How many percent of the population is russians
How many percent of the population is russians
Why is Russia so sparsely populated?
Russia is the biggest country on Earth in terms of territory, yet only ninth in terms of population size. Curiously, Russia’s vast territory remains largely unpopulated, while most of the country’s 146 million people have settled in densely populated urban areas.
Climate
This map showing population density in Russia gives an observer a rough estimate as to how unevenly the population is scattered across the country’s vast territory.
In essence, roughly 68 percent of people in Russia live in the European part of the country, which makes up only 20 percent of the whole territory.
The rest of the land accommodates the remaining 32 percent, lowering the population density dramatically compared to the overpopulated urban areas. One of the key reasons for this is the harsh climate in some of Russia’s remote regions.
In Russia, people traditionally settled in regions where the climate supported land cultivation and offered comfortable weather conditions. Generally, the southern part of Russia is more densely populated than regions in the Russian North and Far East.
Vast regions in the Russian North and Siberia — known for the harsh climate and relative inaccessibility — are also among the least populated in the country. The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, Sakha in the Russian North and remote regions of Magadan and Chukotka all have population density below one person per one square kilometer, with a relatively large region of Chukotka setting the anti-record of 0,07 person per one square kilometer.
The Murmansk Region.
“Only one in five Russians live in the Asian part [of Russia], which comprises almost three-thirds of the country’s territory. The regions of the Far North and the areas […] with severe climatic conditions, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s territory, are especially poorly populated,” says Ekaterina Shcherbakova, Senior Researcher at the HSE Center for Demographic Research (Project 5-100 participant).
Economy & politics
Economic prosperity plays its role, too. Two of Russia’s most prosperous cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, are also the most densely populated (link in Russian). The population density in Moscow is 4,941 people per one square kilometer — the highest number in the whole of Russia — while, in St. Petersburg, this index equals 3,837.
Passengers in the Moscow Metro.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, some of Russia’s regions named as the least prosperous by the same recent survey — like Tuva, Kalmykia, or the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia’s Far East — are also the least populated: 1.96, 3.61, 4.31 persons per square kilometer, respectively.
At times, population density in poorly inhabited regions of Russia has grown around locally based industrial areas and, sometimes, even at the government’s whim.
“In the 20th century, the dominant trend of settlement in Russia was a regulated — sometimes via very strict measures — shift of the population to the north and east and, to a lesser extent, to the south. This was due to the need to develop natural resources, develop the economy of the territories and strengthen the eastern borders. An important role was played by the evacuation of many industrial enterprises from the European part of the country during the Great Patriotic War,” says Shcherbakova.
Click here to find out why Russia’s population is (relatively) small and declining.
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Russia Population
Russia is the world’s largest country, and a major force in international politics and trade. The country has gone from communist dictatorship to market economy, but the processes of democratization have more or less stopped.
Key figures and facts
Population of Russia
Russia has an estimated population of 143,440,000 (UN 2016), making it the tenth most populous country in the world. Russian authorities estimate the population to be 146 838 993 (including Crimea), but this figure is very little recognized by other states.
Declining birth rates and high mortality have led to a noticeable decline in the population, which in 1992 stood at 148.7 million. The fall would have been greater had it not been for significant immigration of ethnic Russians from former Soviet republics during the same period. The annual population decline is now about 0.06 percent.
At the 2010 census, Russians made up 79.8 percent of the population, the rest consisting of around 200 different national and/or ethnic minorities. The largest were Tatars with 3.7 percent, Ukrainians with 1.4 percent, Bashkir with 1.1 percent, Chuvashes with 1.1 percent and Chechens with 1 percent. Because large areas are sparsely populated, the average population density is low: 8.8 per square kilometer (UN, 2016).
In the European parts of the country, except in the northwest, the density of people is much higher, and ranges from about 50 per square kilometer in the Moscow region to 25 in Ural. In Moscow city, the density of people is 8,537 per square kilometer.
73.9 percent of the population lives in cities.
Russian population size 1959-2022
Total resident population of Russia from 1959 to 2022 (in 1,000s)
| Characteristic | Population in thousands |
|---|---|
| 2022* | 145,478.1 |
| 2021 | 146,171.02 |
| 2020 | 146,748.59 |
| 2019 | 146,780.72 |
| 2018 | 146,880.43 |
| 2017 | 146,804.37 |
| 2016 | 146,544.71 |
| 2015 | 146,267.29 |
| 2014 | 143,666.93 |
| 2013 | 143,347.06 |
| 2012 | 143,056.38 |
| 2011 | 142,865.43 |
| 2010 | 142,833.5 |
| 2009 | 142,737.2 |
| 2008 | 142,747.54 |
| 2007 | 142,862.69 |
| 2006 | 143,236.58 |
| 2005 | 143,801.05 |
| 2004 | 144,333.59 |
| 2003 | 144,963.65 |
| 2002 | 145,649.33 |
| 2001 | 146,303.61 |
| 2000 | 146,890.13 |
| 1999 | 147,539.43 |
| 1998 | 147,802.13 |
| 1997 | 148,028.61 |
| 1996 | 148,291.64 |
| 1995 | 148,459.94 |
| 1994 | 148,355.87 |
| 1993 | 148,561.69 |
| 1992 | 148,514.69 |
| 1991 | 148,273.75 |
| 1990 | 147,665.08 |
| 1989 | 147,021.9 |
| 1985 | 142,539 |
| 1980 | 138,126.6 |
| 1979 | 137,409.9 |
| 1975 | 133,633.9 |
| 1970 | 129,941.2 |
| 1965 | 126,309.1 |
| 1960 | 119,045.8 |
| 1959 | 117,534.3 |
Show sources information Show publisher information Use Ask Statista Research Service
January 1, 1959 to January 1, 2022
* Preliminary estimate.
Figures are as of January 1 of each year.
The statistic has been assembled using several pages by the source.
Countries with the largest population 2021
Distribution of the global population by continent 2021
Population of Europe in 2022, by country
Population of Russia 2022, by gender and age group
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How many people there are in Russia
How many people there are in Russia? Nowadays the country has a population of 146.3 million people.
Russia is the largest country in the world by far, and population-wise it also hits top 10 most populous countries.
How many people there are in Russia: comparison with other countries
The chart below presents the comparison of populations of Russia and other countries, including Indonesia, the United States and the United Kingdom (in millions).
How many people there are in Russia: comparison with different historic periods
Here the population of Russia is shown in millions during different historic periods.
The first two columns represent the data connected with the time of the Russian Empire when it had the territory similar to modern Russia.
The third and the forth columns show the populous statistics of the Soviet Union.
The last two columns are devoted to modern demography.
How many people there are in Russia: nations
How many people there are in Russia: nationsNowadays there are more than 200 nations living in Russia.
The ethnic Russians constitute about 80% of the total population.
Scientists point out that the ethnic diversity of Russia was influenced by both birth and death rates, and migration. For example, the Armenian and Azerbaijani population became twice bigger in the period from 1989 to 2010. It is quite obvious that this change can be explained by a heavy migration.
The three largest ethnic groups living on the territory of Russia are the Russians, Tatars and Ukrainians. Here you can see their percentage rate of the total population of Russia (2010):
Where do the Russians live: cities and towns
Despite a large territory today’s population of Russia is mostly concentrated in towns and cities.
Here you can see how the balance between urban and rural population of Russia has changed over a century:
How many men there are in Russia
People often wonder how many men there are in Russia. Indeed, its male population is considerably smaller than the female one. Nowadays there are 10.7 million fewer men than women in Russia (2010). Furthermore, the correlation between male and female population in Russia becomes even more skewed. You can clearly see the trend in the chart below:
This situation can be explained by shorter male life expectancy, which is 62.8 years (the Russian State Statistics Committee 2009). As a result, the difference between male and female life expectancy in Russia reaches almost 12 years.
Tendencies to change the population structure in Russia
While population ageing is growing acuter around the globe, it is not so evident in Russia thanks to a constant migration inflow that is mostly formed by working-age people.
Besides, many senior people (more than a half of the total population) keep working after reaching retirement age. It increases the number of working people in comparison with retired population.
Thus, the growth of retired population in Russia by 1.5 million in the period from 2010 to 2012 is somehow compensated by the above-mentioned factors.
Mass media regularly post news on the possible raise of retirement age. Now it is 60 years for men and 55 years for women.
The data was taken from the Russian State Statistics Committee, Eurostat, China’s National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations.
How many ETHNIC groups live in Russia?
According to the 2010 census, there are as many as 193 ethnic groups living in Russia. It sounds like a very high number, doesn’t it? And yet, Russia is not even in the top 50 countries with a high degree of ethnic diversity and it is considered to be quite homogeneous in terms of the ratio of ethnic minorities per capita (the world’s 20 most diverse countries are all located in Africa). Out of a population of 137 million who indicated their nationality at the time (the total population of Russia was 143 million), 80.1 percent of its citizens are ethnically Russian and all the rest add up to 19.1 percent.
Festival of Caucasian Culture and Sports in Grozny
Nevertheless, almost 200 ethnic minorities and peoples fall into that percentage and regard Russia as their home, which is still a lot. Here are Russia’s top 7 largest ethnic groups:
How do they all get along with each other?
Many of these ethnic groups enjoy a certain autonomy, because, at the dawn of the Soviet Union, attempts were made to set up republics and regions along ethnic lines. Thanks to this, for certain ethnic groups the preservation of their culture, traditions and language has been unproblematic. Today, the places where they live are strikingly different from other places in Russia, precisely because of their local character.
For instance, these five Russian cities are unlike any others in Russia: There are places here where alcohol is completely forbidden and places with ancient Buddhist temples, as well as cities and regions where other languages are spoken.
This was promoted in the past by the nationalities policy of the Bolsheviks, who made much play of sponsoring and supporting ethnic groups, according to Russian Academy of Sciences academician and ethnologist Valery Tishkov.
“The idea of ethnic nationality was first brought in as part of the first Soviet census in 1926. The two earliest declarations of the Soviet authorities were a declaration on the rights of working people and a declaration on the rights of ethnic peoples, accompanied by the slogan ‘equality of nations, peoples and ethnographic groups’,” Tishkov says. Concepts such as “oppressed nations” and “ruling nation” were introduced at that time, with the Russians placed in the latter category. It was this declaration of equality, in Tishkov’s view, that in some measure secured support for the Bolsheviks, particularly in the ethnic peripheries.
It should be added that, a couple of decades later, it was the autonomous ethnic regions that the Soviet authorities came to regard as a threat to their rule. More on why Stalin forcibly resettled whole ethnic groups and peoples in brutal conditions can be found here.
Who was less lucky
At the present time, 47 ethnic groups are officially recognized as indigenous small ethnic peoples of Russia. They include the Kets, Aleuts, Itelmens, Nenets and others. They are the only ethnic groups protected by law through meeting the following criteria: the surviving populations are fewer than 50,000, they live on their historic lands, they have preserved their traditional way of life and regard themselves as a separate ethnicity.
At the «First fish festival» celebrated by the indigenous peoples of Kamchatka
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