ABSTRACT
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) must certainly be classified among the polities inclining more towards the strategy. Its ethnic balance, whereby about half the citizens belong to one nationality and the other half is divided among scores of major ethnic groups, seems to be unique in history. Foremost among the centrally appointed administrators in the Soviet system, including its ethnic minority areas, are the party secretaries, and it has been remarked several times that in non-Russian areas the chief party secretary is conventionally from the titular nationality and his deputy an ethnic Russian. Ethnic minority areas in the USSR are rarely homogeneous; they often have large Russian populations and often the non-Russian population is very mixed. The non-Russian population of a given area may regard themselves as a minority—;;within the Union as a whole. Regarding the four Finnish-speaking republics, they have a substantial Russian population, sometimes a majority, sometimes just under, and the settlement is centuries old.
