ETHNODEMOGRAPHIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE LATE 20TH  AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES: A NORTH–SOUTH COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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Viktor V. Fauzer1, Galina N. Fauzer2

1, 2Institute for Socio-Economic and Energy Problems of the North, Komi Science Centre, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Russia

1fauzer.viktor@yandex.ru, ORCID 0000-0002-8901-4817

2gfauzer@yandex.ru, ORCID 0000-0002-1616-8102

Abstract. The 20th and 21st centuries were marked by profound changes in demographic processes, affecting virtually all components of population dynamics. Fertility, one of the key components of population change, has undergone a sustained decline in most economically developed countries. This trend has also affected most regions of Russia, including the Russian North. Exceptions include some republics of the North Caucasus, as well as several northern ethnic republics and autonomous areas. Mortality patterns have been affected by a range of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental degradation, and other external shocks, contributing to changes in the structure of mortality and causes of death. Migration and assimilation have altered the ethnic composition of populations and contributed to an increase in interethnic marriages. At the same time, substantial changes have occurred in the structure and direction of both internal and international migration flows. Migration continues to reshape demographic structures and ethnic composition in both sending and receiving areas. Given the broad range of demographic transformations that have occurred during this period, the article focuses on several key processes selected by the authors as particularly significant. The study’s main contribution lies in examining demographic change across two historical periods: the late Soviet and the post-Soviet eras. To capture the changes comprehensively, a distinct research object was selected for each type of transformation, enabling a multidimensional and integrated analysis. The article aims to assess the major demographic transformations of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with particular attention to regional and ethnic patterns in Russia. The empirical basis of the study comprises statistical data for 1985–2025 and population census materials for 1970–2021. The findings indicate that, while most Russian regions experienced population growth during the Soviet period, population dynamics in the post-Soviet period have become increasingly differentiated according to the industrial specialization, ethnic composition, and geographical location of regions. Internal and international migration have reshaped the ethnic composition of Russia’s ethnic republics, while interethnic marriages have made ethnic boundaries between communities increasingly fluid.

Keywords: demographic processes, transformation, population size, assimilation, birth rate

Acknowledgments: This research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No. 25-28-00482, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-00482/.

For citation: Fauzer V. V., Fauzer G. N. Ethnodemographic transformations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries:  A North–South comparative analysis. Sever i rynok: formirovanie ekonomicheskogo poryadka [The North and the Market:  Forming the Economic Order], 2026, no. 3, pp. 135–148. doi:10.37614/2220-802X.3.2026.93.009.

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