World Geography Notes
Ch 15 Sect 1
Population Patterns of Russia
I.Russia’s ethnic diversity
A.Ethnic Groups – shares a common ancestry, lang., religion, or set of customs, or a combo.
1.More than 100 in Russia
B.Ethnic Russians
1.80% of Russia
2.People who follow Russian customs and speak
C.Conquest
1.Other non-ethnic Russians were conquered during empire building and do not consider themselves truly Russian
II.EthnicRegions
A.Soviet Era
1.Regional political boundaries often reflected major ethnic groups
a)called a nationality
B.Post-Soviet Era – 1991
1.32 groups have own republics or administrative territories within Russia
III.The Slavs
A.Includes – ethnic Russians, Poles, Serbs, Ukrainians, other E. Europeans
B.Slavs have dominated Russia’s political and cultural life
1.most practice Eastern Orthodoxy – offspring of Catholic Church
C.Language
1.official lang. = in USSR was Russian
2.more than 100 spoken
a)most speak Russian & native/ethnic tongue
IV.Turkic Peoples
A.Characteristics
1.2nd largest ethnic group
2.live in Stans area,VolgaRiver, Siberia
3.Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, Tatars, and Turks
4.mainly Muslim – follow Islamic religion
5.ethnicity is based on language – Turkic lang.
B.Turkic people in Russia
1.Includes Tartars, Chuvash, Bashkirs, & Sakha
a)Tartars are most numerous
b)1/3 of Tartars live in Tartarstan
c)Tartar pop. & customs are growing rapidly & may one day takeover Russian customs and language
2.Sovereignty – limited amount of self-rule
a)Russia granted Tartarstan sovereignty in 1994
b)Russia hopes this will prevent secession
V.Caucasian Peoples
A.Characteristics
1.People who live in the CaucasusMt. area
2.mainly Christian with some Muslim people also
3.similar lang. and cultures but speak differentdialects
B.Demanding independence
1.Chechens (Chechnya), Dagestanis, & Ingushetians
2.if no independence, they want sovereignty or more recognition in Russia
VI.Population Density and Distribution
A.Characteristics
1.6th most populous country – 144 million
2.low pop. density – 6.6 million sq. miles
a)avg. 22 per sq mile
b)U.S. avg. 77 per sq mile
3.75% live in N. European Plain area of Russia
a)pop. Density will be higher – 120 per sq. mi.
B.Physical geography and its impact on pop. distribution
1.Ural Mts.
a)East = Siberian climate - cold and harsh
(1)mts., frozen tundra, forests
2.Siberia
a)75% of the land in Russia
b)25% of the people in Russia
3.European Russia
a)most of Russia’s industrialized cities
(1)connected by rivers
b)since 1990, urban population growth has leveled in cities with 500,000 or more.
VII.Population Trends
A.Soviet Era
1.Ethnic Russians migrated to outlying republics
2.1970’s trend began reversing, with people from republics moving to Russia
3.Since break-up many have returned home
a)Moscow, St. Petersburg, & SW Russia
b)immigration to Russia higher than to new republics
B.Currently
1.Population crisis
a)due to decline in health care
2.Since 1992 – death rate has exceeded the birth rate
3.Life expectancy during the 1990’s
a)males dropped from 64 yrs. to 58
b)females decreased from 74 yrs. to 72
c)infant mortality rose from 17.4 deaths per 1,000 births to 20.1
4.Challenge - improve health care and accessibility