Russians

Categories / Population/Ethnic Groups
RUSSIANS, the basic ethnic community of St. Petersburg. The Russian language is related to the Slavic group of Indo-European languages. Their faith is Orthodox. In the 18th century Russians comprised 90% of the population of St. Petersburg. In 1869 555,000 Russians were living in the city (83.2% of population), in 1900 - 1,184,000 (82.2%), in 1989 - 4,448,900 (89.1%). Russians make up the majority of the social communities in St. Petersburg. The Slavonic population, the ancestors of the Russians appeared at the edge of the Neva river basin 1,000 - 2,000 years A.D. In 1323 at the source of the Neva the fortress Oreshek was founded (see Shlisselburgskaya Fortress). At the location of St. Petersburg in the 16th century, there was a Russian trading settlement at the Neva mouth. Russian carpenters, boat builders, workmen were sent at the decree of Tsar Peter the Great (mainly from the north and centre of Russia) and soldiers participated in the construction of the city. In the 19th to the early 20th centuries, immigrants in St. Petersburg from the upper Volga (Yaroslavskaya, Tverskaya, Kostromskaya provinces), north (Vologodskaya, Olonetskaya, Arkhangelskaya provinces) and northwest (Pskovskaya, Novgorodskaya provinces) of Russia predominated. In the 20th century a part of the immigrants came from the south and eastern regions of the country. Interethnic marriage has been characteristic of the Russian population since the late 19th century. Descendants of such marriages usually considered themselves Russian. Being the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg was the most important centre of Russian culture and remains to be till this day.

Reference: Юхнева Н. В. Этнический состав и этносоциальная структура населения Петербурга, вторая половина XIX-нач. XX в.: Стат. анализ. Л., 1984.

A. Y. Chistyakov. Юхнева Н. В. Этнический состав и этносоциальная структура населения Петербурга, вторая половина XIX - нач. XX в.: Стат. анализ. Л., 1984 Shlisselburg Fortress.