Population of Tatarstan: dynamics, number, ethnic composition

The Republic of Tatarstan ranks eighth in number of residents among other subjects and regions of the Russian Federation, behind Moscow and the Moscow Region, Krasnodar Krai, St. Petersburg, Sverdlovsk and Rostov regions, and the Republic of Bashkortostan. The population of Tatarstan differs in a heterogeneous national composition, a fairly high number of urban residents, even in comparison with the average data for the country and the positive dynamics of growth in the last ten years.

Population dynamics of Tatarstan

The first statistical data on the number of inhabitants of the republic began to be collected from 1926 - six years after the formation of the Tatar Autonomy in the Soviet Union. The population of the republic of Tatarstan was then just over two and a half million inhabitants.

Since the establishment of Soviet power, the dynamics of the population has been positive. Even in the difficult 1990s, the population of Tatarstan increased annually by at least ten to twenty thousand people. Record annual growth in the 90s was recorded in 1993 (compared to the previous period) and amounted to 27 thousand people.

Slowed growth in 2001. The negative trend persisted until 2007. It is likely that the decline in the birth rate and the simultaneous increase in mortality were mainly due to the general demographic crisis in the Russian Federation. The reasons for this phenomenon are:

• Poor quality of medical care;
• High level of violence, unfavorable criminogenic situation;
• Alcoholization of the population;
• A bad ecological situation in the country;
• Non-spread of ideas of a healthy lifestyle;
• In general a low standard of living.

At the beginning of 2017, the population of Tatarstan is three million and almost nine hundred thousand people. This is 18 thousand more than in the previous year, and 31 thousand, than according to the 2015 census.

Settlements by population

The capital of the republic is expected to lead by the number - the city of Kazan. There live 31% of all inhabitants of the region (1.2 million people). The population of the Republic of Tatarstan in the cities further distributes settlements in this order:

• Naberezhnye Chelny (13% of the population).
• Nizhnekamsk (6%).
• Almetyevsk (almost 4%).
• Zelenodolsk (2.5%).

Then follow Bugulma, Yelabuga, Leninogorsk, Chistopol and other cities of the republic.

Below is a map with the conventions of cities, commensurate with the percentage ratio of the number of inhabitants of the municipality in comparison with other populated points of the republic.

The number of urban residents in Tatarstan is 76%, which indicates a high level of urbanization in the region.

National composition of inhabitants

The population of Tatarstan is distinguished by a significant national diversity. The main ethnic group is represented by Tatars (53% of inhabitants), followed by the Russian population (almost 40% of the population of the republic). Other groups are represented by Chuvash, Udmurts, Mordvins, Ukrainians, Maris, Bashkirs and many other nationalities and ethnic entities. In total, 7% of the inhabitants of the republic indicated a different ethnicity during the census, rather than Tatars or Russians.

By the way, the number of the indigenous people of the republic is gradually increasing. If in 1926 the Tatars accounted for 48.7% of the population, by 2002 the figure had increased by 4.2%. The share of Russians, respectively, decreases: from 43% in 1926 to 39.5-39.7% in 2002-2010. Tatars form the majority in 32 out of 43 settlements in the republic, while the Russians make up the majority in 10. In another municipality the largest group of the population is Chuvash.

Other demographic indicators

The growing population of Tatarstan is associated with high birth rates in the republic. A prolonged decline was observed only in the 1990s, then the birth rate in 2005 was reduced. For the last ten years, the number of births per thousand people was less than 10.9, in 2014 the birth rate was 14.8. (The average for Russia is 13.3).

The natural increase in the population in Tatarstan (for 2014) is positive and is 2.6. For comparison: for all regions this indicator is at the level of no more than 0.2. The expected life expectancy of the population is increasing from 2011 and, according to the latest data, is 72 years.