Russia 2020 Census Lists Some 114 Thousand Ethnic Georgians
The publication of the 2020 general population census of Russia has revealed a significant drop in both ethnic Georgian and Georgia-born residents of Russia since 2010.
According to statistics, there are 113,687 persons identified as ethnically Georgian and residing in Russia; out of these, 3,045 hold Georgian citizenship. The figure fell by 45 thousand since the last census in 2010. The new census also lists separately people from the occupied regions of Georgia – 8,177 Abkhazians and 323 South Ossetians were counted. The cross-tabulation reveals that out of persons that are listed as Georgians by origin in the census, 61% consider Georgian as their native tongue.
A look at persons born in Georgia (irrespective of their ethnic belonging) shows a spectacular fall – 257,725 thousand in the 2020 census, as compared to 551,674 in 2010. Sociologist David Sichinava told Civil.ge this magnitude of fall could partly – but not entirely – be attributed to the natural disappearance of individuals born in Soviet Georgia.
The number of Georgians residing in Russia has been a matter of acute political controversy in Tbilisi. Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili stated last year that Tbilisi was refraining from imposing economic sanctions on Russia since “these sanctions would [also] be imposed on the one million [Georgians] living in Russia and the four million of our fellow citizens living in Georgia.”
Also Read:
- 28/05/2022 – PM Lashes Out at Opposition MPs After Grilling Over Ukraine Support, Sanctions
- 14/09/2022 – Study Shows 23% of Georgian Population has Emigrated in a Decade
- 30/04/2019 – Georgia’s Population 3.7 Million – Geostat
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