Population of the USSR in 1990. The USSR. population. Accuracy and reliability of source data

Population of the USSR

The population of the territory of the USSR (within the borders before 1991) changed as follows:

86.3 million people – on January 1, 1870
124.6 million people – on January 1, 1897
159.2 million people – at the end of 1913
194.1 million people – on January 1, 1940
178.5 million people – on January 1, 1950
208.8 million people – on January 15, 1959
241.7 million people – on January 15, 1970
257.9 million people – as of January 1, 1977
286.7 million people – as of January 20, 1989

Despite the enormous losses associated with two world wars and the Civil War, the population grew quite quickly. By 1940, the USSR had 22% more inhabitants than Russia in 1913. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. direct losses of the USSR amounted to over 20 million people; Indirect losses were also great (decrease in fertility and increase in mortality). The pre-war population was restored only by 1955.

In 1989, the All-Union Population Census was carried out- the last census of the entire Soviet Union. It was carried out over 8 days - from January 12 to 19, 1989 - through a survey at the place of actual residence of citizens. The survey and recording of answers in census forms were carried out by specially trained census workers recruited from enterprises, institutions, and organizations. Information was recorded from the words of the respondents without requiring documents confirming the correctness of the answers.
3 months after the end of the census - in April 1989 - preliminary results on the size and distribution of the population in individual regions of the country were published. At the beginning of 1990, based on automated processing of census forms, final results were obtained on the size and age composition of the population, marital status, number and size of families, level of education, nationality and languages, and sources of livelihood. According to the census, the current population as of January 12, 1989 was 286.7 million people. In the 10 years since the 1979 census, it increased by 24.3 million people or 9%.

Table 1 – Results of the 1989 All-Union Population Census of the USSR

The census counted 73.1 million families, which is 6.8 million (10%) more than in 1979. The largest increase in the number of families was in the republics of Central Asia and the Azerbaijan SSR (22-29%), as well as in the Kazakh SSR (16%) and the Moldavian SSR (12%). The average family size in the country as a whole was 3.5 people, in urban settlements - 3.3 people, in rural areas - 3.8 people. In the Union republics, the average family size ranges from 6.1 people in the Tajik SSR to 3.1 people. in the Latvian SSR and the Estonian SSR, which is mainly due to the number of children in the family.
In 1989, 255.8 million people lived in families. (89% of the country's population). In addition, 13 million (5%) family members lived separately from the family, but were connected to it by a common budget. 16.4 million (6%) had no family or lost material ties with it (singles). The share of family members living separately from the family and single people is especially small in the republics of Central Asia, the Georgian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, where it was 4-6%, and more significant in the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR, Baltic republics (11-15% ).

Table 1a – Population of the Union republics according to the 1989 All-Union Population Census of the USSR

(Labutova T. Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Issue 34. pp. 007-011, Moscow 1990)

Population reproduction

The Russian Empire was characterized by high natural population growth with high birth and death rates. After the October Revolution (until 1941), natural increase increased even more, mainly due to a decrease in mortality (Table 2).

Table 2 – Natural population movement

Year	Number of births	Number of deaths	Natural increase	Deaths of children under 1 year of age per 1000 births
1913	45,5	29,0	16,4	268,6
1926	44,0	20,3	23,7	174,0
1939	36,5	17,3	19,2	167,3
1940	31,2	18,0	13,2	181,5
1950	26,7		17,0	80,7
1960	24,9		17,8	35,3
1970	17,4			24,7
1974	18,0			27,9

More significant changes in its structure occurred after the Great Patriotic War. By 1950, the population mortality rate had decreased by almost 2 times compared to 1940 (primarily due to a decrease in infant mortality). For 1950-59 were characterized by a stable birth rate and a fairly high natural increase (between 16 and 17.4 per 1000 people). The demographic situation began to change noticeably since 1960. During 1960-70. the average annual birth rate decreased from 24.9 to 17.4 per 1000 people, mortality increased slightly (reflecting a sharp increase in the proportion of older people), and natural increase decreased from 17.8 in 1960 to 8.8 in 1975 In 1975, the birth rate was 18.1 per 1000 people, the death rate was 9.3.
Compared to pre-revolutionary times, overall mortality decreased by 3.3 times, and child mortality by 10 times. A decrease in mortality is observed in all age groups. The average life expectancy of the population is characterized by an increase: 32 years in 1896 – 1897; 44 years - in 1926-27; 47 years old - in 1938-39; 70 years old in 1971-72 (64 years for men and 74 for women).
Differences in the structure of population reproduction were observed across the Union republics, especially in fertility rates (Table 3).

Table 3 – Birth rate in the union republics (per 1000 people)

Republic	1940	1970	1975
RSFSR	33,0	14,6	15,7
Ukrainian SSR	27,3	15,2	15,1
BSSR	26,8	16,2	15,7
Uzbek SSR	33,8	33,6	34,5
Kazakh SSR	40,8	23,4	24,1
Georgian SSR	27,4	19,2	18,2
Azerbaijan SSR	29,4	29,2	25,1
Lithuanian SSR	23,0	17,6	15,7
Moldavian SSR	26,6	19,4	20,7
Latvian SSR	19,3	14,5	14,0
Kyrgyz SSR	33,0	30,5	30,4
Tajik SSR	30,6	34,8	37,1
Armenian SSR	41,2	22,1	22,4
Turkmen SSR	36,9	35,2	34,4
Estonian SSR	16,1	15,8	14,9

Mortality rates varied significantly less across republics: for example, in 1975 they were 7.2-8.1% in the Central Asian republics, 9.8% in the RSFSR, 9.5-12.1% in the Baltic republics republics Natural population growth in the Central Asian republics fluctuated in 1975 from 2.2 to 2.9%, and in the Baltic republics, BSSR, Ukrainian SSR, RSFSR - from 0.2 to 0.7%. The rapid growth of the share of the urban population, the increase in the age of marriage and other reasons caused a decrease in the birth rate. Traditions, way of life, family life of individual peoples, and socio-psychological factors also had a noticeable impact. In particular, republics with high birth rates were characterized by an increased percentage of the rural population and early marriages (especially of women). Traditions of early marriages are typical for the population of the Central Asian republics and Azerbaijan; in the Baltic republics, on the contrary, people get married later.
The extension of study periods and the spread of higher education, the rise in cultural level led to later marriages, especially among women (Table 4).

Table 4 – Number of married people aged 16-19 years (per 10,000 people of a given gender and age)

	1939	1959	1970
Men
Women

Age and sex structure of the population

The change in age structure compared to pre-war times is shown in Table. 5.

Table 5 – Dynamics of the age structure of the population (%)

	1939	1959	1970
Up to 15 years	37,7	30,4	30,9
16-59 years old	55,5	60,2	57,2
60 years and older			11,8

These changes are a consequence of an increase in average life expectancy and fluctuations in the birth rate in different years. Total percentage of children under 15 years of age in 1959 and 1970 was approximately the same, but their age composition underwent significant changes. Thus, as a result of the observed decline in the birth rate, the percentage of children under 4 years of age decreased from 11.7 in 1959 to 8.5 in 1970. The reduction in the birth rate in 1915-20. and 1942-45 affected by the fact that in 1970 the share of the age groups 50-54 years and 25-29 years was relatively small. In 1975, 56.3% of the total population was aged 16-59 (men) and 16-54 (women).
The age structure was affected by a continuous and rather rapid increase in the number of older people. The number of people aged 60 years and older increased from 13 million in 1939 to 33.5 million in 1975. The age structure of the population varied markedly across individual republics and regions. The largest proportion of young people was typical for the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia (Table 6).

Table 6 – Age structure of the population (according to the 1970 census) (%)

Republic	Up to 14 years old	15-59 years old	60 years and older
USSR	29,0	59,2	11,8
RSFSR	26,5	61,6	11,9
Ukrainian SSR	24,9	61,2	13,9
BSSR	29,0	57,9	13,1
Uzbek SSR	45,1	46,2
Kazakh SSR	37,5	54,2
Georgian SSR	30,6	57,5	11,9
Azerbaijan SSR	44,1	47,9
Lithuanian SSR	27,0	58,0	15,0
Moldavian SSR	32,2	58,1
Latvian SSR	21,6	61,1	17,3
Kyrgyz SSR	41,7	49,4
Tajik SSR	46,6	45,9
Armenian SSR	39,2	52,5
Turkmen SSR	44,9	47,9
Estonian SSR	22,1	61,1	16,8

In the USSR, as well as throughout the world, 5-6% more boys were born than girls. Due to the relatively lower mortality of girls, the proportion of men and women equalizes by the age of 27-28. Before the October Revolution, the difference between the numbers of men and women was relatively small (in 1913 there were 1 million more women). The 1st World War 1914-18 and in particular the Great Patriotic War caused huge losses, especially among the male population. According to the 1926 census, there were 5 million more women than men, and according to the 1959 census, there were 20.7 million more. The 1970 census recorded a decrease in the gap between the number of women and men (Table 7).

Table 7 – Sex ratio (%)

Years	Men	Women
1913	49,7	50,3
1940	47,9	52,1
1951	44,0	56,0
1959	45,0	55,0
1961	45,3	54,7
1970	46,1	53,9
1976	46,5	53,5

The gender disproportion was maintained only due to older ages: the number of men and women under 47 years of age was approximately the same, but at ages over 48 years of age, women made up 2/3 of the population (this is the result not only of the war, but also of the significantly longer life expectancy of women).
In all the Union republics, as well as in the country as a whole, there were more women than men, but in Central Asia and Transcaucasia (except Georgia) this gender disproportion did not manifest itself as sharply as in other areas. In 1970, women made up: in the Ukrainian SSR - 54.8%, in the RSFSR - 54.4%, in the Latvian SSR and Estonian SSR - 54.3%, and in the Tajik SSR and Turkmen SSR - 50.8%, in the Armenian SSR - 51.2%, in the Uzbek SSR and Azerbaijan SSR - 51.5%. There were regions of the USSR where there were more men than women: in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, as well as in the Kamchatka and Magadan regions - areas of rapid development of various branches of heavy industry, characterized by a harsh climate.

Population migration

Geographical redistribution of the population due to internal colonization of sparsely populated lands that were part of the Russian state took place already in the 17th and 18th centuries. Inter-district migrations increased from the mid-19th century, especially after the peasant reform of 1861, and were determined mainly by the needs of impoverished peasants or the search for work. External migration did not play a significant role in pre-revolutionary Russia. After the October Revolution of 1917 The driving forces behind internal migrations were positive motives for the development of new natural and economic resources and the organized bringing of the distribution of the population and labor resources in accordance with plans for the territorial redistribution of production. Migration processes in the USSR were characterized by two main trends: a steady outflow of the rural population to cities and population shifts to the eastern regions. For 1926-39 About 4.7 million people moved to the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and the Far East. During the Great Patriotic War, there were sharp territorial shifts in the distribution of the population due to its evacuation to the eastern regions from temporarily occupied areas and from the front line (in 1941-42 - about 20-25 million people; most of them then returned to previous place of residence). In the post-war period, migration to new industrial areas, to new buildings, and to areas of development of virgin lands continued intensively (in 1959-70 alone, the net influx of population to Kazakhstan and Central Asia amounted to 1.2 million people). As a result, by 1970, did you live in the East of the country? the entire population. The role of external migration in the USSR is hardly noticeable.

Population distribution

The average population density in the USSR was 11.5 people per 1 sq. km, incl. in the European part - 34 people per 1 sq. km (as of January 1, 1976), fluctuated greatly among the union republics and regions (Table 8).

Table 8 – Average population density by republic (1976), (people per 1 sq. km)

RSFSR........................................ 7.9
Ukrainian SSR......................................... 81.3
BSSR........................................ 45.1
Uzbek SSR........................ 31.5
Kazakh SSR........................ 5.3
Georgian SSR........................ 71.1
Azerbaijan SSR........... 65.7
Lithuanian SSR........................ 50.8
Moldavian SSR......................... 114.3
Latvian SSR........................ 39.2
Kyrgyz SSR........................ 17.0
Tajik SSR........................ 24.4
Armenian SSR........................ 95.1
Turkmen SSR........................ 5.3
Estonian SSR........................ 31.9

The most densely populated areas were the center and the regions of the European part of the USSR, especially the interfluve of the Oka and Volga, as well as the regions of Donbass and Right Bank Ukraine, the Moldavian SSR, and many regions of Transcaucasia and Central Asia. The average density in the most densely populated regions was: Moscow (with Moscow) - 294.6 people per 1 km2, Andijan - 299.9, Tashkent (with Tashkent) - 214, Donetsk - 194, Khorezm - 148, Kiev (with Kiev) - 134.5, Lvovskaya - 115.5. The northern regions of the country were the least populated: in the Evenki National Okrug - 0.02 people. per 1 sq. km, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) - 0.05, Koryak and Yamalo-Nenets - 0.2, Nenets and Chukotka - 0.2. The density was very low in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - 0.2 per 1 sq. km; in the Magadan, Kamchatka and Tyumen regions - 0.4, 0.8 and 1.1 people per 1 sq. m., respectively. km.
The more densely populated space in the central zone of the USSR formed a wedge, as it were, tapering towards the East (the so-called main settlement zone). The base of this wedge is the western border of the USSR, from Leningrad to Moldova. In the European part of the USSR, its northern border passed through Cherepovets, Vologda, Kirov, Perm; southern - through Kherson, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Kuibyshev, Chelyabinsk. In Siberia, the main strip of settlement included Tomsk, Novosibirsk, the cities of Kuzbass, then ran in a narrow strip through Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk and reached the Pacific Ocean near Vladivostok - Nakhodka. Outside this zone, there were significant population concentrations only in Transcaucasia and Central Asia. Almost all major cities of the USSR lay within the main settlement zone or named areas.

Urban settlement

The USSR is a country with a predominantly urban population. The extremely rapid growth in the share of the urban population (Table 9) is a consequence of the transformation of the USSR from a backward agricultural country to an industrial one. In the overall growth of the urban population, there was a tendency towards a decrease in the share of population migration from the village (Table 10).

Table 9 – Changes in the urban-rural population ratio

Years	In million people			As a percentage of the total population
	Whole population	Incl. urban	Incl. rural	urban	rural
1913	159,2	28,5	130,7
1940	194,1	63,1	131,0
1959	208,8	100,0	108,8
1970	241,7	136,0	105,7
1976	255,5	156,6	98,9

Table 10 – Urban population growth

Table 11 – Growth in the number of urban settlements and their distribution by number of inhabitants

The highest percentage of the urban population, on the one hand, is in old industrial areas (Leningrad region together with Leningrad - 91%, Donetsk region - 89%, Moscow region together with Moscow - 88%, Sverdlovsk region - 85%, Chelyabinsk region - 82%); on the other hand, in regions of the North and the Asian part of the USSR unfavorable for agriculture, the industrial development of which began during the years of Soviet power (Murmansk region - 89%, Kemerovo region - 86%, Karaganda region - 86%, Kamchatka region - 83%, Magadan region - 78% ). At the same time, in areas where agriculture predominated, the share of urban residents did not exceed 1/3 of the population. The largest (over 500 thousand inhabitants) and large (100-500 thousand) cities grew the fastest (Table 12). In 1939 in the USSR there were 2 cities with a population of over 1 million, in 1959 - 3, in 1976 - 14, of which (in thousands of people, as of January 1, 1976): Moscow - 7734, Leningrad - 4372 , Kiev – 2013, Tashkent – ​​1643, Baku – 1406, Kharkov – 1385, Gorky – 1305, Novosibirsk – 1286, Minsk – 1189, Kuibyshev – 1186, Sverdlovsk – 1171, Tbilisi – 1030, Odessa – 1023, Omsk – 1002 ( Moscow , Leningrad, Baku and Minsk - together with urban settlements subordinate to their city councils); from 500 thousand to 1 million inhabitants. numbered (in thousand people): Chelyabinsk (989), Dnepropetrovsk (976), Donetsk (967), Kazan (958), Perm (957), Yerevan (928), Ufa (923), Volgograd (918), Rostov-on-Don (907), Alma-Ata (851), Saratov (848), Riga (806), Voronezh (764), Zaporozhye (760), Krasnoyarsk (758), Krivoy Rog (634), Lviv (629 ), Yaroslavl (577), Karaganda (570), Krasnodar (543), Novo-Kuznetsk (530), Vladivostok (52G), Izhevsk (522), Irkutsk (519), Barnaul (514), Khabarovsk (513), Tula (506). 58% of all urban residents and 36% of the total population of the country lived in cities with a population of over 100 thousand people.
During the years of Soviet power, 1,151 cities were formed (1976). The development of various industries played a major role in their formation. The development of new coal deposits led to the creation of such cities as Karaganda, Vorkuta, etc.; The emergence of Almetyevsk, Nefteyugansk, etc. is associated with oil production and refining; with the development of ferrous metallurgy - Magnitogorsk, Rustavi; non-ferrous metallurgy – Norilsk, Balkhash; chemical industry - Angarsk, Novokuibyshevsk, Kirovsk, Soligorsk. Together with large power plants, Bratsk and Volssky arose; Tolyatti and Komsomolsk-on-Amur became the largest centers of mechanical engineering. Dushanbe and Nukus were created as administrative centers. Many old cities also grew significantly, in particular the capitals of the union and autonomous republics and the centers of autonomous regions (from 1939 to 1976, the number of residents in Almaty increased by 3.8 times, in Yerevan, Minsk and Frunze - by 4-5 times , in Syktyvkar and Cheboksary - 7-9 times).
Those of the old cities in which industry developed grew rapidly. Major industrial centers have generally at least doubled in size; the population of Kuibyshev, Chelyabinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Krivoy Rog, Ulyanovsk, Ryazan, Tyumen increased 3-4 times, Lipetsk and Kurgan more than 5 times, Cherepovets more than 7 times, etc. At the same time, due to given that further concentration of the population in large cities could lead to a number of negative consequences, measures were taken to curb the growth of the largest of them; One of the means of this is the development of satellite cities.

Rural settlement

As the USSR urbanized, its rural population decreased not only relatively, but also absolutely (Table 10). The bulk of the rural population was concentrated in the southern and central regions of the European part of the USSR; its high density (over 100 people per 1 sq. km) was characteristic of the Dniester valley and some regions of Ukraine. The density of the rural population was much lower in the zone of taiga forests and, especially, the tundra of the European North, where the population was almost entirely concentrated in the valleys of large rivers; a very rare population was also characteristic of the dry steppes and semi-deserts of the South-East of the European part of the USSR. In the Caucasus, river valleys and the Black Sea coast were densely populated (over 150 people per 1 sq. km). In the Asian part of the USSR, areas along the Siberian Railway, the foothills of the Urals and Altai, the Amur region, the south of Primorye, as well as the valleys and foothills of the republics of Central Asia were relatively densely populated (with the highest rural population density in the USSR - over 200 people per 1 sq. km ); in other areas - the taiga and tundra of Siberia and the Far East, in the deserts and semi-deserts of Central Asia and the dry steppes of Kazakhstan, the population was very sparse (there is less than 1 person per 1 sq. km).
According to the 1970 census, there were 469.3 thousand rural settlements in the USSR (rural settlements predominated, in which the bulk of the population was engaged in agriculture); in 1970, the average population of 1 rural settlement was about 225 people. In general, 7.1% of the rural population lived in settlements with 100 or fewer inhabitants, 49.1% lived in settlements with 101 to 1,000 residents, and 43.8% lived in settlements with 101 to 1,000 residents. Rural settlement in the European part was characterized by an increase in the population of villages from north to south. Rural settlements were especially small in the north-west of the USSR (for example, in the Pskov region, 61% of the rural population lived in settlements with 100 or fewer inhabitants). The situation was different in the south of the European part: in the Odessa region. Only 0.8% of the rural population lived in settlements with a population of 100 or less people; 85% of it was concentrated in settlements where the number of inhabitants exceeded 500 people. For the middle zone of the European part, for the Urals and Siberia, the predominance of medium-sized settlements was typical.

(Great Soviet Encyclopedia. (Third edition). - Volume 24. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia", 1977. - P. 14-21.)

According to the statistical yearbook “National Economy of the USSR for 1990”. - State Statistics Committee, 1991.

Bibliography

1. Labutova T. Yearbook of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. issue 34. pp. 007-011, Moscow 1990
2. Gozulov A.I., Census of the population of the globe, M., 1970; Results of the All-Union Population Census of 1970, vol. 1-7, M., 1972-74
3. Kvasha A. Ya., Problems of economic and demographic development of the USSR, M., 1974
4. Kovalev S. A., Rural resettlement, M., 1963
5. Kozlov V.I., Dynamics of the number of peoples, M., 1969
6. L a p p o G. M., Geography of cities with the basics of urban planning, M., 1969
7. Migration mobility of the population in the USSR, M., 1974
8. National economy of the USSR in 1975. Stat. yearbook, M., 1976
9. Population of the countries of the world. Handbook, ed. B. D. Urlanisa, M., 1974
10. Peoples of the European part of the USSR, [vol.] 1-2, M., 1964
11. Peoples of the Caucasus, [vol.] 1-2, M., 1960-62
12. Peoples of Siberia, M.-L., 1956
13. Peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, [vol.] 1-2, M., 1962-1963
14. World population. Country Guide, ed. S. I. Bruka, M., 1965
15. Population of the USSR. Handbook, ed. A. Ya. Boyarsky, M., 1974
16. Fundamentals of population theory, M., 1973
17. Pokshishevs K and V. V., Geography of the population of the USSR. Economic and geographical essays, M., 1971
18. Semenov-Tya n-Shansky V.P., City and village in European Russia, St. Petersburg, 1910
19. X o r e v B. S., Problems of cities, 2nd ed., M., 1975.
20. Essays on general ethnography. Asian part of the USSR, M., 1960;
21. Essays on general ethnography. European part of the USSR, M., 1968.

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Pre-war (USSR within pre-war borders)

In turn, they are divided into officially announced and in documents TSUNKHU.

The estimated population of the USSR as of January 1, 1941 is 198,554.3 thousand people. (excluding growth in annexed territories) and 198,712.7 thousand people. - preliminary calculation dated June 14, 1941 (V.S. Kozhurin “On the population on the eve of the Great Patriotic War”, VIZH, 1991, No. 2, p. 26. The author forgot to provide a link to the archive)

Sources and notes:

1. The source of Lithuania's population is not specified. Last census 1923

2. Calculations of the UNHU of the Latvian SSR. Coincides with published data from League of Nations yearbooks. Last census 1935

3. As of January 1, 1940, the calculations of the UNHU of the Estonian SSR, 1937-1939, statistical yearbooks of the League of Nations. Last census 1934

4. For the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR, the population was taken according to Molotov’s report at the V session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on October 31, 1939.

“The territory transferred to the USSR is equal in size to the territory of a large European state. Thus, the territory of Western Belarus reaches 108 thousand square kilometers, with a population of 4 million 800 thousand people. The territory of Western Ukraine is 88 thousand square kilometers, with a population of 8 million people. Thus, the territory of Western Ukraine that has passed to us, together with the territory of Western Belarus, amounts to 196 thousand square kilometers, and its population is about 13 million people, of which more than 7 million are Ukrainians, more than 3 million Belarusians, more than 1 million Poles, Jews —over 1 million" (Extraordinary fifth session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, October 31 - November 2, 1939. Verbatim report. Publication of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1939, pp. 7 - 24)

The last population census in Poland on December 9, 1931, the excess of the census results over the estimated population of 1.7% (A.I. Gozulov Population censuses of the USSR and capitalist countries. Editorial and publishing department of the TsUNKHU of the USSR State Planning Committee and the Soyuzorguchet M. 1936 p. 92)

5. In Bessarabia and North. Bukovina data taken from the Romanian Demographic Journal. The last census of Romania was December 29, 1930. The result was not much different from our 1937 census. The excess of the calculated data with the census data was 2.3%. (A.I. Gozulov Population Censuses of the USSR and capitalist countries. Editorial and Publishing Department of the TsUNKhU of the State Planning Committee of the USSR and the Soyuzorguchet M. 1936 Page 92)

Officially announced population figures

From Molotov’s report on foreign policy on August 1, 1940 at the seventh Session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

“Thus, the territory of the Soviet Union increased by the annexation of Bessarabia, with an area of ​​44.5 thousand square kilometers, with a population of 3 million 200 thousand people, and the annexation of Northern Bukovina, with an area of ​​6 thousand square kilometers, with a population of over 500 thousand people.

The entry of the Baltic countries into the USSR means that the Soviet Union increases by 2 million 880 thousand of the population of Lithuania, by 1 million 950 thousand of the population of Latvia and by 1 million 120 thousand of the population of Estonia.”. (Seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR August 1 - August 7, 1940. Verbatim report. Publication of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 1940, p. 25)

“Thus, together with the population of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, the population of the Soviet Union will increase by approximately 10 million people. (Applause). If we add to this the over 13 million population of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, then it turns out that the Soviet Union has increased in population over the past year by more than 23 million. (Applause).

It should be noted that 19/20 of this entire population was previously part of the USSR, but was forcibly torn away from the USSR at a time of its military weakness by the imperialist powers of the West. This population has now been reunited with the Soviet Union.

As population estimates show, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will now be able to speak with a powerful voice on behalf of a population of 193 million, not counting the population growth of the USSR during 1939 and 1940. (Long applause)". (Seventh session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR August 1 - August 7, 1940. Verbatim report. Publication of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 1940, pp. 27-28)

Review and comments

Luckily for us, the compilers of the pre-war certificate on the size of the pre-war population of the USSR indicated the sources of the figures for the annexed territories. If we evaluate the degree of their reliability based on these sources, then the Baltic countries raise the least questions; Bessarabia and the North raise a certain amount of skepticism. Bukovina, and Molotov’s report at the 5th session of the Supreme Council, as a source of the population of western Ukraine and Belarus, is, to put it mildly, surprising. Especially considering that less than a month has passed since the end of the Polish company. And usually, in reports of this kind, the figures are provided to the country’s leadership by statistical authorities, but here we see a surprisingly opposite picture. Statistical bodies hide behind data announced from a high rostrum. Therefore, the population of Western Ukraine and Belarus seem to be the most controversial.

Until 1959 (within pre-war borders)

“Not counting the population growth of the USSR in 1939 and 1940” (c)

“Including the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR and BSSR (without the areas ceded to Poland under the 1945 treaty with a population of 1.4 million people), the Moldavian SSR, the Lithuanian SSR, the Latvian SSR and the Estonian SSR.”

Review and comments

Those. The pre-war population figures published before 1959 are nothing more than those called 193 million by Molotov in August 1940, and this is the population not so much at the beginning of 1940 as at 1939. The second time the CSB unobtrusively covered up its…. , wiped away a speck of dust from his uniform with the words of Molotov. Despite the fact that Molotov quite clearly says that “ As population estimates show...” One can only guess whose calculations these were and whose memory began to fail.

If we look at the pre-war population calculations, then with a high degree of probability we will assume that 193.1 million is the sum of the population according to the 1939 census and the estimated (although it would be more correct to say, estimated) population of the annexed regions on January 1, 1940. So don't believe anyone who says you can't be a little pregnant. Can.

After 1959 (within pre-war borders)

Review and comments

In 1959, the CSO finally decides to put an end to these half-hearted data in all respects. And, using the results of the 1959 USSR population census, he makes a strong-willed and final decision. “The CSB considers it necessary, in reporting the preliminary results of the census, along with the population size for the territory covered by the 1939 census—170.6 million people—to provide an estimate of the population of the USSR at the beginning of 1939 for the entire territory, i.e. including the population of the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which amounts to 190.7 million people, and with this population, distributed among the republics, make all the main comparisons". Well done, so what? This time they didn’t even refer to Molotov. And after that, in all official reference books before the collapse of the USSR, two numbers began to appear. At the beginning of 1939, 190.7 million, and at the beginning of 1940 - 194.1 million. The difference is the population growth for 1939, very similar to this one. But there is one small BUT, in the form of this certificate. Here, TSUNKHU writes that yes, the 1939 census showed that a certain percentage of underreporting of child mortality still occurs in our country. “Taking into account all this, TSUNKHU assumed the natural population growth for 1939 was not 3,303.4 thousand people, but 3,156.0 thousand people, i.e. 146 thousand people less.” And since the census was not on January 1, but on January 17, then “from the moment of the population census on January 17, 1939 to January 1, 1940. population growth amounted to 2,904.1 thousand people".

Please note that in pre-war calculations the order of calculation is as follows. First, the population according to the 1939 census (accurate value), population growth for 1939 within the boundaries of the 1939 census (also a fairly accurate value), and only then the estimated or estimated population size living in the annexed territories is added. The same goes for growth. In 1939, growth was calculated by territory within the boundaries of the 1939 census; since 1940, taking into account annexed territories. This looks quite reasonable, since the annexation of western Ukraine and Belarus occurred at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th quarter of 1939, the entry of Bessarabia, Northern. Bukovina and the Baltic states is mid-1940. And since 1959, the CSO has been trying to link the number of annexed territories to the beginning of 1939. The meaning of this step remains unclear to me personally, since it is no longer clear. There was no exact estimate of the population of the annexed territories; the population of the USSR within the borders before and after the war was not brought into conformity, and most importantly, population growth in 1939 was calculated within the boundaries of the 1939 census, and how things were there future fellow citizens, one can only guess. Please note that in 1959 the CSO sharply reduced the population estimate in the annexed territories at the beginning of 1939 from 22.3 million to 20.1 million.

ADH (Post-War Borders)

“By the end of 1940, the borders of the (USSR) included an area of ​​22.1 million square meters. km, which is 0.4 million sq. km more than the territory within the boundaries of which the 1939 census took place. By 1946, it had increased by another 0.3 million square meters. km. Apart from minor clarifications, the main changes in borders after the 1939 census were as follows: in September 1939 - August 1940, the USSR included Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, in 1944 - Tuva Autonomous Region, in 1945 - Kaliningrad region, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, as well as Transcarpathian region. Before the establishment of the borders of 1946, in addition to the territories that became part of the USSR in 1939-1945, a number of regions of Belarus and Ukraine, the so-called regions west of the Curzon line, were ceded to Poland under the 1945 treaty.”(pp. 50-51)

At the beginning of 1939 - 188,793.6 thousand people (p. 53)

Beginning of 1941 - 195.4 million (p. 56)

At the beginning of the Second World War - 196.7 million (p. 55)

Source. EAT. Andreev, L.E. Darsky, T.L. Kharkov. Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991 Moscow. The science. 1993

Review and comments

We must pay tribute to the ADH, but they began to count the pre-war population in relation to the borders after the Second World War, which the CSB, for some unknown reason, chronically forgot to do. In their work “Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991”, ADH reveal the methodology for calculating the CSO in 1959. According to them: “The calculations of the USSR Central Statistical Office, carried out in 1959, were also somewhat conditional. They were based on data on the number of voters participating in the elections closest to the date of accession. Thus, in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, the number of voters was determined by elections to the People's Assembly. Western Ukraine and the People's Assembly of Western Belarus, held on October 22, 1939; for Lithuania and Latvia - to the People's Seimas on July 14-15, 1940; in Estonia - to the State Duma on July 15, 1940. During these elections, the age limit was as follows: in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus - from 18 years; in Lithuania and Latvia - from 21 years of age; in Estonia - from 22 years of age. Based on the latest available information about the age structure of the population of a country or part of a country, the proportion of persons with voting rights in the total population was determined. By dividing the number of voters by this proportion, an estimate of the total population was obtained. The last element of the calculation was to move the data back to the beginning of 1939 using estimates of natural increase for each territory.”(P.51-52) Therefore, ADH did not make any special adjustments, and just like the CSB in 1959, they began to be tied to the beginning of 1939. The population of the western regions of the west. They did not touch Ukraine and Belarus, Moldova turned out to be generally unworthy of mention, and the work of the CSB in relation to the Baltic countries was only slightly criticized. Therefore, we decided to stop at this: “The sources that statisticians used when calculating the age and sex structure of the population of the annexed territories were stingy, and we had no reason to make any amendments to it. Therefore, we leveled this structure, eliminating traces of age-related accumulation. By adding this estimate to the equalized population according to the census and moving it to the beginning of the year, we received an estimate of the size and composition of the population at the beginning of 1939 within the new boundaries.”. (P.53) Of course, there were some funny collisions. As we have already found out, the source of estimates of the population of Western Ukraine and Belarus, and by the way the only one, are the words of Molotov at the 7th session of the USSR Supreme Council. Here is the ADH estimate of the population of western Ukraine and Belarus. “There are practically no discrepancies in publications about the population of the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus; it is estimated at approximately 13 million people”(P.52) . The following is a link to the book by S.I. Sulkevich "Population of the USSR". M.: OGIZ; Publishing house of polit, literature, 1939. P. 6. And there we again see the same words from Molotov’s speech. So this is a funny conclusion. If the words Molotov said at the seventh session of the USSR Supreme Council do not differ from the words Molotov said at the seventh session of the USSR Supreme Council, then the number of annexed regions of western Ukraine and Belarus should be accepted as completely reliable. As a result, at the beginning of 1939, the population of the USSR within the post-WWII borders of the ADH is taken as 188,793.6 thousand people. Consists of ADH's own estimate of the 1939 census of 168,524.4 million, and of the annexed territories, respectively, of 20.3 million people. The figure of 20.3 million is close to the 20.1 million CSO of the 1959 model, but I emphasize that this is already within the borders of the USSR after the Second World War. Those. if the CSB mod. 1959 at the beginning of 1939 there were census data And grade of the attached population, then ADH their assessment 1939 census data and their assessment population of the annexed territories. All that remains is to add for completeness the picture their assessment population growth, which ADH is successfully doing. Then the funniest part begins, in the form of ADH’s assumptions about under-reporting and under-coverage, with corresponding adjustments to the TsUNKHU data. To appreciate the greatness of the flight of thought, let’s make a comparative table (in thousands of people). Sources: , and E.M. Andreev, L.E. Darsky, T.L. Kharkov. Population of the Soviet Union 1922-1991 Moscow. The science. 1993 P.55

** Taking into account the incompleteness of mortality registration and the census date.

*** Within the borders after the Second World War

And it’s like in a mirror. ADH, yes, yes, yes, those same ADHs who constantly talked about the undercounting of mortality and overestimated population growth in the period between the censuses of 1926-1939, without blinking an eye, suddenly increase population growth in relation to the data of the TsUNKhU, in just two years, by 0.7-1.1 million. Literally out of thin air, like magicians. This is despite the fact that it was TSUNKHU, taking into account the incompleteness of mortality registration, that actually reduced this increase! And that is not all. ADH inexplicably managed to write the following: “So, at the beginning of 1941, we accepted the number of 195.4 million people (another option - 194.8 million people), and the pre-war calculations of the USSR Central Statistical Office give 198.7 million people. It can be assumed that it is overestimated compared to the actual one as a result of an uncritical perception of the 1939 census and the completeness of registration in 1939-1940, i.e. as a result of repeating the mistake of 1927-1936. Accepting this exaggerated population estimate for mid-1941 would lead to a higher estimate of casualties during the war and a lower estimate in the pre-war years.". (P.56) And this despite the fact that on page 52 they themselves write about the difference in population estimates in the annexed territories from 19.8 to 21.8 million people, and therefore the problem does not lie in the critical perception of the 1939 census d, not in repeating the error of completeness of accounting (which is exactly what the ADHs themselves demonstrate in 1939-1940), but primarily in the population size of the annexed regions.

Summary table.

Preliminary results

1. There are two insoluble problems. The first is the population size of the annexed territories. The second is the change in population after the border changes after the Second World War. Whatever one may say, any estimate of the population before the war will be purely indicative and guesswork.

2. What can you rely on? This is the 1939 census and data on natural population growth. Everything else is estimates, estimates, estimates….

3. There are two extreme categories of “believing” citizens. The first believe that Stalin’s statistics were, they say, correct, which were then spoiled for selfish purposes by Khrushchev, Brezhnev and further down the list, in order to increase the size of losses and blame them on the leader. Alas, as can be seen from the pre-World War II population, the lowest estimate was in 1959. This is such a nuisance.

The second, “fans of the ADH,” with the thesis that if, they say, the ADH had not underestimated the results of the 1939 census, then the number of WWII losses could easily be increased by a couple of million. Alas, it didn’t work out here either. As we see, the ADH, after the decline in the results of the 1939 census, is doing everything possible and impossible to make up for lost time. Just a little bit was not enough. And if the war had started a year later, this would have been the case.

And now let’s try to estimate it ourselves (in millions). If anyone disagrees with anything, write in the comments.

170.6 - 1939 census

20.1 - annexed territories (total 190.7 million at the beginning of 1939)

3.1 - growth for 1939 (2.9 million within the census boundaries plus 0.2 increase in the annexed regions. Alas, we have to attach the growth of the annexed regions to 1939, since the CSO counted their population only on this date)

1.1 - population of the Transcarpathian region and the Tuva Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (920 and 172 thousand) according to the 1959 census. Well, very conditionally. In 1946 it was certainly less, but on the other hand, someone still lived on the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, etc.)

1.4 - population that went with territories to Poland after 1945 (Total 196.1 million at the beginning of 1941)

1.2 - estimated growth for 1941 until June 22 (I haven’t decided whether it makes sense, since everything is usually compared on January 1)

With the permission of the Government, the Central Statistical Office of the USSR developed voter lists for the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on March 14, 1954 by gender and age, counting children and youth under 17 years of age in cities on April 1, 1954, as well as recording the rural population on January 1, 1954 .

Carrying out this work makes it possible, at least approximately, to understand the question of the population of the USSR.

In connection with this, the USSR Central Statistical Office reports:

1 According to data as of January 1, 1955, the population of the USSR is approximately 195.7 million people. *)

The last population census of the USSR was carried out according to the state on January 17, 1939. The population of the USSR, according to census data (within the boundaries of that time), was 170.6 million people.

In August 1240, at the UP session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Comrade Molotov stated: “As population estimates show, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will now be able to speak with a powerful voice on behalf of the 193 million population, not counting the population growth of the USSR in 1939 and 1940.”

The figure of 193 million is the last figure about the population of the USSR that was officially published in the Soviet press. It should be noted that the population of the USSR, excluding areas west of the Soviet-Polish border established by the 1945 treaty (excluding areas west of the Curzon Line), was 191.7 million in 1940.

_____________________________

*) This calculation of the total population, as well as the data given below on the urban and rural population of the USSR and the population of individual union republics at the beginning of 1955, can be further clarified on the basis of annual reports on the registration of births and deaths by civil registry offices for 1954. annual reports on registration by police authorities in the cities of arrival and departure of the population, as well as reports from village councils on the size of the rural population. recorded in the household books as of January 1, 1955.

2. Below is a comparison of the estimated population of the USSR as of January 1, 1955 with data from 1940;

When determining the total population, an adjustment was made for the incompleteness of the census of the population aged 18 years and older, obtained on the basis of voter lists, mainly due to the following persons:

a) living in cities without registration and therefore not included in the list of voters;

c) those who left their place of permanent residence and did not take part in the elections because for some reason they did not receive a certificate of voting rights.

The undercount also occurred due to the exclusion from the voter lists of some sectarians who did not take part in the elections for religious reasons and at the expense of persons who did not enjoy the right to vote, according to the Regulations on elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The adjustment for undercounting of these persons is determined in the amount of 3.3 million people or 2.8% in relation to the number of voters included in the voter lists. In addition, the total population includes the approximate number of incarcerated persons.

The adjustment for inaccuracy of records of children and youth under the age of 18 in house books and in household books of village soviet accounting amounted to 2.7 million people or 4.2% of direct accounting data.

The amount of adjustment for under-registration of children was partially verified on the basis of data on the registration by civil registry offices of born and deceased children of the corresponding birth years. As for the adjustment for undercounting of persons 18 years of age and older, it is very approximate.

The correctness of this amendment can be partially determined during the upcoming elections to the Supreme Soviets of the Union republics, having received for this purpose from the election commissions data on the number of voters who were issued certificates for the right to vote, and the number of those who actually voted using these certificates, as well as on the number of those who were eliminated and excluded from voting. lists of voters who have not received voting certificates.

3. By gender, the population of the USSR is distributed as follows:

4. There is a sharp difference in the change in the population under the age of 18 and older, which is associated with the low birth rate during the war years. This can be seen from the following data:

	Millions of people		1955 as a percentage of 1939
	1940	1955
Whole population
including those aged:
from 0 to 17 years
of them:
18 years and older
of them:

5. A sharp reduction in the number of children, especially children aged 7-13 years, will affect changes in the adult population in the coming years.

If we assume that the mortality rate remains unchanged, then the population of the USSR for individual age groups will change as follows:

	Millions of people
	14-17 years old	18-43 years old	50-59 years old

The number of young people aged 14-17 will decrease until 1961. The population aged 15-49 years, although it will increase, but the annual increase in the number of this group is declining from 2.3 million people in 1955 to 1.2 million in 1959 and to 0.2 million people in 1960, in in which those born in 1942 enter the age group of 18 years.

6. In the territory where the population census was conducted on January 17, 1939, the population was 170.6 million people in 1939, and 176.3 million people in 1955.

In the western regions of the BSSR, Ukrainian SSR, Moldavian SSR and the Baltic republics in 1940 there was a population of 21.1 million people, in 1955 19.2 million people.

For individual union republics the population is:

	Population in thousands		1955 as a percentage of 1939
	1940	1955
Total for the USSR
including:
Ukrainian SSR
Byelorussian SSR
Uzbek SSR
Kazakh SSR
Georgian SSR
Azerbaijan SSR
Lithuanian SSR
Moldavian SSR
Latvian SSR
Kirghiz SSR
Tajik SSR
Armenian SSR
Turkmen SSR
Estonian SSR
Karelo-Finnish SSR

7. Below are data on the population of the largest cities of the USSR (with a population of over 400 thousand people) compared to 1939:

	Population in thousands		1955 as a percentage of 1939
	1939	1955
Leningrad (including Kolpino, Kronstadt and other cities and urban settlements subordinate to the Leningrad City Council)
including Leningrad
Baku (including oil field settlements subordinate to the Baku City Council)
including Baku
Kuibyshev
Novosibirsk
Sverdlovsk
Chelyabinsk
Dnepropetrovsk
Rostov-on-Don
Stalingrad

8. When distributing the population across the territory, the following convention was allowed, as was customary during the 1939 census: the population aged 18 years and older, included in the electoral lists of precincts at military units and military formations, and persons in prison, are distributed by territory in proportion to the population,

In this regard, in some republics, regions and cities the population will be greater, and in others less than when including the military personnel actually located in them. For example, the following are given:

	Population at the beginning of 1955 in thousands
		when including voters in military units and military formations based on their actual location	with a conditional proportional distribution of military personnel across the territory (as was customary during the 1939 census)
Murmansk region
Moscow
Leningrad
Primorsky Krai
Ukrainian SSR

Proportional distribution is more appropriate, since the deployment of the army remains unknown. The population calculated in this way for areas with a large number of military personnel differs relatively little from the civilian population. Therefore, when using population data, according to the CSO, the procedure adopted during the 1939 census should be preserved.

9. After the war, data on the population of the USSR were not published and, according to Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of March 1, 1948 No. 535-204os, were considered top secret and included in the list of the most important information constituting state secrets. This was due to the fact that it was considered inappropriate to publish a population size less than the pre-war one, especially since the official size of losses in an interview with I.V. Stalin with a correspondent of the newspaper "Pravda" on March 13, 1946 was named only 7 million people:

“As a result of the German invasion, the Soviet Union irrevocably lost about seven million people in battles with the Germans, as well as thanks to the German occupation and the deportation of Soviet people to German penal servitude.”

The figure of 7 million obviously did not take into account that during the war, along with significant acute population losses, there was also a sharp decrease in the birth rate and a relative increase in the death rate of the population, especially in areas subject to enemy occupation and in cities such as Leningrad .

Our press published only the size of the urban population of the USSR - about 80 million people. As for the total population of the USSR, it was indirectly and roundedly (200 million) named in the speech of Comrade N. S. Khrushchev.

at a meeting of Komsomol members and youth of Moscow and the Moscow region on January 7, 1955.

The foreign press cited a number of different figures for the population of the USSR, usually more than 200 million. Recently the figure of 210 million people at the beginning of 1954 was published in the West German journal World Economy Archives, in an article by Dr. Max Biel (Volume 72, Part 2, 1954). The author of this article obtained the population of the USSR by multiplying the published number of electoral districts for elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on March 14, 1954 (700 districts) by the average population of the electoral district (300 thousand people according to the norm provided for elections to the Council of the Union.

In connection with the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, the population figure of the Ukrainian SSR was given. At the same time, in the theses on the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, approved by the Central Committee of the CPSU and published on January 12, 1954, it is stated “that the Ukrainian SSR now has more than 40 million people,” and in the report of Comrade Kirichenko at the anniversary session of the Supreme Sonnet of the Ukrainian SSR On May 22, 1954 it was said that “The Ukrainian SSR currently has a population of over 42 million people.” The figure for the population of the Ukrainian SSR, given in the report of Comrade Kirichenko and later repeated in the report of Comrade Puzanov, is exaggerated; according to the calculations of the Central Statistical Office, the population of the Ukrainian SSR is 40 million people.

Based on the population data presented in this report, the CSO believes that it is advisable to conduct a census of the population of the USSR no earlier than in 3-4 years, when the population of the USSR should significantly exceed 200 million people.

In this regard, it should be recalled that the Statistical Commission of the UN Economic and Social Council, at its eighth session held in April 1954, considered it desirable for as many countries as possible to conduct a population census in 1960 or 1961.

The Central Statistical Office of the USSR requests permission to provide ministries, departments and local governing bodies for official use in secret, estimated population data for the USSR, republics, territories, regions and individual cities, abolishing the existing procedure by which these data are considered top secret.

Proposals that population data should not be considered a state secret were also submitted to the Council of Ministers of the USSR by the commission of Comrade Serov.

HEAD of the Central Statistical Office of the USSR
(B.CTAPOBCKY)

<от руки>signature<А. Вострикова>signature<С. Бекунова>

RGAE. F.1562. Op.33. D.2990. L.L.49-56

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeevich (1894-1971) - in 1955, first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee
Kirichenko Alexey Illarionovich (1908-1975) – in 1954, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Puzanov Alexander Mikhailovich (1906-1998) – in 1954 Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR
Serov Ivan Aleksandrovich (1905-1990) - in 1956 chairman of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

Background

The Russian Empire was characterized by high natural population growth with high birth and death rates. In 1913, the population of Russia (taking into account the provinces and the Principality of Finland) according to the Central Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was 175 million people.

Population of the USSR

The First World War and the Civil War, according to various estimates, claimed from 8 million to 10 million human lives. If we add here the mass emigration provoked by the class upheavals of those years, then we can talk about total losses of 14-16 million people. The All-Union Population Census of the USSR in 1926 showed the population of the USSR to be 147 million people.

In the 1920s, the birth rate reached pre-war levels. However, the next demographic catastrophe soon followed. During the Famine of 1932-1933, the cause of which was the collectivization of agriculture, according to various estimates, 3-7 million people died.

On January 6, 1937, the second All-Union Census of 1937 in the USSR was carried out. Its preliminary results gave the population of the USSR 162 million people. It was carried out under very difficult conditions (in particular, it was the only one-day census in world history), the result was a noticeable undercount of the population (according to some scientists, up to 2 million people). The results of the 1937 census were classified, and those who led the statistics were repressed. After purges in the statistical department, the 1939 All-Union Census of the USSR was carried out, which showed a much higher population of 170 million people.

In 1940, the territories of Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and the Baltic states with a large population were annexed to the USSR. However, after this, the population of the USSR suffered huge losses during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war famine of 1946-1947.

The next population census was carried out in the USSR only a few years after Stalin's death in 1959. This late implementation of the census made it difficult to accurately determine the number of deaths during the war. The 1959 All-Union Population Census of the USSR showed the population of the USSR equal to 209 million people.

Population of the Soviet Union by year in thousands.

January 1897 (Russia):	125,640,000***
1913	175 million**
January 1920:	137,727,000*
January 1926:	148,656,000*
January 1937:	162,500,000*	168 million people****
January 1939:	168,524,000*	175.5 million people****
June 1941:	196,716,000*
January 1946:	170,548,000*
January 1951:	182,321,000*
January 1959:	209,035,000*
January 1970:	241,720,000
1985:	272,000,000
July 1991:	293,047,571

* Andreev, E.M., et al., Naselenie Sovetskogo Soiuza, 1922-1991. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. ISBN 5-02-013479-1
**Data from the CSK Ministry of Internal Affairs. ***All-Russian Population Census of the Russian Empire in 1897 ****Published data.

Goskomstat data

Statistical yearbooks “National Economy of the USSR in ... Year” contain statistics on various indicators of life in the USSR, including population. The table below provides information on the population of the USSR at the beginning of the year (in 1913 - at the end of the year).

Population of the USSR according to Goskomstat, million people

Year	Population of the USSR, million people	Urban	Rural
1897	124,6	18,4	106,2
1913	159,2	28,5	130,7
1926	147	26,3	120,7
1939	170,6	56,1	114,5
1940	194,1	63,1	131,0
1950	178,5	69,4	109,1
1951	181,6	73	108,6
1952	184,8	76,8	108
1953	188	80,2	107,8
1954	191	83,6	107,4
1955	194,4	83,6	110,8
1956	197,9	88,2	109,7
1957	201,4	91,4	110
1958	204,9	95,6	109,3
1959	208,8	100	108,8
1960	212,4	103,6	108,8
1961	216,3	107,9	108,4
1962	220	111,2	108,8
1963	223,5	114,4	109,1
1964	226,7	117,7	109
1965	229,6	120,7	108,9
1966	232,2	123,7	108,5
1967	234,8	126,9	107,9
1968	237,2	129,8	107,4
1969	239,5	132,9	106,6
1970	241,7	136	105,7
1971	243,9	139	104,9
1972	246,3	142,5	103,8
1973	248,6	146,1	102,5
1974	250,9	149,6	101,3
1975	253,3	153,1	100,2
1976	255,5	156,6	98,9
1977	257,9	157,9	100
1978	260,1	160,6	99,5
1979	262,4	163,6	98,8
1980	264,5	166,2	98,3
1981	266,6	168,9	97,7
1982	268,8	171,7	97,1
1983	271,2	174,6	96,6
1984	273,8	177,5	96,3
1985	276,3	180,1	96,2
1986	278,8	182,9	95,9
1987
1988
1989	286,7	188,8	97,9
1990	288,6	190,6	98,0
1991	290,1	191,7	98,4

Population by republic of the USSR

The statistical yearbook “National Economy of the USSR for 1990”, published by Goskomstat in 1991, contains the following information on the population of the union republics within the USSR (before its collapse):

Population by republic of the USSR, thousand people

Republic	1970	1979	1989	1990	1991
USSR	241720	262436	286731	288624	290077
RSFSR	130079	137551	147400	148041	148543
Ukraine	47126	49755	51707	51839	51944
Byelorussian SSR	9002	9560	10200	10259	10260
The Republic of Uzbekistan	11799	15391	19905	20322	20708
Kazakh SSR	13009	14684	16536	16691	16793
Republic of Georgia	4686	5015	5443	5456	5464
The Republic of Azerbaijan	5117	6028	7038	7131	7137
Republic of Lithuania	3128	3398	3690	3723	3728
The Republic of Moldova	3569	3947	4338	4362	4367
Latvian republic	2364	2521	2680	2687	2681
Republic of Kyrgyzstan	2934	3529	4290	4367	4422
The Republic of Tajikistan	2900	3801	5109	5248	5358
Republic of Armenia	2492	3031	3288	3293	3376
Turkmen SSR	2159	2759	3534	3622	3714
Republic of Estonia	1356	1466	1573	1583	1582

see also

Notes

Literature

• Vishnevsky A. G. et al. Demographic modernization of Russia: 1900-2000. - M.: New publishing house, 2006. - 601 p.
  • See also the excerpt Demographic catastrophes of the 20th century
• Population of the Soviet Union: 1922-1991. M.: Nauka, 1993
• Andreev E. M., Darsky L. E., Kharkova T. L. History of the population of the USSR 1920-1959. Express information. Series: History of statistics. M.: Information center of the USSR State Statistics Committee, 1990. Vol. 3-5. Part I: 3-182.
• Andreev E. M., Darsky L. E., Kharkova T. L.