Kaliningrad nation. Amber Rus' What peoples inhabit Kaliningrad

The population of the city of Kaliningrad against the background of the region, country, Baltic region

The incidence of tuberculosis in Kaliningrad is lower than the regional average, and the prevalence of alcoholism is slightly lower. However, the number of newly diagnosed drug addicts in the city is almost twice as high as the regional average.

Population migration

Despite the negative processes in the natural movement of the population (low birth rate and high mortality), the population of the Kaliningrad region and the city of Kaliningrad grew until very recently, while in neighboring countries, regions and cities it decreased. This situation was ensured by migration growth. Let us turn to the data characterizing it (Fig. 12, 13).

Figure 12. Migration growth in the population of regions and cities of the Russian North-West, Latvia, Lithuania, thousand people

Note: migration growth by regions of Russia - based on recalculations from the results of the 2002 population census.

Sources

Figure 13. Migration growth in the population of regions and cities of the Russian North-West, Latvia, Lithuania, per 1000 permanent population

Note: migration rates by regions of Russia - based on recalculations from the results of the 2002 population census.

Sources: Rosstat, Kaliningradstat, Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, Demographic Yearbook 2005, Statistics Lithuania

Throughout the 1990s, the Kaliningrad region had a fairly significant migration increase in population (due to international migration and a positive balance in exchange with other Russian territories) - in 1994 it reached almost 20 thousand people for a region with a population of less than 1 million people. In terms of migration growth per capita, the region was among the leaders among Russian regions. It was migration that made it possible to ensure the growth of the region’s population until 2000. According to Rosstat, in 1989-2002. The net migration increase in the population of the region amounted to 132.4 thousand people, in absolute terms it exceeded the increase in St. Petersburg (129.9 thousand) and the Nizhny Novgorod region (110.3 thousand). In terms of the intensity of migration growth due to international migration, the Kaliningrad region was among the first in Russia, second only to North Ossetia-Alania in this indicator. In terms of the intensity of migration growth due to intra-Russian migration, the region is also in the top ten regions of Russia.

In contrast, the populations of Latvia and Lithuania declined at a rapid rate in the 1990s. The peak occurred in the first year after the collapse of the USSR - 1992, during this year alone the population of Latvia decreased by 53.5 thousand people, Lithuania - by 25.3 thousand. In those years, mainly the Russian-speaking population left these countries and lived mainly in cities (Riga still remains largely a Russian city).

It is necessary to take into account that the population of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region was clarified based on the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2002. At the beginning of 2002, Rosstat estimated the population of Kaliningrad at 418.2 thousand people, of the Kaliningrad region - at 943.2 thousand people. The census showed a larger population: at the beginning of 2003, 429.6 and 954.1 thousand, respectively. Taking into account the population decline in 2002, estimated by current accounting in Kaliningrad at -1.9 thousand people, in the Kaliningrad region - at -1.4 thousand people, the census amendment amounted to +13.3 thousand people in Kaliningrad and + 12.3 thousand - in the Kaliningrad region. Considering that the data for the region includes Kaliningrad, other cities and districts of the region were even missing 1 thousand people according to the census, and the entire census correction occurred in Kaliningrad.

The census amendment by Rosstat is taken into account in the form of a migration adjustment, which is justified because The accuracy and completeness of migration records during the intercensus period were insufficient (especially since 1995). Taking this into account, the real migration increase in Kaliningrad was higher than what current records show, and the city’s population increased due to migration in 1989-2002. not by 48.7 thousand people (current accounting data), but by 62 thousand people.

This made it possible not only to cover the natural decline during the intercensal period (almost 3 times), but also to ensure the growth of the city’s population. Migration played a similar role in other cities and districts of the region (Fig. 14).

Figure 14. Components of the population dynamics of Kaliningrad and other cities and districts of the Kaliningrad region, thousand people

Recorded volumes of migration in Kaliningrad since the late 1980s. are decreasing; in 2006, compared to 1989, the number of arrivals to the city decreased by 3.7 times, and those leaving by 3.9 times (Fig. 15). Migration to the region as a whole and to most other Russian regions can be characterized in a similar way.

Figure 15. Numbers of arrivals and departures to Kaliningrad (data from current population records), thousand people

The migration growth of the region's population in recent years has been formed equally due to migration with the CIS and Baltic countries, and due to migration with other regions of Russia (Fig. 16, 17). At the end of the 1990s. the role of migration with the former republics of the USSR was more significant, despite the fact that arrivals from these countries recorded by statistics were less than arrivals from other districts, cities and regions of Russia. Therefore, despite the declining volumes, migration with the CIS and Baltic countries continues to play a significant role in the migration growth of the population of cities and regions of Russia. Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region differ from most regions of Russia in that they still have migration growth due to both domestic and international migration. Most other regions, incl. in the European part of the country, they are losing population in exchange with the Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations. It would be more accurate to say that even if they attract migrants from other regions of the country (from Siberia, the Far East, the European North), then departure to the capitals exceeds this flow.

Figure 16. Components of migration growth in the population of Kaliningrad in 1997-2000 and 2001-2005, thousand people

Figure 17. Migration of the population of Kaliningrad for 1997-2005, thousand people

International migration. In the 1990s, the population of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region increased mainly due to migration from the CIS and Baltic countries. If in the early 1990s. The region “grew” mainly with migrants from the Baltic countries; flows from Ukraine and Transcaucasia were significant; then, from the middle of the decade, almost the entire migration increase was ensured by migration from Kazakhstan and the countries of Central Asia (Fig. 18). The flow from European republics quickly dried up, despite the fact that there are still many Russians and Russian-speaking people there - those who are now commonly called “foreign compatriots”. By now, this resource has been practically exhausted: the Baltic countries have become members of the European Union, and residents of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus are increasingly oriented toward the West.

There was an outflow of population to foreign countries - mainly to Germany, but its scale did not exceed 1-1.5 thousand per year.

To date, the scale of migration has been greatly reduced. During 2001-2005, the migration increase in the population of the Kaliningrad region due to international migration amounted to 9.7 thousand people - one and a half times less than in 1994 alone. The migration increase due to international migration in Kaliningrad does not exceed 1 thousand per year. The structure of migration growth in Kaliningrad is similar to the structure for other cities and districts of the region (Fig. 19), the only significant difference is that residents of Kaliningrad travel to Germany much less often.

Figure 18. Components of migration growth in the population of the Kaliningrad region, people

Figure 19. Components of migration growth (loss) of the population of Kaliningrad and other years and regions of the Kaliningrad region in 2001-2005, people

International migration in Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region is not exhausted by the data described above. In the region, tens of thousands of foreign citizens are registered annually at their place of residence (Table 4). They are “invisible” for current statistics, while some of them can be rewritten during the census, because they can stay in the region for a long time, occasionally leaving it for a short period of time. Also, those who received a temporary residence permit are not included in the statistics, and there are also quite a few of them - 1-2 thousand per year. Most of them are citizens of the former republics of the USSR, with which Russia has established a visa-free travel regime (primarily Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine). From the Baltic countries - citizens of Lithuania, from other countries - citizens of Germany and Poland.

Table 4. Number of foreign citizens registered at the place of residence who have received temporary residence permits and residence permits

				8 months 2007
All countries
Received a residence permit
Former republics of the USSR
Registered at the place of residence
Received a temporary residence permit
Received a residence permit
Of which: Baltic countries
Registered at the place of residence
Received a temporary residence permit
Received a residence permit
Of these: countries with which Russia has a visa-free travel regime
Registered at the place of residence
Received a temporary residence permit
Received a residence permit
Other countries
Registered at the place of residence
Received a temporary residence permit
Received a residence permit

Every year, several thousand foreign citizens receive permission to work in the Kaliningrad region. These are mainly citizens of Ukraine, Uzbekistan and other visa-free countries, as well as Lithuania, Turkey, China and Poland (Fig. 20).

The established quota for attracting foreign workers in 2006 in the amount of 62 thousand people will not be filled; according to experts, the real size of the quota should be 10-12 thousand people - this is exactly how many foreign workers the region needs. Approximately half of the officially attracted foreign workers are employed in construction, another 40% in industry and transport.

Figure 20. Foreign citizens who received a work permit in the Kaliningrad region, by country of origin, people.

In 2006, the Federal Migration Service for the Kaliningrad Region conducted an expert assessment of the number of illegal migrants located in the Kaliningrad Region. Based on the results of the work carried out, the number of illegal migrants was estimated at no more than 10 thousand people. Thus, there are 15-20 thousand foreign citizens in the Kaliningrad region at any one time, the vast majority of whom are engaged in labor activities. More than 50% of them are located or work in Kaliningrad.

Every year, 4-6 thousand residents of the Kaliningrad region travel abroad for the purpose of employment (these figures take into account only those who left using official channels, legal intermediaries). The geography of commuting to work basically follows the geography of connections between the merchant and fishing fleets: Greece, Cyprus, Norway, Netherlands, Singapore, Antigua and Barbuda, etc. It can be assumed that several thousand residents of the region are engaged in trade and intermediary activities in the Baltic countries, Poland, Germany, some of them have their own business there.

Intra-Russian migration. The Kaliningrad region and the city of Kaliningrad have had an almost continuous increase in migration exchange with other Russian regions over the past 15 years. On average for the year in the region it was about 2 thousand people. The Kaliningrad region had the most significant growth due to migration with the regions of the Far Eastern, Siberian and Northwestern districts (Table 5), i.e. Northerners were actively moving to the region. At the same time, the region had a negative migration balance with the Central District, since the mid-1990s. - almost exclusively due to the outflow of population to the Capital Region. The decline was less intense in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. In recent years, the region's migration growth due to interregional migration has been decreasing, mainly due to a reduction in the flow from the regions of the Far East.

Table 5. Net migration of the population of the Kaliningrad region with the federal districts of the Russian Federation, thousand people

	1991-1995	1996-2000	2001-2005
Central
incl. Moscow and Moscow region
Northwestern
incl. St. Petersburg and Leningrad region
Privolzhsky
Ural
Siberian
Far Eastern

Half of the Russian migrants arriving in Kaliningrad are residents of other cities or districts of the region, i.e. intraregional migrants. The remaining half is distributed almost equally among all federal districts of Russia. Almost 2/3 of the departures from Kaliningrad residents are to other cities and districts of the region; among other districts, the leaders are Central (Capital Region) and Northwestern (Fig. 21). The regions of the Asian part of the country are not popular among residents of Kaliningrad.

Figure 21. Structure of arrivals and departures by destination to/from Kaliningrad in 2001-2002, %

In 2006, 10.8 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation were registered at their place of residence in Kaliningrad (61% of all registered in the Kaliningrad region), for 9 months of 2007 their number was 6.1 thousand (52%). Those. About 10 thousand more Russian citizens - permanent residents of other regions of the country - are staying in the city temporarily (in reality the period can be long - 1 year or more). A certain number of Kaliningrad residents live in other regions of the country, de jure being residents of Kaliningrad. Neither one nor the other is included in migration statistics.

Thus, the population dynamics of the Kaliningrad region and the city of Kaliningrad are significantly influenced by migration - both international and domestic. Moreover, the attractiveness of the Kaliningrad region and the city of Kaliningrad itself has ensured high intensity and effectiveness of migration in comparison with other regions of the country and neighboring ones over the past decade and a half.

Population composition

Ethnic composition of the population. Migration flows, significant in intensity and scale, did not lead to a change in the ethnic structure of the population of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region (Fig. 22). According to the 2002 census, the share of Russians increased - from 78.5% to 83.3%, but these changes were most likely caused by a change in ethnic identity in favor of Russian among representatives of two other Slavic peoples living in the region - Ukrainians and Belarusians. Their shares in the population decreased, and quite significantly, while their departure to “their” countries, if it took place, was not on a significant scale.

Figure 22. National composition of the population of Kaliningrad according to the population censuses of 1989 and 2002, %

In addition to these East Slavic peoples, several noticeable ethnic groups live in the city, each of which numbers 1-2 thousand people, i.e. less than 0.5-0.6% of the city's population. These are Lithuanians (2.5 thousand people), Armenians (2.4 thousand), Tatars (2.1 thousand), Azerbaijanis (1.3 thousand), Poles (1.6 thousand), Germans (1 .5 thousand), Jews (1.3 thousand). It is possible if temporary migrants are added to the census data, incl. workers, another 1-3 ethnic groups will appear with a population exceeding 1 thousand people (Uzbeks, possibly Kyrgyz and Tajiks), but this will not change the overall rather monolithic ethnic structure of the population of the city and region.

Age composition of the population. As in Russia as a whole, over the past decade and a half, the age composition of the population of Kaliningrad has undergone serious changes. First of all, the decline in the birth rate led to a decrease in the number of children aged 0-14 years - from 78.2 thousand people at the date of the 1989 census to 51.4 thousand at the beginning of 2006. Young people aged 15-29 years, on the contrary , it became more. In 1989, the number of Kaliningrad residents at this age was 97.5 thousand people, and at the beginning of 2006 - 103.9 thousand (Table 6). The reason for this is the increase in the birth rate in Russia (and in Kaliningrad) in the mid-1980s.

For the same reason - a successful combination of relatively numerous generations in the incoming flow and relatively few in the outgoing flow, the number of persons aged 15-64 years (working age) has also increased, but in recent years it has been declining. The population aged 65 years and older is growing rapidly.

Table 6. Population of Kaliningrad by aggregated age groups in 1989, 2002 and 2006.

Age
	thousand people	share, %	thousand people	share, %	thousand people	share, %
65 and older

All these changes are clearly visible in the age-sex pyramids of the population of Kaliningrad (Fig. 23). They clearly show which small generation of city residents will begin to enter active life in the very near future. First of all, in the coming years, the number of applicants to vocational education institutions and conscription contingents will be greatly reduced; by the middle of the next decade, the number of women of the most active reproductive age (20-29 years) will be reduced by almost half. Now, by the way, a large generation of women born in the mid-1980s is at this age and will continue to be for some time, which ensures a significant increase in the birth rate - both in the city, and in the region, in the country.

Figure 23. Age and sex composition of the population of Kaliningrad in 1989 and 2006.

Numerous generations born in the post-war period - the late 1940s - 1950s - have already begun and will continue to retire. This will lead to accelerating growth in the retirement age population. In the working-age population itself, the share of young people will decrease, and the number and share of people in the older able-bodied population will increase, incl. pre-retirement age.

In terms of the share of children in the population, Kaliningrad is inferior even to the Baltic countries, but they currently have a slightly smaller share of young people and, due to lower mortality, a higher share of older people (Fig. 24, Appendix, Fig. 1). If in Kaliningrad (and in Russia as a whole) it is possible to reduce the mortality rate of the population in young and middle ages, this will lead to an accelerated growth in the number and share of older people in the total population. This is not a bad thing, but it will put additional strain on social security and pension systems.

On the other hand, there will be few young people everywhere, and competition for them will intensify - both from local, domestic employers, and from the state (someone needs to serve in the army and navy). There will be a shortage not only in Russia, but in EU countries. For Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region, this represents a fairly strong challenge, given that the region’s labor resources may be in demand not only in the city, but also in neighboring countries.

Figure 24. Share (%) of individual age groups in the population of Kaliningrad, the Kaliningrad region, a number of other cities, regions and neighboring countries

Above, we have already characterized gender disproportions in the population of Kaliningrad in middle and older ages, caused by the high mortality rate of men. Let us only add that these disproportions lead to the spread of widowhood, loneliness of older people, and their greater social vulnerability. The early death of one of the spouses (most often men) negatively affects the well-being of families.

Mkrtchyan Nikita Vladimirovich – senior researcher Institute of Demography, National Research University Higher School of Economics
Shows the average number of children that one woman would give birth to throughout her reproductive period (from 15 to 49 years). It is calculated as the sum of age-specific fertility rates for age groups in the range 15-49 years.
The significant preponderance of men over the number of women aged 15-19 and 20-24 years in Kaliningrad is explained by the significant share of special contingents (military personnel) serving under conscription and contract for the city.
Clinical and epidemiological review of the situation with HIV infection in 2005.
In accordance with the existing provision of statistical registration of migrants, when registering at the place of stay, migrants’ statistical registration sheets are not filled out
Analytical report on an expert assessment of the scale of illegal migration in the Kaliningrad region / Archive of the Federal Migration Service for the Kaliningrad Region.
Of course, migration from outside the Kaliningrad region also played a role in the growth of the working-age population.

In 2014 and 2015, the region's population renewed its historical maximums: the first peak was observed in 1999. Population density - 64,06 people/km2 (2015). Urban population - 77,67 % (2015).

The demographic characteristics of the region have a long and complex history (including after the region became part of the RSFSR in 1945), which was affected by intense migration processes. After the collapse of the USSR, migration, primarily from the CIS countries, became practically the only source of population growth in the region.

The main population of the Kaliningrad region is Russian (86.4%). The population of the Kaliningrad region was formed as a result of post-war migration (after 1945), mainly from the European regions of the USSR.

• 1 Before 1945
• 2 Population dynamics
• 3 National composition
  • 3.1 Ethnic composition by regions and urban districts
• 4 General map
• 5 Age composition
• 6 Natural population movement
• 7 Migration
  • 7.1 German migration
• 8 Religion
• 9 See also
• 10 Notes
• 11 Literature
• 12 Links

Before 1945

In the Middle Ages, the region's territory was the habitat of ancient Baltic tribes - the Prussians, related to modern Lithuanians and Latvians, but very quickly subjected to Germanization due to its proximity to the center of German colonization of the region - Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The Germans formed the bulk of the population of the region until 1945, although even before the end of the war a significant part of them fled to the West, and most of the remainder were soon deported. By 1946, the region was almost completely depopulated. After joining the RSFSR, its systematic settlement began by Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, mainly from nearby regions.
The first indigenous resident of the Kaliningrad region was Alexander Anatolyevich Dorofeev, born on July 4, 1946 at 0:01 a.m. in Tapiau (Gvardeysk) in the family of guard Major A. V. Dorofeev, hero of the battles for Königsberg and Pillau.

See also: German population of the Kaliningrad region (1945-1951)

Population dynamics

Population
1950	1959	1970	1979	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
407 000	↗610 885	↗731 936	↗806 864	↗871 283	↗881 211	↗890 627	↗898 578	↗911 348	↗919 306
1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
↗933 735	↗940 242	↗944 252	↗952 698	↗961 257	↘958 782	↘957 533	↘955 281	↘954 093	↘949 657
2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
↘944 979	↘939 887	↘937 353	↗937 404	↘937 360	↗941 873	↘941 823	↗946 796	↗954 773	↗963 128
2015
↗968 944

100 000 200 000 300 000 400 000 500 000 600 000 700 000 800 000 900 000 1 000 000 1950 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

National composition

Dynamics of the national composition according to the All-Union and All-Russian censuses (share among persons who indicated their nationality):

	1959 people	%	1979 people	%	1989 people	%	2002 people	% from Total	% from indicating- shih national nal- ness	2010 people	% from Total	% from indicating- shih national nal- ness
Total	610885	100,00 %	807985	100,00 %	871159	100,00 %	955281	100,00 %		941873	100,00 %
Russians	473861	77,57 %	632717	78,31 %	683563	78,47 %	786885	82,37 %	83,14 %	772534	82,02 %	86,43 %
Ukrainians	35717	5,85 %	54656	6,76 %	62750	7,20 %	47229	4,94 %	4,99 %	32771	3,48 %	3,67 %
Belarusians	57178	9,36 %	72465	8,97 %	73926	8,49 %	50748	5,31 %	5,36 %	32497	3,45 %	3,64 %
Lithuanians	21262	3,48 %	19647	2,43 %	18116	2,08 %	13937	1,46 %	1,47 %	9769	1,04 %	1,09 %
Armenians	524	0,09 %	953	0,12 %	1620	0,19 %	8415	0,88 %	0,89 %	9226	0,98 %	1,03 %
Germans	648	0,11 %	1218	0,15 %	1307	0,15 %	8340	0,87 %	0,88 %	7349	0,78 %	0,82 %
Tatars	2202	0,36 %	3226	0,40 %	3556	0,41 %	4729	0,50 %	0,50 %	4534	0,48 %	0,51 %
Azerbaijanis	194	0,03 %	664	0,08 %	1881	0,22 %	2959	0,31 %	0,31 %	3282	0,35 %	0,37 %
Poles	3287	0,54 %	4245	0,53 %	4287	0,49 %	3918	0,41 %	0,41 %	2788	0,30 %	0,31 %
Uzbeks	427	0,07 %	320	0,04 %	519	0,06 %	631	0,07 %	0,07 %	2245	0,24 %	0,25 %
Mordva	3360	0,55 %	3678	0,46 %	3482	0,40 %	2320	0,24 %	0,25 %	1600	0,17 %	0,18 %
Chuvash	2786	0,46 %	2668	0,33 %	2671	0,31 %	2027	0,21 %	0,21 %	1384	0,15 %	0,15 %
Gypsies	802	0,13 %	1022	0,13 %	1223	0,14 %	1447	0,15 %	0,15 %	1251	0,13 %	0,14 %
Jews	4520	0,74 %	3816	0,47 %	3200	0,37 %	1599	0,17 %	0,17 %	1123	0,12 %	0,13 %
Moldovans	218	0,04 %	874	0,11 %	1342	0,15 %	1116	0,12 %	0,12 %	1045	0,11 %	0,12 %
Yazidis							504	0,05 %	0,05 %	788	0,08 %	0,09 %
Kazakhs	165	0,03 %	219	0,03 %	522	0,06 %	631	0,07 %	0,07 %	748	0,08 %	0,08 %
Koreans			138	0,02 %	153	0,02 %	651	0,07 %	0,07 %	731	0,08 %	0,08 %
Chechens			38	0,00 %	278	0,03 %	738	0,08 %	0,08 %	655	0,07 %	0,07 %
Georgians	235	0,04 %	473	0,06 %	523	0,06 %	681	0,07 %	0,07 %	578	0,06 %	0,06 %
Latvians	672	0,11 %	986	0,12 %	978	0,11 %	709	0,07 %	0,07 %	516	0,05 %	0,06 %
Tajiks			128	0,02 %	158	0,02 %	309	0,03 %	0,03 %	515	0,05 %	0,06 %
Kyrgyz			25	0,00 %	105	0,01 %	109	0,01 %	0,01 %	482	0,05 %	0,05 %
Lezgins			64	0,01 %	192	0,02 %	359	0,04 %	0,04 %	456	0,05 %	0,05 %
Bashkirs	139	0,02 %	446	0,06 %	503	0,06 %	562	0,06 %	0,06 %	420	0,04 %	0,05 %
Ossetians	182	0,03 %	230	0,03 %	316	0,04 %	433	0,05 %	0,05 %	366	0,04 %	0,04 %
Mari	303	0,05 %	449	0,06 %	570	0,07 %	448	0,05 %	0,05 %	310	0,03 %	0,03 %
Bulgarians			189	0,02 %	269	0,03 %	346	0,04 %	0,04 %	293	0,03 %	0,03 %
Udmurts	183	0,03 %	376	0,05 %	471	0,05 %	382	0,04 %	0,04 %	260	0,03 %	0,03 %
Greeks			88	0,01 %	106	0,01 %	247	0,03 %	0,03 %	221	0,02 %	0,02 %
Avars			49	0,01 %	96	0,01 %	162	0,02 %	0,02 %	217	0,02 %	0,02 %
Estonians	329	0,05 %	378	0,05 %	399	0,05 %	282	0,03 %	0,03 %	185	0,02 %	0,02 %
Ingush			14	0,00 %	102	0,01 %	213	0,02 %	0,02 %	172	0,02 %	0,02 %
Dargins			20	0,00 %	60	0,01 %	127	0,01 %	0,01 %	150	0,02 %	0,02 %
other	1665	0,27 %	1506	0,19 %	1817	0,21 %	2229	0,23 %	0,24 %	2391	0,25 %	0,27 %
indicated nationality	610859	100,00 %	807985	100,00 %	871061	99,99 %	946422	99,07 %	100,00 %	893852	94,90 %	100,00 %
not specified nationality	26	0,00 %	0	0,00 %	98	0,01 %	8859	0,93 %		48021	5,10 %

National composition by regions and urban districts

Ethnic composition by districts and urban districts according to the 2010 census (proportion of those who indicated nationality)

	Russians	Armenians	Belarusians	Lithuanians	Germans	Poles	Ukrainians	Chuvash
Kaliningrad	87,4 %	0,7 %	3,8 %	0,5 %	0,4 %	0,3 %	4,0 %
Ladushkinsky urban district	91,2 %		2,6 %				3,0 %
Mamonovsky urban district	86,7 %		3,7 %		1,2 %		3,7 %
Pionersky urban district	86,4 %		4,5 %				5,0 %
Svetlovsky urban district	86,6 %		5,9 %				3,2 %
Soviet urban district	86,7 %		2,7 %	3,3 %			3,5 %
Yantarny urban district	89,6 %		3,4 %				3,3 %
Bagrationovsky district	85,5 %	2,7 %	2,8 %		1,6 %		3,5 %
Baltiysky district	86,0 %		4,1 %				5,8 %
Gvardeysky urban district	85,5 %	1,1 %	4,6 %	1,0 %	1,2 %		3,3 %
Guryevsky district	86,2 %		3,1 %		1,4 %		3,2 %
Gusevsky district	88,4 %		2,4 %	1,1 %	1,3 %		3,0 %
Zelenogradsky district	86,9 %		3,3 %				3,6 %
Krasnoznamensky district	82,2 %	1,8 %	2,8 %	5,7 %	1,7 %		2,2 %
Nemansky district	83,6 %	1,3 %	3,3 %	5,6 %	1,1 %		2,5 %
Nesterovsky district	84,7 %		3,1 %	3,4 %	2,1 %		2,5 %
Ozersky urban district (Kaliningrad region)	82,8 %	5,1 %	3,0 %		2,2 %	1,1 %	2,5 %
Polessky district	85,9 %		2,7 %	1,2 %	1,7 %		2,3 %	1,9 %
Pravdinsky district	79,6 %	4,4 %	8,2 %		1,9 %		2,7 %
Svetlogorsk district	88,1 %		3,5 %				4,1 %
Slavsky district	81,9 %	3,2 %	2,4 %	6,5 %	1,2 %		1,8 %
Chernyakhovsky district	84,9 %	1,4 %	3,3 %	1,2 %	1,4 %		4,1 %

General Map

Map legend (when you hover over the marker, the real population is displayed):

Kaliningrad Sovetsk Chernyakhovsk Baltiysk Gusev Svetly Gvardeysk Zelenogradsk Guryevsk Pionersky Neman Svetlogorsk Mamonovo Polessk Bagrationovsk Yantarny Ozyorsk Vasilkovo Slavsk Nesterov Pravdinsk Znamensk Krasnoznamensk Bolshoye Isakovo Zheleznodorozhny Ladushkin Donskoye Primorsk Dolgorukovo Yuzhny Ozerki Bolshakovo Khrabrovo Kornevo ye Nivenskoye Dobrovolsk Lyublino Kolosovka Yasnoye Chernyshevskoye Ilyushino Zalesye Populated areas of the Kaliningrad region

Age composition

The population of the region, formed as a result of migration processes after 1945, has a younger age structure than the population of the Russian Federation as a whole.

at birth (number of years)
1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
68,7	↘68,5	↘67,2	↘64,2	↘62,9	↗64,7	↗65,7	↗65,9	↘65,8
1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
↘64,9	↘63,6	↘63,0	↘62,2	↘61,4	↗61,4	↗61,5	↗64,1	↗65,8
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
↗66,5	↗67,7	↗68,8	↗69,9	↗70,1	↗70,5

Natural population movement

The younger age structure of the region's population is reflected in higher birth rates and lower death rates. In 2011, thanks to the intensive influx of migrants, the total population of the region increased by +0.44% despite the presence of a slight natural decline.

Fertility (number of births per 1000 population)
1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	1996	1997	1998
15,6	↗16,0	↘15,3	↗15,6	↘12,7	↘8,6	↘8,0	↘7,6	↗8,1
1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
↘7,4	↗8,0	↗8,1	↗9,0	↗9,3	↘9,1	↘8,9	↗9,3	↗10,9
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
↗11,3	↗11,5	↘11,4	↗11,8	↗12,4	↗12,5	↗12,7

Mortality rate (number of deaths per 1000 population)
1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	1996	1997	1998
6,2	↗7,2	↗8,7	↗9,2	↗9,8	↗13,6	↘13,1	↗13,1	↗13,4
1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
↗14,2	↗15,4	↗16,3	↗17,5	↗18,0	↗18,1	↗18,1	↘16,5	↘15,4
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
↘15,3	↘14,6	↘14,2	↘13,3	↘13,2	↗13,2	↗13,3

Natural population growth (per 1000 population, sign (-) means natural population decline)
1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	1996
9,4	↘8,8	↘6,6	↘6,4	↘2,9	↘-5,0	↘-5,1
1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
↘-5,5	↗-5,3	↘-6,8	↘-7,4	↘-8,2	↘-8,5	↘-8,7
2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
↘-9,0	↘-9,2	↗-7,2	↗-4,5	↗-4,0	↗-3,1	↗-2,8
2011	2012	2013	2014
↗-1,5	↗-0,8	↗-0,7	↗-0,6

Migration

Dynamics of population in the region in 1946-1958:

Years	Profits, people	Dropped out, people.	Share of people leaving, %
1946	81 566	8 428	10
1947	146 853	39 722	27
1948	153 642	51 873	34
1949	112 743	52 134	46
1950	108 780	63 430	58
1951	95 078	65 304	69
1952	87 022	73 998	85
1953	96 074	63 977	67
1954	95 652	79 907	84
1955	78 644	83 044	106
1956	79 946	76 932	96
1957	74 792	79 530	106
1958	75 591	81 725	108
1946-1958	1 286 383	820 004	64

The migration situation in the Kaliningrad region, in contrast to neighboring Lithuania and Poland, is characterized by an intense migration influx of population (with a migration balance of about +4 people per 1000 inhabitants in 2006; for comparison in Lithuania -5 people per 1000 inhabitants, 2009) .

Mostly Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians from Central Asia and Siberia migrate to the region, with small groups of Armenians and Azerbaijanis arriving. The region also attracts a small number of Russian-speaking migrants from the neighboring Baltic countries, which is explained by the unfriendly policies of the Baltic governments towards the Russian language. According to the 2010 census, only 50.8% of the population of the Kaliningrad region were born in the region.

According to Kaliningradstat, in 2009–2013, the migration increase in the region amounted to 30,800 people, which was 67.5% formed by CIS countries, residents of other regions of Russia - by 30.9%, other countries - by 1.6%.

German migration

In the early 1990s, the first streams of Russian Germans from Kazakhstan and Siberia began to arrive in the region, who, however, soon repatriated to Germany. According to the 2002 census, 8.34 thousand Germans lived in the region (0.9% of the population). But it was after 2000 that prospects for a new migration wave of Germans emerged, including the return of some Russian Germans from Germany.

Religion

Main article: Religion in the Kaliningrad region

According to a large-scale survey by the Sreda research service conducted in 2012, the item “I believe in God (a higher power), but I don’t profess a specific religion” in the Kaliningrad region was chosen by 34% of respondents, “I profess Orthodoxy and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church” - 31% , “I don’t believe in God” - 22%, “I profess Christianity, but do not consider myself a member of any of the Christian denominations” - 1%, “I profess Catholicism” - 1%. The rest are less than 1%.

see also

• Administrative division of the Kaliningrad region

Notes

1. 1 2 Resident population estimates as of January 1, 2015 and 2014 average (published March 17, 2015). Retrieved March 18, 2015. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015.
2. KaliningradToday → The migration increase in the population of the Kaliningrad region for two months of 2015 amounted to 993 people
3. The Great Patriotic War. Anniversary statistical collection. 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2015. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015.
4. All-Union Population Census of 1959. Retrieved October 10, 2013. Archived from the original on October 10, 2013.
5. All-Union population census of 1970. The actual population of cities, urban-type settlements, districts and regional centers of the USSR according to census data as of January 15, 1970 for republics, territories and regions. Retrieved October 14, 2013. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013.
6. All-Union Population Census 1979
7. All-Union population census of 1989. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011.
8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Resident population as of January 1 (persons) 1990-2010
9. All-Russian population census 2002. Volume. 1, table 4. Population of Russia, federal districts, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, districts, urban settlements, rural settlements - regional centers and rural settlements with a population of 3 thousand or more. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012.
10. population census 2010_vol.1.xlsx All-Union population census 2010. Kaliningrad region. Table 10. Population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements. Retrieved November 28, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-11-228.
11. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities. Table 35. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2014. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014.
12. Population of the Russian Federation by municipalities as of January 1, 2013. - M.: Federal State Statistics Service Rosstat, 2013. - 528 p. (Table 33. Population of urban districts, municipal districts, urban and rural settlements, urban settlements, rural settlements). Retrieved November 16, 2013. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013.
13. Estimated resident population as of January 1, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014.
14. Censuses of the Russian Empire, USSR, 15 newly independent states
15. Demoscope. All-Union Population Census of 1959. National composition of the population by regions of Russia: Kaliningrad region
16. Demoscope. All-Union Population Census of 1979. National composition of the population by regions of Russia: Kaliningrad region
17. Demoscope. All-Union population census of 1989. National composition of the population by regions of Russia: Kaliningrad region
18. All-Russian Population Census 2002: Population by nationality and Russian language proficiency by constituent entities of the Russian Federation
19. Official website of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census. Information materials on the final results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census
20. All-Russian population census 2010. Official results with expanded lists by national composition of the population and by region: see.
21. 4th volume of the census
22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Life expectancy at birth, years, year, indicator value per year, entire population, both sexes
23. 1 2 3 Life expectancy at birth
24. According to preliminary estimates by Rosstat, the permanent population of Russia at the beginning of 2012 is 143 million people
25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
26. 1 2 3 4
27. 1 2 3 4
28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5.13. Fertility, mortality and natural population growth by regions of the Russian Federation
29. 1 2 3 4 4.22. Fertility, mortality and natural population growth by constituent entities of the Russian Federation
30. 1 2 3 4 4.6. Fertility, mortality and natural population growth by constituent entities of the Russian Federation
31. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2011
32. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2012
33. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2013
34. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2014
35. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5.13. Fertility, mortality and natural population growth by regions of the Russian Federation
36. 1 2 3 4 4.22. Fertility, mortality and natural population growth by constituent entities of the Russian Federation
37. 1 2 3 4 4.6. Fertility, mortality and natural population growth by constituent entities of the Russian Federation
38. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2011
39. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2012
40. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2013
41. Fertility, mortality, natural increase, marriage, divorce rates for January-December 2014
42. Kostyashov Yu. V. Secret history of the Kaliningrad region. Essays 1945-1956 - Kaliningrad: Terra Baltica, 2009. - P. 104. with reference to materials from GARF.
43. KaliningradToday → In the Kaliningrad region, migration growth over 5 years exceeded 30 thousand people
44. Arena (Atlas of religions and nationalities of Russia)
45. Kaliningrad region. Religion

Literature

• Kostyashov Yu. V. Secret history of the Kaliningrad region. Essays 1945-1956 - Kaliningrad: Terra Baltika, 2009. - 352 p. - 1500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-98777-028-3.

Links

• The Kaliningrad region and Germany divide the Germans

Kaliningrad region
	Administrative center: Kaliningrad Cities: Bagrationovsk | Baltiysk | Gvardeysk | Guryevsk | Gusev | Zelenogradsk | Krasnoznamensk | Ladushkin | Mamonovo | Neman | Nesterov | Ozyorsk | Pioneer | Polessk | Pravdinsk | Primorsk | Svetlogorsk | Light | Slavsk | Sovetsk | Chernyakhovsk Municipal-territorial division: Urban districts: Guards | Guryevsky | Gusevsky | Kaliningrad | Ladushkinsky | Mamonovsky | Ozersky | Pioneer | Svetlovsky | Soviet | Amber Municipal districts: Bagrationovsky | Baltic | Zelenogradsky | Krasnoznamensky | Nemansky | Nesterovsky | Polessky | Pravdinsky | Svetlogorsk | Slavsky | Chernyakhovsky Articles: Geography | Coat of arms | Anthem | History | Population| Administrative division | Flag

Population of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation
Republic	Adygea Altai Bashkortostan Buryatia Dagestan Ingushetia Kabardino-Balkaria Kalmykia Karachay-Cherkessia Karelia Komi Crimea Mari El Mordovia Sakha (Yakutia) North Ossetia Tatarstan Tyva Udmurtia Khakassia Chechnya Chuvashia
The edges	Altai Transbaikal Kamchatka Krasnodar Krasnoyarsk Perm Primorsky Stavropol Khabarovsk
Regions	Amur Arkhangelsk Astrakhan Belgorod Bryansk Vladimir Volgograd Vologda Voronezh Ivanovo Irkutsk Kaliningradskaya Kaluga Kemerovo Kirov Kostroma Kurgan Kursk Leningrad Lipetsk Magadan Moscow Murmansk Nizhny Novgorod Novgorod Novosibirsk Omsk Orenburg Orel Penza Pskov Rostov Ryazan Samara Saratov Sakhalin Sverdlovsk Smolensk Tambov Tver Tomsk Tula Tyumen Ulyanovsk Chelyabinsk Yaroslavl
Federal cities	Moscow St. Petersburg Sevastopol
Autonomous region	Jewish
Autonomous okrugs	Nenets1 Khanty-Mansiysk - Yugra2 Chukotka Yamalo-Nenets2
1 Located on the territory of the Arkhangelsk region 2 Located on the territory of the Tyumen region

population of the Kaliningrad region

Population of the Kaliningrad region Information About

A. S. Kuksin
Information Committee Consultant,
press and public relations
administration of the Kaliningrad region

MULTINATIONAL AREA

The changes taking place in the post-Soviet years in all spheres of society contribute to the revival of national self-awareness and have a great impact on the life and culture of the peoples inhabiting Russia, including the Kaliningrad region.

The results of the population census showed that the Kaliningrad region is one of the most multinational regions of Russia. During the census, nationality was indicated by the respondents themselves on the basis of self-determination and was recorded by census workers from the words of the respondents. The census received about 300 different responses from the population to questions about nationality. When processing census materials, the population's answers about nationality were systematized on the basis of the “Alphabetical List of Nationalities and Ethnic Names” developed by the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The number of nationalities in the Kaliningrad region increased in 2002, compared to 1989, from 109 to 132. The change in the population of our region for 28 nationalities, numbering 300 or more people and constituting 98.7% of the population, is characterized by the following data:

№ p/p	Nationalities	1989 (person)	2002 (person)
	Whole population	871159	955281
1.	Russians	683563	786885
2.	Belarusians	73926	50748
3.	Ukrainians	62750	47229
4.	Lithuanians	18116	13937
5.	Armenians	1620	8415
6.	Germans	1307	8340
7.	Tatars	3556	4758
8.	Poles	4287	3918
9.	Azerbaijanis	1881	2959
10.	Mordva	3482	2320
11.	Chuvash	2671	2027
12.	Jews	3200	1605
13.	Gypsies	1223	1447
14.	Moldovans	1342	1116
15.	Chechens	278	738
16.	Latvians	978	704
17.	Georgians	523	677
18.	Koreans	153	651
19.	Kazakhs	522	631
20.	Uzbeks	519	631
21.	Bashkirs	503	562
22.	Yazidis	No	504
23.	Mari	570	439
24.	Ossetians	316	433
25.	Udmurts	471	382
26.	Lezgins	192	359
27.	Bulgarians	269	346
28.	Tajiks	158	309

The number of the remaining 104 nationalities in 2002 was 3,352 people or 0.4% of the total population of the Kaliningrad region:

Abazins - 5 people Abkhazians - 20 people Avars - 162 people Aguly - 7 people Adjarians - 2 people Adyghe - 26 people Aleuts - 1 person Altaians - 10 people Americans - 3 people Arabs (Algerians, Lebanese, Mauritanians, Syrians, Sudanese) - 29 people Central Asian Arabs - 1 person Assyrians - 15 people Balkars - 18 people Buryats - 67 people Hungarians - 54 people Veps - 18 people Vietnamese - 3 people Gagauz - 79 people Greeks - 247 people Dargins - 127 people Debts - 2 people Mountain Jews (Dagestan Jews) -6 people Izhorians - 3 people Ingush - 213 people Hindu-speaking Indians - 1 person Spaniards - 5 people Italians - 4 people Itelmen - 5 people Kabardians - 132 people Kalmyks - 44 people Kamchadaly - 1 person Karachais -54 people Karelians - 176 people Kereki - 1 person Kety - 1 person Kyrgyz - 109 people Chinese - 60 people Komi - 137 people Komi-Permyaks - 132 people Koryaks - 4 people Krymchaks - 2 people Kryashens - 2 people Cubans - 22 people Kumyks - 107 people Kurds - 45 people Lazy - 2 people Laktsy - 100 people Latgalians - 5 people

Mansi - 1 person Mountain Mari - 1 person Meadow-Eastern Mari - 9 people Mongols - 1 person Mordva-Moksha - 56 people Mordva-Erzya - 2 people Nagaibaki - 3 people Nenets - 6 people Nivkhi - 1 person Nogais - 28 people Persians - 21 people Pashtuns (Afghans) - 7 people Romanians - 22 people Rusyns - 1 person Rutulians - 12 people Sami - 16 people Selkups - 1 person Serbs - 16 people Slovaks - 5 people Tabasarany - 63 people Talysh - 36 people Crimean Tatars - 31 people Tats - 15 people Teleuts - 1 person Tuvans - 20 people Turks - 49 people Meskhetian Turks - 5 people Turkmens - 84 people Udege - 4 people Uighurs - 35 people Ulta - 1 person Ulchi - 1 person Finns - 84 people Ingrian Finns - 1 person French - 7 people Huxes - 12 people Khanty - 2 people Tsakhur - 6 people Circassians - 18 people Czechs - 28 people Chukchi - 1 person Shors - 2 people Evenks - 5 people Evens - 1 person Enets - 3 people Estonians - 282 people Yakuts - 23 people Japanese - 2 people Other nationalities (Austrians, Albanians, Bengalis, Dutch, Croats, Swedes) - 148 people

The number of people whose answer to the census question about nationality was not completed was 8,859 people or 0.9%.

During the period from 1989 to 2002, changes in the national composition were caused by factors caused by differences in the natural movement of the population, changes in ethnic identity (usually under the influence of mixed marriages), as well as processes of migration external to the region. The last of these factors is predominant for the Kaliningrad region: between the population censuses of 1989 and 2002, the gross migration turnover - the sum of arrivals and the sum of departures - is equal to 844.5 thousand people. Due to the 1.4 times excess of the number of deaths over the number of births (171.5 thousand people and 120.5 thousand people, respectively), the region’s need for an influx of immigrants acquires strategic importance. Since 1999, the Kaliningrad region has entered a stage of depopulation, which, according to the forecast of the Federal State Statistics Service, will be stable and long-lasting.

The largest population groups are Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians. In total, their share in the entire population was 94.1% (in 1989 - 96.2%). The Russian population is still the largest. During the intercensal period it increased by 103.3 thousand people. The natural decline of Russians amounted to more than 39.0 thousand people. The growth of their numbers was ensured only due to the positive balance of migration. The population of Belarusians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians has decreased. This happened mainly due to emigration and natural decline. In addition, the decline in the number of these peoples in our region is caused by their ethnic assimilation with other nationalities.

Based on the results of the 2002 census, information about the native language was obtained. 954,368 people, or 99.0% of the total population, answered this question. 85.6% consider the native language of their nationality; 77.8% of the non-Russian population of the region (130,979 people) called Russian their native language during the census. In total, the Russian-speaking population of the Kaliningrad region, taking into account Russians themselves, amounted to 911,186 people at the time of the 2002 census.

Creating conditions for the preservation of national cultures

With the participation of the regional administration, the regional Duma adopted on February 28, 2002 the Law “On the interaction of government bodies of the Kaliningrad region and public associations”, which laid the legal foundations for regulating this area of ​​public relations: the right of organizations to participate in the work of working groups and expert councils under government bodies is legislated authorities, preparation of draft laws, normative legal acts; the procedure for information exchange and provision of information, methodological, advisory and organizational support has been determined; representatives of public associations received the right to be members of competition commissions that evaluate competitive applications for government grants.

To ensure effective interaction between government bodies and national-cultural autonomies and associations, as well as to ensure that the interests of all national diasporas are taken into account in the development and implementation of regional national policy, an advisory council on the affairs of national-cultural autonomies has been formed under the regional administration, the chairman of which is the head of the administration (governor ) areas.

The regional administration adopted the Resolution “On open competition for state grants for the implementation of targeted social programs of public associations.”

The Council for National and Cultural Associations, established under the Public Chamber of the Kaliningrad Region, operates successfully, the chairman of which is a member of the Coordination Council of the Public Chamber.

Meetings, conferences, and seminars are regularly held with the heads of autonomies and societies, during which a unified approach to the methodology for solving the issues under discussion is developed, material and technical capabilities are accumulated into an integral system, and the participation of organizations at each stage of a project is determined. Seminars with leaders of national-cultural autonomies and leaders of national-cultural minorities became conceptually important.

Publishing and information activities

The regional national-cultural autonomy “Kaliningrad Fellowship of Belarusians” and OJSC “Narodnaya Gazeta” (Belarus), with the assistance of the Permanent Committee of the Union State and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation, monthly publish “Belorusskaya Narodnaya Gazeta” in the amount of 6.0 thousand copies.

The newspapers “Gintaras” (newspaper of non-governmental organizations of the Kaliningrad region), “Nairi in Kaliningrad” (Armenian national-cultural, information center) and "Königsberg Express" (in German).

The Jewish Society "Shofar" periodically publishes the newsletter "Shofar", and the Gusev Society of Polish Culture - a newsletter.

The media widely cover the holding of national holidays, festivals, seminars, friendship evenings and other events by autonomies and organizations.

The Information, Press and Public Relations Committee on an ongoing basis ensures the publication in the media of press releases, announcements and other materials about the life of diasporas.

Development of national education

Federal laws “On Education”, “On the Languages ​​of the Peoples of the Russian Federation” and “On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation” regulate the work of the education department of the regional administration, the committee for information, press and public relations of the regional administration, and national diasporas in the field of education .

Formal and non-formal educational systems are constantly being improved, which fully meet the cultural and educational needs of the multinational population.

Lithuanian studied by more than 920 people in 11 classes of 5 educational and 3 Sunday schools, 10 electives and 2 kindergartens.

Based on an agreement between the Education Department of the regional administration and the Department of National Minorities and Emigration of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, some Lithuanian language teachers are represented by Lithuanian citizens.

Polish language is being studied at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in the Kaliningrad region, in the societies “Russia-Poland” and “Kaliningrad-Swinoujscie”. Polish language courses are also organized by Polish cultural organizations in the cities of Gusev and Ozersk.

Courses German language, organized by the German-Russian House, operate in several places. The Cinema Club, where films in German are shown, is very popular.

Armenian The national cultural information center opened courses on studying the Armenian language at the Sailors' Palace of Culture.

Kaliningrad regional national-cultural public organization Assyrians“Ashur” is carrying out preparatory activities to organize courses in the study of the Assyrian language.

For ethnic people from Caucasus and Central Asia communication in the native language within the family and within the diaspora is typical.

In 2003, the Kaliningrad-Sweden society began studying Swedish language.

National cultural autonomies (associations) hold national holidays, organize concerts, present exhibitions in museums and art exhibitions, and staff national departments in libraries.

Interethnic cultural cooperation

The following are successfully operating in the region:

8 national-cultural autonomies (Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians - 2, Azerbaijanis, Lithuanians, Germans);

63 national-cultural associations (Azerbaijanis - 4, Armenians - 4, Belarusians - 3, Assyrians - 1, Jews - 1, Yezidis - 1, Lithuanians - 9, Germans - 10, Ossetians - 1, Poles - 4, Russians - 4, Tatars - 3, Ukrainians - 6, Chechens and Ingush - 1, Chuvash - 1, Gypsies - 1; Association of Societies of Culture and Relations with Foreign Countries within the Kaliningrad-Swinoujscie Society, Russia-Poland Society, Russian-Spanish Society center", "Kaliningrad-Sweden Society", "Kaliningrad-Peru" Society, Society of Friendship with France, Society of Friendship with Cuba, Society "Kaliningrad-Turkmenistan".

The joint activities of national and cultural associations make a certain positive contribution to ensuring the social stability of society, strengthening friendship and mutual understanding between peoples.

August 2004

Seven decades ago, on January 13, 1945, the East Prussian operation of the Soviet army began, the result of which was not only strategic success, but the final result was the annexation of part of East Prussia to Russia. In April 1946, the westernmost region in the Russian Federation was formed.

It is small (0.3% of the country's territory). The entire population of the region (about 1 million people, or 0.7% of the population of the Russian Federation) consists of immigrants and their descendants from all over the Soviet Union who arrived here after 1945. Thus, the ethnic history of the region is fundamentally different from all regions and regions of historical Russia (albeit, reminiscent of the similar ethnic history of the Karelian Isthmus of the Leningrad Region). Kaliningraders can safely be called Soviet people in the ethnic sense. However, according to the 2002 census, Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians make up 94% of the region's population. After 1991, the Kaliningrad region became an enclave of Russia surrounded by NATO and European Union countries. The isolation of Kaliningrad residents from “Greater Russia” contributes to the development among them of certain traits of behavior, life, and culture that distinguish them from the bulk of the ethnic group, which, however, does not prevent Kaliningrad residents from remaining Russian people.

Kaliningrad is our Russian region. In the old days there were the concepts of Great, Little, and White Rus'. In even more ancient times, Chervonnaya Rus' (now Western Ukraine) and Black Rus' (the northwestern part of present-day Belarus and southern Lithuania) were known. It is interesting that at the end of the 19th century there were proposals to call the Russian North Blue Russia, and Siberia Green Russia. These romantic names have not taken hold, but the very idea of ​​reviving the color designations of special regions of Russia is interesting. And, in this case, the small Kaliningrad region may well be considered Amber Russia. The reason is simple: this is where amber is mined. The amber art craft is developing here - one of the youngest in a historical sense (it is not even 70 years old), but also the most famous art craft in our country.

Pre-Soviet era

Despite its small territory, the Kaliningrad region is distinguished by special natural conditions. The strip along the southern ice-free part of the Baltic Sea, which is a humid low-lying plain with mild winters and cool summers - these are the quite favorable natural conditions of the region.

The territory of the current Kaliningrad region was inhabited a very long time ago. Already in the III-II millennium BC. There was a culture of “corded ceramics” in the region. Probably its creators were Indo-Europeans belonging to the Balts. By the beginning of our era, the Roman author Tacitus wrote about certain tribes living east of the Germans and Wends (Slavs), whom he called “Estians.” Subsequently, the Estii, starting from the 9th century, were known under the name of the Prussians. Actually, the Prussians by this time represented a number of small tribes, rather, even clans (in 1326, the historian of the Teutonic Order listed 10 Prussian tribes). Known tribes are the Galindas (probably related to the Golyads), the Sudavs, the Skalvas, the Varms, and others.

The origin of the name "Prussians" is unknown. There is a version that the name “Prussians” and “Prussia” come from the geographical name “Porussia”, that is, the land bordering Russia. By the way, the Rusna River (flowing into the Curonian Lagoon), the Rusna River (the northern branch of the Neman), and Rusne (a city at the mouth of the Neman) also flow through the region. To these are added the Ross River (the southern tributary of the Neman in modern Belarus) and the city of Ross, standing on this river. In the German era, on the territory of the region there was the village of Rossitten, present-day Rybachy, on the Curonian Spit, built on the site of the Prussian sanctuary of Rosa, the city of Rauschen (present-day Svetlogorsk), built in the former Prussian parish of Rusemoter, washed by the waters of the Rusis River.

The Prussians were engaged in agriculture, fishing, bred horses, and were famous as skilled artisans. The Prussians were also engaged in trade, reaching Veliky Novgorod, where Prusskaya Street was mentioned already in 1185. The Prussians did not have cities, although they did have fortified settlements. By the beginning of the 13th century, there were approximately 250 thousand Prussians.

The Prussians were distinguished by their belligerence and often successfully raided Poland. However, the Polish kings and princes themselves repeatedly invaded Prussia. Such campaigns took place in 992, 1010, 1110, 1147, 1165, 1191, 1223. However, the Poles were unable to conquer the Prussians and themselves had difficulty repelling their raids. Under these conditions, in 1226, the Polish prince Konrad of Mazovia made one of the most fatal mistakes in Polish history, inviting the Teutonic Order to fight the Prussians. Of course, the knights enthusiastically set out to conquer the pagan Prussians.

The Prussians were indeed stubborn pagans. Two Catholic missionaries, Adalbert and Bruno, who were killed by them in 997 and 1009, are canonized by the Catholic Church. Thus, the conquest of the Prussians by fire and sword was morally justified in the eyes of Catholic Europe.

However, conquering the Prussians was a difficult task. Only by 1283 did the crusaders manage to complete the conquest of the region. The Prussian leader Skumand with the remnants of his supporters fled to Rus'. The last major Prussian uprising against the invaders occurred in 1295. As strongholds in the conquered land, the crusaders built castles, some of which later turned into cities. So, in 1255, Königsberg Castle was built on the site of the Prussian fortification, which became the capital of the region.

Many Prussians died in the struggle, some fled to their sister Lithuania, Poland and Rus'. These refugees populated the Grodno appanage principality especially densely. Moreover, to such an extent that they made it “Prussian” for some time for its neighbors. However, during the next XIV century. The Baltic population of the Grodno region became Russified, although they retained their pagan beliefs. However, in the Grodno region of Belarus, villages of the so-called are still preserved. "Bartsyakov", descendants of the Prussian tribe of Barts.

The Prussians who remained under the rule of the Order were baptized and enslaved. Death in battle and emigration sharply reduced the number of Prussians. Only about 170 thousand people from among the Prussians became subject to the Order. The Germanization of the Prussians began. Since many Prussian lands were depopulated after the conquest, settlers from Germany rushed to the possessions of the Teutonic Order. By 1400, German colonists had founded 54 towns, 890 villages and 19 thousand individual hamlets in the Prussian domains of the Teutonic Order. By the end of the 17th century, the Prussian language as such disappeared, and the descendants of the Prussians finally became Germans. Over time, as a result of the mixing of German colonists with Germanized Prussians, a special German subethnic group began to take shape.

The Teutonic Order ruled these lands until 1525. It was a powerful and aggressive clerical state. However, defeats in the wars with Russia, Lithuania and Poland undermined his strength. In 1525, the last Grand Master of the Order, Albrecht, broke with Catholicism, becoming one of the first rulers in Europe to convert to Lutheranism, becoming the secular Duke of Prussia. The Dukes of Prussia were at the same time the Dukes of Brandenburg, an East German region centered in Berlin. Since 1618, Berlin has been the capital of the united duchies. In 1701, Brandenburg-Prussia became the unified Kingdom of Prussia. That is why historical Prussia itself, starting in 1773, began to be called East Prussia, so as not to confuse it with the rest of the state. From that time until 1945, the history of East Prussia was part of all-German history.

In 1757-61, during the Seven Years' War, East Prussia was occupied by Russian troops and annexed to Russia. However, the new Russian Emperor Peter III, who was distinguished by his admiration for the Prussian King Frederick II, upon ascending the throne, immediately stopped the war with Prussia and returned all its possessions. It is interesting that Frederick II, offended that the East Prussians so easily took the oath of allegiance to Empress Elizabeth, did not come to East Prussia on principle for the remaining 24 years of his reign.

In 1806-1807, Russian troops, as allies of Prussia, fought in this region with Napoleonic troops. The battles of Preussisch-Eylau (now Bagrationovsk) and Friedland (Pravdinsk) took place in East Prussia. The hostilities ended with a peace signed in Tilsit (now Sovetsk).

Finally, in 1914, Russian troops fought again in East Prussia. After Germany's defeat in the First World War, East Prussia became an enclave, being cut off from the territory of main Germany by the “Polish corridor”. A number of southern regions of East Prussia went to Poland, the city of Memel was also separated from Germany and captured by Lithuania in 1923.

As part of Germany, East Prussia developed as a region of large landed estates. The East Prussian barons, descendants of the “dog knights,” have always been the main stronghold of reaction and militarism in Germany, making up the bulk of the German officer corps. East Prussia was considered by the German rulers as a springboard for a new “onslaught on the East.” This gave the region a pronounced militaristic character. However, for the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that the arrogant barons also treated the Nazi party with arrogant contempt.

By the beginning of the 20th century, about 1.8 million people lived in East Prussia (including the population of Memel and those areas of East Prussia that were annexed to Poland in 1945). By 1931, East Prussia already had 2,260 thousand inhabitants. In Königsberg in 1870 there were 110 thousand inhabitants, in 1931 - 287 thousand.

The end of the history of German East Prussia was marked by the Second World War, started by German rulers with the aim of seizing “living space” in the East. On October 18, 1944, Soviet troops entered the territory of East Prussia. Fierce fighting continued until April 25, 1945. The central event of the fighting in East Prussia was the surrender of Königsberg on April 9, 1945.

According to the decision of the Potsdam Conference of the heads of the USSR, USA and Great Britain in the summer of 1945, 1/3 of East Prussia with Königsberg went to the USSR, the rest of the territory (with the cities of Allenstein, Elbing, Branberg) went to Poland. A new era has begun in the life of the region.

Special region of Russia

Of the part of East Prussia that went to the USSR, a small part (the city of Memel, which became Klaipeda, with its surroundings) was included in the Lithuanian SSR, the rest of the territory was included in the Russian Soviet Federation. On April 7, 1946, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, the Königsberg region was created, however, a few months later it was renamed Kaliningrad (in honor of the Soviet statesman M.I. Kalinin, who, however, had never been to Königsberg).

However, the region not only changed its name, but also the entire population. About 1 million people lived in the part of East Prussia that ceded to the Soviet Union before the war. A significant part of the civilian population was evacuated by the German authorities during the war. At the time of capitulation, there were only 139 thousand German civilians in the Königsberg region. All of them were deported to Germany by 1951.

Since the summer of 1945, that is, even before the official annexation of the region to Russia, the settlement of the region began. In July 1946, Stalin signed a resolution of the Council of Ministers to encourage the settlement of the Kaliningrad region, which gave the resettlement an organized character.

Retired front-line soldiers who participated in the battles for Koenigsberg settled in the region, and some repatriates returning to their homeland from fascist captivity settled here. But the bulk of new residents of the region were recruited through organizational recruitment (recruitment) through special departments. The settlers were promised benefits, such as free travel, free transportation of property, daily allowances were given for each day of travel, significant lifting allowances were paid, free soap, shoes, clothes were given, a house with a plot was given (the first settlers could choose a house for themselves - from the surviving ). In the conditions of post-war devastation, these were very tempting conditions, and there were many who wanted to move to the new region of Russia.

Soviet people began to arrive here immediately after the completion of the East Prussian operation in the spring of 1945 (3-4 thousand people monthly). By the time the region was formed, according to the police, 35 thousand lived in it, by August 1, 1946 - already 84.5 thousand Soviet citizens, and by the beginning of 1948 the number of Kaliningrad residents exceeded 380 thousand people (excluding military personnel stationed in the region) . Young people predominated among the migrants - the number of people under 30 exceeded 65%. It is not surprising that very soon the Kaliningrad region began to stand out for its high birth rate. Already from the beginning of the 50s. The region's population grew mainly due to natural growth. Today, more than 2/3 of Kaliningrad residents are natives of this land. It is significant that at the beginning of the 21st century, the Kaliningrad region ranks 4th in population density among the regions and territories of the Russian Federation. The city of Kaliningrad continues to grow at the beginning of the 21st century. Thus, in 2002 there were 30 thousand more Kaliningrad residents than in 1989. (This is especially impressive against the backdrop of a reduction in the number of Riga residents by 18%, and St. Petersburg residents by 7%).

The settlers came from all over the Soviet Union, but the bulk were people from 27 regions of Russia, 8 regions of Belarus, and 4 autonomous republics. As we can see, Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians predominated in the population, and Lithuanians from the neighboring union republic also arrived in the region.

The “garrison” character of the region also gave Kaliningraders special features. The main base of the Baltic Fleet is located in Baltiysk (formerly Pillau). There were also large military formations constantly in the region. The area itself was closed to foreigners until 1990. However, for a long time, Soviet citizens also required special permission to visit Kaliningrad. Thus, “enclave” thinking became characteristic of many Kaliningrad residents even during the period of a unified state.

The industry of the region was created virtually from scratch, since all industrial enterprises were destroyed during the war. In addition, despite the fact that Poland in 1945-89 was a state allied with the USSR, in fact the Soviet-Polish border in the Kaliningrad region was closed, which led to the severance of those economic ties that existed in East Prussia.

The main sector of the economy was the fishing industry, the third largest in the country (after Vladivostok and Murmansk). Already in 1948, fishermen from Kaliningrad began industrial fishing in the oceans. By the end of the Soviet era, almost 40% of those employed in industry worked in the region's fisheries industry.

The collapse of the Soviet Union had a hard impact on the region, and not only in the form of an economic crisis. There is a real threat of Russia losing this region. During Yeltsin’s time, the Kremlin authorities were indeed ready to sell (in the literal sense of the word!) the westernmost land of historical Russia, abundantly drenched in Russian blood, for money.

Even before Lithuania officially recognized its independence, a number of politicians from this republic began to make territorial claims over the entire Kaliningrad region. On maps published in Lithuania, the region was called “Lithuania Minor” (remember that the Memel region was also called that), and Kaliningrad was called “the original Lithuanian city of Karaliaučius.” The main argument in their arguments was the fact that the ancient Prussians were a people related to the Lithuanians.

Similarly, in Poland they also began to lay claim to Kaliningrad (which was christened Krolevets), remembering that the Teutonic Order was once a vassal of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. When in 2005 the Polish president was not invited to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the founding of Königsberg, this caused a storm of indignation in Poland.

However, in Germany, although only at an unofficial level so far, they also did not hide the fact that they intended to regain East Prussia. It is no coincidence that a campaign to create German autonomy for the Volga Germans suddenly began in the Russian press. Organizations began to appear among Kaliningrad residents with the goal of creating a separate, fourth Baltic republic in the region, part of the European Union (which automatically means secession from Russia). The transformation of the Kaliningrad region into an enclave that does not have a land connection with Greater Russia, along with the economic problems and policies of neighboring states, has led to such a paradox that Kaliningrad residents can travel to foreign European countries without any problems, but it is difficult and expensive to visit other regions of Russia. If earlier they said that few Europeans had been to Kaliningrad, now few Kaliningraders have not been to Europe.

However, the bulk of Kaliningrad residents, despite all the difficulties, continue to remain Russian people on Russian soil. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, finding themselves residents of the enclave, Kaliningraders experienced a certain identity crisis. However, it was mostly overcome by the new century.

An indicator of the all-Russian identity of Kaliningrad residents was the strikingly large-scale revival of Orthodoxy. Until 1985, there was not a single church in the region with a purely Soviet population; the few believers in the almost completely atheistic region traveled to the neighboring Lithuanian SSR for services on major holidays. Now there are more than 70 Orthodox churches in the region. On Victory Square - central in Kaliningrad, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior rose, 73 meters high, accommodating 3 thousand believers, one of the largest in Russia built in the post-Soviet era, and exceeds the height of the German Cathedral of Königsberg. Thus, the Russian Cathedral of Christ the Savior became the main architectural dominant of the city. Also on the square were three fountains and a Triumphal Column, reminiscent of the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg.

However, in addition to the all-Russian one, Kaliningrad residents are also developing a special local, purely Kaliningrad identity. This is manifested, in particular, in the desire for the restoration of German architectural monuments and the “rehabilitation” of East Prussian cultural figures.

In fact, there are few monuments from the German era left in the region. The city of Königsberg was almost completely destroyed by British aircraft in August 1944, and then was almost completely razed during the fighting in April 1945. According to aerial photography from 1947, the destruction in the city of Kaliningrad itself reached 60%, individual neighborhoods were destroyed by 70-80%, and the “citadel area,” that is, the core of the historical city, by 90%. When Soviet settlers began to arrive in the Kaliningrad region, they saw that the right to choose their own home from the abandoned German buildings was almost impossible to realize due to the lack of suitable houses for habitation. The massive Soviet development of the region that began led to the destruction of most of the remaining monuments of German rule in the region.

In the first decades of the Soviet era, new settlers viewed the miraculously preserved German houses as an unfortunate misunderstanding. In 1948, the first chief architect of Kaliningrad, D. Navalikhin, announced his refusal to restore old Königsberg. Navalikhin said that the Soviet man, “a winner and creator, a man of a new and progressive culture, makes significantly higher demands on his socialist city, which differs like day from night from the gloomy and ugly German cities.”

These intentions were welcomed by the new settlers. Back in the early 60s. local newspapers published angry “letters from workers”, indignant that local authorities were restoring German buildings instead of building a fundamentally different, purely Soviet city. If there were about 300 German buildings left in Kaliningrad, this could only be explained by the poverty of the local budget. When resolving the housing issue, the city authorities were forced to move on to restoring those German buildings that could still be restored.

But after more than four decades of Soviet Kaliningrad, the growing second or third generation of residents of the region, who do not have a “1945 complex,” began to need to know the entire history of their native land. An indicator of this were the celebrations in Kaliningrad dedicated to the 750th anniversary of the founding of Königsberg (a completely surreal name for the anniversary, isn’t it?).

In Kaliningrad, not only did the restoration of the former Königsberg Cathedral with Kant’s tomb arouse public support, but even a peculiar pseudo-German architectural style appeared, which can be called “Stiel-Pruss”. Buildings reminiscent of the German architecture of the Hanseatic cities (and which did not exist in Königsberg) began to be actively built in Kaliningrad. The local university was named after I. Kant.

As we see, the westernmost region of Russia is increasingly acquiring the features of a special region, which not only geographically, but also spiritually and culturally belongs to Russian civilization, without losing its originality.

Urban V. Teutonic Order. M., AST, 2007, p. 125

Solovyov S. M. History of Russia since ancient times. Book 2. - M., 1960, p. 204 - 206.

Gimbutas M. Balty. People of the Amber Sea. M. 2004. P. 179

Observing from Kaliningrad the solution to national problems in greater Russia, you clearly understand that most of these problems are contrived by someone and stubbornly revive the mossy Leninist slogan: “Russia is a prison of nations.” It is quite obvious that national self-awareness and ethnic self-identification are being used as a tool for a new redistribution of the country, another breakdown of the system of distribution of income and natural resources. In the wake of nationalism, part of the ethnic elite is trying to turn the territories of Russia into their own appanage principalities and latifundia, i.e. revive the Middle Ages! The isolation of individual ethnic groups, their isolation is beneficial only to crooks pursuing purely their own personal or clan selfish goals. I also see this as the reason for the endless terrorist attacks in the Caucasus. Under the banner of the struggle for “pure true” Islam, there is a trivial redistribution of spheres of influence and income.

As for the Russians, in general they cannot be accused of chauvinism, which nationalist leaders of various stripes deliberately do. There are simply no such facts. But there are as many facts of anti-Russian behavior as you like. Those who visit Moscow notice that non-Russian people are encountered very often not only on trams, but also at enterprises, construction sites, housing and communal services, and government institutions. Is this chauvinism? In fact, Russia significantly alleviates the tension from unemployment and poverty in neighboring republics, and Moscow - in regions, including national ones.

Of course, we must admit the existence of vulgar street Russian nationalism, when gangs of young people attack non-Russians and even kill them. But these are criminals who have nothing to do with political chauvinism, because we don’t have such a thing at all. These are pathological xenophobes who, with a certain “ideological” treatment, can easily proclaim themselves “lunatics” or “Martians” and also take up arms against “earthlings”. But, alas, they are used by dishonest politicians. But this phenomenon cannot be seriously considered Russian nationalism and fascism.

The real problem is that in Russia there is no informational counteraction to the spread of xenophobia among young people. Moreover, both the media and politicians tirelessly divide everything into “Russian” and “non-Russian”: problems, culture, religion, history. And it seems to be for good purposes, but the effect is the opposite!

The Kaliningrad region was annexed to Russia after the USSR Victory in the Great Patriotic War. It was populated by Soviet citizens in 1945-1950. The ethnic composition of the region's inhabitants was proportional to the ethnic composition of the Soviet Union.

Population migration during the period of rapid reforms changed the national composition of the region's population. Currently, representatives of 125 nations live in the cities and villages of the region. Our population is slightly more than 86% Russian. There are almost equal numbers of Ukrainians and Belarusians – about 4% of representatives of each group. Lithuanians, Armenians and Germans - approximately 1% each. The next largest numbers are Tatars, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, and Poles. More than 5% of the region's residents did not indicate their nationality in the last census. Some couldn’t decide, while others called themselves simply Kaliningraders. The total population of the region, according to official data for 2012, is about 950 thousand people.

However, neither in Kaliningrad nor in other cities in the region will you see obvious differences in the behavior and customs of representatives of different ethnic groups, although we are well aware of Ukrainian and Belarusian songs, Lithuanian dances and even Lezginka. German and Polish are popular among those citizens who maintain business relations in these countries and travel there as tourists (by the way, without a visa). In general, Kaliningrad has preserved that same Hanseatic spirit of mutual understanding and maritime brotherhood, characteristic of the best Baltic port cities. And since about half of the region’s residents live in Kaliningrad, its best traditions are spread throughout the region.

More than once I have heard from fellow countrymen that our region has its own nation of the most friendly, organized and resistant to difficulties people. Probably, the authors of this idea wanted to express the special sentiments characteristic of people living on islands and enclaves, isolated from the main part of their country. This is not separatism, but a sense of independence and solidarity, readiness and desire to survive under any conditions.

There are no interethnic squabbles among indigenous Kaliningraders. Therefore, inflating the national problem in, as we say, big Russia seems strange to us: what should we divide? Although we know the answer to this question: money. As soon as the division between “mine and yours” begins, the need for privileges based on ethnicity immediately arises. Well, then all sorts of ethnic unions, associations, congresses, jamaats and so on grow like mushrooms.

Konstantin Suslov
Vice-Governor of the Kaliningrad Region