ABSTRACT
During the 1990s and early 2000s Belgorod Oblast became a major destination for migrants in Russia. Moreover, according to Russian scholars Belgorod’s regional government earned a reputation for its support of migrants that few other Russian regions could claim. 1 Thus, Belgorod’s experience of migration has two somewhat puzzling components. First, why did Belgorod prove so attractive to migrants? Unlike Moscow, Belgorod is not the booming financial and business capital of a much poorer country. Unlike the Northwest Caucasus regions that will be considered in the next chapter, Stavropol and Krasnodar, respectively, Belgorod does not border zones of conflict from which forced migrants have fled, and it is not a renowned resort and retirement area. Why did so many post-Soviet migrants choose to settle here? The answer lies principally in the efforts of the regional government to encourage migration to a region that was not an obvious destination.
