Russians Are Disappearing from Siberia

Siberia’s population is disappearing. In a generation, if current trends continue, the vast land—one and a half times the size of China—will have fewer inhabitants than Moscow or St. Petersburg. Today, only 38 million people live in Siberia—2 million fewer than 20 years ago, according to Russia’s Institute of Demography—even though the region constitutes up to 77 percent of the nation’s landmass. Almost three quarters of Russia’s population is crowded west of the Ural Mountains, where the best and brightest of Siberia are flocking, too, away from the crumbling infrastructure, widespread corruption, and lack of opportunities in their homeland.

... _DB Newsweek

Siberia is where most of Russia's energy and mineral wealth resides. If there are no Russians in Siberia, who is going to fill the vacuum, and harvest Russia's natural resource wealth?

Meanwhile, the rest of Russia is suffering from many of the same problems that are causing the Russian population of Siberia to dry up and blow away.

Russia’s biggest problems are inefficient healthcare and public services, and rampant corruption.

“In Vancouver, an ambulance crew takes three minutes to arrive,” Pavel said. “In Russia you can wait for 40 minutes. If you’re in a critical condition, you can die.” On his blog, Pavel reported corruption at a medical academy, whose alumni are often given priority places at the St. Petersburg hospital where his grandmother died. “I looked up what the students write on social networks,” he said. “Every other conversation is about which professor accepts bribes and how much an exam costs.”

“In 2007 I was optimistic about my future in Russia, in 2008 I hoped Putin would leave and the situation would start to improve gradually,” Pavel said. “I also hoped that millions of people like me would change the situation for the better. But there are too few of us.” _Moscow News

And there are fewer and fewer all the time. While Russia's immigrant population is growing and propagating, much of the ethnic Russian population is planning how they can get out.

When there is no demand for talented and innovative Russians in their own country, it is inevitable that they will seek better and more productive lives in other countries. As a result, Russia is turning into a blank space on the world map. _Moscow Times

Given the opportunity, over 20% of Russians -- mainly young, educated ethnic Russians -- are prepared to leave the country. This number is greater outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, but even in those cities, significant numbers of Russians are fed up with living and working conditions.

Beautiful Russian Girls

The link above is to one of dozens of sites geared to men of Europe, North America, Oceania, and wherever else working males may feel under-appreciated by the women of their acquaintance. Young fertile Russian women across the country want to find greener meadows for establishing new lives and starting families. The same is true for young, ambitious and educated Russian men.

Official government news outlets will deny all of this, of course. According to the Russian government, there is no problem here, so just move along please. But to anyone observing the international situation dispassionately, it is clear that there is a serious problem, which is likely to affect a number of important international trends.

Keep your eyes open, and be aware of both the dangers and the opportunities. Perhaps someday, Russians can find a way to make their country a place worth living.