The Collapse of the Soviet Union

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After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of Russians remained in the states that were the former soviets. The composition of the Russian speakers that were left in every state is different. The former soviets include Armenia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Latvia, Moldova, Lithuania, Tajikistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Belarus and Azerbaijan. This essay discusses the percentage of the Russian speakers that were left in every state. It also discusses the change in their numerical composition over time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Most of the demographic figures were provided in 1989 during the last Soviet Union Census. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ethnic Russians in Armenia composed of the minority population. The number of the Russian speaking population was at 1.6 %. Only 33 % of the Russians could talk Armenian language fluently. The number of ethnic Russians living in Armenia has since then declined. It is estimated that between 1990 and 1998, more than 45 % of the Russian speaking people left Armenia. This migration has reduced the number of ethnic Russians to a paltry 15000. Armenia is almost entirely a mono-ethnic country. The question of the Russians does not affect the political landscape of the country. However, the country still uses Russian language alongside the Armenian language is schools. Azerbaijan had 5.6 % of ethnic Russians in the 1989 census. This can be estimated as the number of the ethnic Russians in the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This equaled 392 000 people in the country. By 1999, the number of the ethnic Russians had decreased by a big margin. The 1999 census showed that the country had 171 000 ethnic Russians, representing 2.2 % ethnic composition (Skutsch, 2013). The 2009 national census of the government of Azerbaijan showed a decreasing number of Russians in the country. The census revealed that the number of Russians had dropped further to 19,300. The reduction in the number of ethnic Russians has not caused any significant changes in the sociopolitical landscape of the country. Kyrgyzstan had 21.4 % composition of ethnic Russians at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union (Münz & Ohliger, 2003). The net migration of Russians has resulted in a reduction in their composition.

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