Russia’s total population in 2001 was estimated at 145,470,200, making the country the sixth most populous, after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the number of immigrants to Russia has exceeded the number of Russians leaving the country. However, the rate of natural increase (the number of births compared to the number of deaths) has been negative since 1992. In 2001 the birth rate was 9.3 per 1,000, while the death rate was 13.8 per 1,000.

U.S.S.R., Russia displays the greatest ethnic diversity, with censuses recognizing more than 70 distinct nationalities. Many of these are extremely small—in some cases consisting of only a few thousand individuals—and, in addition to Russians, only a handful of groups have more than a million members each: Tatars, Ukrainians, Chuvash, Bashkir, Belarusians, and Mordvins. Russians, the overwhelming majority, constitute about four-fifths of the total. The multiplicity of peoples is reflected in 21 minority republics, and, within the Russian republic, there are 10 autonomous districts and an autonomous region. In most of these divisions, the eponymous nationality