21 autonomous republics 51 regions (in which 49 “oblast” and 2 urban areas of “federal significance”: St. Petersburg and Moscow); 10 national districts; 6 territories named “krai”; an autonomous region Birobidjan located in the far East, meant to be a Jewish homeland.

Russia’s population: 141,950, million of Russia’s citizens are ethnic minorities Over 100 different nationalities. Ten Major Minorities inhabitants (millions): 1. Tatar Ukrainians4 3. Chuvashia Bashkir Belarusian Mordovian 1 7. Chechens Udmurt Kossacs Germans0.5

Soviet propaganda heavily relied on ethnic Chauvinism. re-writing of historical figures. Homogenize ethnic territory Russification of non-Russian nationalities Soviet passports, as well as all other identifying documents, specified the holder’s nationality. During Stalin’s rule, the majority of prisoners were accused of nationalism.

20 million people, representing 70 different ethnic groups. Predominantly Islamic, Long history of violent conflict since the days of the Tsars. Stalin deported 200,000 ethnic Chechens (quarter of Chechnya’s population then), the remainder of the population was persecuted Consciousness of a separate history and culture is widely spread among North Caucasian people. Human rights record remains poor in the region There is also an increase in Muslim Extremism, Wahhabism

Ethno-nationalist mobilization is most likely to be successful: When political, economic and cultural demands are aggregated in a fundamentalist ideology, When the political regime systematically discriminates against non-dominant groups, When group cohesion is high, and when resources may be mobilized for nationalism

Medvedev’s plan to calm the North Caucasus involves: Investing heavily in the region Moving some of its population to predominantly ethnic Russian regions Some Russian experts believe: - This will generate xenophobia among Russians - Will also generate demands by other non- Russians ethnic minorities for the same of treatment

Between Russia lost about 6.6 million citizens since deaths exceeded births. By 2009, it gained 10 million immigrants

Immigrants are necessary: Internal reasons: reduction in population, and need for labor. External reason: China’s over population President Medvedev proclaimed that Russia should be a country where people should want to come to from all over the world Immigration rules have been simplified to improve visa regulations

According to approximate estimations, there are 9 illegal migrants per 1 legal labor migrant in the country. Half of all foreign migrants arrive from Central Asia (1.6 million, ), particularly the republics of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Others come from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova. There are an estimated 5 million Chinese nationals living in Russia’s Far East.

Chinese Migrant Workers:

From the Levada Institute Possible Answers2006 Those from Caucasuses42 Chinese41 Vietnamese35 Gypsies29 Those from the former Central Asian Republics of the USSR23 Jews13 Ukrainians7 All nations except the Russian11 Should not impose restrictions on any nations25 Undecided7

Possible answers2006 There is, it increased53 There is, but it has decreased12 No12 Undecided23 From the Levada Institute

A 2009 survey: 45% of the respondents felt hostile toward non-Slavic ethnic groups, particularly those from the Caucasus (i.e. Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Georgians, Dagestanis) and Central Asia. A survey conducted in 2008: 55% of respondents favored a toughening of immigration regulations. 400 hate crimes motivated by an ethnic bias and directed against people of "non-Slavic" appearance were committed in 2009 in Russia. A great number of these crimes were committed by members of anti- immigration groups.

Immigration is necessary for Russia’s development and Russian government is trying to ease ethnic tensions So far the government has: Decided to teach expats “rules of the game”, a code of conduct to give suggestions how to ease ethnic divides authorities/ Moscow authorities decided to create a map of ethnic tensions sites

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