ИСТИНА

In the early 1990s the usual trends of population dynamics in Russia were broken, since 1993 population began to decrease due to the influence of new factors. Until the end of the 1980s in most Russian regions the natural increase was positive, and only in five regions (Pskov, Tver, Ryazan, Tula and Tambov oblasts) the death rate exceeded the birth rate. Since 1989, the depopulation spot began to increase rapidly, covering at first the whole Central Russia and spreading further to the growing number of regions. The natural population increase remained only in some republics of the North Caucasus and in the oil- and gas- rich regions of Siberia. In recent years, the intensity of the natural population decrease slightly reduced, and in some regions the decline is replaced by a small growth. The natural population decrease was compensated in a varying degree by migration increase due to positive net migration from outside Russia. Since 2009, Russia's population began to grow again. Concerning to the migration in the 1990s, Russia is clearly divided into two contrasting areas: the North (except for the West Siberian) and the East began to lose population intensively, and the European part of (except North), and Ural attracted migrants. In the 2000s, migration increase became to concentrate in fewer regions, but at the same time began to be observed in several Siberian regions that previously lost population. The highest migration load falls on Moscow and Leningrad oblasts, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Krasnodar krai, Kaliningrad, Belgorod, Voronezh oblasts, and beyond the Urals - in the Tomsk and Novosibirsk oblasts. This trend indicates favorability (sometimes relative) of the socio-economic situation, the comfort of living in the region, but at the same time generates problems of integration of migrants into local communities. There is a clear trend - moving population to the regions with the best socio-economic situation and better climatic conditions. This was the result of the changing socio-economic system in our state and the transition to the principles of market economy. In the era of socialism and planned economy there was a policy of development of the North and the Far East with the resettlement of people there. It is important to emphasize that the migration changes not only the number but also the structure of the population, both for the better and for the worse. As a result, for all Post-Soviet period Chukotka and Magadan oblast lost about 2/3 of population, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Murmansk oblast, the Republic of Komi, Taimyr and Evenki Autonomous Areas - about 1/3. On the contrary, the population grew most in Dagestan - almost on 2/3, in Ingushetia - 1.4 times, Moscow - more than 1/3, Chechnya - 1/5, Krasnodar krai - 1/6; in total from 1990 to 2014 the population increased in 21 subjects of Federation. The regional population dynamics is affected by demographic potential of increase and, especially, of decrease, accumulated over previous periods. The author identified seven types of regional trends of Russian population dynamics in the Post-Soviet period (from constant growth to constant decline of population) and analyzed the geographical features of distribution of these types of dynamics. It was found that long-term trends are the most sustainable for polar types – of constant increase and constant decrease of population. Regions where for many decades population has been decreasing are demographically exhausted, and reversal of negative trend seems to be impossible. Rural areas in Russia are very diverse, and if in prosperous regions we can see all range of this variety - from modern forms of suburbanization to the sparse settlement patterns in the remote places, in the depressed regions social problems are most sharply observed in the countryside. The negative potential that has developed over some decades strengthens negative effects of all processes. In depressed areas, especially in rural areas, the quantity and quality of human resources are the main limiter of socio-economic development. We can observe the processes of population aging and worsening of gender and age structure, low birth rate, high death rate, including at working-age and from external causes, low life expectancy. Among the social problems with sharp spatial differentiation we can note the differences in the level of household income, increasing gaps in quality of life parameters, the growth of social tension due to the strengthening of territorial inequalities. Population and economic activities are concentrating in the most favorable habitats, with potential for development. At the same time large areas become empty with neglected farmlands, destroyed buildings and infrastructure, the area is transformed into a social desert.