112.7

146.3

118.8

118.2

376 431 475 **) 126.3 110.2

238 253 315 132.4 124.5

241 233 296 122.8 127.0

140 204 280 200.0 137.3

146 173 236 161.6 136.4

74 106 158 213.5 149.0

131 130 151***) 115.3 116.2

248

. . . 132

55

65 ****)

57

46

33

51

. . . ****)

1959

3

1970

4

167 146

100 139

106 137

81 113

80 100

65 83

57 67

42 60

45 56

30 40

T Number in 1970

as percent of: L

1926

5

58.9

. . . 103.8

205.5

215.4

145.6

145.7

181.8

109.8

. . .

1959

6

87.4

139.0

129.3

139.5

125.0

127.7

117.6

142.9

124.5

133.3

*)

**I

***)

The population census of 1970 recorded 10 peoples in

Daghestan, their numbers (in 1,000) being: the Avars - 396,

the Lezghins - 324, the Dargins - 231, the Kumyks - 189,

the Laks - 86, the Tabasarans - 55, the Noghays - 52, the

Rutuls - 12, the Tsakhurs - 11, the Aguls - 8.8. In com-

parison with 1959, all these peoples have grown in numbers

almost equally (by 40-50 %).

Including the Komis (322,000) and the Komi-Permyaks

(153,000); the former grew in number by 12.1 % in com-

parison with 1959, the latter by 6.6 %.

In all, the 1970 population census has recorded 19 peoples

living in the North, in Siberia, and in the Far East, their

numbers being as follows (thousands): Nenets - 29, Evenks

Peoples

Germans

Poles

Koreans

Bulgarians

Greeks

Gipsies

Uighurs

Hungarians

Gagauz

Romanians

Kurds

Finns

Turks

Dungans

Iranians

(Persians)

Abazinians

Assyrians

Czechs

Tats

Shors

Slovaks

T Numbers (in thousands)

1926 1959 1970

1,239 1,620 1,846

782 1,380 1,167

87 314 357

111 324 351

214 309 337

61 132 175

66 95 173

6 155 166

1 124 157

5 106 119

69 59 89

135 93 85

9 35 79

15 22 39

t 53

14

10

17

29

13

10

21 28

20 25

22 24

25 21

11 17

15 16 15 12

Number in 1970

as percent of.

1926

149.0

. . .

. . .

. . . 157.5

. . . 262.1

. . .

. . . . .

129.0

. . .

. . . 260.0

52.8

178.6

240.0

123.5

58.6

123.1

120.0

1959

114.0

84.6

113.7

108.3

109.1

132.6

182.1

107.1

126.6

112.3

150.8

91.4

225.7

177.3

133.3

125.0

109.1

84.0

154.5

106.7

80.0

- 25, Khants - 21,Chukchi - 14, Evens - 12, Nanaians -

10, Mansis - 7.7, Koriyaks - 7.5, Dolgans - 4.9, Nivkhs -

4.4, Selkups - 4.3, Olcha - 2.4, Saamis - 1.9, Udeghe -

1.5, ltelmens - 1.3, Kets - 1.2, Oroches - 1.1, Nganasans

- 1.0, Yukaghirs - 0.6. Since 1959, most of these peoples

have grown in numbers by IO-20 %. The Evenks, who have

scarcely grown at all, and the Nenets and the Evens who

have grown by 24.8 and 31.9 % respectively, provide ex-

ceptions. It is quite possible that some ethnographic groups

who in the past had been included in the Evenks were

classed in 1970 with the Evens.

****) In the 1926 census the Circassians were classed with the

Adyghe.

18 Geoforum 9172

From Tables 9-l 1 it may be seen that the Azerbaijanians,

Uzbeks, Armenians, Pajiks, Ingushes, and Karachays more

than doubled their numbers from 1926 to 1970; the

Turkmens, Kirghizes, Georgians, Kabardinians, Daghestan

peoples, Chechens, Balkars, Ossetes, and Tatars increased

by 75-f 00 %; the Russians, Bashkirs, Karakalpaks, Adyghe,

and Chuvashes by 50-75 %; the Kazakhs,la) Khakasses,

Abkhazians, Maris, Udmurts, and Buryats by 25-50 %; the Komis and Komi-Permyaks, Yakuts, and peoples of North,

Siberia and the Far East by IO-25 %; the Altayans and

Kalmyks by less than 10 %; the Karelians, Mordvinians,

Jews, Poles, Tats, and some other peoples decreased in

numbers in this period.

The variations in growth between different peoples were

greatest between the two last population censuses. Table

12 shows a group of peoples featuring the highest growth

rate in the 1959-l 970 period (as has already been men-

tioned, the average population growth for the country as

a whole in this period was 15.8 %).

Table 12

0 Group of peoples featuring the highest growth rate in the 1959-

1970 period

l Volksgruppen mit der hochsten Zuwachsrate in den Jahren 1959

bis 1970

l Nationalhe’s prksentant le plus fort taux d’accroissement entre

1959 et 1970

Peoples

Growth in 11 years / itzghe annua’

percent

Tajiks

Uzbeks

Turkmens

Kirghizes

Azerbaijanians

lngushes

Kazakhs

Chechens

Peoples of

Daghestan

Balkars

52.9

52.9

52.2

49.9

49.0

49.0

46.3

46.3

44.5

42.9

3.95

3.95

3.9

3.75

3.65

3.65

3.5

3.5

3.4

3.3

The rate of population growth of the Middle Asian and

Caucasian peoples listed above is so high that it would be

difficult to find any other considerable ethnic groups in

the world with such a rapid growth. The Tuvinians, Circas-

sians, Karachays, Kabardinians, Gipsies, Kalmyks, Armeni-

12) The number of Kazakhs was slightly exaggerated in the 1926

census because some Kirghiz, Karakalpak, and Uzbek tribal

groups were erroneously included among these people. If this

mistake is corrected, the growth rate for the Kazakhs for

1926-1970 period will be considerably higher.

ans, Abkhazians, Gagauz, Adyghe, Bashkirs, and the

Abazinians have also grown at a higher rate than the aver-

age rate for the country as a whole. (They have increased

by 2.5-40 % in I1 years.)

The average annual rate of growth for the Russians and

the Byelorussians is slightly below the average for the

country as a whole; for Ukrainians it is considerably below

this average; the Latvians and Estonians have a very low

rate of growth.

As a result of differences in growth rates, the percentages

of individual peoples in the total population of the country

has changed as shown in Table 13.

Table 13

l Percentage of peoples and groups of peoples in the country’s

population, 1959 and 1970

l Anteil der Vijlker und Volksgruppen an der Gesamtbevolkerung

der UdSSR 1959 und 1970

l Pourcentage des nationalites et groupes de nationalitds par rap-

port i la population totale de I’URSS en 1959 et 1970

Peoples or groups

of peoples

Russians

Ukrainians

Byelorussians

Peoples of the

Baltic region

Peoples of the

Volga region

Peoples of the

Caucasus

People of

Middle Asia and

Kazakhstan

T L

Percentage of the total population

1959

54.7 53.4

17.8 16.9

3.8 3.7

2.3 2.1

4.9

5.2

6.5

4.9

6.1

8.5

1970

The percentages of peoples belonging to the various linguis-

tic groups has also changed. Thus the peoples of the Slav

group declined from 77.1 % in 1959 to 74.6 % in 1970,

while the peoples of the Turkic group increased from 11 .l

to 13.4 %.

The causes of these differences in the growth rates of

various peoples are very numerous. The major ones are:

differences in natural increase rates (these can, in fact, be

reduced to differences in birth rates since death rates for

practically all country’s peoples do not differ substantially)

and processes of natural assimilation (dissolution of heter-

ogeneous ethnic groups in a differing nationality environ-

ment). The processes of ethnic assimilation, which in the

Soviet period have lost their former contradictory char-

acter and now represent a natural result of close economic

and cultural relations, first of all concern those groups that

Geoforum 9/72 19

have been dispersed or isolated from their ethnic bulk and

live among other peoples. Assimilation processes take an

especially rapid course in urban localities where mixed

marriages are more common and people shift more easily

from one language to another.

The uneven growth of peoples is to a certain extent con-

ditioned by the aftereffects of World War II. Peoples living

on territory temporarily occupied by the Hitlerite invaders

suffered especially heavy losses. A considerable part of

civil population in these regions was annihilated; in addition,

birth rates in these regions declined while the death rates

rose considerably. In the postwar period, an unfavourable

sex and age composition of the population prevailed in

these regions for a long time, and as a result the birth rate

here was lower than in other regions of the USSR.

“Exchange” repatriation of population between the border

regions of the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe,

as well as the repatriation of 200,000 Armenians from the

Near East countries and Europe have also led to changes

in the numbers of the peoples concerned.

New censuses frequently introduce emendations into the

national affiliations of certain groups of population. We

have already mentioned the erroneous classification of

certain groups of neighbouring peoples as Kazakhs in 1926.

In the same census, the Kamchadals, who in fact are an

ethnographic group of the Russian people, were included

among the Itelmens. A part of the population of the

western regions of the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian

Table 14 T

l Percentage of major nationalities

in each Union Republic, 1959

and 1970

l Anteil der wichtigsten Nationali-

taten in den Unionsrepubliken

1959und 1970

l Pourcentage des trois principales

nationalite’s dans chaque R&

publique fe’de’rde en 1959 et 1970

RSFSR

Ukrainian SSR

Byelorussian SSF

Uzbek SSR

Kazakh SSR

Georgian SSR

Azerbaijan SSR

Lithuanian SSR

Moldavian SSR

Latvian SSR

Kirghiz SSR

Tajik SSR

Armenian SSR

Turkmen SSR

Estonian SSR

Rus-

sians

U krai- Rus-

sians

I nd ige- Next Indige- Next

most nous most nous Ukrai-

nation- numer- na- numer-

ality ous tion-

nians ous

people*) ality people*)

83.3 2.9 3.5 82.8 2.6 3.7

76.8 2.0 74.9 19.4 1.6

1 81.1 1.7 6.7 81.0 10.4 2.1 4.3

61.1 1.1 5.4 64.7 12.5 1 .o 4.8

29.8 8.3 2.1 32.4 42.8 7.2 2.2

64.3 1.3 11.0 66.8 8.5 1.1 9.7

67.5 0.1 12.0 73.8 10.0 0.6 9.4

79.3 0.7 8.5 80.1 8.6 0.8 7.7

65.4 14.6 3.3 64.6 11.6 14.2 3.5

62.0 1.4 2.9 56.8 29.8 2.3 4.0

40.5 6.6 10.6 43.8 29.2 4.1 11.3

53.1 1.4 23.0 56.2 11.9 1.1 23.0

88.0 0.3 6.1 88.6 2.7 0.3 5.9

60.9 1.4 8.3 65.6 14.5 1.6 8.3

74.6 1.3 1.4 68.2 24.1 2.1 1.4

16.9

8.2

13.5

43.2

10.1

13.6

8.5

10.2

26.6

30.2

13.3

3.2

17.3

20.1

SSR, who spoke the Byelorussian or the Ukrainian lan-

guage but had formerly professed the Greek Catholic

religion, appear to have ranked themselves with the Poles

in 1959 but with the Byelorussians and the Ukrainians in

1970. Considerable fluctuations in the numbers of the

small nationalities of the North, Siberia, and the Far East

can be in part attributed to the fact that a certain group

was first included in one people and then in another.

As for changes in the numbers of the peoples in the period

between the two last censuses, the decisive role was played

undoubtedly by the differences in birth rates. At the same

time, assimilation processes have substantially influenced

trends in the numbers of some peoples of the Volga region

and the European North (first and foremost the Mord-

vinians, Udmurts, Karelians, Finns, Komis, and Komi-

Permyaks), as well as the Jews and the Poles. These are the

peoples that are especially prone to mix with other ethnic

groups, mainly adjacent ones. It is not mere chance that

the lowest gains in numbers and sometimes even losses were

sustained by those peoples who feature the lowest percent-

age of persons speaking as their mother tongue the language

of their nationality, and the highest percentage of persons

who fluently speak a second language current in the USSR

besides their mother tongue.

Uneven population growth among different peoples and, to

a lesser degree, migrations and assimilation processes have

led to certain changes in the ethnic composition of the

population of the Union republics. Table 14 shows in a

1959

*) Tatars for the RSFSR, Uzbek SSR, and Kazakh SSR; Jews for the Ukrainian SSR; Poles for

the Byelorussian SSR and Lithuanian SSR; Armenians for the Georgian SSR and the Azer-

baijan SSR; Gagauz for the Moldavian SSR; Byelorussians for the Latvian SSR; Uzbeks for

the Kirghiz SSR, the Tajik SSR, and the Turkmen SSR; Azerbaijanians for the Armenian SSR;

Finns for the Estonian SSR.

r 1970

20 Geoforum 9172

generalized form data on the proportion of four major

nationalities of each republic (three for RSFSR and the

Ukraine): the indigenous nationality, the Russians, the

Ukrainians, and the next most numerous people (in per-

cent of the total population of each republic).

Since Russians constitute an important component of the

population of all the Union republics, it is of some interest

to analyse the changes in their numbers in each of them

(Table 15).

Table 15

l Number of Russians in each Union Republic, 1959 and 1970

l Zahl der Russen in den Unionsrepubliken 1959 und 1970

l Nombre de Russes dans chaque Republique fede’re’e en 1959

et 1970

USSR as a whole 114,114 129,015 113.1

Russian Federation 97,864 107,748 110.1

Ukrainian SSR 7,091 9,126 128.7

Byelorussian SSR 660 938 142.1

Uzbek SSR 1,114 1,496 134.3

Kazakh SSR 3,950 5,500 139.2

Georgian SSR 408 397 97.3

Azerbaijan SSR 501 510 101.8

Lithuanian SSR 231 268 116.0

Moldavian SSR 293 414 141.3

Latvian SSR 556 705 126.8

Kirghiz SSR 624 856 137.2

Tajik SSR 263 344 130.8

Armenian SSR 56 66 117.9

Turkmen SSR 263 313 119.0

Estonian SSR 240 335 139.6

Russian population

(in 1,000)

1959 1970

Number in

1970 as per-

cent of 1959

The table shows a slight decrease in the number of Rus-

sians in Georgia and only a small gain in Azerbaijan; in all

other Union republics, the Russian population increased

in number, and that much more rapidly than might have

been expected from the fairly low rate of natural increase

characteristic of the Russians. If we provisionally assume

this increase to be equal for Russians in all the republics

and do not take into consideration any other factors, it

will appear that in eleven years almost 1.5 million Rus-

sians moved to Middle Asia and Kazakhstan, over 1 million

to the Ukraine, about 200,000 to Byelorussia, and 250,000

to the Baltic republics. The actual migrations are probably

somewhat less than the above figures especially in the case

of Middle Asia and Kazakhstan, since in regions with high

birth rates these rates among newly arriving population

also tend to rise; besides this, it is the younger contingents

with a higher fertility rate that take part in migrations.13)

The migration of Russians to the Ukraine was also probably

smaller: as early as 1959 over 2 million Ukrainians living

within the Ukrainian SSR had named Russian as their

mother tongue; some of these Ukrainians (or their chil-

dren) may have since then changed their national affiliation

to Russian.

The Ukrainians - the second largest people of the USSR

grew considerably in number in most Union republics.

particularly in Byelorussia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and

Turkmenistan. It is to be supposed that considerable

groups of Ukrainians have moved to these republics from

other regions of the country. The numbers of Ukrainians

in the Kirghiz SSR, in Georgia, and in the RSFSR slightly

declined.14)

In spite of the inflow of Russians and Ukrainians, their

percentage has declined in almost all republics of Middle

Asia and in Kazakhstan. This trend is even more distinct

in the Transcaucasian republics to which there was no in-

flow of Russians and Ukrainians. In all other Union re-

publics in which indigenous population growth rates are

not very high, the percentage of Russians and Ukrainians

has increased considerably. In the RSFSR, the percentage

of both Russians and Ukrainians has slightly declined, while

in the Ukraine the percentage of Ukrainians has decreased

and that of Russians has risen.

As a result of the interaction of three factors (birth rate

differentials, migrations, and assimilation processes, to

name them in the order of their importance), in some re-

publics the percentage of indigenous population has in-

creased (the Middle Asian and Transcaucasian republics,

Kazakhstan, and Lithuania) while in other republics it has

decreased.

3.1. Mother tongue

In the majority of cases, the number of each nationality is

very close to the number of persons who named the lan-

guage of this nationality as their mother tongue. In the

1970 census, 93.3 % of the country’s total population

named the language of their nationality as their mother

tongue. Persons who named the language of another na-

tionality as their mother tonuge totalled 14.7 million. The

percentage of persons who gave the language of their na-

tionality as their mother tongue is highest among the main

q

14 1

The assumption well matches the Central Statistical Bureau’s

materials which show that in 1959-1970 1.2 million people

moved to Middle Asia and Kazakhstan from other Union

republics.

It should be remembered that more than half of the Ukrainians

living in the RSFSR in 1959 named Russian as their mother

tongue; part of these Ukrainians may also have since changed

their national self-consciousness.

Geoforum 9/72 21

peoples of the Union republics (usually it exceeds 95 %).

Among Armenians (of whom almost two fifths live out-

side their republic), this percent is only 91.4, while for

Byelorussians and Ukrainians it is as low as 80.6 and 85.7 %

respectively.

The percentage of persons speaking the language of their

nationality as their mother tongue among the main peoples

of the autonomous republics and autonomous oblasts

varies within a wide’range, but, as a rule, it is fairly high

(only in case of the Bashkirs, Karelians, Mordvinians,

Udmurts, Khakass, the Komis and the Komi-Permyaks

does this percentage drop below 85 %). The situation is

quite different in case of those peoples who are dispersed

over the territory of the country. Only 17.7 % of the Jews

(only a small fraction of them lives in the Jewish autono-

mous oblast) recognize the language of their nationality as

their mother tongue; this percentage is 32.5 % for the

Poles, 39.3 % for the Greeks, 51 % for the Finns, etc.

Thirteen million non-Russians named Russian as their

mother tongue’s) in the 1970 census. An additional 41.9

million Soviet citizens indicated Russian as the second

mother tongue which they speak fluently. Thus 54.9 mil-

lion Soviet citizens or a half of the non-Russian population

of the USSR are in perfect command of Russian. In all

76 % of the USSR population speak Russian well.

It is interesting to note that these two phenomena - the

shift to another language and knowledge of a second lan-

guage -are closely related to each other. Those peoples

who feature a high percentage of persons who had shifted

to another language also show a high percentage of popula-

tion perfectly speaking some second language. Both these

indices, which are lowest in the case of the major peoples

of the Union republics, and higher in the case of the major

peoples of the autonomous republics and oblasts, reach

their highest value among the remaining peoples of the

Soviet Union (especially high among people who are

geographically dispersed and are especially liable to as-

similation).

The Russian language plays an important role for the rap-

prochement of the USSR peoples. Besides, knowledge of

this language helps all the peoples of our country to gain

access to achievements of modern science and culture.

15 ) In spite of the growing use of Russian, data on the correlation

between nationality and mother tongue underwent little

change in the last 11 years. This is apparently due to the fact

that in 1970 the question on the second language was inserted

into the questionnaire for the first time. Those interviewed

enjoyed, as it were, more freedom of choice and were able to

claim the language of their nationality as their mother tongue

even in cases where they spoke it less fluently than Russian.