The population of inhabitants in the city. The largest cities in Russia by population

According to the All-Russian Population Census, as of October 14, 2010, there were 1,287 urban-type settlements in Russia. Of these, 206 with a population of more than 10 thousand inhabitants. No. Urban-type settlement Region Population, thous. (2002) ... ... Wikipedia

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The list includes only those settlements of the Russian Federation that, based on data from the Federal State Statistics Service, have the status of cities. The area of ​​​​the city is understood as the territory within its city limits, ... ... Wikipedia

According to the results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census, among 1,100 cities in Russia, 37 cities had a population of more than 500 thousand inhabitants, including: 2 cities of a multimillionaire (Moscow, St. Petersburg) more than 2 million inhabitants, 12 cities ... ... Wikipedia

According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2010, there are 66 cities in the Far Eastern Economic Region, of which: 2 largest cities from 500 thousand to 1 million inhabitants 2 large cities from 250 thousand to 500 thousand inhabitants 6 large cities from 100 thousand to 250 thousand inhabitants 6 … … Wikipedia

In the Central Economic Region, there are 139 cities with a population of more than 20 thousand people, including: Moscow 11.5 million inhabitants of 66 cities in the Moscow Region Main article: List of cities in the Moscow Region 72 cities in other regions of the Central ... ... Wikipedia

There are 34 cities in the Volga-Vyatka economic region with a population of more than 20 thousand people, of which: 1 millionaire more than 1 million inhabitants 3 large cities from 250 thousand to 500 thousand inhabitants 4 large cities from 100 thousand to 250 thousand inhabitants 8 medium-sized cities from 50 thousand to 100 ... ... Wikipedia

According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census of 2010, there are 52 cities in the Central Chernozem Economic Region, of which: 2 largest cities from 500 thousand to 1 million inhabitants 3 large cities from 250 thousand to 500 thousand inhabitants 2 large cities from 100 thousand ... Wikipedia

European cities with a population of more than 500 thousand people. As of the middle of 2012, there are 91 such cities in Europe, among which 33 cities have a population of more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. The list contains official data on the number ... ... Wikipedia

This article is proposed for deletion. An explanation of the reasons and the corresponding discussion can be found on the Wikipedia page: To be deleted / November 11, 2012. While the discussion process ... Wikipedia

About 147 million people - that's how many people live in Russia today. How many of them are women, men, children and pensioners? What nationalities are the most numerous in the country? What are the characteristics of the rural and urban population of Russia? Let's try to answer all these questions.

The population of Russia: some dry numbers

The Russian Federation is the first country in the world in terms of area and the ninth in terms of population. The main demographic indicators of the state (as of 2016):

• 146,544,710 - the population of Russia (as of January 1, 2016);
• 1.77 - total fertility rate (for 2015);
• 18,538 - increase in the population of the country for the first 11 months of 2016;
• 8.57 people/sq. km. - average population density;
• 20-24 years - the average age of the birth of the first child (for women);
• more than 200 nations and ethnic groups live in modern Russia.

Registration of the population in the Russian Federation

Population census data make it possible to compile the most complete and accurate demographic picture of the country. This information helps to analyze the dynamics of general demographic indicators in the state or its specific region.

A population census is a labor-intensive and unified process of collecting, systematizing, analyzing and processing data on the population of a country or region. This event is carried out on the basis of the principles of confidentiality, universality and strict centralization of the entire process.

The first general in the history of Russia was held in 1897 under the guidance of the scientist and geographer P.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky. In Soviet times, the inhabitants of the country were "counted" nine more times. After the collapse of the USSR, the population census in Russia was carried out twice - in 2002 and 2010.

In addition to censuses, registration of demographic indicators in Russia is carried out by Rosstat, territorial offices of registry offices, as well as passport offices.

The current demographic situation in Russia

The total population of the Russian Federation: almost 143 million people and another 90,000 citizens staying abroad. These are the data of the last population census conducted in the country in autumn 2010. Compared to the 2002 census, the population of Russia has decreased by more than two million.

In general, the current demographic situation in Russia can be characterized as a crisis. Although it is too early to talk about the "extinction of the nation". Moreover, in recent years, a positive natural increase in the population (albeit insignificant) has been recorded. The life expectancy in the country is also increasing. So, since 2010, it has grown from 68.9 to 70.8 years.

According to the most pessimistic scenarios, by 2030 the population of Russia will be reduced to about 142 million people. According to optimistic demographers, its population will grow to 152 million inhabitants.

Sex and age structure of the population

According to the latest census, there are 10.8 million more women in Russia than men. And this “chasm” between the sexes is only widening every year. The main reason for this situation is the increased mortality among men of mature (working) age. Moreover, more than half of these deaths occur due to diseases of the cardiovascular system.

The current age composition of the Russian population is as follows:

• group of children and minors (0-14 years old): 15%;
• citizens of working age (15-64 years old): 72%
• pensioners (over 65): about 13%.

Ethnic composition of the population

In accordance with the current Constitution, Russia is a multinational state. The data of the latest population censuses once again confirm this thesis.

So, in Russia there are more than two hundred nationalities and ethnic groups. The most numerous nation in the country are Russians (about 80%). However, they are dispersed across the territory of the Russian Federation rather unevenly. The smallest number of Russians is in the Chechen Republic (no more than 2%).

Other nations whose population within Russia exceeds one percent:

• Tatars (3.9%);
• Ukrainians (1.4%);
• Bashkirs (1.2%);
• Chuvash (1%);
• Chechens (1%).

Citizens of the Russian Federation speak several hundred languages ​​and various dialects. The most common of them are Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Belarusian, Tatar. But 136 languages ​​on the territory of modern Russia are under a serious threat of complete extinction (according to the international organization UNESCO).

Rural and urban population of Russia

Today in Russia there are 2386 cities and more than 134 thousand 74% of the country's inhabitants live in cities, 26% - in villages and villages. The rural and urban population of Russia differ greatly in ethnic, gender and age composition, level and way of life.

In modern Russia, two seemingly incompatible trends are combined in an amazing way. On the one hand, the number of villages in the country is rapidly declining, and “rural Russia”, glorified in poetry and prose, is gradually dying out. On the other hand, the country is characterized by the so-called de-urbanization (within 0.2% per year). Russia is one of the few countries in the world where people are actively moving from cities to villages for permanent residence.

As of the beginning of 2016, the urban population of Russia is almost 109 million people.

Cities of Russia

If a locality has a population of at least 12,000 people, provided that 85% of them are not employed in agriculture, then it can be considered a city. All cities in Russia by population are divided into:

• small (up to 50,000 inhabitants);
• medium (50-100 thousand);
• large (100-250 thousand);
• large (250-500 thousand);
• the largest (500-1000 thousand);
• "millionaires" (with a population of over one million people).

To date, the list of millionaire cities in Russia consists of 15 names. And in these fifteen settlements almost 10% of the population of the Russian Federation is concentrated.

Many large Russian cities are developing very rapidly, acquiring satellite settlements and forming urban agglomerations with stable economic and social relationships.

Villages of Russia

There are five types of rural settlements on the territory of Russia:

• villages;
• villages;
• farms;
• villages;
• villages.

About half of all rural settlements in the country belong to the smallest (the population of which does not exceed 50 people).

The traditional one is slowly dying out. And this is one of the most painful demographic problems of modern Russia. Since 1991, about 20 thousand villages and villages have disappeared from the map of the state. Impressive and scary figure!

The last population census, conducted in 2010, once again proved the sad statistics: from many Russian villages, only names and empty houses remained. And we are talking here not only about the villages of Siberia or the Far East. Just a few hundred kilometers from Moscow, you can find recently abandoned villages. The saddest situation is observed in the Tver region, which is located just in the middle between the two capitals of the country - Moscow and St. Petersburg. Large migrations to these two promising megacities, combined with high mortality rates, lead to the extinction of dozens of small settlements.

Why is the Russian village dying out? There are many reasons, although they are all closely related. Lack of work, normal medicine and infrastructure, total inconvenience and the impossibility of self-realization are driving villagers to big cities.

Population of Crimea: total number, national, linguistic and religious composition

As of the beginning of 2016, 2.3 million people live within the Republic of Crimea. During 2014-2016, about 22 thousand people migrated from the territory of the peninsula to mainland Ukraine (for political reasons). During the same period of time, at least 200,000 refugees from the war-torn cities and villages of Donbass moved to Crimea.

The population of Crimea is representatives of 175 nationalities. The most numerous among them are Russians (68%), Ukrainians (16%), Crimean Tatars (11%), Belarusians, Azerbaijanis and Armenians. The most widely spoken language on the peninsula is Russian. In addition to him, here you can often hear the Crimean Tatar, Armenian, Ukrainian speech.

Most of the population of Crimea professes Orthodoxy. as well as Uzbeks and Azerbaijanis are adherents of the Muslim religion. The local peoples of the Karaites and Krymchaks are Judaists by religion. Today, there are more than 1,300 religious communities and organizations on the peninsula.

The level of urbanization in the republic is quite low - only 51%. In recent decades, the total number of rural areas has increased significantly due to the Crimean Tatars, who at that time actively returned to their historical homeland and settled mainly in villages. Today there are 17 cities in Crimea. The largest of them (along Sevastopol, Kerch, Evpatoria and Yalta.

Conclusion

26% / 74% - this is the ratio of the rural and urban population of Russia today. There are a lot of acute demographic problems in the state, the solution of which should be approached comprehensively. One of them is the process of extinction of villages and small towns in modern Russia.

Russia. The expanses of this State have no end and no beginning. In Russia, as well as in any modern country, there are cities. Small, medium and even cities with a million people. Each city has its own history, and each one is different.

Every year, sociological surveys are conducted in settlements, mainly a population census. The vast majority of cities are small settlements, especially there are parts of Russia where settlement is not so intense. The ranking includes the ten smallest, but cities of the Russian Federation.

City of Kedrovy. 2129 people

The city of Kedrovy is located in the Tomsk region and is very little known. Located in a pine forest, its purpose is a settlement for oil station workers.

Built Kedrovy in the eighties of the last century. This whole city consists of almost one five-story houses. Surprisingly: several five-story buildings in a pine forest. Probably, its inhabitants do not complain about the smell of exhaust gases and the noise of cars. 2129 people - the population of the city of Kedrovy.

City of Ostrovnoy. 2065 people

Murmansk region. It is located on the coast, near the Yokang Islands (Barents Sea). What is most interesting is that it is practically a ghost town. Only about 20% are inhabited. There are no roads to the city. Railway lines, too. Can only be reached by water or air. Previously, as those who still remained there say, an airplane flew, but now there are only helicopters, and then only occasionally. If you look at it from afar, then the city is quite rather big, but if you know its population, it will be difficult to believe. In total, 2065 citizens live in this dying city.

City of Gorbatov. 2049 people

Approximately 60 kilometers from Nizhny Novgorod. The city is truly ancient, information about it was first recorded in 1565. Before it began to die out, it produces (and produced) ropes, ropes and other similar things for the navy.

Studies have been conducted, and the results say that 2049 people now live in the city. In addition to ropes and ropes, gardening in this city is also very well developed. There is also a souvenir factory.

Ples city. 1984 people

Belongs to the Ivanovo region. There is information about him that comes from the chronicle of the Novgorod monasteries (1141), this information is the first. Some sources say that this city once had its own fortress, but when is still not clear. The population is falling, and the city will probably continue to attract tourists with its legend.

It does not look like modern cities: there are no five-story buildings, transport communications. It looks like an ordinary village, only bigger. The population is 1984 people. The city has no industrial enterprises.

City of Primorsk. 1943 people

It just has more modern buildings. Reminiscent of a small Pripyat, apparently built to the same standards. Located in the Kaliningrad region. Before the war, it belonged to the Germans, but was captured in the 45th year by the Red Army.

It acquired its name two years after the capture. Now 1943 people live in it. As far as we know, it can be easily reached. Before the city belonged to the Soviet Union, it was called Fischhausen. From 2005 to 2008, it was listed as an urban-type settlement in the Baltic urban district.

City of Artyomovsk. 1837 people

In the last century, about thirteen thousand were registered (in 1959). The population began to drop rapidly. It is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, about 370 kilometers from the center. It looks like a large plant in a mountainous area.

It is in fifth place in the ranking of the smallest cities in the Russian Federation. This city was founded in 1700, it was previously called Olkhovka, as it was surrounded by trees of this species. Now it is part of the Kuraginsky district. The population is falling, at the moment it is 1837 people. It is engaged in the timber industry, as well as the extraction of gold, copper and silver.

City of Kurilsk. 1646 people

1646 people live in this city and Kurilsk is located on the island of Iturup. Belongs to the Sakhalin region. The Ainu once lived here, they are an indigenous tribe. Later this place was settled by explorers of Tsarist Russia. It is somewhat reminiscent of a resort village, although the climate for recreation is very unsuitable.

The terrain is mountainous, which adds more picturesque places to Kurilsk. He is mainly engaged in fish farming. In 1800 it was captured by the Japanese and only by 1945 it was occupied by the soldiers of the Red Army. The climate is moderate.

City of Verkhoyansk. 1131 people

This city is the northernmost settlement in Yakutia. The climate is very cold, several decades ago the air temperature was recorded here, which was about -67 degrees Celsius. Winter is very cold and windy.

This city is characterized by low rainfall. In 2016, its population was 1125 people, and in 2017, according to the latest census, it increased by 6 people. This city was built as a Cossack winter hut.

City of Vysotsk. 1120 people

It was built as a port. It is located in the Leningrad region (Vyborgsky district). Passed into the possession of the Soviet Union only in the early forties of the last century, and before that belonged to Finland. It plays a strategic role, since the naval base of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation operates here. The population of the city of Vysotsk is, according to the latest data, 1120 inhabitants. Vysotsk is located in a very convenient place for the border troops, right on the border with Finland. The port also has an oil loading function.

City of Chekalin. 964 people

Tula region, Suvorovsky district. In first place in the ranking of the smallest cities in the Russian Federation. In 2012, they wanted to recognize it as a village, but the residents of the city began to protest and left the status. Another, old name is Likhvin.

During the war, Likhvin was renamed Chkalin. The fact is that at this place the Nazis executed a partisan, who was then only sixteen years old. He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously. Despite such a small population, which is only 964 people, In 1565 (the year of its foundation) it occupied an area of ​​about 1 square verst.

10

• Population: 1 114 806
• Based: 1749
• Subject of the federation: Rostov region
• National composition:
• 90.6% Russian
• 3.4% Armenians
• 1.5% Ukrainians

R ost-on-Don is the oldest city in Russia, the southern “capital” of Russia. It was founded in 1749 by the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna. The main part of the city is located on the right bank of the Don. The city has many "green" areas - picturesque parks and squares. Huge trees grow in the center of the city, reaching a height of 6-7 floors. Rostov has its own zoo, botanical garden, circus, water park, as well as a dolphinarium. A symbolic border between Europe and Asia passes through the Voroshilovsky Bridge in the center of Rostov-on-Don.

9

• Population: 1 171 820
• Based: 1586
• Subject of the federation: Samara Region
• National composition:
• 90% Russian
• 3.6% Tatars
• 1.1% Mordovians
• 1.1% Ukrainians

With amara (from 1935 to 1991 - Kuibyshev)- This is a fairly large city located on the left, higher bank of the Volga with its many attractions. The city of Samara is a large industrial center of the Volga Federal District. It has developed industries such as mechanical engineering (including the aviation and space industries), metalworking, and the food industry.

8

• Population: 1 173 854
• Based: 1716
• Subject of the federation: Omsk region
• National composition:
• 88.8% Russian
• 3.4% Kazakhs
• 2.0% Ukrainians

O Moscow time - one of the largest cities in Siberia and Russia - was founded in 1716. In 2016 the city will celebrate its 300th anniversary. Omsk is considered the economic, educational and cultural center of Western Siberia. A large number of large industrial enterprises are located in the city, medium and small businesses are developing. There are more than 10 theatres, Concert and Organ halls in the city. Every year Omsk hosts various festivals, exhibitions, concerts of Russian and foreign performers.

7

• Population: 1 183 387
• Based: 1736
• Subject of the federation: Chelyabinsk region
• National composition:
• 86.5% Russian
• 5.1% Tatars
• 3.1% Bashkirs

Chelyabinsk is the capital of the Southern Urals. It is located to the east of the Ural Range, on the geological border of the Urals and Siberia. Enterprises of the city of Chelyabinsk - metallurgical and machine-building giants - are known all over the world.

6

• Population: 1 205 651
• Based: 1005
• Subject of the federation: Republic of Tatarstan
• National composition:
• 48.6% Russian
• 47.6% Tatars
• 0.8% Chuvash

Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, one of the largest and most beautiful cities in Russia, included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Cities. Kazan is a major industrial and commercial center of Russia. The whole world knows planes and helicopters that are produced in the capital of Tatarstan, chemical and petrochemical products produced by giant Kazan plants.

5

• Population: 1 267 760
• Based: 1221
• Subject of the federation: Nizhny Novgorod Region
• National composition:
• 93.9% Russian
• 1.3% Tatars
• 0.6% Mordva

Nizhny Novgorod is a city in Russia, the administrative center of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the center and largest city of the Volga Federal District. The most developed industries are mechanical engineering and metalworking, food, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, medical, light and woodworking, mechanical engineering and metalworking. The city has preserved many unique monuments of history, architecture and culture, which gave UNESCO grounds to include Nizhny Novgorod in the list of 100 cities of the world of world historical and cultural value.

4

• Population: 1 428 042
• Based: 1723
• Subject of the federation: Sverdlovsk region
• National composition:
• 89.1% Russian
• 3.7% Tatars
• 1.0% Ukrainians

Yekaterinburg is called the capital of the Urals. It is the fourth largest city in Russia. Yekaterinburg became one of the "centers" of Russian rock. Here the groups "Nautilus Pompilius", "Urfin Juice", "Semantic Hallucinations", "Agatha Christie", "Chayf", "Nastya" were formed. Julia Chicherina, Olga Arefieva and many others grew up here.

3

• Population: 1 567 087
• Based: 1893
• Subject of the federation: Novosibirsk region
• National composition:
• 92.8% Russian
• 0.9% Ukrainians
• 0.8% Uzbeks

Novosibirsk is the third most populous city in Russia and has the status of an urban district. It is a commercial, cultural, business, industrial, scientific and transport center of federal significance. As a settlement, it was founded in 1893, and the status of a city was given to Novosibirsk in 1903. One of the largest zoos in Russia is located in Novosibirsk, famous all over the world for the conservation of endangered species of animals, some of which remained only in the collections of zoos.

2

• Population: 5 191 690
• Based: 1703
• Subject of the federation:
• National composition:
• 92.5% Russian
• 1.5% Ukrainians
• 0.9% Belarusians

St. Petersburg is the second most populated city in Russia. It has the status of a federal city. The administrative center of the Northwestern Federal District and the Leningrad Region. Few cities in the world can boast of so many sights, museum collections, opera and drama theatres, estates and palaces, parks and monuments.

1

• Population: 12 197 596
• Based: 1147
• Subject of the federation:
• National composition:
• 91.6% Russian
• 1.4% Ukrainians
• 1.4% Tatars

Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation, a city of federal significance, the administrative center of the Central Federal District and the center of the Moscow Region, which is not part of it. Moscow is the largest financial center on a national scale, an international business center and a control center for a large part of the country's economy. For example, about half of the banks registered in Russia are concentrated in Moscow. According to Ernst & Young, Moscow ranks 7th among European cities in terms of investment attractiveness.

The population of modern Russia lives mainly in cities. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the rural population predominated, currently the urban population dominates (73%, 108.1 million people). up to Until 1990, Russia experienced a steady increase in the urban population, contributing to the rapid increase in its share in the population of the country. If in 1913 the urban population accounted for only 18%, in 1985 - 72.4%, then in 1991 their number reached 109.6 million people (73.9%).

The main source of the steady growth of the urban population during the Soviet period was the influx of rural residents into the cities as a result of the redistribution between and agriculture. An important role in ensuring high rates of annual growth of the urban population is played by the transformation of some rural settlements into urban ones with a change in their functions. To a much lesser extent, the urban population of the country grew due to the natural increase in the population of cities.

Since 1991 for the first time in many decades in Russia urban population began to decline. In 1991, the urban population decreased by 126 thousand people, in 1992 - by 752 thousand people, in 1993 - by 549 thousand people, in 1994 - by 125 thousand people, in 1995 .- per 200 thousand people. Thus, for 1991-1995. the reduction amounted to 1 million 662 thousand people. As a result, the share of the country's urban population decreased from 73.9% to 73.0%, but by 2001 it rose to 74% with an urban population of 105.6 million people.

The largest absolute reduction in the urban population occurred in the Central (387 thousand people). Far East (368 thousand people) and West Siberian (359 thousand people) regions. The Far East (6.0%), Northern (5.0%) and West Siberian (3.2%) regions are leading in terms of the intensity of reduction. In the Asian part of the country, the absolute losses of the urban population as a whole are greater than in the European part (836 thousand people, or 3.5%, compared with 626 thousand people, or 0.7%).

The growth trend in the share of the urban population continued until 1995 only in the Volga, Central Black Earth, Ural, North Caucasus and Volga-Vyatka regions, and in the last two regions the increase in the urban population for 1991-1994. was minimal.

Main reasons for the decline of the urban population in Russia:

• the changed ratio of migration flows arriving in urban settlements and departing from them;
• reduction in recent years in the number of urban-type settlements (in 1991 their number was 2204; by the beginning of 1994 - 2070; 2000 - 1875; 2005-1461; 2008 - 1361);
• negative natural population growth.

In Russia, it left its mark not only on the ratio of urban and rural population in the territorial context, but also on the structure of urban settlements.

Population of Russian cities

A city in Russia can be considered a settlement with a population of more than 12 thousand people and more than 85% of the population of which is employed in non-agricultural production. Cities are distinguished by functions: industrial, transport, scientific centers, resort cities. In terms of population, cities are divided into small (up to 50 thousand inhabitants), medium (50-100 thousand people), large (100-250 thousand people), large (250-500 thousand people), largest (500 thousand people). - 1 million people) and millionaire cities (population over 1 million people). G.M. Lappo distinguishes the category of semi-medium cities with a population of 20 to 50 thousand people. The capitals of the republics, territories and regions perform several functions - they are multifunctional cities.

Before the Great Patriotic War, there were two millionaire cities in Russia, in 1995 their number increased to 13 (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Volgograd, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Chelyabinsk).

At present (2009), there are 11 millionaire cities in Russia (Table 2).

A number of the largest cities in Russia with a population of more than 700 thousand, but less than 1 million - Perm, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov, Voronezh, Krasnodar, Togliatti - are sometimes referred to as sub-millionaire cities. The first two of these cities, which were once millionaires, as well as Krasnoyarsk, are often called millionaires in journalism and semi-officially.

Most of them (except for Tolyatti and partly Volgograd and Saratov) are also interregional centers of socio-economic development and attraction.

More than 40% of the population lives in large cities of Russia. Multifunctional cities are growing very fast, satellite cities appear next to them, forming urban agglomerations.

Millionaire cities are the centers of urban agglomerations, which additionally characterize the population and significance of the city (Table 3).

Despite the advantages of large cities, their growth is limited, as there are difficulties in providing cities with water and housing, supplying a growing population, and preserving green areas.

Rural population of Russia

Rural settlement - the distribution of residents by settlements located in rural areas. At the same time, the entire territory located outside the urban settlements is considered rural. At the beginning of the XXI century. in Russia there are approximately 150 thousand rural settlements, in which about 38.8 million people live (data from the 2002 census). The main difference between rural settlements and urban settlements is that their inhabitants are predominantly engaged in agriculture. In fact, in modern Russia, only 55% of the rural population is engaged in agriculture, the remaining 45% work in industry, transport, non-manufacturing, and other "urban" sectors of the economy.

The nature of the settlement of the rural population of Russia differs in natural zones depending on the conditions of economic activity, national traditions and customs of the peoples living in those regions. These are villages, villages, farms, auls, temporary settlements of hunters and reindeer herders, etc. The average density of the rural population in Russia is approximately 2 persons/km2. The highest density of the rural population was noted in the south of Russia in the Ciscaucasia (Krasnodar Territory - more than 64 people / km 2).

Rural settlements are classified according to their size (population) and the functions they perform. The average size of a rural settlement in Russia is 150 times smaller than an urban one. The following groups of rural settlements are distinguished by size:

• the smallest (up to 50 inhabitants);
• small (51-100 inhabitants);
• medium (101-500 inhabitants);
• large (501-1000 inhabitants);
• the largest (over 1000 inhabitants).

Almost half (48%) of all rural settlements in the country are the smallest, but they are home to 3% of the rural population. The largest proportion of rural residents (almost half) live in the largest settlements. Rural settlements in the North Caucasus are especially large, where they stretch for many kilometers and number up to 50 thousand inhabitants. The share of the largest settlements in the total number of rural settlements is constantly increasing. In the 90s of the XX century. settlements of refugees and temporary migrants have appeared, and cottage and dacha settlements are growing in the suburbs of large cities.

By functional type, the vast majority of rural settlements (over 90%) are agricultural. Most non-agricultural settlements are transport (near railway stations) or recreational (near sanatoriums, rest homes, other institutions), as well as industrial, logging, military, etc.

Within the agricultural type, settlements are distinguished:

• with a significant development of administrative, service and distribution functions (district centers);
• with local administrative and economic functions (centers of rural administrations and central estates of large agricultural enterprises);
• with the presence of large-scale agricultural production (crop brigades, livestock farms);
• without industrial enterprises, with the development of only personal subsidiary plots.

At the same time, the size of settlements naturally decreases from rural regional centers (which are the largest) to settlements without industrial enterprises (which, as a rule, are small and smallest).