The Contradictory of Ethnodemographic Processes in Bashkortostan (1979–2020)

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2023-3/319-337

Authors

  • Fail Safin Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4862-1386
  • Fanil Kulsharipov Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center
  • Sergey Skogorev Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center

Keywords:

ethnodemography, Ural-Volga region, Bashkortostan, ethnic groups, Identity, native language, ethno-linguistic environment, areas of settlement

Abstract

The article, based on population census data, reveals the dynamics of changes in the number of ethnic groups in the Republic of Bashkortostan at the turn of the 20th‑21st centuries. The ethnic identity of the population of the Western and North-Western districts has been a subject of disputes for more than 40 years in Bashkortostan. According to the population censuses of 1979 and 2002, Bashkirs prevail in these areas, while the censuses of 1989 and 2010 reflect the prevalence of Tatars. The absolute majority of the local population in these areas consider Tatar their native language. In this article we attempted to analyze the ethno-demographic and ethno-linguistic situation in the republic by the areas of compact settlement of the Tatar and Bashkir population. A part of the population of the Western and North-Western districts of Bashkortostan at the beginning of the 20th century considered Tatar their native language, although the census materials registered them as ethnic Bashkirs. The 1989 census, which took place in the late Soviet period, showed a significant increase in the number of Tatars in Bashkortostan. However, the first post-Soviet census of 2002 showed the growth of 357 thousand people in Bashkir population, with a significant reduction in the Tatar population in the republic, which, caused some controversy over its results. The article presents these paradoxes of recent censuses in the context of districts by areas of compact settlement of ethnic Bashkirs and Tatars for the most complete disclosure of the ongoing trends. This allowed for a more objective understanding of the essence of these ethno-demographic processes in Bashkortostan. The study also revealed the ethno-demographic changes taking place in the cities of the republic, and, consequently, in the Bashkir-Tatar population in them in the light of the last census of 2020.

Author Biographies

  • Fail Safin, Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center

    Safin, Fail G. – Doctor of History, Professor, Chief Researcher, Head of the Department of Ethnopolitology, Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center; Professor of the Department of Philosophy, History and Social Engineering, Ufa State Petroleum Technical University (Russian Federation, Ufa). E-mail: failsafin@mail.ru ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4862-1386

  • Fanil Kulsharipov, Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center

    Kulsharipov, Fanil R. – postgraduate student of the Department of Ethnopolitology, the Institute of Ethnological Research named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center (Russian Federation, Ufa). E-mail: hitry88@gmail.com

  • Sergey Skogorev, Institute of Ethnological Studies named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center

    Skogorev, Sergey V. – Postgraduate student of the Department of Ethnopolitology, the Institute of Ethnological Research named after R. G. Kuzeev – the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Federal Research Center (Russian Federation, Ufa). E-mail:  svsko@yandex.ru

    For citation: Safin, F. G., F. R. Kulsharipov and S. V. 2023. Skogorev. The Contradictory of Ethnodemographic Processes in Bashkortostan (1979–2020). 2023. Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii). 3: 319–337.

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Published

09.09.2023

Issue

No. 3 (2023): Herald of Anthropology

Section

Identity and Intercultural Dialogue