Population decline in the central region of Russian Federation (1990-2010).

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the mortality reached 1.807.400 people in 1992, with the birthrate falling to 1.587.600 people. The process of depopulation began. Nearly 2 million people died annually in Russia according to the official data of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service in 1993-2010. A special and a very serious problem is a middle-aged men mortality that is 7-8 times higher, than in the developed countries. From 1992 to 2010 in Russia died 40.812.000 people, born - 26.568.000. Total decline amounted to 13.344.000 people. The present study considers some social-economic and ecological processes which promoted the growth of negative indicators in population dynamics. We compared the mortality and decline of the population in different regions of Russia and showed that there is a correlation between alcohol mortality and decrease of population. A confessional factor is very important also. The mortality rate is far below the average for the country in those territories of Russia, where the population is predominantly Muslim. The demographic transition in Russia is characterized not only by a drop in fertility, as in the other developed countries, but also by increase in mortality. The mortality is a real indicator of the socio-economic and demographic situation for this or that region of Russia and it should be used by the authorities of different levels in the development of the area.