Kola Encyclopedia. National composition of the Murmansk region - Murmanskstat - LJ The last city founded under the Russian Empire
, Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions, as well as the Nenets Autonomous Okrug) have long been distinguished by their originality. What it was like at the end of the 19th century is shown by an ethnographic description of that time:
- Sharpness, enterprise, a highly developed sense of self-esteem, self-reliance and independence are easily explained both by the external conditions of its existence, as well as by the social and religious characteristics of this region. The harsh, meager nature, which forced the northerner to turn to fishing and animal trades, contributed to the development of enterprise, ingenuity, and the ability to find himself in all kinds of conditions. Due to the absence of landowners, the local population did not experience the full burden of serfdom, which, of course, affected the independent and independent character of the population. Finally, the persecution to which the local population was subjected for adherence to the “old faith” strengthened its character and made it more stable and persistent in the fight against everyday adversity.
But when you think about the north, you involuntarily imagine white snow, icy expanses and huts made of reindeer skins scattered throughout the snowy valleys. The indigenous inhabitants of the north (Nenets Autonomous Okrug) live in chums Nenets
. The Nenets inhabit the tundra zone.
Indigenous population of the Murmansk region Sami
. They inhabit the Kola Peninsula. There are more than 60 thousand of them in the world, most live in northern Norway and Sweden, a few in Finland, and about 2 thousand in Russia. The Sami and Nenets are engaged in reindeer herding, hunting and fishing.
Original people Komi
inhabits the Komi Republic. Komi is the largest of the peoples of the Finnish language group, with a total population of 330 thousand people. Almost all of them live in the southern part of the Republic. The Komi carefully preserve truly folk traditions. And today, national elements are found in their clothing, and the peculiarities of the national cuisine (drying meat, cherinyan) have been preserved.
Karelians
(125 thousand people), 2/3 of whom live on the territory of the Karelian Republic, belong to the peoples whose numbers are decreasing, mainly due to those groups that live outside the territory of the republic.
Both Karelians and Komi were converted to Orthodoxy long ago and differ little from Russians. Also live Vepsians
, Finns
And Estonians.
Folk crafts:
The grace and artistic talent of the people of the north-west region are evident in works that are much admired.In the Vologda region, craftsmen express their artistic talent in lace weaving. And in Veliky Ustyug you can buy cigarette cases and glass holders decorated with drawings carefully made using niello (Veliky Ustyug nielloing on silver).
On the windows of the main streets of the Novgorod region there are many products embroidered with the Krestetsk “white stitch”. Novgorod craftswomen decorate bed and table linen, women's clothing and decorative items for the interior with fine, elegant and varied embroidery.
In the city of Pskov, Pskov region, potters sculpt products from local red clay and create souvenirs from wood.
The Karelian people are famous for the art of wood carving and painting, and artistic embroidery. Ornaments and patterns of embroidery and fabrics, carvings and paintings of dwellings in individual parts of the republic are different. In the north there are geometric shapes, and in the south they are more bizarre, similar to plant ones.
Folk art:
The musical creativity of the Karelian people, who created the original instrument, is bright and uniquely original. kantele , similar in type to the Russian gusli. Many folk songs have been preserved in Karelia, of an epic nature and varied in genre - wedding, comic, dance.In Karelia, on the shores of the beautiful lake Sredne Kuito, surrounded by coniferous forests lies Kalevala village. This area is well known in the history of world culture. Here, in the first half of the 19th century, Elias Lönnrot recorded most of the runes of the remarkable folk epic of Karelians and Finns “Kalevala” . The Kalevala is based on the runes of the famous performer of works of Karelian folk poetry, peasant and fisherman Arkhip Perttunen. The epic “Kalevala” has been translated into dozens of languages and its artistic merits have gained worldwide fame.
Russian painting:
The impetus for the development of Russian fine art was the foundation in St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1757), which became the center of artistic life in Russia. The artists of the academy worked in the field of historical painting on themes from ancient and national history and mythology. Prominent artists of this movement were G. I. Ugryumov. Portraiture from the 18th and early 19th centuries was presented D. G. Levitsky, V. L. Borovikovsky, D. A. Kiprensky. The largest St. Petersburg artists of the first half of the 19th century were K. P. Bryullov, master of philosophical and historical painting A. I. Ivanov, representative of the social genre P. A. Fedotov.The wonderful and diverse nature of the region served as a source of inspiration in the work of the giants of Russian painting V.V. Vereshchagina And I. E. Grabar, students of the Academy of Arts. Archaeological finds confirm the fact that the first people appeared on the Kola Peninsula about 5 thousand years ago. The Sami (obsolete name: Lapps) are the westernmost of the indigenous peoples of the north. The Sami language is part of the Baltic-Finnish branch of the Finno-Ugric language family, but occupies a special position in it. Their anthropological type is a mixture of European and Mongolian types.
The Sami were pagans. They usually built labyrinths and seids for sacrifices from stones.
In the 13th century, the Kola Peninsula became the domain of Novgorod (this is evidenced by the chronicles of 1216 and 1270). At that time, the southern coast of the peninsula was called “ter”, which in Sami meant “land covered with forests”.
In 1478, the Kola Peninsula was annexed to the Russian state. The Russians brought their religion here, and in the mid-16th century the Sami also adopted Orthodox Christianity. This had a double effect: on the one hand, their lives became more stressful, on the other hand, it stimulated their acquaintance with Russian culture and brought people closer together.
The main occupations of the Sami at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were fishing (lake and river), reindeer herding and hunting. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the Sami were practically doomed to extinction. They starved and suffered from various diseases, and were under the yoke of local and visiting merchants.
From the first days of Soviet power, the government began to care about the development of the indigenous peoples of the north, such as the Sami, Nenets and Komi.
Modern Sami no longer roam the tundra with their families. Most of them live in the center of the peninsula in the village of Lovozero. Their main occupation is still traditional reindeer herding. Currently, reindeer herding in the Murmansk region, in which the Sami and Nenets are employed, is a large herd. Its main goal is to breed deer for meat.
The number of Sami is 1.9 thousand people, of which 1.6 thousand people live on the Kola Peninsula of the Murmansk region.
VEPSY
Vepsians are one of the small peoples of the north-west of Russia. According to the 1989 census, 12.1 thousand Vepsians lived in Russia. The main territory of settlement of the people is Karelia, Leningrad and Vologda regions. The Vepsian language belongs to the Baltic-Finnish group.On January 20, 1994, on the territory of three national village councils of the Southern Onega region of the Republic of Karelia, where northern Vepsians predominantly live, a self-governing territory was formed - Vepskaya National Volost.
Administrative center village Sheltozero.
Total settlements 13.
Population 3,387 people (as of January 1, 1999).
According to chronicle, archaeological and linguistic data, the Vepsians were settled over a vast area from White Lake (now the Vologda region) to Onega and Ladoga, called Mezhozerye. Before the appearance of the Vepsians, in the north these places were inhabited by the ancestors of the modern Sami. The southeastern Baltic region is considered the ancestral home of the Vepsians, from where they finally moved by the beginning of the second millennium AD.
The main occupations of the ancestors of the Vepsians were agriculture, hunting, fishing, and there was developed trade. The trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” (from Scandinavia to the south) that passed through the lands of the Vepsians contributed to the establishment of its lively connections with the central and southern lands.
Although the first people appeared in the Kola North about 7-8 thousand years ago, the indigenous population - the Sami (Lapps) - settled no earlier than the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The number of Sami was small, rarely reaching 2 thousand people, at the same time it was growing slowly: if at the beginning of the 17th century. About 1 thousand Sami lived on the Kola Peninsula, then in 1782 - 1359, in 1850 - 1695, in 1897 - 1724 people. (in the country as a whole - 1812). Faster growth was hampered by both harsh living conditions and illnesses; for example, in 1858, after a typhus epidemic, the number of Sami decreased by 12%, and in 1884 by 20%, amounting to only 1,398 people. The main occupations of the Sami were fishing, hunting and reindeer herding.
Following the Sami to the Kola North from the XIV-XV centuries. The first Russian settlers began to arrive, mostly immigrants from Novgorod - fishermen and fur traders, who settled mainly on the Tersky coast. The "Moscow" wave of Russian colonization from the 16th century. contributed to their appearance on the Murmansk coast (Trifono-Pechenga Monastery, Kola). At the same time, representatives of the Karelian ethnic group, closely associated with the Russians, appeared on the Kola Peninsula.
In 1858, there were 5,200 people in the Kola district. permanent population, including in Sami churchyards - 1494; on the Tersky and Kandalaksha shores - 3192; on the Murmansk coast - 514 people. (in Kola - 514 people).
Since the 1860s (especially after 1868, when the Law on Benefits for Colonists was adopted), the next stream of colonization began, mainly from the west, which led to the appearance of a significant group of Norwegians and Finns in the north-west of the Kola Peninsula. Finally, in 1887, several families of Komi-Izhemtsev and Nenets moved from Pechora district to the central part of the peninsula.
As a result, a specific ethnogeographic distribution of the population emerged. Of the 8,690 people who inhabited the Kola Peninsula in 1895, 5,720 Russians and Karelians (65.8% of the population) occupied the Terek and Kandalaksha coasts, the coast of the Kola Bay and Eastern Murman; 810 Finns (9%), 220 Norwegians and Filmans (2.5%) - Western Murman; 1840 Sami (21.2%), 76 Komi and 24 Nenets (1.1%) - the central part of the peninsula.
From 1858 to 1907, the resident population almost doubled and amounted to 10,316 people. Replenishment occurred both as a result of natural growth and as a result of migration processes, the latter, however, played a leading role, giving two-thirds of the increase.
More intensive development of the territory of the region, expressed in the opening of a naval base in the city of Aleksandrovsk and the construction of the Murmansk railway, and the founding of the city of Romanov-on-Murman contributed to the influx of people here. By the time Soviet power was established in the region in 1917, about 30 thousand people already lived here. However, if the colonists came mainly for permanent residence, most of those who arrived during the First World War considered this region as a place of temporary residence. Therefore, the events of the Civil War, which significantly worsened the already very difficult living conditions here, led to a reduction in the population to 19.1 thousand people. in 1920.
Relatively slow population growth in the first half of the 1920s (1920 - 19.1 thousand, 1926 - 32.2 thousand) gave way to another surge caused by the active development of the region's natural resources and the opening of new enterprises in the conditions of industrialization at the end of 1920-1930 -X. The growth was primarily due to the influx into the region of a significant number of (directed and recruited) specialists from different regions and republics of the USSR, as well as the deportation of dispossessed peasant special settlers (more than 30 thousand people) here for settlement. As a result, since the late 1920s, the average annual population growth was 28.6 thousand people. and in 1940 the number increased to 318.4 thousand (16.7 times compared to 1920).
Dynamics of changes in the number and composition of the population of the Kola North:
| Total population*, thousand people | Population share, % |
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| urban | rural |
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| Kola district of Arkhangelsk province |
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| Alexandrovsky district of Arkhangelsk province, including Pechenga volost |
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| Murmansk province, including Kandalaksha district |
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| Murmansk region |
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* Census data: for 1897 - as of February 9 (January 28); 1920 - on August 28; 1926 - on December 17; 1939 and 1979 - on January 17; 1959 and 1970 - on January 15; 1989 - on January 12; 2002 - on October 9; For other years, current estimates as of January 1 are given. Source: Murmansk region on the threshold of the 21st century / Goskomstat of Russia, Murmansk regional statistics committee. - Murmansk, 2000.
The evacuation of citizens, the conscription of northerners to the front and the death of local residents during the Great Patriotic War led to a new drop in the population, but by 1951 it had again reached the pre-war level.
Setting itself the task of accelerating the development of the natural resources of the North, but no longer being able to use exclusively administrative measures, the state in the post-war period began to attract the population here with the help of various benefits and increased wages, which ensured the maintenance of rapid population growth rates due to migration in the Kola region Peninsula until 1970 (the annual increase during this period was 24.9 thousand people). The largest share in the structure of arrivals (about 30%) were migrants from the northwestern regions of the European part of the RSFSR: Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov regions, the Republics of Karelia and Komi. In general, migrants from the RSFSR accounted for two-thirds of the total number of arrivals in the region (from the Asian part of the RSFSR - about 4%). A significant proportion of immigrants come from Ukraine and Belarus.
In the 1970s–1980s, the migration source played an increasingly smaller role in the formation of the population; natural population growth came to the fore, resulting in a decrease in its growth rate. Having reached its peak in 1991, the population of the Murmansk region begins to decline; in 1992–2006 it decreased by 308.3 thousand people.
Sources of population formation in the Murmansk region for intercensal periods:
| Indicators | |||||||||
| Average annual growth (loss) total, thousand people. | |||||||||
| Mechanical growth (loss), thousand people. | |||||||||
| Total increase (loss), % | |||||||||
| including natural increase (decrease) | |||||||||
| Mechanical gain (loss), % | |||||||||
The main reason for the decrease in numbers was the migration outflow outside the region with a simultaneous reduction in the flow of arrivals to the region. During 1993–2002, the migration outflow significantly, 8.6 times, exceeded the natural population decline (the outflow reached its greatest extent in 1992, when the region lost 31.1 thousand people at once); in 2003–2006, the migration outflow of the population exceeded the natural decline by only 2 times, decreasing (in average annual terms) by 3.7 times compared to the previous period. Among those leaving, more than 70% are people of working age, which leads to an increase in the population structure of people of retirement age.
At the same time, the population decline occurs not only as a result of its outflow, but also due to a decrease in its influx into the region, since currently unfavorable living conditions are not compensated by an appropriate set of benefits and the level of wages in the region.
The demographic development of the Murmansk region until the end of the 1980s was the most dynamic among the regions of the European North: from 1926 to 1991, the population of the region grew 36.3 times. At the same time, the rural population, until the beginning of the 20th century. which was the majority, became a minority in the 1920s, and from the 1930s the predominance of the urban population over the rural population became overwhelming, turning the Murmansk region into the most urbanized region of the USSR/RF.
The specificity of migration processes that ensured the increase in representatives of young and working ages (men 16-59 years old, women 16-54 years old) predetermined the existing age-sex structure and processes of natural reproduction (fertility and mortality) of the population of the Murmansk region.
Urban population, thousand people:
| Murmansk | |||||||
| Kandalaksha | |||||||
| Monchegorsk | |||||||
| Olenegorsk | |||||||
| Polar | |||||||
| Severomorsk | |||||||
| Zapolyarny | |||||||
| Zaozersk | |||||||
| Ostrovny | |||||||
| Polar dawns | |||||||
| Gadzhievo | |||||||
| Snezhnogorsk |
Share of the male population of the Murmansk region and the Russian Federation,%:
| Murmansk region | ||||||
For many years, the population of the region had a slightly larger proportion of men than in Russia as a whole, which is explained by the nature of the core industries, which require primarily male labor.
The age structure of the population of the Murmansk region is more favorable than in the country as a whole, both in terms of providing the region with labor resources and demographic development.
Thus, although the age composition of the region’s population became “older” from census to census, until the early 2000s it still remained younger in relation to national indicators.
At the same time, despite the fact that this age structure of the region for a long time was favorable for ensuring its demographic development, birth rates (the number of births per 1 thousand people) were consistently declining. Although formally the birth rate in 1959-1982 was characterized by a higher level (1959 - 25.9; 1982 - 17.1) than in the RSFSR (1959 - 23.7; 1982 - 16.6), this is explained exclusively by the younger age structure of the population , since special fertility rates (the number of births per 1 thousand women of reproductive age - 15-49 years) in 1959-1982 and in subsequent years were lower than the level of the RSFSR / Russian Federation.
Since 1983, the birth rate in the Murmansk region (1983 - 17.3; 2006 - 9.9) has been lower than the national average (1983 - 17.5; 2006 - 10.4). In 2006, in the Murmansk region, as in the Russian Federation, there was an increase in the birth rate.
Age composition of the population of the Murmansk region:
| Proportion of people under working age |
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| Murmansk region | ||||||
| Proportion of people of working age |
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| Murmansk region | ||||||
| Proportion of people over working age |
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| Murmansk region | ||||||
Similarly, despite the consistent increase in mortality rates (the number of deaths per 1 thousand people) in the Murmansk region, their level has always been below the national average, due to both the younger age of the population and the lower mortality rate among young people and working age. The sharp increase (1.33 times) in the overall mortality rate in the Murmansk region that occurred since 1993 (1992 - 7.6; 1993 - 10.1) was caused by an increase in the mortality rate of the working population in 1992-1996 and in 1999-2006, which exceeded the average level for RF. The exception was 1997-1998, when the age-sex mortality rate of the working-age population was lower than in the Russian Federation. In 2006, in the Murmansk region, as in the Russian Federation, there was a decrease in the overall mortality rate.
One of the most important achievements of the demographic development of the Murmansk region in the 1980s was the increase in life expectancy of the male population. In 1989-1990, the average life expectancy of men reached 65.3 years (increasing by 4.2 years compared to 1979), and for women - 74.4 (by 1.5 years).
Population reproduction (per 1 thousand people), %:
| Murmansk region | Russian Federation |
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| total fertility rate | crude mortality rate | total fertility rate | crude mortality rate | rate of natural increase |
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In general, the ratio of fertility and mortality processes in the 1980s was characterized by the development of trends (a decrease in both fertility and age-specific mortality) corresponding to those characteristic of the countries of the Barents region.
In 1960–2006, infant mortality (died under one year of age per 1 thousand children born) consistently decreased: from 35 in 1960 to 10.3 in 2006, being lower than the average for the RSFSR/RF as a whole in 1960–2004, since 2005 it corresponds level of the Russian Federation. However, it still remains very high, lagging behind the countries of the Barents region by 2.5 times.
In 1993, the region (and the country as a whole) faced such a phenomenon as depopulation (the number of deaths exceeding the number of births). In the first three years of the intercensus period 1989–2002, there was a decrease in the scale of average annual natural population growth by 1.6 times compared to the previous intercensus period 1979–1989.
The family composition of the population of the Murmansk region is characterized by a decrease in the number of married people and an increase in the number of never married people. In 2002, per 1 thousand people. 560 people aged 16 years and older were married. (1989 - 683), never constituted 232 (1989 - 163); in the USSR/RF, respectively - 571 (1989 - 650) and 210 people. (1989 - 160).
The level of education of the region's population in 1939–2002 was constantly higher than the national average. In 2002, 94.5% of the population aged 15 years and older had basic general and higher education, in the Russian Federation - 90.2%.
During the period 1989–2002, the average population density of the region decreased from 8 to 6.2 people. per 1 km 2.
In general, the process of formation of the population of the Murmansk region went through 4 stages and each of them corresponded to its own special type of development:
1920-1969 (except for the period 1941-1945) - migration growth was greater than natural population growth;
1970-1988 - migration growth remains significant, but its scale is less than natural;
1989-1992 - migration outflow of the population exceeds natural growth by more than 2 times;
1993-2006 - significant migration outflow exceeds natural population decline.
Number of marriages and divorces in the Murmansk region:
| Indicators | |||||||
| Marriages, thousand | |||||||
| Divorces, thousand | |||||||
| Excess of marriages over divorces |
The change in the type of natural reproduction of the population of the Murmansk region predetermined the emergence of a regional target program for the demographic development of the region, the development of which began in 2007. As a strategic goal, it sets population growth through the process of natural reproduction (increasing the birth rate and increasing life expectancy as a result of reducing mortality in all age groups). groups), the development of migration processes in optimal demographic structural proportions.
The practical transition from depopulation to the growth of natural population reproduction in the Murmansk region at the first stage means stabilization of the population, at the second - a gradual increase in the population. Thanks to the positive age structure of the population of the Murmansk region, from the standpoint of ensuring its demographic development, an increase in natural reproduction is possible in the near future.
Ethnic processes
Due to its border position, the Murmansk region is an ethno-contact zone. In addition, the population, under the influence of intensive migrations, has formed as a multi-ethnic one. At the same time, the region has significant experience of long-term, relatively conflict-free coexistence of various ethnic groups, due to the peculiarities of the process of development and settlement of the region, the high percentage of migrants and urban population, polyethnicity, etc.
Representatives of more than 120 ethnic groups live in the Murmansk region (according to 2002 data). The bulk of the population were and are Russians - 85.2%, Ukrainians and Belarusians - 6.4 and 2.3%, respectively. The indigenous population includes the Sami, the old-timers - the Russian Pomors, the more recent - the Izhemsky Komi, as well as dispersed representatives of other ethnocultural groups.
National composition of the population of the Murmansk region:
| Nationality | 2002 as a percentage of 1989 |
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| in % of total | in % of total |
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| Ukrainians | |||||
| Belarusians | |||||
| Azerbaijanis | |||||
| Moldovans | |||||
The Sami population was relatively stable during the 2nd half of the 20th century. it ranged from 1687 people. in 1959 to 1769 in 2002 (1970 - 1715, 1979 - 1565, 1989 - 1615); its decline in 1970-1979 is the result of the assimilation process: in 1975-1979, among all marriages of the Sami population, the share of mixed ones, in which children were registered according to the nationality of the second parent, was 82.1%. Since 1989, there has been a growth in Sami ethnic identity, with the result that young people are registered as Sami when receiving a passport, and the ethnicity of newborns in mixed marriages is determined when they are registered. The Sami population in 2002 accounted for 0.2% of the total population of the region.
A special place in the ethnic structure of the region’s population is occupied by the Izhem Komi people, who have been living on the Kola Peninsula since the end of the 19th century. In conditions of sparsely populated territory, differences in economic practices from the methods of farming by the local population, certain difficulties in relations with the autochthonous population, they retained their isolation, distance from both the Sami and the Pomors, language, national habits, customs, rituals, ethnic identity with the idea of common historical destiny with the Komi. Until the 1960s, they were registered as “Izhemtsy” in their passports, then they began to use the ethnonym “Komi”. The self-name is “izvatas”.
The Sami and Komi-Izhem population were involved in the process of mutual acculturation (borrowing the material and spiritual culture of other peoples), primarily in the sphere of traditional economic activities and livelihoods. Komi-Izhem reindeer herding technologies and certain elements of everyday life influenced the traditional Sami culture. A significant number of mixed Komi-Sami, Komi-Russian and mono-ethnic Komi families currently live compactly in the villages of Lovozero, Krasnoshchelye, Kanevka, and dispersedly in other settlements of the region.
National composition of migrants in the Murmansk region:
| Nationality | Arrived | Retired |
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| urban settlements | countryside | urban settlements | countryside |
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| Peoples and ethnic groups of the Russian Federation | ||||||
| Peoples and ethnic groups living mainly outside the Russian Federation | ||||||
| Migrants of indigenous nationalities from the CIS and Baltic countries | ||||||
| Ukrainians | ||||||
| Belarusians | ||||||
| Azerbaijanis | ||||||
| Moldovans | ||||||
| Migrants of other nationalities | ||||||
| Did not indicate nationality | ||||||
All this has led to the fact that the Murmansk region is considered as a territory of compact residence of the indigenous peoples of the North, which include the Sami, Nenets and Komi (although the latter are not the indigenous people of the region).
The old-time Russian population of the region - the Pomors - lives in the Kandalaksha and Tersky regions. The main distinguishing features, from the point of view of the residents, are the dialect, the fact of birth/residence on the Tersky Coast and the features of the traditional everyday culture associated with the fishing complex. The Tersky Coast is the only area of traditional Russian culture in the region.
Until the 1950-1960s, certain features of the way of life were preserved by groups of the Karelian population living compactly in the region, which appeared in the Kola North after they were evicted from the areas bordering Finland to the center of the peninsula for logging work. Then the Karelians moved to the cities of the region, mostly to Kirovsk and Apatity, and beyond, where they assimilated with other groups.
Urbanization and the accompanying socio-economic changes in the territories inhabited by the Pomors, Sami and Komi entailed the destabilization of traditional life support systems, which included economic, environmental, socio-normative, socio-psychological and other cultural components. The specifics of the urbanization process affected the well-known cultural distance of migrant city dwellers from the substratum population. The descendants of Sami, Pomeranian, Komi-Izhem, Karelian families living in cities are quite adapted to the urban lifestyle, and for most of them, like the rest of the population of the region, the culture of their ancestors is, at best, of historical value.
In recent years, the diversity of the national composition of the population has increased, and the so-called. new diasporas. Since the 1990s, there has been a new influx of ethnic “refugee” migrants and temporary migrants from the southern regions of the Russian Federation and the republics of the former USSR. In 2006, 864 temporary residence permits were issued on the territory of the Russian Federation (including citizens of Ukraine - 457, Azerbaijan - 119, Moldova - 51, Belarus - 33, Tajikistan - 24) and citizenship was granted to 1,473 foreigners (including citizens of Ukraine - 636, Azerbaijan - 206, Moldova - 82, Belarus - 116, Tajikistan - 29).
At the same time, the Murmansk region is characterized by a high level of ethnic tolerance; no ethnic or ethno-religious conflicts have been recorded in it. The reasons for such stability lie in the established traditions and trends of intercultural interactions in the region. The sociocultural adaptation of the population to the Far North, as a necessary condition, includes interethnic integration into the regional community and, accordingly, intensive acculturation processes.
In order to get the greatest effect from immigration and be able to regulate the volume and structure of migration flows in the interests of the region, the government of the Murmansk region approved a comprehensive program “On the regulation of migration processes in the Murmansk region on the basis of interdepartmental interaction” for 2007-2008, which provides for the creation of a single data bank on foreign citizens and stateless persons, reducing the number of illegal migrants by 20%, increasing the number of migrants working legally by almost a third.
The regional culture of the Murmansk region, formed during the Soviet period, has been influenced since the 1990s by a complex of external factors and cultures, among which the most important is increased international cooperation in various fields with Western countries in the context of globalization processes. The Kirkenes Declaration (1993) and the activities of BEAR were of great importance in this regard. Strengthening and developing cultural ties between the peoples of the Barents region and comprehensively solving the problems of its indigenous peoples are the most important goals of cooperation. The experience of Barents cooperation has a significant impact on the ethnocultural situation in the Murmansk region. Which, in particular, is manifested in the significantly increased educational, cultural, and sometimes political activity of various public organizations created along ethnic and national lines.
While Russia as a whole has recorded positive natural population growth, which is happening for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, then in Murmansk everything is different. The demographic situation in the region has remained consistently negative since the 1990s: the population of Murmansk is leaving their small homeland, high mortality is characteristic (especially among men of working age), except that the natural decline has decreased in recent years due to an increase in the birth rate.
The last city founded under the Russian Empire
Murmansk, which currently has a population of 301.5 thousand, was founded in 1916, although plans for a port city began to appear in the 1870s. The main purpose of creating the settlement was the desire of the Russian Empire to gain access to the Arctic Ocean through the gulf, which does not freeze, so that in the event of a blockade of the seas, the Black and Baltic, to be able to supply and receive cargo.
Initially, the city was a small village of Semenovsky at the Murmansk seaport. The official founding date of the settlement is the day of foundation of the temple in honor of the patron saint of sailors. Murmansk (the population at the time of its founding consisted mainly of workers and members of their families) became the last settlement that was founded during the Russian Empire, and received its modern name six months after the February Revolution. Until this moment, the settlement was called Romanov-on-Murman.
Population growth of Murmansk by the 1930s
The first population census conducted in Murmansk in 1917 recorded a population of 1,300 citizens. By the early twenties, the city was in decline: fishing did not develop, and industry was represented by handicraft industries. The cityscape was a jumbled collection of shacks, converted railroad cars, and overcrowded workers' barracks. Two or three streets, where two and a half thousand townspeople huddled, were adjacent to the port, which the provisional government established after the October Revolution had abandoned.
With the establishment of Soviet power, Murmansk (the population, whose numbers began to increase due to newcomers, contributed to this) began to become gentrified. For strategic purposes, the government needed a large port, transportation through which would not depend on relations with neighboring states. In addition, communication was organized with the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Company, which is under construction, and the task of increasing fish catch was set. Within a few years, the Murmansk fishing port and fish processing enterprises provided the USSR with significant volumes of fish.
The population of the city in the pre-war years reached almost 180 thousand people. People from literally all corners of the Soviet Union came to Murmansk (the population was made up of residents of other regions) in search of well-paid work. Many specialists were involved in the creation and maintenance of the Northern Fleet, the development of the seaport, and the construction of a number of military and civilian facilities in the city and in the suburbs. In 1934, the first bus route was launched, at the same time the Polar Arrow Express began running to Leningrad, and in 1939, asphalt laying began on one of the central streets.
Demographic situation during the war
During the war, the city was repeatedly subjected to air attacks. In terms of the number of bombings and the density of the shells, Murmansk, whose population lost three-quarters of its buildings, is second only to Stalingrad. German troops made two attempts to capture a settlement of strategic importance, but both of them failed.
The population of the city during the period of hostilities decreased by only nine thousand people (data from 1939, when the number of residents was 177 thousand, and 1956, when 168 thousand citizens lived in Murmansk, are taken into account). The bombings took the lives of many, but the losses were made up by newcomers. By 1944, with the start of the offensive operation of the Red Army, the threat to Murmansk was removed.
Post-war reconstruction and expansion of the city
By the end of the Great Patriotic War, Murmansk was practically destroyed. The city was included in the list of fifteen settlements, the post-war restoration of which was a priority task for the USSR. With one hundred million rubles allocated to Murmansk by the government, residential areas were rebuilt, communication lines and social infrastructure facilities were built, factories, factories and berth lines were restored.
The city was rebuilt by the early fifties. At the same time, the village of Nagornovsky was included within the boundaries of Murmansk, due to which the population increased once again. Seven years after the war, the city's housing stock reached the level it was at at the beginning of the war, and ten years later it had tripled. Instead of brick buildings, standard panel houses began to be built.
By 1962, Murmansk (the population reached 245 thousand people) increased due to the expansion of the urban area into nearby workers' settlements. In 1975, 363 thousand people already lived within the city; in 1982, the census recorded an figure of 400 thousand people.
Mass exodus in the 1990s
Active construction of residential areas and infrastructure facilities was completed by the 1990s. At the same time (even from the second half of the 1980s) a massive outflow of the population began. Mostly, city residents migrated to other regions of Russia, some went to other CIS countries, leaving Murmansk. By the year 2000, the population reached 376.3 thousand inhabitants. In 2010, the number of citizens was 307 thousand. The population of Murmansk in 2016 is 301 thousand people and continues to decrease.