Kalmyks of the Soviet Russia in the post-deportation period (late 1950s – 1980s): demographic, settlement and gender aspects

Abstract

The article analyzes the features of the geodemographic and gender dynamics of Kalmyks of the RSFSR after the end of the period of deportation. In the spatial dynamics of the Kalmyk people of that time, two large periods can be distinguished. At the first stage (late 1950s - early 1970s), the central trend is the return of Kalmyks from their places of exile to their national autonomy. During this period the number of Kalmyks settled outside Kalmykia and the lower Volga region decreases sharply. There is a territorial redistribution of the Kalmyk population across the macro-regions of Russia. Whereas in the late 1950s in the RSFSR outside southern Russia 73% of Kalmyks lived in Siberia, by

1970 the figure was only 44%. At this time, the Kalmyk population of most Russian regions had a high level of urbanization, and in terms of gender there was a significant (often manyfold) male preponderance. At the second stage of geo-demographic dynamics, the geography of Kalmyks in the RSFSR outside the lower Volga region expands again, and their number grows rapidly in almost all Russian macroregions, with the exception of southern Russia (territories that are adjacent to Kalmykia). The gender structure of the majority of regional groups of the Kalmyk population becomes more balanced, and Kalmyks take root in Russian regions. The form of settlement of the Kalmyk population outside the lower Volga region remains predominantly urban, but the level of its urbanization grows noticeably in Kalmykia itself. In the 1970-1980s assimilation begins to have a tangible impact on the demographic dynamics of the Kalmyks. However, by the end of the Soviet period (the second half of the 1980s), the scale of the negative influence of this process is significantly reduced due to the complex ethno-cultural revival of the Kalmyk people.