ABSTRACT
The data in this discussion were taken from the official Soviet censuses of 1959, 1970, and 1979, the only years since World War II in which complete nationwide censuses were conducted. The data for each republic provide a breakdown among Russians and non-Russians, ethnic nationals residing in their own republics, and non-Russians residing in republics other than their own. Since Russians now comprise only slightly over 52 percent of the total Soviet population, they will be outnumbered by non-Russian ethnic groups in the foreseeable future if present trends continue. Indigenous ethnic groups of the Baltics, the Ukraine, and Belorussia have lost ground in their homelands and in their proportions of total Soviet population. Elsewhere, particularly in the Central Asian republics, indigenous ethnic groups have gained relatively, both in their homelands and in their percentages of the total population of the Soviet Union.
