"Mapping Regional Differences in Economic and Social Development in Russia—A GeoCurrents Mini-Atlas"
Maps, maps, maps.
From GeoCurrents:
Mapping Russia’s Demographic Problems
[Note to readers: customizable maps of Russia are now available in Russian here.]
Much has been written about Russia’s demographic problems,
particularly in the 1990s and 2000s. The country as a whole is
characterized by low birth rates and high abortion rates; high death rates, especially from non-natural causes; rather low life expectancy, especially for men; and skewed sex ratios. This post examines some of these issues, focusing on regional differences across Russia. The GeoCurrents maps presented below are based primarily on data from the Federal State Statistics Service;
some of the indicators, such as the percentage of working age adults
and of pensioners as well as sex ratios, have been calculated directly
from the FSSS data. Additional data comes from the “Children in Russia”
publication by the FSSS, available (in Russian) here.
As maps of Russia’s birth rates, death rates, TFR, and natural population growth by federal subject can be found in Wikipedia, we begin by mapping life expectancy (at birth). According to data from the World Bank,
the life expectancy of an average Russian male is a whopping 10 years
shorter than that of an average Russian female: the figure for men is 66
years (the same as in Kazakhstan, Iraq, and North Korea), while that
for women is 76 years (the same as in Iran, Honduras, and Tonga). But as
the FSSS data mapped on the left reveals, there are significant
differences in life expectancy among Russia’s federal subjects.
For
example, life expectancy for an average Ingush woman is almost 15 years
longer than that of her Chukotkan counterpart (81.32 years vs. 66.42
years). The contrast is even more striking with respect to men: life
expectancy for an average Ingush male it is almost 20 years longer than
for his Tuvan counterpart (75.97 years and 56.37 years, respectively).
Overall, the highest life expectancy, for both genders, is found in the
two federal cities (Moscow and Saint Petersburg) and in the northeastern
and north-central Caucasus. For both genders, Ingushetia has the
highest life expectancy figures, while Dagestan is in the top four
(72.31 years for men, 78.82 years for women). North Ossetia ranks 3rd in
life expectancy for women (79.06 years), with above-average life
expectancy for men (68.46 years). Curiously, Chechnya ranks 4th in male
life expectancy (70.23), the ongoing insurgency notwithstanding, while
life expectancy for Chechen women is close to average. Neighboring
regions of southern Russia also post fairly high life expectancy
figures. Moscow City ranks 2nd and Saint Petersburg 5th in life
expectancy, for both men and women. As with many other
standard-of-living indicators, some of which are discussed in the previous post,
the oblasts surrounding the two federal cities present a sharp contrast
to the cities themselves: both Moscow and Leningrad oblast post average
figures for female life expectancy and below-average figures for male
life expectancy....MUCH MORE
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