Russian people overview
Russian people (also spelled Russkiye) are East Slavic people ethnic group. Most of the Russians are living in Russian Federation and neighboring countries like Ukraine, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan.
Also it should be mentioned that “Russians” as English term refers to all citizens of Russian Federation regardless of their nationality (in Russian language the citizen of the country is known as Rossiyanin, plural Rossiyane). About 80% of the population of the country are ethnic Russians.
Russian people facts
Russians ethnic group is the largest in Europe and among the largest in the world consisting of about 140 million people (about 100 million in Russian Federation, 17 million in neighboring countries, 3 million in Western Europe and Americas, others in Eastern Europe, Asia and other regions of the planet).
Russian language (Indo-European family of languages) is the most popular language among all Slavic languages. Russian is one of the official languages of United Nations.
The questions of our visitors
henry asks: Russia recorded population growth for the first time since 15 years. This population growth only became from North Caucas or from all ethnics of Russia? Thanks
Expert's answer:
Your are right, the population of Russia increased by about 1,4% in 2009. But the overall death rate among the citizens of the country is still higher than the birth rate. About 350,000 people received Russian citizenship in 2009 (most of all the people from former Soviet Union countries).
The number of the regions of Russia that have the birth rate higher than the death rate is not high. Among them are Moscow city, North Caucasus republics, Krasnodar and Stavropol krays, and the regions with the deposits of oil and natural gas like Tyumen oblast, Khanty-Mansy autonomous okrug, Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Sverdlovsk oblast and some others.
fnhughy asks: What is the most common name?
Expert's answer:
According to the statistics of 2008 the most popular names parents gave their kids in Russia were:
- Girls names: Anastasiya, Mariya, Darya, Anna, Yelizaveta, Polina, Viktoriya, Yekaterina
- Boys names: Alexander, Maksim, Ivan, Artyom, Dmitriy, Nikita, Mikhail, Daniil, Yegor, Andrey
jacqueline asks: What is the regular everyday food eaten in Russia on any given day?
Expert's answer:
The food eaten by Russians varies depending on the season, income level and other factors by among the typical dishes are various soups (including borscht, fish, mushroom, pea soups and others), pelmeni (meat dumplings), potatoes dishes, kotlety (cutlets), vareniki, a variety of rigatoni, various sausages, apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, tea, coffee.
Alexis asks: I'm writing a report for a school project and I would like to know how do most people in Russia earn a living?
Expert's answer:
According to the official reports of Russian Statistical Agency (2009) here is the situation of workforce distribution by leading industries (% of all workforce, real number of people in thousands, the average monthly salary).
- Manufacturing industries - 18,3% (12,640; 550 USD)
- Wholesale and retail trade - 15,7% (10,876; 550 USD)
- Transport and communications - 9,4% (6,531; 730 USD)
- Education - 9% (6,218; 400 USD)
- Agriculture - 8,2% (5,673; 250 USD)
- Public health services - 7,3% (5,064; 450 USD)
- Public management, national defense - 7,1% (4,938)
- Construction - 6,9% (4,782; 600 USD)
- Real estate activities - 6% (4,199)
- Electricity, gas, water production, distribution - 3% (2,034)
- Hotels and restaurants - 2% (1,386)
- Mining operations - 1,6% (1,124; 1100 USD)
- Financial activities - 1,5% (1,057; 1300 USD)
