The Republic of Komi: population. Number and employment of the Komi population

The Far North is a harsh land where special people live. Thus, the Republic of Komi, whose population has bright distinctive features, is of interest from the point of view of demography, sociology, psychology of the population and the economy. How do harsh living conditions affect demographic indicators? Let's talk about the population of the republic and its characteristics.

Geographical position of Komi

Autonomous Republic of Komi, whose population we are considering, is in the extreme north of the European part of Russia. The relief of the region is determined by its location: part of the territories cover the lowlands and here the plain relief predominates, and part of the area lies on the western slopes of the Ural Mountains, and here the relief is hilly, elevated. The region borders on two autonomous republics: Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamal-Nenets, as well as with the Arkhangelsk, Sverdlovsk and Kirov regions and the Perm region. The region is very rich in minerals: oil, gas, bauxite, titanium, manganese and other ores. 72% of the territory of the republic are forests, there are several fairly large rivers: Pechora, Vychegda, Mezen. In addition, there are about 78 thousand lakes of different sizes. About 7% of the Komi land is occupied by marshes, in which there are huge deposits of peat. Komi is the edge of a virgin nature, here there are several places that rightfully claim to be the natural wonders of Russia.

Climate and living conditions

Despite the fact that Komi is geographically related to Europe, the climate here is very different from the conditions of European countries. All the regions of the Far North are characterized by rather harsh living conditions, and the Komi is no exception. The population has long been fighting for survival, overcoming many difficulties associated with nature. The temperate continental cold climate is characterized by a long cold winter and a short cool summer. The south and the north of the republic have pronounced weather differences. So the northern parts are covered by the winter period up to 250 days a year, in the south this period is not more than 180 days. Also this difference is clearly visible in average temperatures. In the winter in the south, on average, the thermometer shows minus 15, and in the north - minus 22. During air invasions from the Arctic in the south, the thermometer can drop to minus 45 degrees, and in the north to minus 55 and below. Summer in the region is very short, in the North the land thaws no more than a meter. The average temperature in summer in the south is +15, in the north - +11 degrees. In the republic there is a lot of precipitation, up to 700 mm per year. Due to the high, almost constant cloudiness in the region, there are few sunny days. The peculiarities of life faced by the local population are quite strong winds, about 120 days a year the wind blows about 15 m / s. The region is also in the zone of the polar day and night. Starting from December, within 44 days the Sun does not rise, but from May the polar day begins when it does not enter. Such difficult living conditions make living conditions for the population very difficult. There is no possibility to engage in agriculture, the polar night and low solar region of the region have a bad effect on people's psyche.

Administrative division

The Komi Republic, whose population mainly lives in cities, is divided into 12 districts and 8 cities directly subordinated to the republican center. Each subject has its own administration, which directly reports to the head of the republic.

Population of Komi: dynamics and current status

Systematic observations of the number of inhabitants in the Komi begin in 1926, when the gradual development of the North begins. Then the population of Komi was 207 thousand people. Since 1928, the number of residents has been steadily growing, by 1959 there were 815,000 people living here, and by 1989 - 1.2 million people. However, with the beginning of perestroika, the outflow of population and demographic decline begins. This is due to the fact that the state has reduced the amount of social and financial support for the region, which demographics have sensitively reacted to. Every year, the number of residents of the region is reduced by several tens of thousands of people. Today 856 thousand people live here.

Density and distribution of population

Komi is a desert region with a population density of 2.06 people per sq. Km. Km. The Komi population employment service, leading monitoring of the situation in the republic, shows that 78% of residents prefer to settle in cities. The largest cities are: Syktyvkar (243 thousand people), Ukhta (98 thousand people), Vorkuta (58 thousand people), Pechora (40 thousand people), Usinsk (39 thousand people). The most A small town is Ust-Kul (5 thousand people). Statistics show that the capital is the only settlement with a positive population dynamics. People prefer to live in a large city, and there is a flow of residents from villages and small towns to Syktyvkar.

Features of the population

By nationality, the population of Komi is quite diverse. About 65% of residents consider themselves Russians, 24% - Komi, 4% - Ukrainians, Tatars - 1.2%. The remaining ethnic groups make up less than 1% of the population. The number of women in the region is significantly higher than for men, for every 1000 men there are 1106 women. The average age of the Komi resident is 34.5 years. The average life expectancy is 69 years, which is slightly lower than the national average. Demographic indicators in the region are not bad: the birth rate is small, but growing, mortality is steadily falling. But in spite of the fact that there is a natural growth in the population (1.3%), the number of people is decreasing due to external migration. The population slowly, but leaves the Komi, and this leads to economic problems in the region.

Economy of the region

The specificity of the Komi economy is that the leading branches of production are extractive companies. The largest taxpayers and employers are companies for the extraction and transportation of gas, coal and oil. The stability of the republic is provided by such enterprises as pulp and paper mill, timber processing enterprises. In addition, the employment of the Komi population is provided by social and service enterprises. GDP per capita is 490 thousand rubles a year, which is quite a high level for Russia.

Employment

The Employment Center of the Komi Republic has recorded a decline in the number of people involved in production activities since 2009. The unemployment rate rests on the figure of 9%, which is much even by Russian standards. The problem of women's unemployment is acute, since the regional economy mainly offers employment to men of working professions. Therefore, people with higher education are more often unemployed in the region.

Particularly acute is the problem of employment for women between the ages of 25 to 50 years, for them there are no vacancies, even for working specialties. All this leads to a migration outflow of residents. Mostly young people who have received an education leave, because they can not find a place for work.