ABSTRACT
Of the 140 million ethnic Russians 1n me Common wealtn of Independent States, 20 million live outside the Russian Federation. Many were sent there in the early years of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (established 1917). Many in the eastern Ukraine or western Estonia were part of a longg-settled Russian population from the time of the Tsars (pre-1917). This map shows, in black areas, the main areas of Russian settlement. The future of Russian ethnic minorities is a matter of concern to the Russian Federation, which has already seen a small movement of ethnic Russians back to Russia. Many non-Russians (25 million) also live within the Russian Federation, where for each ethnic group an Autonomous Republic has longg been established
