Ethnical demographic processes in Western Siberia in post-Soviet period (1989-2010)

National composition of the population of Western Siberia is considered in the article that is offered to the readers. The aim of the article is to research dynamics of ethnical structure of economic region in post-Soviet period. Demographic processes among the major nationalities in a number proportion are in the center of our attention. Indigenous peoples of the North will not be considered in the paper because transformation of their number in post-Soviet period is a topic of the separate work. The authors used published and non-published materials of the all-Union Census and all-Russian Census of the population in 1989-2010-s that were elicited from central and regional archives and libraries. Statistical index of number dynamics and unit weight of major peoples are revealed in the article as in general as in regional line. Cause-and-effect connections between important events in the history of researched economic region, particularly, economic and political actions of central state bodies and number composition of separate ethnical groups are researched. Impact of essentially demographic factors on the change of national structure of the population of Western Siberia, including migration, natural increase, and assimilation are researched. It is concluded that collapse of the Soviet Union entailed definite changes in national composition of Western Siberian population. The appeared border barriers made the population's movement difficult and, consequently, migration of the peoples of the former European Union republics of the USSR to economic region. Transformation of command-administrative system and change of state economic paradigm to the profit of market principles that mean the regions' self-sufficiency decreased attraction of Eastern regions and stimulated the population's flow-out, and easing of visa regime led to immigration of the major part of Germans and Jews to foreign countries. In the first decade of the XXI century the question of economic rise of Siberia (including the Western) becomes urgent again. However, demographic potential of European territories and other traditional - donor-regions turned to be extremely weak after reforms period. Besides, according to the level of economic development they did not yield to Siberian territories significantly. At the same time economic and internal political situation in Caucasus and Central Asia was less favorable, and it promoted to inflow of their labor resources to eastern parts of the country despite the borders building. In new conditions formation of national composition of the population of Western Siberia, where the leading position belongs to Russians, was formed under new demographic trends and also assimilative processes that significantly quickened after disintegration of the Soviet Union.

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