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Concern over population decline in Russia

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW APRIL 24. Russia has lost over seven million people in the painful transition from communism to capitalism, according to preliminary census data released on Wednesday.

The steepest peace time population decline in world history has been partially offset by immigrants, reducing the net fall to just under 2 million people. According to preliminary results from the October census, Russia lost 7.4 million people since the previous census in 1989, but more than 5.5 million migrants from other former Soviet republics have entered the country.

Demographers have blamed this trend on declining birth rates and lower life expectancy linked to social and economic upheavals caused by the chaotic pro-market reforms of the 1990s. The birth rate has halved and life expectancy for men has fallen to 58 years.

Russia today has 145.5 million people, making it the seventh most populous nation after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil and Pakistan. But its population may further shrink by 30 per cent to 101.9 million by the end of 2050, the State Statistics Committee reported last year. This poses a national security threat, as the country may not be able to hold on to its vast territory, experts warned.In Siberia, there are fewer than 8 people per square km in comparison with an overall density figure for China of 122.

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