City of Murmansk: population, population and ethnic composition

One of the largest port cities in Russiais Murmansk. Its population is 305 thousand inhabitants. How has the number of residents of Murmansk changed by years? What nationalities live here? You will find answers to these and some other demographic questions in this article.

Murmansk is a city beyond the Arctic Circle

Very interesting is the origin of the name of the city. In ancient times, the Slavs in these parts called the "Murman" of the Norwegians (Normans). Most likely, later, so began to call the local land - the coast of the Barents Sea, as well as the Kola Peninsula. When, at the beginning of the 20th century, a port was built here, it got its name - Romanov-on-Murman, which after the arrival of Soviet power was transformed into Murmansk.

The population of this city is forced to live in difficultclimatic conditions. And this is not surprising, because Murmansk is located beyond the Arctic Circle. Polar night lasts more than a month - from December 2 to January 11.

The residential buildings in Murmansk are dominated by panelmulti-story houses. And often their walls are decorated with colored mosaics. In this way, the city authorities are trying to combat the "color starvation", because the winter lasts about 7-8 months.

Murmansk: population and its dynamics by years

By the number of inhabitants, the city occupies the 64th position in Russia. 305 thousand people - this is the population of Murmansk recorded in early 2015.

In the first year after the establishment of the settlement(in 1917) there lived only 1,300 people. The population of the city of Murmansk began to grow rapidly in the late 1920s, after the creation of the Northern Fleet of the USSR. Before the outbreak of World War II, almost 120 thousand people already lived in the city.

The population grew even during the war, sinceMurmansk for a long time was in fact the only port through which the Soviet Union could carry out its foreign trade. In two post-war decades, the city's population doubled. In subsequent years, Murmansk grew mainly due to the influx of migrants.

The demographic crisis began in the city at the beginning90-ies, when he left about 30 thousand young people. The same deplorable situation was observed then only in Grozny, which survived the First Chechen War. Between 1989 and 2002, the city "lost" up to 150,000 of its inhabitants.

The outflow of young people from the city caused another acute demographic problem: today in Murmansk, a negative natural increase in the population is recorded annually (approximately 0.5% per year).

Murmansk: population and its ethnic composition

The idea to build a port city on this placeemerged back in the 70-ies of the XIX century. These aspirations were quite understandable: the presence here of a large port opened the Russian Empire free access to the Arctic Ocean.

In 1916, on a high hill was laid the cityMurmansk. By the way, it became the last settlement, founded in the Russian Empire. A year later, as is known, the tsarist state ceased to exist.

Ethnically, the city's population is quiteuniformly. According to the latest census in 2010, Murmansk is home to Russians (about 89%), Ukrainians (4.5%), Belarusians, Tatars, Finns, as well as representatives of other nationalities.

The religious structure of the urban population is moreinteresting. There are 17 religious associations in Murmansk, among which the Russian Orthodox Church is in the forefront. The city has built at least ten Orthodox churches, and also there is a department of Metropolitan Simon.

Represented in Murmansk and Catholics, whoconduct their services in the church of St. Michael the Archangel. Protestant churches are also registered here (in particular, Baptists, Adventists, Pentecostals and Jehovah's Witnesses). A small community of Muslims in Murmansk builds a mosque. In addition, the Krishna religious organization Krishna Consciousness Society is registered in the city.

Conclusion

Among the cities that are located beyond the Norththe Arctic Circle, the largest is Murmansk. The population has to live in the conditions of a very long harsh winter and an annual polar night of one month in length. Now more than 300 thousand people live here.