20 October 2003 21:54
Paper highlights social problems, falling population in Russian Far East
The Far East Federal District collegium has held a session in Khabarovsk. The main topic of the representative forum
sounded very global: threats of a social nature to Russian national interests in the Far East. [Passage omitted]
One of the worst threats to the Far East, in the words of Konstantin Pulikovskiy [Putin's plenipotentiary
representative in Far East], is the declining birth rate and the outflow of people from the region. Notably, the
population in the Far East is declining faster than in the rest of Russia.
Compared to data from the 1989 census, the population of the Far East Federal District has dropped by 15.9 per cent
(more than 1 million people), amounting to, according to the all-Russian census in 2002, 6.7 million. The situation is
particularly alarming in Chukotka, where the population has dropped to one-third of what it was in 1989, and in Magadan,
where this indicator fell by 50 per cent. [Passage omitted]
Low living standards in the Far East and difficult natural and climatic conditions affect the health of adults and
young people alike. At present, almost all school graduates in the Far East suffer from two or three diseases, often
chronic. Only 10 per cent of children in secondary education can be considered healthy. Already today, 50-70 per cent of
young people of draft age are unfit for service in the modern army for health reasons. [Passage omitted]
To judge from speeches by senior Moscow officials, all ministries work tirelessly to overcome social threats in the
Far East. Nevertheless, the social and demographic situation there is not improving. [Passage omitted]
[Nezavisimaya Gazeta] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
