ABSTRACT
The most dramatic phenomena in the Soviet Union after the beginning of the period of perestroika in 1985 was the increase in the open assertion of rights by ethnic minorities. This chapter discusses the changing ethnic composition of the Soviet population as a whole and by region between 1959 and 1989, the dates of the first and last post-War censuses of the population. It examines the proximate demographic sources of change for different regions of the country, with a special emphasis on fertility and migration. Four components of demographic change affect the composition of the population: migration, assimilation, mortality, and fertility. The chapter shows that the ethnic makeup of the Soviet population was very dynamic. It focuses on the populations of those union republics rather than the entire set of federal units and nationalities. An important aspect of projecting the future ethnic composition of the Soviet population is assimilation.
