Nations of Siberia, their number and its dynamics in the post-Soviet period

Abstract

The collapse of the USSR led to global and irreversible consequences in all spheres of life of our country, including demographic processes. The article analyzes the dynamics of the number of peoples living on the territory of the Siberian Federal District, which includes 3 republics (Altai, Tuva, Khakassia), 2 territories (Altai and Krasnoyarsk), 5 regions (Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk). The post-Soviet period has seen changes in the ethnic structure of Siberia's population and changes in the number of peoples living here. The total population decreased from 18 million 490 thousand people in 1991 to 16 million 493 thousand people in 2025, i. e. by 2 million people in 33 years (11 %). There are significant differences in demographic processes among different nations. In absolute terms, the number of Russians has decreased most of all — by 2,795,000 people; the share of Russians in the national republics and in the Republic of Tuva has decreased from 32 to 10 %. The number of peoples called “old diasporas” has decreased: the number of Ukrainians in the regions of the Siberian District in the post-Soviet period decreased from 542.0 to 72.8 thousand people, Belarusians — from 124.3 to 15.7 thousand people. The main reasons are lower birth rates, natural assimilation and emigration to other regions of Russia. Low birth rates, assimilation and emigration were the reasons for the decline in the number of Germans, Jews, Greeks, Poles, Latvians and Estonians. The population loss in Siberia was partially compensated by migrants from the former Soviet republics, in the first years after the collapse of the Soviet Union — Russians and Russian-speakers, and later — representatives of the titular peoples of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan. The number of these “new diasporas” in Siberia has grown significantly: Kyrgyz — 3.3 times, Uzbeks — 2.5 times, Tajiks are characterized by almost 10-fold growth. Indigenous small-numbered peoples of Siberia have, although small, but stable numbers, due to higher birth rates and social benefits. As a result of demographic processes of the post-Soviet period, the ethnic structure of Siberia's population is quite different from that of the Soviet Union.