Migration and the transformation of multiethnic population structure in the Kaliningrad region of the post-Soviet era

Abstract

This paper analyses the migration processes and their influence on the transformation of multiethnic population structure in the Kaliningrad region. The author uses official statistics (current statistics and census data), as well as interviews with the representatives of ethnic cultural associations as information sources. Special attention is paid to the migration features associated with different ethnic groups. The author identifies major reasons behind the incoming and outgoing movement of population. In the post-Soviet period the Kaliningrad region has experienced positive net migration. This active migration into the region has contributed to the development of "migration networks" and established a new basis for further population increase through migration. The article describes changes in the regional multiethnic population structure and identifies key factors behind them. It is concluded that migration has played the decisive role in the process of multiethnic population structure transformation in the Kaliningrad region in the post-Soviet period. The author views migration as a serious test for both the migrants and the receiving society. On the one hand, migrants have to adapt to a different national, cultural, and linguistic environment and look for the ways of successful integration into the receiving society. On the other hand, the receiving society also faces a serious transformation as a result of the changing population size and structure, the emergence of new elements in culture, rules of behaviour, and the development of new attitudes.