02 December 2003 14:18
Russian census shows population size down, but less than expected
Moscow, 2 December: There are currently 145.2m people living in the Russian Federation, according to the figures of
the 2002 all-Russian population census which have been processed to date. This is 1.85m more than had been expected.
Deputy Chairman of the State Statistics Committee Sergey Kolesnikov said this today during a "round-table"
meeting in the State Duma devoted to demographic and migration problems. He said that the committee would publish the
results of the census, held in October 2002, by March next year.
Kolesnikov said that in terms of population size the Russian Federation is seventh in the world but he added that, in
comparison with the census carried out in 1989, Russia's population had declined by nearly 2m.
According to the figures cited by Kolesnikov, the population of the Russian Federation has risen by 5.6m as a result
of migration. He said the census showed that 98 per cent, or 142m people, have Russian citizenship, about 400,000 are
stateless, about 1.5m citizens did not specify their citizenship during the census, and approximately the same number
failed to specify their ethnic origin.
He said the census showed that the Russian Federation remained the most ethnically diverse state in the world.
According to the preliminary figures of the census, 168 ethnic groups have been recorded in the country. There are
currently 116m ethnic Russians in Russia.
Kolesnikov said the number of women in the Russian Federation remained greater than the number of men and about a
third of children are registered out of wedlock.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
