Vanishing Russians

[Jaga]

This article can be seen as controversial by some people. But I think, it is interesting...

Slavic Russia absorbed dozens of non-Slavic ethnic groups as it expanded along its vast southern and eastern fringes. Among them were Chechens, who, like many others, were given nominal autonomy and retained their language and religious identity. But Moscow left no doubt that it was in charge, and it often marginalized the local population.

Now, more than a decade of war has driven most of the fair-skinned ethnic Russians out of Chechnya's capital. In their place are the predominantly Muslim and dark-featured Chechens, who have reclaimed the city.

"You won't find any young Russians here. None," said Tatiana Kaverina, 48, an ethnic Russian who has stayed in Chechnya because she can't find anyplace else to live. "Soon, there will be no Russians."

Added Raisa Skachidubova, a retired literature teacher: "You get on a bus and you're like a white crow among a dark flock."

Russia's post-Soviet population implosion is mainly the result of an alarming increase in deaths and a decline in the birthrate among ethnic Russians, who still make up about 80% of the country.

But as alcohol, cigarettes, pollution, stress, suicide and resurgent diseases contribute to Russian deaths, minority populations are growing rapidly. Many of these smaller groups, particularly Chechens and other Muslims in the Caucasus region, have the country's highest birthrates.

Long accustomed to unquestioned dominance, ethnic Russians are being forced to confront a multiethnic future and significant problems controlling sensitive border regions. Only 12 years ago, they made up more than 60% of Grozny's population; now they account for barely 4%.

And as their population and power diminish in the Caucasus, ethnic Russians are also deserting the most remote stretches of the far east, to be replaced in urban areas near the frontier by hundreds of thousands of immigrants from China.

from
www.originaldissent.com/forums/showthread.php?mode=hybrid&t=25071

[Jaga]

more from the article:

Russia's population evolution is in some ways similar to that of Western European countries. Italians, Spaniards and other nationalities have birthrates that are among the lowest in the world. The biggest difference is the rate at which ethnic Russians are dying, and the failure of the nation's majority, even in comparison with countries struggling to assimilate prolific immigrant populations, to come to terms with a multiethnic future.

Today's Russia includes seven predominantly Muslim regions. Ivan the Terrible conquered the first of them in the 16th century; the final pieces were small republics in the Caucasus with complicated names such as Ingushetia, Chechnya, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan — the very places where Moscow now is battling Islamic insurrections.

Russian identity still is primarily cultural, remaining closely linked to the Russian language and the Orthodox Church. And the overall proportion of ethnic Russians has slipped only slightly, shrinking from 83% of the population to 79.8% over the last decade.

Demographic trends suggest that the decrease is likely to continue. Although most experts are skeptical, a former U.S. government expert on Russian nationalities recently predicted that Russia would have a Muslim majority within 30 years.

In addition to its own Muslim population, Russia is home to an estimated 10 million illegal immigrant workers from the largely Muslim former Soviet republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The city of Moscow has swelled to 10.4 million people, and one-fifth of them are Muslims. The Russian capital has the largest Muslim population of any city in Europe.

Along Moscow's wide boulevards, minarets rise next to the onion domes of Russian Orthodox churches. Across the country, there are 8,000 mosques, up from 300 in 1991, when Soviet strictures on religious observance were lifted. Markets more often than not are run by immigrants from Azerbaijan. Construction sites would come to a halt if not for low-paid workers from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

[Jaga]

Russian men live very short lives compared to other Europeans/Japanese/Americans. They do not live longer than men in poor African countries

The average Russian man lives to about 59 and is much more likely to die before 60 than men in other industrialized nations.
Probability
Life of males
expectancy dying
at birth between
(2004) 15 and 60
Japan 79 9.2%
Australia 78 8.6
Germany 76 11.2
U.S. 75 13.7
Mexico 72 16.1
China 70 15.8
Lebanon 68 19.8
Russia 59 48.5
Afghanistan 42 50.9
Sierra Leone 37 57.9
Zimbabwe 37 85.7
Source: World Bank. Graphics reporting by Julie Sheer

[Jaga]

The first two parts of the article about problems in Russia - very interesting indeed, can be find at:

A Dying Population
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-empty8oct08,0,4079705.story?coll=la-home-headlines

For the Sick, No Place to Turn
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-collapse9oct09,0,5957312.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[constantine]

And as their population and power diminish in the Caucasus, ethnic Russians are also deserting the most remote stretches of the far east, to be replaced in urban areas near the frontier by hundreds of thousands of immigrants from China.
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Hmmm, another attempt to write Russia off. When somebody has some fears and phobias it's rather suggestive to say that neighbour's business are worse.
I was in Paris during this spring and was shocked by the appearance of Sebastopol boulevard at evening, it's a real little Africa. I am not a racist, but please don't frighten us by Muslims, they are our domestic Muslims and we live with them during 500 years, we know all about each other. Thank God, they are not so insane to burn down scheduled coaches with people in it!

[Jaga]

constantine,

yes, Paris and London are very international towns. I was very surprised not to be able to see real French in Paris. These articles do not try to wrote Russia off. They just talk about real problems which Russia is facing - starting with the fact that abortions outpace real births. Majority of children born there have some defects etc - terrible!

The authors almost praise Soviet times.... but I cannot agree with them. The statistics was probably not much better during the Soviet times since it was not truthful.

[constantine]

[yes, Paris and London are very international towns. I was very surprised not to be able to see real French in Paris. These articles do not try to wrote Russia off.
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But being in Paris I was very astounded not by the problems of multy national society but striking idleness of youth in Europe. Such works as underground ticket collector or custodian are so of no prestige here in Russia for strong, healthy and capable man in his 30-th, but there in Paris it is standard. This is a real catastrophe. Yes we have a low productivity per person but it as a terrible for Russian to be an unemployed or to be employed in such femine's spheres.

[Eric]

It is very common all over the former USSR for ethnic Russians to move to Moscow or other major cities with overwhelmingly-Russian populations, as these are usually the regions with more positive economic growth. In some former USSR republics, the loss of most of the Russians has been catastrophic for their economies, and this is reflected in some of the regions of the Russian Federation, too.