Russia: Tackling The Demographic Crisis

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PRAGUE, May 19, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Russia's postcommunist demographic woes have been well documented. But the implications of the issue have become such a hot topic of late that President Vladimir Putin made it his highest priority during his May 10 state-of-the-nation address.


Russia's population is declining by about 700,000 people per year, and has dropped from 150 million since the 1992 census to just over 142 million today.

If left unchecked, demographers estimate that Russia's population could fall to fewer than 100 million people by 2050.

Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov -- who heads Russia's Party of Life, a party whose platform is largely based on resolving the demographic crisis -- this week provided even more staggering numbers, estimating that Russia might have only 52 million people by 2080 if urgent measures are not taken.

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A country who sells its women into sex slavery now wonders if it will have enough people ... to make a military.... Perhaps human life is important after all...in the land of Power...

that at the beginning of the 20th century russia had the largest population in europe and also the fastest growing. Russia's population was growing by 3 million annualy. After al the hardships of the 20th century their population has stayed steady and now shrinking.

Is your city not crowded enough yet?

The world simply doesn't need the huge numbers of soldiers and manual laborers that were needed during the Industrial Age anymore. And the USSR was an Industrial Age society, if not late Agrarian Age.

Let's say Russia's population falls to and stabilizes at, oh, 80 million. Then what- what would the crisis be?

Yeah, I didn't think there was one either.

The world's most powerful countries are either populous in their own right (China, the US) or at least densely populated (France, Britain). If Russia is to reclaim its status as a superpower, it's going to need a large or dense population, preferably (from that perspective) both.

Not latest breaking news..article is from the 19th