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Abstract

Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 74-93 (2008)

“Long-term Population Statistics of Russia, 1867-2002”
Kazuhiro Kumo (The Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University), Takako Morinaga (Graduate School of Letters and Faculty of Letters, Hokkaido University), Yoshisada Shida (Graduate Student of Economics, Hitotsubashi University)

The aims of this study are (1) to overview statistical systems and the methods of maintaining population statistics in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, (2) to provide population statistics in comparable territorial units of the Russian Federation based on primary materials, and (3) to take a general view of long-term population dynamics from the late Imperial era to the new Russian Federation. The gap between previous researches which deal with population during the imperial periods and those which examine after the October revolution is severely large, and few studies utilized primary data in investigating population figures in the imperial era.
First, this study focuses on the institutional backgrounds in maintaining population statistics in the Russia Empire, and then examines population statistics systems after the establishment of the Soviet government. In estimating population and collecting archive data, this paper devoted efforts in utilizing primary materials consistently, and in adjusting all the territories in accordance with those of the Russian Federation. Thus, this study provides a fundamentally information in investigating historical development processes of Russia.