home-Shoes-How many Russians are there on earth? How many Russians are there in the world: numbers, facts, comparisons

How many Russians are there on earth? How many Russians are there in the world: numbers, facts, comparisons

I. RUSSIAN ETHNOS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Russians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world. Current number Russians in the world are estimated at approximately 147 million people. According to this indicator, they occupy fifth place after the Chinese (about 1.5 billion people), Hindustanis (more than 200 million people), US Americans (about 180 million people) and Bengalis (about 160 million people).

The majority of Russians live on the territory of their national state entity - Russia, or Russian Federation, where, according to the results of the 2002 census, there are 116,018.0 thousand people. This number includes several groups that appeared in the results of the 2002 census, which, in addition to Russian, also have ethnic identity more low level: Cossacks– 140.0 thousand people, Pomors– 6.6 thousand people, Kamchadals– 2.3 thousand people. At total number of the country's population of 145,166.7 thousand people, Russians made up 79.9% of the country's total population. Thus, 78.9% of all Russians in the world live in “their” state. In the Russian Federation, the Russian ethnic group is truly a state-forming group. The percentage of its representatives by region ranges from 69.7% (Astrakhan region) to 96.6% (Vologda region), and in national-state formations - republics, autonomous okrugs and autonomous regions - representatives of the Russian ethnic group make up the majority in about half their numbers

In addition to the Russian Federation, a significant number of Russians live in the former republics of the USSR, now independent states. According to the results of censuses and demographic estimates, at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. the number of Russians was: in Ukraine - 8,334.1 thousand people, in Kazakhstan - 4,479.6 thousand people, in Uzbekistan - 1,150.0 thousand people, in Belarus - 1,141.7 thousand people, in Latvia – 699.5 thousand people, in Kyrgyzstan – 603.2 thousand people, in Moldova – 501 thousand people, in Estonia – 352.4 thousand people, in Lithuania – 280 thousand people, in Turkmenistan – 240 thousand. people, in Azerbaijan – 141.7 thousand people, in Georgia – 140 thousand people, in Tajikistan – 68.2 thousand people, in Armenia – 8 thousand people. In total, therefore, in the countries of the so-called near abroad, the number of Russians was approximately 18.1 million people. It continues to decline due to the migration of the Russian population, mainly to the territory of the Russian Federation. The total number of Russians in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries was at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries. 134.1 million people.

Outside former USSR the number of Russians is quite difficult to estimate due to the sharp increase in their migration over the past decade and a half, mainly to the developed countries West. There are other difficulties in establishing this figure. Migrated from Russian Empire, and later from the USSR, the population in new places of residence often defined themselves (or were defined by administrative bodies maintaining statistical records) as Russian, regardless of ethnicity, however, due to a number of circumstances, migrants, on the contrary, hid their belonging to the Russian ethnic group (for example , in the USA during the period of McCarthyism). Based on estimates of the number of Russians in the Russian Federation and other states - former republics of the USSR, in non-CIS countries it should be approximately 12-13 million people.

There is no exact answer to the question of how many Russians live in the world, but approximate data is available: 127,000,000 people, of which some live in the Russian Federation - 86%. The rest of the world accounts for 14% Russians. The countries with the largest number of Russians are Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Now there is a tendency to reduce the number of Russians in other countries and in Russia itself.

Story

The 16th century could hardly be called densely populated. Research by scientists has revealed that at that time no more than 15 million people lived on its territory. A century later, the population no longer increased, but on the contrary, it decreased by 2-3 million. However, these data cannot be called reliable, since any accurate counting systems were not used in those periods, as is known.

In the XVIII and 19th centuries Russian people (in the general understanding of this expression) successfully developed new territories, among which can be called the steppe regions of Europe, North Caucasus, Northern Urals. He also settles in Central Asia, and in the Far East. Almost everywhere Russian people found a common language with local peoples, successfully traded with them, taught them, and learned a lot from them. Here are the lines the historian Lev Gumilyov wrote about the Russian people: “We must pay tribute to the intelligence and tact of our ancestors... They treated the surrounding peoples as equals, even if they were different from them. And thanks to this, they survived the centuries-long struggle, establishing as a principle not the extermination of neighbors, but the friendship of peoples...” These words, like no other, confirm the peace-loving essence of a person of Russian nationality and his ability to adapt to any conditions.

The Great Russian Settlement

Russians settled in westward. In the question “How many Russians are there in the world?” it would be inappropriate not to note this. In the 18th century, the Russian state included the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which we now call Poland, Belarus, and Little Russia. It goes without saying that the territorial expansion of the state was followed by the development of these lands by Russian people. Some moved here on duty, sent by the sovereign, others moved - peasants and artisans - in the hope of finding new house and long-awaited prosperity.

Studying the topic “How many Russians are there in the world”, let’s say that in those days Russians lived both in the territory of present-day Finland and at the mouth of the Danube, although there were few of them there.

If expressed in numbers, we note that 70% of Russians lived in the Urals from total number of those who inhabited it, in the Volga region - 63%, in the north of the Caucasus - 40%. The leader among regions with a Russian population is Siberia, in which three out of four residents were Russian.

In the process of considering the question “How many Russians live in the world”, we found out that Russian people mainly settled throughout the territory of their state, which was constantly expanding in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Emigrants from Russia

In the first half of the 20th century, a mass exodus of people who spoke Russian began from Russia to Western countries. Russia was then abandoned by people who did not want to live in the USSR - a new state that emerged after the overthrow of the Tsar and with the coming to power of the Bolshevik Party led by Vladimir Lenin. Several million people then moved to the countries of the New World alone. Let us note that people were leaving mainly from the western regions of that huge country - Moldova, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia. Approximately half of those who left had Jewish roots. There were many emigrants from among the former military - White Guards. During the Great Patriotic War, there was another wave of emigration, but this time the Soviet Union was left by those who had joined German army. In the late 60s - early 70s. XX century, those who disagreed with the Soviet political course left for other countries. After the collapse, another wave of exodus began, triggered by Russia's weak economy. Highly qualified specialists were forced to leave the country due to the inability to find work.

The general question “How many Russians live in the world” can be divided into specific ones and find out how many Germans live in other countries. So, about 2,652,214 people live in the United States from Russia. The data is taken from the American The most “Russian” cities are New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Detroit. The first city on this list is home to 1.6 million people who call themselves Russians. For comparison, let’s denote the number of Chinese living there - 760 thousand - and Dominicans - 620 thousand. 600,000 immigrants from Russia live and work in California.

Russians in other countries

In Australia, there were 67,000 people who called themselves Russian, approximately one in four of whom were born in Russia.

Very few Russians live in sultry Brazil, only 100 people.

Germany is a country that has adopted great amount immigrants from Russia, who mostly arrived here quite recently - during the formation of the new state during the era of Boris Yeltsin's presidency. People who had German roots and lived for generations in the USSR and Russia are called “Russian Germans” in Germany. Calculations carried out by German government services, indicate the number of 187,835 such people.

It is impossible to put an end to the question “How many Russians are there in the world”, because the number of people who consider themselves to be Russian people changes all the time, and therefore the data always needs to be adjusted.

  • There is one in the USA American family earns an average of $50,500. Russian-speaking has an income of $47,000 per year, Chinese - 42,000, Dominican - 20,000.
  • More than 60% of the total number of Russian speakers have a bachelor's degree.
  • About 70% work in management positions.
  • Only every fifth of Russian speakers works in the service sector.

One can only be proud of how many Russian people there are in the world who have successfully demonstrated themselves in many areas of our modern life.

Russian has earned the status of one of the world (global) languages ​​a long time ago. Now about 300 million people on the planet speak it, which automatically puts the Russian language in honorable fifth place in terms of prevalence. More than half (160 million) of respondents consider this language their native language. Before the collapse Soviet Union was Russian official language communication of all nationalities. Now he is a worker in the CIS and one of the six official ones in the UN.

Number and territorial distribution of Russian speakers

Before the revolution in Russia, 150 million citizens spoke Russian. By 2000, their number had grown to 350 million. The number of Russian speakers who consider this language their native language was approximately 280 million. Just over 70 million citizens spoke it well and used it in Everyday life. For 114 million, Russian was a second language. Basically, these were residents of the union republics.

Now there are many Russian speakers in Ukraine, Georgia and other countries that were once part of the Union. Native speakers live in Germany, the Balkans, Asia, and Israel. A huge Russian diaspora exists in the USA and Canada. Now Russian is in 2nd place after English in terms of prevalence on the global Internet.

Unfortunately, the growth trends in the number of Russian-speaking users do not inspire great hopes. The states that separated from the USSR are trying with all their might to revive their national cultures. By 2005, the number of Russian-speaking citizens living in the former territory of the Soviet Union decreased from 350 to 278 million. In 2006, only 140 million people recognized it as their native language. Basically, these are citizens of the Russian Federation.

IN modern world Russia is largest country, occupying a vast area - more than seventeen thousand square kilometers. Two continents divide it into parts - European and Asian. Each of them is larger in territory than many not-so-small states of the Earth.

In terms of population, however, our country is only in ninth place. The number of Russians today does not reach one hundred and fifty million people. The problem is that most of the country's territory lies under deserted steppes and taiga, for example, these are the most remote regions of Siberia.

However, this is compensated by the number of peoples living here. This was predetermined by the past. Historically Russia is multinational state, which it became, absorbing neighboring peoples, attracting strangers with large territories and wealth. According to official data, almost two hundred peoples now live in the Russian state, differing sharply in numbers: from Russians (more than one hundred and ten million people) to Kerek (less than ten representatives).

How many of us are there?

How many peoples live in Russia? How to find out? Leading sources useful information about the population of our country are statistical censuses regularly conducted in last years. At the same time, according to modern techniques and according to democratic approaches, data nationality Residents of Russia by origin are not noted in documents, which is why digital material for the census appeared on the basis of self-determination of Russians.

In total, in recent years, a little more than 80% of the country’s citizens declared themselves Russian by nationality, leaving only 19.1% as representatives of other nations. Almost six million census participants were unable to identify their nationality at all or defined it as a fantastic people (elves, for example).

Summing up the final calculations, it should be noted that the total number of peoples of the country who do not consider themselves Russian population did not exceed twenty-five million citizens.

This suggests that the ethnic composition of the Russian population is very complex and requires constant special attention. On the other hand, there is one large ethnic group, serving as a kind of core of the entire system.

Ethnic composition

The basis national composition Russia is, of course, Russian. This people comes from their own historical roots from Eastern Slavs who lived on the territory of Rus' since ancient times. A significant part of Russians exist, of course, in Russia, but there are large layers in a number of former Soviet republics and in the USA. This is the most significant European ethnic group. Today there are more than one hundred thirty-three million Russians living in the world.

Russians are the titular people of our country; their representatives dominate in a significant number of regions of modern Russian state. Of course, this led to side effects. The spread of this nation over several centuries over a vast territory during historical development led to the formation of dialects, as well as separate ethnic groups. For example, on the coast of the White Sea live the Pomors, who form a subethnic group of local Karelians and Russians who arrived in the past.

Among the more complex ethnic associations, groups of peoples can be noted. The largest group of peoples are the Slavs, mainly from the eastern subgroup.

In total, representatives of nine large language families live in Russia, differing greatly in language, culture, and way of life. With the exception of Indo-European family, they are mainly of Asian origin.

This is the approximate ethnic composition of the Russian population today according to official data. What can be said definitely is that our country is distinguished by a significant diversity of nationalities.

The largest nations of Russia

The nationalities living in Russia are quite clearly divided into numerous and small. The first ones, in particular, include:

  • The Russian inhabitants of the country number (according to the latest census) more than one hundred and ten million people.
  • Tatars of several groups, reaching 5.4 million people.
  • Ukrainians number two million. The bulk of the Ukrainian people live on the territory of Ukraine; in Russia, representatives of this people appeared in the course of historical development in the pre-revolutionary, Soviet, and modern periods.
  • Bashkirs, another nomadic people in the past. Their number is 1.6 million people.
  • Chuvash, residents of the Volga region - 1.4 million.
  • Chechens, one of the peoples of the Caucasus, - 1.4 million, etc.

There are other peoples of similar numbers who played an important role in the past and, possibly, the future of the country.

Small nations of Russia

How many small nations live on the territory of Russia? There are many such ethnic groups in the country, but they are poorly represented in the total population because they are very few in number. To these national groups belong to the peoples of the Finno-Ugric, Samoyed, Turkic, Sino-Tibetan groups. Particularly small are the Kereks (a tiny people - only four people), the Vod people (sixty-four people), the Enets (two hundred and seventy-seven), the Ults (almost three hundred people), the Chulyms (a little more than three and a half hundred), the Aleuts (almost half a thousand) , Negidals (just over five hundred), Orochi (almost six hundred). For all of them, the problem of survival is a pressing and everyday issue.

Map of the peoples of Russia

In addition to the strong dispersion in the size of the national composition of Russia and the inability of many ethnic groups in modern times to maintain their numbers independently, there is also the problem of distribution within the country. The population of Russia is distributed very heterogeneously, which is caused primarily by economic incentives both in the historical past and in the present.

The bulk is located in the area between the Baltic St. Petersburg, the Siberian Krasnoyarsk, the Black Sea Novorossiysk and the Far Eastern Primorsky Territory, where all big cities. The reasons for this are the good climate and favorable economic background. To the north of this territory there is permafrost caused by eternal cold, and to the south there are vast expanses of lifeless desert.

In terms of population density, one of the last places in the modern world received Siberia. Its vast territory is home to less than 30 million inhabitants. This represents only 20% of the country's total population. While in its vast area Siberia reaches three-quarters of the expanses of Russia. The most densely populated areas are the directions Derbent - Sochi and Ufa - Moscow.

In the Far East, a significant population density runs along the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Highway. Increased standards of population density are also observed in the Kuznechny coal basin region. All these areas attract Russians with their economic and natural wealth.

The most big nations countries: Russian, in to a lesser extent Tatars and Ukrainians are mainly located in the southwest of the state. Ukrainians today are mostly located on the territory of the Chukotka Peninsula and in the Khanty-Mansiysk Okrug, in the distant Magadan region.

Other small peoples Slavic ethnic groups, such as Poles and Bulgarians, do not form large compact groups and are scattered throughout the country. The Polish population is found in a fairly compact group only in the Omsk region.

Tatars

The number of Tatars living in Russia, as noted above, exceeded the level of three percent of the total Russian population. About a third of them live compactly in the region of the Russian Federation called the Republic of Tatarstan. Group settlements exist in the Volga regions, in the far north, etc.

A significant part of the Tatars are supporters of Sunni Islam. Individual groups Tatars have differences in language, culture and way of life. Mutual language is within Turkic group Altai languages language family, it has three dialects: Mishar (western), the more widespread Kazan (middle), and the slightly distant Siberian-Tatar (eastern). In Tatarstan, this language appears as an official one.

Ukrainians

One of the many East Slavic peoples is the Ukrainians. More than forty million Ukrainians live in their historical homeland. In addition, significant diasporas exist not only in Russia, but also in the countries of Europe and America.

Ukrainians living in Russia, including labor migrants, number about five million people. A significant number of them are located in cities. Especially large groups This ethnic group is located in the capital, in oil- and gas-bearing regions of Siberia, the Far North, etc.

Belarusians

IN modern Russia Belarusians, taking into account their total number in the world, constitute a large number of. As the 2010 census of the Russian population shows, there are a little more than half a million Belarusians living in Russia. A significant proportion of white people are located in the capitals, as well as in a number of regions, for example in Karelia and the Kaliningrad region.

In the pre-revolutionary years, a large number of Belarusians moved to Siberia and Far East, later national administrative units existed there. By the end of the eighties, there were more than one million Belarusians on the territory of the RSFSR. Nowadays, their number has been halved, but it is obvious that the Belarusian stratum in Russia will be preserved.

Armenians

There are quite a lot of Armenians living in Russia, although different sources, their number differs. Thus, according to the 2010 census, there were slightly more than one million people in Russia, that is, less than one percent of the total population. According to the assumptions of the Armenians public organizations, the number of the Armenian stratum in the country at the beginning of the twentieth century exceeded two and a half million people. And Russian President V.V. Putin, speaking about the number of Armenians in Russia, voiced the figure of three million people.

In any case, Armenians play a serious role in social and cultural life Russia. Thus, Armenians work in the Russian government (Chilingarov, Bagdasarov, etc.), in show business (I. Allegrova, V. Dobrynin, etc.), and in other fields of activity. There are regional organizations of the Union of Armenians of Russia in sixty-three regions of Russia.

Germans

The Germans living in Russia are representatives of an ethnic group that has experienced a contradictory and, in some ways, even tragic story. Migrating en masse in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries at the invitation of the Russian government, they mainly settled in the Volga region and the western and southern provinces of the Russian Empire. Life on good lands was free, but in the twentieth century historical events hit the Germans hard. First the First World War, then the Great Patriotic War led to mass repression. In the fifties and eighties of the last century, the history of this ethnic group was hushed up. It is not for nothing that the mass migration of Germans began in the nineties, the number of which, according to some sources, barely exceeds half a million.

True, in recent years, episodic re-evacuations from Europe to Russia have begun, but so far they have not reached large proportions.

Jews

It is difficult to say how many Jews currently live in Russia due to their active migration both to Israel and back to the Russian state. In the historical past there were many Jews in our country - in Soviet era several million. But with the collapse of the USSR and significant migration to their historical homeland, their number decreased. Now, according to public Jewish organizations, there are approximately one million Jews in Russia, half of them are residents of the capital.

Yakuts

It's Turkic enough numerous people, the indigenous population of the region adapted to local conditions.

How many Yakuts are there in Russia? According to the 2010 All-Russian Census of the Domestic Population, there were slightly less than half a million people, mainly in Yakutia and surrounding regions. The Yakuts are the largest (about half the population) people and the most significant of the indigenous peoples of Russian Siberia.

In the traditional economy and material culture of this people there are many close, similarities with pastoralists south asia. On the territory of the Middle Lena, a version of the Yakut economy was formed, combining nomadic cattle breeding and the most important extensive types of fisheries (meat and fish production), similar to the local one. In the north of the region there is also a distinctive form of harness reindeer herding.

Reasons for resettlement

Story ethnic composition population of Russia in the course of its development is extremely ambiguous. The accelerated settlement of the Russian state by Ukrainians occurred back in the Middle Ages. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, according to instructions government agencies settlers from the southern lands headed east to develop new territories. After some time, representatives of social classes from different regions began to be sent there.

Representatives of the intelligentsia voluntarily moved to St. Petersburg in an era when this city had the status of the capital of the state. Nowadays, Ukrainians make up the largest number of people in Russia ethnic group after, of course, the Russians.

At the other pole are representatives of small nations. The Kereks, who have the smallest numbers, are in particular danger. According to the latest census, there are only four representatives left, although fifty years ago there were only one hundred Kerek people. The leading languages ​​for these people are Chukchi and common Russian; native Kerek is found only in the form of the usual passive language. The Kereks, in terms of their level of culture and ordinary daily activities, are very close to the Chukchi people, which is why they were in constant assimilation with them.

Problems and future

The ethnic composition of the Russian population will undoubtedly develop in the future. IN modern conditions The revival of ethnographic traditions and the culture of peoples is clearly visible. However, the development of ethnic groups experiences a number of problems:

  • poor fertility and gradual decline of most peoples;
  • globalization, and at the same time the influence of culture and life large nations(Russian and Anglo-Saxon);
  • general economic problems that undermine the economic base of peoples, and so on.

Much in such a situation depends on the national governments themselves, including the Russian one, and on global opinion.

But I want to believe that the small peoples of Russia will further develop and grow in size in the coming centuries.

According to various estimates, the Russian-speaking diaspora in the world numbers from 25 to 30 million people. But to accurately count the number of Russians living in various countries extremely difficult, since the very definition of “Russian” is unclear.

When we talk about the Russian diaspora, we involuntarily return to rhetorical question– who should be considered Russians: either they are exclusively Russians, or they are joined by citizens of the former republics of the USSR, or do they also include descendants of immigrants from the Russian Empire?

If we count only people from the Russian Federation as Russians abroad, then no fewer questions will arise, since they will include representatives of numerous nationalities living in Russia.

Using the term “Russian” as an ethnonym, we are faced with the problem of national identity on the one hand, and integration and assimilation on the other. Let's say, today's descendant of immigrants from the Russian Empire living in France may feel Russian, but those born into a family of immigrants in the 1980s, on the contrary, will call themselves a full-fledged Frenchman.

Considering the vagueness of the term “Russian diaspora” and the not yet established concept of “Russian diaspora,” another phrase is often used – “Russian-speaking diaspora,” which includes those for whom the Russian language is a unifying principle. However, this is not without controversial issues. For example, according to 2008 data, about 3 million US residents declared their Russian origin, but Russian is the native language of only 706 thousand Americans.

Germany

The Russian-speaking diaspora in Germany is considered the largest in Europe. Taking into account various data, on average it is 3.7 million people, most of whom are Russian Germans. In families that arrived in Germany 15-20 years ago, Russian is still the mother tongue, although some of the immigrants use a mixture of Russian and German, and only a few are fluent in German. It is curious that there are cases when immigrants who have already begun to use German, again return to more familiar Russian speech.
Now in every major city in Germany there are Russian shops, restaurants, travel agencies, there are even Russian-speaking law firms and medical institutions. The largest Russian communities are concentrated in Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main. However, the largest concentration of the Russian-speaking population is in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Argentina

The largest Russian diaspora South America is located in Argentina. According to unofficial data, its number reaches 300 thousand people, of which about 100 thousand speak Russian to one degree or another.
Historians count 5 waves of emigration from Russia to Argentina. If the first was “Jewish”, the second was “German”, then the last three are called “Russian”. The waves of “Russian emigration” coincided with turning points history of Russia - the revolution of 1905, civil war and perestroika.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many Cossacks and Old Believers left Russia for Argentina. Their compact settlements still exist. A large colony of Old Believers is located in Choel-Choel. While maintaining their traditional way of life, Old Believer families still have an average of 8 children. The largest colony of Cossacks is located in the suburb of Buenos Aires - Schwarzbalde and consists of two settlements.
Russian Argentines carefully maintain cultural ties with their historical homeland. Thus, the Institute of Russian Culture operates in the capital. In Argentina there are also radio stations broadcasting exclusively Russian music - Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev.

USA

According to experts, Russian is the seventh most common language in the United States. The Russian-speaking population grew unevenly in the country: the last and most powerful wave of emigration to the United States swept over the Soviet republics at the turn of the 1980s and 90s. If in 1990 the American authorities counted about 750 thousand Russians, today their number exceeds 3 million people. Since 1990, a quota was introduced for citizens of the USSR - no more than 60 thousand immigrants per year.
It should be noted that in the United States, it is customary to call “Russians” all those who came here from the CIS countries and have different ethnic roots - Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish, Kazakh. Here, more than anywhere else, the duality of the situation is manifested, when ethnic identification and native language do not mean the same thing.
There is a large Russian-speaking diaspora in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston. But still, most immigrants prefer to settle in New York, where the connection with Russian history, tradition and culture has been largely preserved.

Israel

It is not known how many representatives of the Russian-speaking diaspora there would be in Israel now if, at the turn of the 1980s and 90s, the US government had not convinced the Israeli authorities to accept the main flow of immigrants from the USSR. The Soviet leadership also contributed to this process by simplifying the repatriation of Jews to Israel.
In the first two years, about 200 thousand immigrants from the USSR arrived in Israel, but by the beginning XXI century the number of emigrants from Russia decreased to 20 thousand people per year.
Today, the Russian-speaking diaspora in Israel numbers about 1.1 million people - approximately 15% of the country's population. This is the second national minority after the Arabs. The diaspora is predominantly represented by Jews - there are no more than 70 thousand ethnic Russians in it.

Latvia

Latvia can be called the country where there are the most Russians per capita - 620 thousand people, which is approximately 35% of total number residents of the country. The Russian-speaking diaspora in Latvia is also called the “diaspora of cataclysms”, since Russians remained here after the collapse of the USSR.
It is interesting that the inhabitants of ancient Russian lands settled on the territory of modern Latvia back in X-XII centuries, and in 1212 the Russian Compound was founded here. Later, Old Believers actively moved to the country to escape persecution.
After the collapse of the USSR, about 47 thousand Russian-speaking people left Latvia, although the situation stabilized very quickly. According to the sociological center Latvijas fakti, 94.4% of the country’s residents now speak Russian.
Most of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia is concentrated in major cities. For example, in Riga, almost half of the residents consider themselves to be part of the Russian diaspora. Virtually all big business in Latvia is controlled by Russians, it is not surprising that in the top ten of the ranking richest people Latvia includes six Russians.

Kazakhstan

Russians in Kazakhstan are for the most part descendants of exiles people XIX- first half of the 20th century. The active growth of the Russian population of Kazakhstan began during the period of Stolypin reforms. By 1926, Russians in the Cossack Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic made up 19.7% of the total population.
It is interesting that at the time of the collapse of the USSR there were about 6 million Russians and other Europeans in Kazakhstan - this is more than half of the country’s inhabitants. However, up to the present time there has been a constant outflow of the Russian-speaking population. According to official statistics, 84.4% of the population in the country speak Russian, but about 26% consider themselves Russian - approximately 4 million people, which is the largest Russian-speaking diaspora in the world.



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