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A daily article on global humanities and geography
WeChat public account: Earth Knowledge Bureau
NO.2146 - Population loss in Siberia
Author: Dmitry
Proofreader: Gu Hanyi / Editor: Flutter moth
From ancient times to the present, population is an important indicator of a country's comprehensive strength, and population decay and economic decay are mutually causal. At present, Russia is facing serious demographic problems.
The place is really big, and the population is really small
(Baptism, the baby's heart is bitter, picture: one picture network) ▼
Since the late 1980s, Russia has been caught in an inevitable demographic spiral. Of the 1,116 cities in the Russian Federation, 758 experienced population decline.
In the already inaccessible region of Far East Siberia, the consequences of population decline are even more pronounced.
Without Siberia, Russia would no longer be Russia
Lived like this for 50 years, until the building collapsed
Since the end of the 16th century, when the Siberian Khanate was wiped out by 800 Cossack cavalrymen, the Russians began their migration to North Asia.
Tsarist Russia had an almost obsessive greed for the land
To this end, he will not hesitate to attack from all sides and expand wildly to the best of his ability
(Conquest of Siberia, photo: wiki)▼
Later, the fur trade in the Far East led to the rise of a number of cities such as Omsk and Irkutsk. With the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, these cities quickly developed into thriving regional metropolises.
Various resources are circulated through the railway, driving the development along the line
It seems that the old saying is correct - if you want to be rich, build roads first
Whether you can see the Great Wall from space at a glance, I have not understood
But it is true that the trajectory of the Trans-Siberian Railway can be seen
(Photo: NASA)▼
During World War II, the Soviet Union deliberately moved its domestic production facilities to the East to build a supply center for continuous blood transfusions to the front.
In just a few short decades, the Soviets built Novosibirsk, Russia's third largest city, surpassing Yekaterinburg, by railroad. To this day, the city is an important town in Russia's North Asia region.
This place feels very distant and isolated as soon as you hear the name
But in fact, the urban life here is also very fashionable and cool
(Photo: Flickr & shutterstock)▼
The process of the Russians "looking east" reached its peak during the Soviet period. Today, the world's energy-based cities are more or less facing the problem of mineral depletion and single industry. But in the middle of the last century, it was the golden age of energy-based cities.
It is another day to add bricks and tiles to socialist construction
(1950s, photo: wiki)▼
Most of Russia's energy minerals, such as iron, copper, coal, oil, and natural gas, are distributed in the region east of the Ural Mountains. Under the system of the Soviet Planned Economy, industrial industries such as mining, metallurgy, and electric power formed around these energy sources made many industrial cities rise from the ground.
A vertical Ural mountain divides Russia into two parts
To the east is the Asian part, to the west is the European part ▼
For example, the city of Novokuznetsk, with a population of nearly 550,000, ranks 31st in Russia and is the most important large city in Siberia.
However, the city's downtown area started out as a metallurgical plant and gradually became a center for regional coal mining and tree harvesting in the course of its development.
This bowl of energy and industrial rice has been eaten to this day
To this day, the mainstay of the economy here is still heavy industry
(Zhenxiang, photo: One Picture Network & shutterstock)▼
The relocation of factories has made the Siberian region prosperous. Under stalinist-style planned economics, a large number of workers from the European part of the Soviet Union were transferred to this eastern land.
In the Soviet system, the factory was a society. Workers take the factory as their home, and the factory will guarantee the welfare of the workers, build workers' dormitories, organize male and female friendships, establish factory hospitals, schools for workers' children, and so on. After this one-stop service, the workers basically have no worries.
Eat and drink Lasa, food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and the unit takes care of everything for the staff
There is a Chinese saying that specifically describes this, called: factory run society
(Canteen of a factory in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Picture: One Map Network) ▼
By 1980, with the work of distributing houses to Soviets free of charge by the two governments of Khrushchev and Brezhnev, the residential communities scattered in the energy cities of Siberia had entered a mature period.
However, workers did not expect that this would be the final peak of these small North Asian cities.
At that time, it was the duty of the unit to allocate housing to employees
(Hoisting prefabricated board, pictured: journal.eahn.org)▼
By the late 1980s, as the prices of bulk energy sources such as oil fell, the energy cities that nurtured North Asia became loss-making. As a result, small and medium-sized siberian cities were generally highly dependent on the Soviet government for their finances.
Once upon a time, workers were one of the most desirable occupations
But when people are in the tide of the times, how can they predict their own fate?
(Good times are not always there, photo: wiki)▼
In 1991, the Collapse of the Soviet Union left these small Siberian cities momentarily helpless. The fact that the financial revenue on the books is not enough is actually fine for the people, but the ensuing wave of privatization has completely smashed the jobs of these workers. Factories and mines in the past have fallen into the hands of the Russian upstarts.
Upstarts are neither taking care of nor having plans for sustainable development. With the idea of catching a vote before the ship sank, smuggling, selling and other incidents of original state-owned assets occurred one after another. That period was also the heyday of Russia's "fallen grandfather".
These Russian upstarts embezzled huge amounts of Soviet state assets
And thus formed an oligarchic class, which is still too big to fall
(Hollowed out, picture: figure worm creative) ▼
Under the covert and covert operation of this gang of Russian upstarts, a large number of workers lost their jobs and their factories went bankrupt. This has been accompanied by a surge in crime rates and a deterioration in living conditions.
In 1989, Siberia had a population of 25.236 million, and by 2002, that number had become 24.277 million, losing nearly 960,000 people.
After 2002, the population loss showed no signs of abating. In the eight years from 2002 to 2010, another 1.8 million people left Siberia, where they were born and raised.
For more than twenty years, how many stories have been taken away by the people who left
Remembering the song: They're all old, where are they?
(Those flowers, pictured: pastvu)▼
This winter, it seems to be even colder
The population decline in Siberia is mainly in two aspects.
The first is the increase in mortality. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's new leadership was not able to govern the country, and the protracted economic crisis worsened the living conditions of Siberian residents. Russia's economic restructuring has led to the collapse of the original universal health care system.
Snowfall, depression, decadence, melancholy...
These elements constitute another aspect of Russia
(Photo: Flickr)▼
Although Russia inherited the Soviet Union's free medical system, in the process of privatization, the high-quality medical resources of Siberia began to flow to the European part, and the medical staff of public hospitals flowed to expensive private hospitals. The resulting evil result is that a large number of patients look down on the disease and their health deteriorates.
In 1989, the mortality rate in the Siberian region was 9.5 per thousand. By 2002, the mortality rate had reached 14.5 per thousand. After the Second Industrial Revolution, very few countries have experienced such a serious setback.
The aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union destroyed the lives of many ordinary people
They can no longer speak of love, hate, sorrow, but eternal silence
(Photo: wiki)▼
On the other hand, the direct cause of the significant population decline is the outflow caused by low income.
As the saying goes, trees move the dead to live. Young people feel that since the small and medium-sized cities of Siberia are left with only half-dead factories and meager service industries, it is better to go to Moscow and Petersburg.
Three points are destined, seven points rely on hard work, love to fight to win
Take advantage of the youth, go for a fight, and get rid of the bicycle into a motorcycle
(Gone to the iron, picture: one map network) ▼
Most of the middle-aged and elderly people can't stand the cold of Siberia and move to a warmer and more comfortable part of Europe.
I love the sunny weather in the Mediterranean, I love the snow in Siberia
No kidding, beauty is really beautiful, cold is really cold
(Whales of an isolated island, picture: One Map Network) ▼
The whole territory of Siberia is basically in the cold and subarctic climate zone, which is a real wild and bitter cold place in every sense. The coldest permanent settlement in the world, Oymyakon, has an average annual temperature of minus 15 degrees Celsius and a coldest temperature of minus 71 degrees Celsius.
Do you dare to eat outside? Instant noodles are frozen for you to stand up
(Stiff, Photo: Flickr)▼
In fact, the temperature in many cities and villages in North Asia, Russia, although not so extreme, is also very cold.
Like Chita, not far from the Sino-Russian border, the average annual temperature does not exceed 0 degrees Celsius. If the season is judged by whether it snows or not, then most of Siberia is winter for most of the year.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Siberia is the land of winter
When it's not winter season, there's still some snow here
(The texture has a kind of advanced beauty, picture: one map network) ▼
In addition to the cold, the length of the winter sunshine is also crazy. Even at the southernmost tip of Siberia, 5 hours of daylight is not guaranteed in winter. Taking a step back, even during the day, due to the problem of the oblique angle of sunlight, the light is not enough.
One can only see a slightly bright dot in the dim and miserable sky, which is even the midday sun in Siberia in winter...
The desire for warm monsoons, sunshine and sand is human nature
Therefore, no matter how far away, you must go to Sanya, which is known as the northeast enclave
(What's the whole point in Davalich?) Figure: One Map Network)▼
What about the sister who conditions to go? Put aside your own domestic liveliness to play
(Open-air horse killing chicken, photo: shutterstock)▼
In areas close to the Arctic Circle, the polar night is even more unbearable. If you can't fully contact the sun, it will have a serious impact on people's mental state, depression, neurasthenia will follow.
The Aurora is beautiful at first glance, but it can't be like this every day
Not basking in the sun for a long time is harmful to people's physical and mental health
(Vision, picture: One Map Network) ▼
Population replacement
In any case, Siberia is a strategic location in Russia's eyes. The Russian government is trying to stop siberia's demise.
Some time ago, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu proposed to move the capital of Russia to Siberia. As soon as the news came out, it attracted the attention of many people, in fact, this is not the first time That Shoigu has proposed this. Over the years, there has been no shortage of such discussions within Russia.
In this way, Shoigu liked the land very much
Early last year, he and Putin came to Siberia for a vacation
(The one on the right, picture: One Map Network)▼
Needless to say, the proposal was rejected, but Putin also said he could move some federal departments and big business to Siberia. This means that the Russian top brass does have the idea of moving strategically east. For some time to come, perhaps we will see Russia disperse more eastwards across institutions.
To have a word, the ecology and scenery here are really good
It's okay to come on vacation, but staying is another matter
(Never Air Force, Picture: One Map Network)▼
In 2016, the Russian government launched the "One Hectare in the Far East" program. That is, every Russian citizen can apply for free access to one hectare of land in the Far East. After 5 consecutive years of operation, this hectare of land can be turned into the private property of the applicant.
This year, in the fifth year period, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin announced that anyone who successfully operated "one hectare of land in the Far East" would be able to obtain a second hectare of land. Inspired by wealth and land policies, hundreds of thousands of citizens of the European part have travelled to the Far East.
No matter how big this land is, no population migration has migrated in the past to develop it in vain
So in the end, people are the decisive factor
(Assigned to the ground, figure: Nadalny Vostok.RF) ▼
In addition to attracting people and investment, improving the living environment for local residents is also an important measure for the current Russian government to run Siberia.
The Russian authorities found that the Siberian region lost its population mainly to small and medium-sized cities. Many smaller cities with a population of less than 20,000 are losing more than half of their population.
However, large cities such as Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Irkutsk have not changed much in population since the beginning of the 21st century, and some have achieved population growth by absorbing the surrounding population.
People tend to concentrate in cities with high opportunities and resources
In Siberia, these cities are the only options
(Hilarious, photo: shutterstock)▼
The concentration of people from small cities to large cities is a situation that all countries in the world encounter. How to improve the service function level of big cities is a matter of great concern to the Russian government at present.
At present, the Russian government plans to expand new cities in major cities in the Far East and Siberia. According to the blueprint, the new city of Vladivostok (Vladivostok) alone can accommodate 300,000 people.
Everyone knows how Vladivostok was forcibly occupied by Tsarist Russia
Today, it is both a coastal resort and a naval powerhouse
(Photo: wiki & shutterstock)▼
But the general attitude towards the plan is cautiously optimistic. Even in the most well-equipped Siberian metropolises, the population and development index is mostly lower than in the 1990 period. Whether Russia can successfully return Siberia's blood this time is still difficult to say.
However, if we look at this problem dialectically, we may come to different conclusions. The loss of population in Siberia over the past 30 years is not a bad thing for everyone.
It's been thirty years since that era came to an end
Its legacy may take longer to digest
(Waving goodbye, Photo: Flickr)▼
In the case of the general decline of Siberian cities, some cities have bucked the trend. For example, the population of Ulan-Ude, the main mongol settlement in Buryatia and the third largest city in the Far Eastern Federal District, has seen a decade of continuous population growth, increasing by nearly 100,000 since 1989.
These Buryats, the nationality is Russian, yes
But if you look at the faces, it's obviously very oriental
(True riding to school, photo: shutterstock)▼
The city of Yakutsk, the main community of the Yakuts, an indigenous Siberian, has increased its population by 83% in 30 years to 330,000.
Yakutsk is the capital of the Russian Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
The area of this republic is very large, about equal to 5 France▼
The Tuva Republic, Shoigu's hometown, has continued to grow in the face of the mass departure of ethnic Russians, and the birth rate in 2020 reached 29.7 ‰, the highest in All Russia.
Historically, Tuva has been deeply influenced by Mongolian culture (Photo: One Map Network)▼
Since 2002, more than 800,000 Central Asians have entered the Siberian region of Russia as laborers. All these signs show that in the 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the demographic composition of Siberia has changed.
Resources:
1.http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2015/0631/analit03.php
2.https://www.rbc.ru/photoreport/22/01/2015/54b92c319a79473fc05f3057
3.https://tjournal.ru/analysis/434657-s-dalnego-vostoka-uezzhayut-lyudi-a-vlasti-hotyat-stroit-tam-novye-goroda-pochemu-dlya-rossii-eto-neudachnaya-ideya
4.https://imrussia.org/ru/%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0/3375-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%83-%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD-%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%82-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B8%D0%B5-%D0%BF%D0%BB% D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8B-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9-%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BA
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6.https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/articles/2019/12/22/819389-depopulyatsiyu-gorodov
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10. "Demographic Situation and Geographical Analysis of Siberia, Russia", Li Tongsheng and Huang Guosheng
*The content of this article is provided by the author and does not represent the position of the Earth Knowledge Bureau
Cover: shutterstock
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