The blockade of Leningrad became the most difficult test for the inhabitants of the city in the history of the Northern capital. In the besieged city, according to various estimates, up to half of the population of Leningrad perished. The survivors did not even have the strength to mourn the dead: some were extremely exhausted, others were seriously injured. Despite hunger, cold and constant bombing, people found the courage to stand and defeat the Nazis. To judge what the inhabitants of the besieged city had to endure in those terrible years, one can use statistical data - the language of the figures of the besieged Leningrad.
872 days and nights
The blockade of Leningrad lasted exactly 872 days. The Germans encircled the city on September 8, 1941, and on January 27, 1944, the inhabitants of the northern capital rejoiced at the complete liberation of the city from the fascist blockade. Within six months after the blockade was lifted, the enemies still remained near Leningrad: their troops were in Petrozavodsk and Vyborg. The soldiers of the Red Army drove the Nazis away from the approaches to the city during an offensive operation in the summer of 1944.
150 thousand shells
During the long months of the blockade, the Nazis dropped 150,000 heavy artillery shells and over 107,000 incendiary and high-explosive bombs on Leningrad. They destroyed 3,000 buildings and damaged more than 7,000. All the main monuments of the city survived: Leningraders hid them, covering them with sandbags and plywood shields. Some sculptures - for example, from the Summer Garden and horses from the Anichkov Bridge - were removed from their pedestals and buried in the ground until the end of the war.
There were bombings in Leningrad every day. Photo: AiF / Yana Khvatova
13 hours 14 minutes of shelling
Shelling in besieged Leningrad was daily: sometimes the Nazis attacked the city several times a day. People hid from the bombings in the basements of houses. On August 17, 1943, Leningrad was subjected to the longest shelling in the entire blockade. It lasted 13 hours and 14 minutes, during which the Germans dropped 2,000 shells on the city. Residents of besieged Leningrad admitted that the noise of enemy aircraft and exploding shells sounded in their heads for a long time.
Up to 1.5 million dead
By September 1941, the population of Leningrad and its suburbs was about 2.9 million people. The blockade of Leningrad, according to various estimates, claimed the lives of from 600 thousand to 1.5 million inhabitants of the city. Only 3% of people died from fascist bombings, the remaining 97% - from hunger: about 4 thousand people died from exhaustion every day. When food supplies ran out, people began to eat cake, wallpaper paste, leather belts and boots. Dead bodies lay on the streets of the city: this was considered a common situation. Often, when someone in the family died, people had to bury their relatives on their own.
1 million 615 thousand tons of cargo
On September 12, 1941, the Road of Life was opened - the only highway connecting the besieged city with the country. The road of life, laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga, saved Leningrad: about 1 million 615 thousand tons of goods - food, fuel and clothing were delivered to the city along it. During the blockade along the highway through Ladoga, more than a million people were evacuated from Leningrad.
125 grams of bread
Until the end of the first month of the blockade, the inhabitants of the besieged city received a fairly good bread ration. When it became obvious that the flour stocks would not be enough for a long time, the norm was sharply reduced. So, in November and December 1941, city employees, dependents and children received only 125 grams of bread per day. The workers were given 250 grams of bread each, and the composition of the paramilitary guards, fire brigades and fighter squads - 300 grams each. Contemporaries would not be able to eat blockade bread, because it was prepared from practically inedible impurities. Bread was baked from rye and oat flour with the addition of cellulose, wallpaper dust, pine needles, cake and unfiltered malt. The loaf turned out very bitter in taste and completely black.
1500 loudspeakers
After the beginning of the blockade, until the end of 1941, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the walls of Leningrad houses. Radio broadcasting in Leningrad was carried out around the clock, and the inhabitants of the city were forbidden to turn off their receivers: on the radio, announcers talked about the situation in the city. When the broadcast stopped, the sound of a metronome was broadcast on the radio. In the event of an alarm, the rhythm of the metronome accelerated, and after the completion of the shelling, it slowed down. Leningraders called the sound of the metronome on the radio the living heartbeat of the city.
98 thousand newborns
During the blockade, 95,000 children were born in Leningrad. Most of them, about 68 thousand newborns, were born in the autumn and winter of 1941. In 1942, 12.5 thousand children were born, and in 1943 - only 7.5 thousand. In order for the babies to survive, a farm of three thoroughbred cows was organized at the Pediatric Institute of the city so that the children could receive fresh milk: in most cases, young mothers did not have milk.
The children of besieged Leningrad suffered from dystrophy. Photo: Archival photo
-32° frost
The first blockade winter was the coldest in the besieged city. On some days the thermometer dropped to -32°C. The situation was aggravated by heavy snowfalls: by April 1942, when the snow should have melted, the height of the snowdrifts reached 53 centimeters. Leningraders lived without heating and electricity in their houses. To keep warm, the inhabitants of the city flooded stoves-potbelly stoves. Due to the lack of firewood, they burned everything inedible that was in the apartments: furniture, old things and books.
144 thousand liters of blood
Despite hunger and the most severe living conditions, Leningraders were ready to give their last for the front in order to hasten the victory of the Soviet troops. Every day, from 300 to 700 residents of the city donated blood for the wounded in hospitals, transferring the received material compensation to the defense fund. Subsequently, the Leningrad Donor aircraft will be built with this money. In total, during the blockade, Leningraders donated 144,000 liters of blood for front-line soldiers.
Population
Population. Until the early 1720s. The main population of St. Petersburg were soldiers and working people. By decree of 1704, up to 24,000 working people were sent to St. Petersburg annually; the majority, having worked in construction (initially for 2 months, from 1708 for 3 months), then returned to their villages. Near the decrees of the 1710s. More than 4,700 artisans, 300 merchants from among the Moscow “guests” and people of the “living room of a hundred”, as well as merchants from Kyiv, Kazan, Arkhangelsk and other cities, some of the nobles, were resettled “for eternal life” in St. Petersburg. With the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg (1712), forced resettlement gradually turned out to be unnecessary, and by the end of the 1710s. cancelled. The number of households in St. Petersburg in 1717 2.5 thousand, in 1722 about 5 thousand. A significant part of the population was the military garrison (in 1725 about 14.5 thousand people). By 1725 there were about 40 thousand inhabitants in St. Petersburg.
Table 1. The social composition of the population of St. Petersburg in 1750
In 1750, there were about 74.3 thousand people in St. Petersburg, and together with children 95 thousand people (data on the social composition of the population, see Table 1). The categories of "inhabitants" (owners of real estate nobles, officials, clergy) and "residents" (who did not have real estate) covered the permanent residents of St. Petersburg; "newcomers" probably workers in industrial enterprises (seasonal workers were not taken into account). Among the population, 61% are men, 39% are women, which testified to the influx of mostly male workers to St. Petersburg. In 1764 the population was 150 thousand people, in 1784192 thousand, by the beginning of the 19th century. 220 thousand people. The growth rate of the population of the capital exceeded its growth in the country by more than 3 times. In the 90s. 18th century the population employed in production amounted to 114 thousand people, the rest lived "on a salary" (state officials or employees of private enterprises, etc.). In the second half of the XVIII century. 3 Admiralty units (41% of the total population), Liteinaya (10%), Moscow (13.6%), Vasileostrovskaya (11%), Petersburg (7.4%) were densely populated; the rest (Karetnaya-Yamskaya, Vyborgskaya) were sparsely populated. In the central regions, nobles, wealthy merchants, and high-ranking officials settled in palaces and mansions; Small artisans and merchants also lived here. On the Petersburg side, petty officials and retired people lived in small houses. On the outskirts of St. Petersburg, factory workers (about 5 thousand people) huddled in shacks. In the first half of the XIX century. the population increased almost 2.5 times (in 1853 523 thousand people). As before, it was replenished mainly due to the alien population. The city continued to attract a male labor force. The proportion of the female population in 1800 30%, in 1825 28.5%, in 1843 32.4%, in 1853 31.9% (for information on the social composition of the population in the first half of the 19th century, see Table 2 ). The national composition was dominated by Russians (85%). Finns, Latvians, Poles, representatives of other nationalities of Russia also lived in St. Petersburg; in addition, foreigners especially many Germans (in 1818 35 thousand, at the end of the 1840s 39 thousand) and French (respectively 4 thousand and over 2.7 thousand), who were engaged in crafts, trade, hired as educators.Table 2. The social composition of the population of St. Petersburg in the first half of the 19th century.
|
Clergy | |||
|
Lower military ranks | |||
|
Merchants (St. Petersburg and nonresident) | |||
|
Yard people | |||
|
Peasants* | |||
|
Raznochintsy | |||
|
Foreigners | |||
|
"Okhten people" | |||
In the post-reform period, due to the rapid development of industry, the average annual population growth rate increased 5 times compared with the first half of the 19th century. In the 1890s the growth of the indigenous population exceeded the influx of newcomers. Then the replenishment again began to occur due to the influx from the villages of 53 provinces of Russia. In 1890, there were 1 million inhabitants in St. Petersburg (in 1912, 2 million). According to the 1900 census, was she born in St. Petersburg? children, ? were the children of alien parents. By the end of the XIX century. about 66% of the population were peasants, 19% shop and petty bourgeois, 10% merchants. In the second half of the XIX century. from these estates the classes of capitalist society developed. In 1900 there were over 260,000 workers in St. Petersburg (an increase of 274% since 1869), 25% of them were metalworkers. The bourgeoisie was also formed. Over 2,000 nobles became entrepreneurs, merchants acquired factories and factories, and about 3,000 of the rich peasants had enterprises in St. Petersburg, which employed about 60,000 workers and about 40,000 employees. About 500 peasants became big capitalists. The share of servants was still large: about 100 thousand servants, that is, 9.7% of the population (in 1869 15% of the population). The inhabitants of St. Petersburg were distinguished by a fairly high literacy. There were 100 literate men: in 1869 62 people, in 1881 67, in 1890 69, in 1900 73, in 1910 78; per 100 women, respectively, 46, 50, 48, 53, 59. Petersburg, as a center of culture, attracted the intelligentsia. The ratio between the male and female population was evened out (in the 1880s and early 1900s, respectively, 55 and 45%; by 1915 it became equal). Russians made up 85.5% of the population in St. Petersburg. Among other nationalities in 1910, Belarusians (70 thousand), Poles (65 thousand), Germans (approximately 47 thousand), Jews (35 thousand), Estonians (25 thousand), Latvians (17 thousand), Lithuanians (10 thousand). In 1915 there were over 2 million inhabitants in Petrograd.
During World War I, the population of the city increased due to refugees from the western provinces and an increased influx of labor into the military industry. By 1917 there were 2.3 million inhabitants in Petrograd. At the same time, the proportion of men decreased (52.5% in 1913, 50.2% in 1917). Reduced natural population growth. Negative phenomena grew with the intensification of economic disruption, which was caused by the war. By the middle of 1918, Petrograd, including the suburbs, had 1.47 million inhabitants. During the years of the Civil War, the shutdown of enterprises, mobilization to the front, famine, the outflow of the population to agricultural areas, an increase in mortality, and emigration led to a sharp decrease in the population. By the end of 1920 there were 722,000 people in Petrograd. Since 1921, as the activity of industrial enterprises was resumed, population growth began (in 1923 1.07 million people, in 1926 1.6 million) mainly due to inflow from outside (in 1926 103.1 thousand people). ), a natural increase of 20.5 thousand. By the beginning of 1926, workers in the licensed industry, which included enterprises with a mechanical engine or with 15 workers in the absence of a mechanical engine, together with students, accounted for 12.8%. In 1926, 77% of the population was literate. There were 342 thousand families in Leningrad, their average size was 3.4 people. Further demographic changes in Leningrad are associated with the elimination of unemployment and industrialization. In 192632 the population increased by 182%, reaching 2.8 million people. The proportion of workers among the economically active population increased (in 1932, 44.4% among men and 38.4% among women). In 1939 there were 3.2 million inhabitants in Leningrad.
During the Great Patriotic War, mobilization and evacuation, death from starvation (according to official records - over 641 thousand people; according to historians - at least 800 thousand people), bombing and shelling reduced the population of the city. By July 1942 there were 1.05 million civilians. Due to intensive evacuation, it continued to decline: by January 1944, about 576 thousand (according to other sources, 560 thousand). Children under 16 years of age accounted for 16.8% of the population, persons over 60 4.8%. Able-bodied citizens aged 1659 years 78.4%, most of them women (in February 1943 83.7%). After the blockade was lifted, the population began to increase: in September 1945, over 1.2 million (with suburbs, about 1.3 million). Women (especially at the age of 2035 years) significantly predominated.
Post-war demographic processes in Leningrad were determined by the course of restoration of its industry and urban economy. In 194648 the population grew due to re-evacuation, demobilization, and the influx of labor. The increased birth rate also played a certain role: in 1945 it was 33.9 births per 1,000 people (in 1940 it was 23.6). In 1959, the population of the city itself and settlements subordinate to the Lensoviet was over 3.3 million people. Women 58.6%. The proportion of people of working age 66.6%. The average family size is 3.15 people, total families 883.6 thousand. Only by the mid-60s. the population reached the pre-war level, and the sex structure gradually leveled off (in 1970, 43.1% of men; 50% of men under 30; see also Table 3).
Table 3. Reproduction of the population of Leningrad
|
Per 1 thousand people |
|||
|
number of births |
number of deaths |
natural increase |
|
In Leningrad, the overwhelming majority of the population is represented by workers and employees (see Table 4). Automation and mechanization, robotization of production, expansion of non-productive sectors have led to some increase in the proportion of workers primarily engaged in mental labor (see Table 5 for data on the level of education of the population).
Table 5. The level of education of the population of Leningrad
|
Per 1,000 people over 10 years of age |
||||||
|
incomplete higher |
specialized secondary |
average general |
lower secondary |
|||
Literature:
Statistical collection on Petrograd and the Petrograd province, 1922, P., 1922;
Materials on the statistics of Petrograd and the Petrograd province, v. 16, L., 1925;
XV years of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Economic and statistical collection of Leningrad and the Leningrad region, L., 1932;
Leningrad and the Leningrad region in figures, L., 1971;
Dzeniskevich A. R., Military five-year plan for the workers of Leningrad. 19411945, L., 1972;
History of the workers of Leningrad, 17031965, vol. 12, L., 1972;
Population of Leningrad, M., 1981;
Old Petersburg. Historical and ethnographic research, L., 1982;
Yukhneva NV, Ethnic composition and ethno-social structure of the population of St. Petersburg. The second half of the XIX beginning of the XX century, L., 1984;
Petersburg and the province. Historical and ethnographic research, L., 1989;
Vasiliev A., Krainev V., In the mirror of statistics, "LP", 1990, No. 8.
Urban population density dynamics (18971989)
1936 (within the boundaries of the districts at the end of 1936)
Urban population density dynamics (18971989)
1959 (within 1970 district boundaries)
Urban population density dynamics (18971989)
Someone really wants to make the city-concentration camp Leningrad out of the hero city of Leningrad, in which during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. allegedly people were dying of hunger in hundreds of thousands of people. At first they talked about 600 thousand people who died of starvation and died in Leningrad during the blockade of people.
January 27, 2016 in the news, the first television channel told us, that during the blockade, about 1 million people died of starvation, because supposedly the norms for issuing bread were less than 200 grams per day.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the fact that annually increasing the number of victims of the besieged city, no one bothered to substantiate their sensational statements, detracting from the honor and dignity of the heroic inhabitants of Leningrad.
Let us consider in order the untrue information that is brought to the attention of the citizens of Russia by the media on this issue.
In the photo: Spectators before the performance at the Leningrad Theater of Musical Comedy. May 1, 1942
The first untruth is information about the number of days of blockade. We are assured that Leningrad was under blockade for 900 days. In fact, Leningrad was under blockade for 500 days., namely: from September 8, 1941, from the day Shlisselburg was captured by the Germans and land communications between Leningrad and the mainland were stopped, until January 18, 1943, when the valiant troops of the Red Army restored the connection between Leningrad and the country by land.
The second untruth is the assertion that Leningrad was under blockade. In the dictionary of S. I. Ozhegov, the word blockade is interpreted as follows: "... isolation of a hostile state, city in order to stop its relations with the outside world." Communication with the outside world of Leningrad did not stop for a single day. Cargoes were delivered to Leningrad around the clock, day and night, in a continuous stream by rail and then by road or river transport (depending on the time of year) along 25 km of the way across Lake Ladoga.
Not only the city was supplied, but the whole Leningrad Front weapons, shells, bombs, cartridges, spare parts and food.
Cars and river boats returned back to the railway with people, and from the summer of 1942 with products manufactured by Leningrad enterprises.
The hero city of Leningrad, besieged by the enemy, worked, fought, children went to school, theaters and cinemas worked.
The hero city of Stalingrad was in the position of Leningrad from August 23, 1942, when the Germans in the north managed to break through to the Volga, until February 2, 1943, when the last, northern group of German troops near Stalingrad laid down their arms.
Stalingrad, like Leningrad, was supplied through a water barrier (in this case, the Volga River) by road and water transport. Together with the city, as in Leningrad, the troops of the Stalingrad Front were supplied. As in Leningrad, cars and river boats that delivered goods were taking people out of the city. But no one writes or says that Stalingrad was under blockade for 160 days.
The third untruth is the untruth about the number of Leningraders who died of starvation.
The population of Leningrad before the war, in 1939, was 3.1 million people. and about 1000 industrial enterprises worked in it. By 1941, the population of the city could approximately be 3.2 million people.
In total, up to February 1943, 1.7 million people were evacuated. There are 1.5 million people left in the city.
The evacuation continued not only in 1941, until the approach of the German armies, but also in 1942. K. A. Meretskov wrote that even before the spring thaw on Ladoga, more than 300 thousand tons of all kinds of cargo were delivered to Leningrad and about half a million people who needed care and treatment were taken out of there. A. M. Vasilevsky confirms the delivery of goods and the removal of people at the specified time.
The evacuation continued in the period from June 1942 to January 1943, and if its pace did not decrease, then it can be assumed that at least 500 thousand more people were evacuated over the indicated more than six months.
Residents of the city of Leningrad were constantly drafted into the army, replenishing the ranks of fighters and commanders of the Leningrad Front, died from the shelling of Leningrad with long-range guns and from bombs dropped by the Nazis from aircraft, died a natural death, as they die at all times. The number of residents who left for the indicated reasons, in my opinion, is at least 600 thousand people.
In the encyclopedia of the V.O. of the war, it is indicated that in 1943 no more than 800 thousand inhabitants remained in Leningrad. The number of Leningrad residents who died from hunger, cold, household disorder could not exceed the difference between one million and nine hundred thousand people, that is 100 thousand people.
About a hundred thousand Leningraders who died of starvation is a colossal number of victims, but this is not enough for the enemies of Russia to declare I.V. Stalin, the Soviet government guilty of the death of millions of people, and also to declare that Leningrad should have been in 1941 surrender to the enemy.
There is only one conclusion from the study: the media statements about the death in Leningrad during the blockade from starvation, both one million inhabitants of the city and 600 thousand people do not correspond to reality, are untrue.
The development of events itself speaks of the overestimation by our historians and politicians of the number of people who died of starvation during the blockade.
In the most difficult situation in terms of providing food, the inhabitants of the city were in the period from October 1 to December 24, 1941. As they say, from October 1, the bread ration was reduced for the third time - workers and engineers received 400 grams of bread a day, employees, dependents and children 200 grams each. From November 20 (5th reduction) workers received 250 grams of bread per day. All others - 125 g.
On December 9, 1941, our troops liberated Tikhvin, and from December 25, 1941, the norms for issuing food began to increase.
That is, for the entire time of the blockade, it was precisely in the period from November 20 to December 24, 1941 that the norms for issuing food were so meager that weak and sick people could die of starvation. For the rest of the time, the established dietary norms could not lead to starvation.
Since February 1942, the supply of food to the inhabitants of the city in sufficient quantities for life was established and maintained until the blockade was broken.
The troops of the Leningrad Front were also supplied with food, and they were supplied normally. Even liberals do not write about a single case of death from starvation in the army that defended besieged Leningrad. The whole front was supplied with weapons, ammunition, uniforms, food.
The supply of food for non-evacuated residents of the city was a "drop in the bucket" compared to the needs of the front, and I am sure that the level of food supply in the city in 1942 did not allow deaths from starvation.
In documentaries, in particular, from the film "The Unknown War", Leningraders leaving for the front, working in factories and cleaning the streets of the city in the spring of 1942, do not look exhausted, like, for example, prisoners of German concentration camps.
Leningraders still constantly received food on cards, but the inhabitants of the cities occupied by the Germans, for example, Pskov and Novgorod, who had no relatives in the villages, really died of hunger. And how many of these cities, occupied during the invasion of the Nazis, were in the Soviet Union!?
In my opinion, Leningraders, who constantly received food on cards and were not subjected to executions, deportations to Germany, bullying by the invaders, were in a better position compared to the inhabitants of the cities of the USSR occupied by the Germans.
The encyclopedic dictionary of 1991 states that about 470 thousand victims of the blockade and participants in the defense were buried at the Piskarevsky cemetery.
Not only those who died of hunger are buried at the Piskaryovskoye cemetery, but also soldiers of the Leningrad Front who died during the blockade from wounds in Leningrad hospitals, residents of the city who died from artillery shelling and bombing, residents of the city who died of natural causes, and, possibly, died in military personnel of the Leningrad Front in battles.
And how can our 1st television channel announce to the whole country about almost a million Leningraders who died of starvation?!
It is known that during the attack on Leningrad, the siege of the city and the retreat, the Germans had huge losses. But our historians and politicians are silent about them.
Some even write that there was no need to defend the city, but it was necessary to surrender it to the enemy, and then the Leningraders would have avoided starvation, and the soldiers would have avoided bloody battles. And they write and talk about it, knowing that Hitler promised to destroy all the inhabitants of Leningrad.
I think they also understand that the fall of Leningrad would mean the death of a huge number of the population of the northwestern part of the USSR and the loss of an enormous amount of material and cultural values.
In addition, the released German and Finnish troops could be transferred near Moscow and to other sectors of the Soviet-German front, which in turn could lead to the victory of Germany and the destruction of the entire population of the European part of the Soviet Union.
Only haters of Russia can regret that Leningrad was not surrendered to the enemy.
One of the most famous Russian cities in the world is St. Petersburg. He is very unusual. Its history, climate, architecture and even people differ in many ways from other cities in the country. Let's talk about the characteristics of the population of the Northern capital, about which districts of St. Petersburg are the most popular among residents and how things are going with work here.
Settlement history
The city on the Neva appeared thanks to the desire of Peter the Great, who saw here the gateway to Europe. The settlement dates back to May 16, 1703, when the first stone of the future Peter and Paul Fortress was laid. Under Peter the city was actively built and in 1712 became the capital of Russia. In the era of Peter the Great, Petersburg takes on a new face and continues to grow. At the end of the 18th century, the population exceeded 220 thousand people, then the northern capital overtook ancient Moscow.
The second half of the 18th and 19th centuries became a real golden age for the city: many palaces, churches were built here, educational institutions and various enterprises were opened. All this had a beneficial effect on the number of inhabitants. At the beginning of the 20th century, native Petersburgers witnessed dramatic revolutionary events. is therefore reduced. After 1917, the capital was renamed Petrograd, devastation and hard times set in. In 1918 the city loses its capital status. And in 1924 it was renamed Leningrad. He will return his historical name only in 1991, after a referendum among the inhabitants. Today St. Petersburg rightfully has a status and is one of the most famous cities in the country.
Climate and ecology
The city of St. Petersburg is located in the zone of humid continental climate. There are short, moderately warm summers and short, wet, cool winters. The longest seasons are spring and summer. The average annual temperature is about 6 degrees Celsius. In winter, the thermometer during the day stays around minus 5-8 degrees, in summer it rises to plus 20. The population of St. Petersburg experiences a shortage of sunlight, since there are only about 60 clear days a year. The city receives a lot of precipitation (approximately 660 mm) and is usually overcast. In summer, a special natural phenomenon is observed in St. Petersburg - white nights.
The ever-growing number of city residents and cars leads to the fact that St. Petersburg is unfavorable. The atmosphere is clogged with exhaust gases, the waters of the Neva are polluted by poorly treated sewage. The ecology of the city is the object of constant monitoring and care of the administration.
Population
They began to monitor the number of citizens in St. Petersburg in 1764, when almost 150 thousand people lived here. Until 1917, the population of St. Petersburg grew steadily. In 1891, it surpassed the figure of 1 million people. By the beginning of the revolutionary events of 1917, the city had 2.4 million inhabitants. The coup and the ensuing Civil War and World War I caused the city to shrink.
In 1918, 1.4 million people were already recorded here, and after the transfer of the capital to Moscow in 1919, already 900 thousand people. Since 1921, there has been a period of relative demographic stability, the city is growing a little. By the beginning of World War II, almost 3 million Petersburgers lived in the northern capital. During the war years, the inhabitants of St. Petersburg fell into a blockade, which led to huge human casualties. In 1945, 927 people remained here. After the war, the townspeople gradually returned from evacuation, new residents began to arrive in Leningrad.
At the end of the 50s, a 3 million population was already recorded here. With the beginning of perestroika, the cultural capital begins to experience significant demographic difficulties, the birth rate falls, and the death rate rises. If in 1991 there were 5 million inhabitants, then by 2008 there are 4.5 million. Migrants are saving the situation from a catastrophic one, as the natural increase of inhabitants has remained negative for decades. Since 2010, the situation has started to improve slightly. For 2016, there are 5.22 million inhabitants in St. Petersburg.
City districts and population distribution
St. Petersburg is divided into 18 administrative districts. The fastest growing is the Primorsky district, it is also the largest, almost 550 thousand people live here. Many districts of St. Petersburg are gradually becoming a place of localization of enterprises and tourists. The Central, Admiralteisky and Vasileostrovskiy districts show a steady decrease in the number of residents.
Demographics
Today St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia, the third largest in Europe and the largest northern city in the world. At the same time, the metropolis has a lot. The low birth rate still cannot overtake the death rate. Increasing life expectancy and a low birth rate are causing the population of St. Petersburg to age, and the demographic burden on the able-bodied population is growing. provide migrants who are attracted by work in St. Petersburg and a fairly high standard of living.
Economy and employment
The northern capital attracts migrants and residents primarily by the opportunity to find work. The city is one of the largest economic centers of the country; there are many manufacturing, industrial and service enterprises operating here. Therefore, many districts of St. Petersburg are turning into real industrial zones, but this provides great opportunities for employment. Unemployment in the city is fixed at 1.5%, while there are always a fairly large number of vacancies, mainly for unskilled personnel and workers. Therefore, there is work in St. Petersburg, but the residents do not like it.
Third population decline... and the last?
St. Petersburg is the fourth largest city in Europe after London, Moscow and Paris. According to the All-Russian population census of 2002, the number of its permanent population was 4661 thousand people. In pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, population censuses were conducted in 1864, 1869, 1881, 1890, 1900, and 1910; a one-day census took place on June 2, 1918, in revolutionary Petrograd. A systematic accounting of the natural movement of the city's population has been established since 1881. From the same year, the publication of "Statistical Yearbooks of St. Petersburg" begins. Before the revolution, 29 yearbooks were published.
When using this rich material and comparing it with modern publications, it is imperative to take into account which territory and which categories of the population are being discussed. The expansion of the official boundaries of the city was due to the inclusion of suburban areas with cities, towns and villages. Starting from 1890, in the publications of pre-revolutionary censuses, the "city" was singled out, separately - "the city with Bolshaya and Malaya Okhtami" and "the city with suburbs". The materials of the All-Union censuses were developed on the actual and permanent population for Leningrad and the territory subordinate to the Leningrad City Council. In addition, data from previous population censuses are traditionally recalculated within the administrative boundaries established at the time of the last census. Therefore, the use of data on the total population of St. Petersburg for a long period should be accompanied by a large number of reservations.
As an example, let us cite information on the actual population of St. Petersburg from 1764 to 2002, published in the Anniversary Statistical Collection "St. Petersburg 1703-2003". In table. 1 and in fig. 1, the actual population is given without cities and workers' settlements subordinate to the Leningrad City Council, and later to the Administration of St. Petersburg. Data from 1864 to 1897 refer to the city, and from 1898 refer to the metropolitan area. Data for 1937, 1939, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 are given from population censuses. Since 1958, the population at the beginning of the year is given within the boundaries as of January 1, 2002.
Table 1. The actual population of St. Petersburg in 1764-2002, thousand people
|
years |
thousands of people |
years |
thousands of people |
years |
thousands of people |
years |
thousands of people |
|
1764 |
1911 |
1942 |
1973 |
||||
|
1765 |
1912 |
1943 |
1974 |
||||
|
1770 |
1913 |
1944 |
1975 |
||||
|
1775 |
1914 |
1945 |
1976 |
||||
|
1780 |
1915 |
1946 |
1977 |
||||
|
1785 |
1916 |
1947 |
1978 |
||||
|
1790 |
1917 |
1948 |
1979 |
||||
|
1795 |
1918 |
1949 |
1980 |
||||
|
1800 |
1919 |
1950 |
1981 |
||||
|
1805 |
1920 |
1951 |
1982 |
||||
|
1810 |
1921 |
1952 |
1983 |
||||
|
1815 |
1922 |
1953 |
1984 |
||||
|
1820 |
1923 |
1954 |
1985 |
||||
|
1825 |
1924 |
1955 |
1986 |
||||
|
1830 |
1925 |
1956 |
1987 |
||||
|
1835 |
1926 |
1957 |
1988 |
||||
|
1840 |
1927 |
1958 |
1989 |
||||
|
1845 |
1928 |
1959 |
1990 |
||||
|
1850 |
1929 |
1960 |
1991 |
||||
|
1855 |
1930 |
1961 |
1992 |
||||
|
1860 |
1931 |
1962 |
1993 |
||||
|
1865 |
1932 |
1963 |
1994 |
||||
|
1870 |
1933 |
1964 |
1995 |
||||
|
1875 |
1934 |
1965 |
1996 |
||||
|
1880 |
1935 |
1966 |
1997 |
||||
|
1885 |
1936 |
1967 |
1998 |
||||
|
1890 |
1937 |
1968 |
1999 |
||||
|
1895 |
1938 |
1969 |
2000 |
||||
|
1900 |
1939 |
1970 |
2001 |
||||
|
1905 |
1940 |
1971 |
2002 |
||||
|
1910 |
1941 |
1972 |
2003 |
A source: St. Petersburg. 1703-2003: Jubilee Statistical Collection. / Ed. I.I. Eliseeva and E.I. Mushroom. - Issue 2. - St. Petersburg: Shipbuilding, 2003. pp. 16-17.
The population of St. Petersburg grew from its foundation until the pre-revolutionary 1916, when it amounted to 2.4 million people. Over the next 30 years, the city was twice devastated by famine, disease and mass exodus of residents. During the repressions of the 1930s and the post-war "Leningrad case", thousands of city residents were killed. The depopulation of Petrograd after the February Revolution, when by 1920 the city's population had halved, S.A. Novoselsky called it "unparalleled and unprecedented in history." But the population of Leningrad suffered even greater losses during the Siege of 1941-1944, which has no analogues in world history.
Figure 1. The actual population of St. Petersburg in 1764-2002, thousand people
In the post-war years, the population of the city recovered slowly. After the civil war, Leningrad returned to its former size in the early 1930s. This was largely facilitated by the massive influx of rural residents during collectivization. V. Paevsky then noted "a large number of farmers who were drawn into Leningrad as a source of replenishment of a skilled workforce" . In 1930, the number of inhabitants of the city for the first time exceeded 2 million, in 1939 - over 3 million. After the Great Patriotic War, the city regained its pre-war population only at the very end of the 1950s. This was mainly facilitated by the active arrival of migrants to work and study in Leningrad. The 1970 census recorded the crossing over the 4 million mark, the 1989 census the 5 million mark. The peak of the population of St. Petersburg was passed in 1991, when 5034.7 thousand people lived in the city. Since then, the city's population has steadily declined.
1 - Novoselsky S.A. Age composition of the population of Petrograd according to the census of August 28, 1920// Materials on the statistics of Petrograd, issue 4. - Pg.: Ed. Peter. provincial department of statistics, 1921. p.9.
2 - Paevsky V.V. Mechanical movement of the population of Leningrad // Bulletin of the Leningrad Provincial Statistical Department, 1925, No. 14. p.112.
