Population of Karelia: dynamics, current demographic situation, national composition, culture, economy

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

The Republic of Korea is a region located in the northwestern part of Russia. Officially, it was created in 1920, when the government of the USSR decided to form the corresponding autonomous region. Then it was called the Karelian Labor Commune. Three years later, the region was renamed, and in 1956 it became the Karelian ASSR.

This is a culturally unique region in which the western side of the east, and the Catholic side of the Orthodox. Nevertheless, the population of Karelia continues to decrease. For the entire period after the collapse of the USSR, there was not a single year when a positive increase was recorded. Young people are leaving the region in search of a better life, and ethnic groups are increasingly assimilated, losing their uniqueness.

Dynamics

In the early 1920s, the population of Karelia was about 250 thousand people. Over the next 40 years, it increased by 2.5 times. According to the All-Union Population Census of 1959, the population of Karelia wasalready 651346 people. In 1970, 713 thousand people already lived in the ASSR under consideration. According to the All-Union Census of 1989, the population of Karelia was 791317 people.

After the collapse of the USSR, the number of inhabitants of this region began to gradually decline. In the mid-1990s, the population of Karelia was already about 770 thousand. Over the next five years, it decreased even more. According to the 2002 All-Russian Population Census, the population of Karelia was 716,281. Four years later, the number of inhabitants was less than 700,000. In 2010, the population of Karelia was 643,548 people, which is less than in 1959

Current demographic situation

As of January 1, 2017, the population of Karelia is 627,083 people. About 56.1% of the total number are of working age, another 17.9% are younger than him, 26% are older. There are 1193 women for every 1000 men. Expected life expectancy at birth is about 70 years. The urban population of the Republic of Karelia prevails over the rural population. About ¾ of the region's inhabitants live in large settlements. The population of Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia, is 278.6 thousand people.

National composition

According to the 2010 All-Russian Census, the majority of the region's inhabitants are Russians. Their share is 78.88% of the total population of Karelia. It should be noted that about 4% of the respondents refused to indicate their nationality. About 7.08% consider themselves Karelians, another 3.63% - Belarusians, 1.97% - Ukrainians, 1.33% - Finns. Also in the region, ethnic groups such as Veps, Tatars, Poles, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Gypsies, Chuvashs, Lithuanians and others are represented as national minorities.

Culture

About a hundred different nationalities live in Karelia. And they all have their own traditions and customs. Most of the population of the region today consider themselves Russian, but this does not negate the fact that national languages are taught in schools and universities. Newspapers are published, TV programs are broadcast. More than 60 various public organizations are registered in Karelia. Perhaps that is why all peoples manage to get along quite peacefully, despite differences in traditions. A positive role is also played by the program "Karelia - the territory of consent" being implemented in the region. The state language is Russian. Karelian does not have this status, but this issue is a low priority due to its low prevalence.

Traditional Karelian crafts differed from Central Russian ones. However, they did not gain all-Union fame. To date, there is only one enterprise in Karelia that deals with traditional crafts. As for literature, it was formed on the basis of Russian and local folklore. The development of painting in the region is closely connected with the traditions of icon painting. However, the nature of the region has become an inspiration for many famous Russian artists. Among them are such masters as Shishkin, Roerich, Kuindzhi.

Housekeeping

The main goal of the development of the region is to increase the quality of life, achieve balanced growth and create the potential for active participation in the system of domestic and international division of labor and exchange. The governments of the Russian Federation and Karelia have adopted the relevant legal acts fixing these tasks. Among them are the "Strategy and concept of socio-economic development", as well as the "Scheme of territorial planning".

There are many industrial enterprises operating in the Republic, most of which are guided by local natural resources. The region is dominated by industries such as metallurgy, woodworking and paper production. As for agriculture, there are no natural and climatic conditions for its successful development in the region. Only 1.2% of all land is cultivated. About 60% of arable land is located on podzolic soils of various composition. However, animal husbandry has been developed in Karelia. The volume of commercial fish farming products exceeds 120 thousand tons. As for the service sector, tourism plays the biggest role.