In the north and the east, almost 100 percent of migrants settle in urban regions, whereas more than half of migrants to south-central European Russia, in the North Caucasus, and the Urals settle in rural areas. This is because of the lack of a state program for distributing forced migrants, and so they choose destinations due to their accessibility from their starting point and the location of relatives.
The break up of the Soviet Union had a large impact on migration into Russia. At the time of the break-up of the Soviet Union there were 53 ethnic homelands, which were then incorporated into the 15 successor states to the Soviet Union. More than 40 million people lived outside of their homelands in 1989. When the Soviet Union broke up, many people believed that their standard of living would be best in their homeland due to access to better jobs, schools, and other resources. This included many Russians and so there was a large amount of Russians migrating into Russia.
There has been a total net migration into Russia from the surrounding states of about 3.7 million. There was a large flow of migrants entering Russia after the break up of the Soviet Union; the rate has dropped gradually since then, before falling to just 124,000 in 2001, as the effect of the break up has almost exhausted itself.
Another factor pulling people into Russia is the wealth of the country, as only Estonia has a higher gross national income per capita than Russia out of all of the former Soviet Union states. Most of the Central Asian states, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, have incomes less that half of those in Russia.
There are many undocumented migrants in Russia, it is estimated that there are 3.0 to 3.5 million, even estimates of up to six million illegal migrants in Russia. The main sources of these undocumented migrants are China, Vietnam, Korea, and other Asian countries and Africa. One reason so many might travel to Russia is that they see it as a way to get to Europe, many of these people are considered to be illegal immigrants as they are denied refugee status.
Steps have been taken to reduce migration into Russia. Laws have been implemented to limit immigration. Laws have been placed due to the burden that migrants place on Russia. A strict new citizenship law was passed In May 2002 designed to help reduce illegal migration, the laws so lax that they lured people into the. The new law requires a five-year residency period in Russia, demonstrable fluency in Russian, and evidence of a legal job.
In the north and the east, almost 100 percent of migrants settle in urban regions, whereas more than half of migrants to south-central European Russia, in the North Caucasus, and the Urals settle in rural areas. This is because of the lack of a state program for distributing forced migrants, and so they choose destinations due to their accessibility from their starting point and the location of relatives.
In spite of continued immigration, Russia's population has been declining for 10, reaching 148.7 million in 1992. The population dropped by over 4 million from its peak down to 144.0 million by 2002. This is due to large death at birth; the excess of deaths over births has been 7.7 million. Net immigration to the country of 3.6 million and has compensated for less than half of the natural decrease. In each of the last three years, the decrease of the population has been over 900,000.
Although believe that the population in Russia is falling, some now believe, taking into consideration the highest estimates on migration into Russia, that the population may be rising. On top of this there are the unknown, illegal migrants and so the apparent crisis in Russia may not be as bad as previously thought due to immigrants.
There has not been much emigration out of Russia, but the effect of those that have left has been large, as they tend to be the well-educated members, leaving towards the west in countries such as Germany for the better opportunities for their skill level, as well as German in Russia leaving due to a large resettlement package offered to Germans born abroad. Total migration from Russia to countries beyond the Former Soviet Union since 1989 has been 1.1 million, three destination countries account for the bulk of the people migrating from Russia -- Germany (57 percent), Israel (26 percent), and the United States (11 percent).
