Russian estimates suggest that the total population of the Soviet Union in 1941 was 195.4 million people, before it fell to 170.5 million in 1946 due to the devastation of the Second World War. Not only did the USSR's population fall as a consequence of the war, but fertility and birth rates also dropped due to the disruption. Hypothetical estimates suggest that, had the war not happened and had fertility rates remained on their pre-war trajectory, then the USSR's population in 1946 would have been 39 million higher than in reality. Gender differences When it comes to gender differences, the Soviet male population fell from 94 million in 1941, to 74 million in 1946, and the female population fell from 102 to 96 million. While the male and female population fell by 19 and 5.5 million respectively, hypothetical estimates suggest that both populations would have grown by seven million each had there been no war. In actual figures, adult males saw the largest change in population due to the war, as a drop of 18 to 21 percent was observed across the three age groups. In contrast, the adult female population actually grew between 1941 and 1946, although the population under 16 years fell by a number similar to that observed in the male population due to the war's impact on fertility.

Throughout the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union had relatively similar total populations. The U.S.' population grew from around 205 million to almost 250 million people between 1970 and 1990, while the USSR's population grew from around 240 to 290 million in this time. In these years, the Soviet Union had the third largest population in the world, and the U.S. had the fourth largest (behind China and India respectively). Despite their similar sizes, these populations differed in terms of distribution as the U.S.' population was approximately three quarters urban in this period, whereas the Soviet Union's urban population was just 56 percent in 1970 and 66 percent in 1989. Additionally, the Soviet Union's population was much younger than that of the U.S. due to a higher birth rate and lower life expectancy.

Due to the devastating impact of the Second World War on the Soviet population, the total population in 1950 was almost 15.5 million fewer than in 1940, which is a decrease of eight percent. In Russia (RSFSR), the largest of the Soviet states, the population difference was almost nine million people; also eight percent. It would take until 1955 for the populations of either the USSR or Russia to reach their pre-war levels, which was a decade after the conflict had ended. Urbanization Despite this drop in total population, industrialization and urbanization saw a significant change in the USSR's population distribution between the given years. The Soviet urban population increased by 6.3 million, or ten percent, between 1940 and 1950; 5.8 million of this was in Russia, which was a 15 percent increase. In contrast, the Soviet Union's rural population dropped by 21.8 million (a 17 percent change), 14.5 million of which in Russia (a decrease of 20 percent). In terms of overall population, the urban population of the USSR rose from 33 to 39 percent between 1940 and 1950, and from 34 to 43 percent in Russia. By 1955, 44 percent of the Soviet population, and 49 percent of the Russian population, lived in an urban setting.

As of January 1, 2025, more than 146 million people were estimated to be residing on the Russian territory, down approximately 30,000 from the previous year. From the second half of the 20th century, the population steadily grew until 1995. Furthermore, the population size saw an increase from 2009, getting closer to the 1995 figures. In which regions do most Russians live? With some parts of Russia known for their harsh climate, most people choose regions which offer more comfortable conditions. The largest share of the Russian population, or 40 million, reside in the Central Federal District. Moscow, the capital, is particularly populated, counting nearly 13 million residents. Russia’s population projections Despite having the largest country area worldwide, Russia’s population was predicted to follow a negative trend under both low and medium expectation forecasts. Under the low expectation forecast, the country’s population was expected to drop from 146 million in 2022 to 134 million in 2036. The medium expectation scenario projected a milder drop to 143 million in 2036. The issues of low birth rates and high death rates in Russia are aggravated by the increasing desire to emigrate among young people. In 2023, more than 20 percent of the residents aged 18 to 24 years expressed their willingness to leave Russia.

Opinion on questions concerning security policy. East-West comparison.

Topics: Satisfaction with the standard of living; attitude to France, Great Britain, Italy, USA, USSR, Red China and West Germany; preferred East-West-orientation of one´s own country and correspondence of national interests with the interests of selected countries; judgement on the American, Soviet and Red Chinese peace efforts; judgement on the foreign policy of the USA and the USSR; trust in the foreign policy capabilities of the USA; the most powerful country in the world, currently and in the future; comparison of the USA with the USSR concerning economic and military strength, nuclear weapons and the areas of culture, science, space research, education as well as the economic prospects for the average citizen; significance of a landing on the moon; Soviet citizen or American as first on the moon; assumed significance of space research for military development; attitude to a united Europe and Great Britain´s joining the Common Market; preferred relation of a united Europe to the United States; fair share of the pleasant things of life; lack of effort or fate as reasons for poverty; general contentment with life; perceived growth rate of the country´s population and preference for population growth; attitude to the growth of the population of the world; preferred measures against over-population; attitude to a birth control program in the developing countries and in one´s own country; present politician idols in Europe and in the rest of the world; attitude to disarmament; trust in the alliance partners; degree of familiarity with the NATO and assessment of its present strength; attitude to a European nuclear force; desired and estimated loyalty of the Americans to the NATO alliance partners; evaluation of the development of the UN; equal voice for all members of the UN; desired distribution of the UN financial burdens; attitude to an acceptance of Red China in the United Nations; knowledge about battles in Vietnam; attitude to the Vietnam war; attitude to the behavior of America, Red China and the Soviet Union in this conflict; attitude to the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and preferred attitude of one´s own country in this conflict and in case of a conflict with Red China; opinion on the treatment of colored people in Great Britain, America and the Soviet Union; judgement on the American Federal Government and on the American population regarding the equality of Negros; degree of familiarity with the Chinese nuclear tests; effects of this test on the military strength of Red China; attitude to American private investments in the Federal Republic; the most influential groups and organizations in the country; party preference; religiousness.

Interviewer rating: social class of respondent.

Additionally encoded were: number of contact attempts; date of interview.

Together with the Russian Academy of Sciences, IIASA's Forestry (FOR) project has released a CD-ROM titled Land Resources of Russia, Version 1.1, containing socioeconomic and biophysical data sets on important targets of international conventions — climate change, wetlands, desertification, and biodiversity. The CD-ROM, a country-scale integrated information system, supports sustainable use of land resources in line with Chapter 10 of Agenda 21 (UNCED) and makes a contribution to the Rio+10 Summit.

The Project's analysis of land resources are crucial for doing full greenhouse gas (or carbon) accounting. Integrated land analyses are also important for the introduction of sustainable forest management. FOR's land analyses concentrate on Russia, which is used as a case study for full carbon and greenhouse accounting.

Russia's area of forests, called here the forest zone, covers about 1180 million ha or 69% of the land of the country. The forested area (forests forming closed stands) occupies some 765 million ha constituting 65% of the forest zone. Forests are elements of a land-cover mosaic that direct the features of landscapes, ecosystems, vegetation and land uses. The FOR project attempts to overcome the traditional approach of just considering the direct utilities of forests. Instead, FOR operates with a holistic view of forests in a fully-fledged land concept. Integrated analysis of the land requires extended databases that includes various data for the total land operated in the form of GIS-based tools.

The land databases on Russia are the most comprehensive ever assembled, inside or outside of Russia. The databases have been enriched by remotely sensed data, biogeochemical functionality (carbon analysis), and institutional frameworks. The data included on the CD-ROM have been specially selected and filtered to meet the following criteria: (1) completeness: to meet a variety of the analysis tasks; (2) complexity: to describe a diversity of the task aspects; (3) consistency: to provide compatible results; to be ata compatible scale and, to provide a compatible time horizon; and (4) uniformity: to allow them to be standardized and formatted according to modern data handling routines.

The following databases and coverages are included on the CD-ROM and are available for download:

Socioeconomic Database -- Describes the social environment of each administrative region in Russia with close to 7000 parameters. The data cover the years 1987-1993. Coverages in this section include:

(1) Socioeconomic Statistical Database. This database provides the following statistical data sets: Population; Labor and Salary; Industry; Agriculture; Capital Construction; Communication and Transport; State Trade and Catering; Utilities and Services; Health Care and Sport; Education and Culture; Finance; Public Consumption; Industrial Production; Interregional Trade; Labor Resources; Supply of Materials; Environmental Protection; Foreign Trade; and Price Indices.

(2) Population Database. Adapted from Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); and World Resources Institute (WRI). 2000. Gridded Population of the World (GPW), Version 2, this coverage contains population densities for 1995 on a 2.5 degree grid. Data were adjusted to match United Nations national population estimates for 1995.

(3) Administrative Oblasts, Cities & Towns Database. Oblasts coverage contains 92 polygons, 88 of which contain Oblast names, the other four represent waterbodies. The cities coverage contains 37 cities identified by name.

(4) Transportation Database. The statistical data sets and maps cover the transport routes of the railway, road, and river networks spanning the entire country. Railways and roads are classified by type and status, and major rivers are named. Map coverages (line data) were created from the Digital Chart of the World, using the 1993 version at the 1:1,000,000 scale.

Natural Conditions Database. This section of the CD-ROM contains the basic land characteristics. This database provides specialists and scientists in research institutes and international agencies with the capability to perform scientific analysis with a Geographic Information System. These data describe land characteristics that might be applied in various ways, such as individual items (e.g., temperature, elevation, vegetation community, etc.), in combination (e.g., forest-temperature associations, soil spectra for land use types, etc.), and as aggregations based on a conceptual framework of a different level of complexity (e.g., ecosystem establishment, human-induced land cover transformation, biochemical cycle analysis, etc.). Coverage includes:

(1) Climate Database. Temperature (annual and seasonal) and Precipitation... Visit https://dataone.org/datasets/Land_Resources_of_Russia%2C_Version_1.1.xml for complete metadata about this dataset.

Judgement on American and Soviet foreign policy as well as the competition between the great powers. Topics: Most important domestic and foreign policy problems; perceived changes in the relations between the great powers; attitude to selected countries and politicians; preferred East-West orientation of one´s own country; the peace efforts of China; danger of war; assessment of the credibility of the foreign policy of the USSR and the western powers as well as the seriousness of the disarmament efforts of the great powers; principle agreement of one´s own country with the interests of the USA, the USSR, Great Britain, France and China; expected development of agreement between the USSR and China; expected development of the economic and military competition between the great powers; contribution of NATO to European security; NATO contribution of one´s own country; trust in NATO; judgement on the result of the Paris summit conference and assessment of the readiness of the participants to make concessions; attitude to concessions by the western powers in the Berlin question; comparison of current status and future development of science, the military, the standard of living, industrial and agricultural production, welfare, technology, medicine and space flight in the USA and the USSR; assessment of the steadfastness of the American as well as Soviet population in the respective basic ideas and assessment of the readiness of the peoples to make an effort for this conviction; judgement on the prospects for the future of the two economic systems; frequency of watching television in the evening hours; TV possession; number of adults watching television in the afternoon as well as in the evening; going to the movies; assessment of the influence of foreign films on one´s own country; impression of Americans (tourists, students, business people, musicians, politicians) who have been in one´s country; assessment of the influence of American magazines, books, films, television programs, the Voice of America and Jazz on one´s own country; attitude to stationing of American troops in the country and judgement on their conduct; most important sources of information about the USA; perceived differences between American and British broadcast of news and information; most trustworthy source of news; attitude to construction of nuclear weapons by France and the atomic bomb test in the Sahara; the significance of the visit by Khruschev in France for world peace. The following questions were posed except in Great Britain: media usage in form of a detailed recording of the frequency of listening to foreign radio stations (BBC, BFN, AFN) as well as the Voice of America; self-assessment of knowledge of English and judgement on the understandability of radio announcers; union membership; length of interview. The following questions were posed in France: possession of a motor vehicle; possession of a radio; house ownership. The following questions were posed in Germany: number of contact attempts; willingness of respondent to cooperate. The following questions were posed in Italy: place of interview; day of interview. Beurteilung der amerikanischen und sowjetischen Außenpolitik sowie des Wettstreits zwischen den Großmächten. Themen: Wichtigste innen- und außenpolitische Probleme; empfundene Veränderungen in den Beziehungen zwischen den Großmächten; Einstellung zu ausgewählten Ländern und Politikern; präferierte Ost-West-Orientierung des eigenen Landes; die Friedensbemühungen Chinas; Kriegsgefahr; Einschätzung der Glaubhaftigkeit der Außenpolitik der UdSSR und der Westmächte sowie der Ernsthaftigkeit der Abrüstungsbemühungen der Großmächte; grundsätzliche Übereinstimmung des eigenen Landes mit den Interessen der USA, der UdSSR, Großbritanniens, Frankreichs und Chinas; erwartete Entwicklung der Übereinstimmung von UdSSR und China; erwartete Entwicklung des wirtschaftlichen und militärischen Wettstreits zwischen den Großmächten; Beitrag der Nato zur europäischen Sicherheit; Nato-Beitrag des eigenen Landes; Vertrauen in die Nato; Beurteilung des Ausgangs der Pariser Gipfelkonferenz und Einschätzung der Konzessionsbereitschaft der Teilnehmer; Einstellung zu Zugeständnissen der Westmächte in der Berlin-Frage; Vergleich des derzeitigen Stands und der zukünftigen Entwicklung der Wissenschaft, des Militärs, des Lebensstandards, der industriellen und agrarischen Produktion, der Wohlfahrt, der Technik, der Medizin und der Raumfahrt in den USA und der UdSSR; Einschätzung der Verhaftetheit der amerikanischen sowie der sowjetischen Bevölkerung in den jeweiligen Grundideen und Einschätzung der Bereitschaft der Völker, sich für diese Überzeugung einzusetzen; Beurteilung der Zukunftsaussichten der beiden Wirtschaftssysteme; Fernsehhäufigkeit in den Abendstunden; TV-Besitz; Anzahl der fernsehenden Erwachsenen am Nachmittag sowie am Abend; Kinobesuch; Einschätzung des Einflusses ausländischer Filme auf das eigene Land; Eindruck von Amerikanern (Touristen, Studenten, Geschäftsleuten, Musikern, Politikern), die im eigenen Land aufgetreten sind; Einschätzung des Einflusses amerikanischer Zeitschriften, Bücher, Filme, Fernsehprogramme, der Stimme Amerikas und des Jazz auf das eigene Land; Einstellung zur Stationierung amerikanischer Truppen im Lande und Beurteilung deren Verhaltens; wichtigste Informationsquellen über die USA; wahrgenommene Differenzen zwischen amerikanischer und britischer Übermittlung von Nachrichten und Informationen; vertrauenvollste Nachrichtenquelle; Einstellung zum Bau von Atomwaffen durch Frankreich und zum Atombombenversuch in der Sahara; die Bedeutung des Chruschtschowsbesuchs in Frankreich für den Weltfrieden. Außer in Großbritannien wurde gefragt: Mediennutzung in Form einer detaillierten Erfassung der Häufigkeit des Hörens ausländischer Radiosender (BBC, BFN, AFN) sowie der Stimme Amerikas; Selbsteinschätzung der Englischkenntnisse und Beurteilung der Verständlichkeit der Rundfunksprecher; Gewerkschaftsmitgliedschaft; Interviewdauer. In Frankreich wurde zusätzlich gefragt: Kraftfahrzeugbesitz; Radiobesitz; Hausbesitz. In Deutschland wurde zusätzlich gefragt: Anzahl der Kontaktversuche; Kooperationsbereitschaft des Befragten. In Italien wurde zusätzlich gefragt: Interviewort; Interviewtag.

Between 1970 and 1989, the Soviet Union's population experienced a rate of natural increase that was consistently higher (sometimes by a significant margin) than that of the United States. In 1970, these increases were fairly similar at 9.2 and 8.8 per 1,000 population respectively, however the margin was considerably larger by the middle of the decade.

Although the Soviet Union's birth and death rates were both higher than those of the U.S. in most of these years, the larger disparity in birth rates is the reason for the USSR's higher rate of natural increase. However, while the USSR had a higher rate of natural increase, this did not mean that the Soviet population grew faster than that of the United States; the U.S. had a much higher net migration rate, which brought population growth rates much closer in the 1970s and 1980s.

Judgement on American and Soviet foreign policy as well as the competition between the great powers.

Topics: Most important domestic and foreign policy problems; perceived changes in the relations between the great powers; attitude to selected countries and politicians; preferred East-West orientation of one´s own country; the peace efforts of China; danger of war; assessment of the credibility of the foreign policy of the USSR and the western powers as well as the seriousness of the disarmament efforts of the great powers; principle agreement of one´s own country with the interests of the USA, the USSR, Great Britain, France and China; expected development of agreement between the USSR and China; expected development of the economic and military competition between the great powers; contribution of NATO to European security; NATO contribution of one´s own country; trust in NATO; judgement on the result of the Paris summit conference and assessment of the readiness of the participants to make concessions; attitude to concessions by the western powers in the Berlin question; comparison of current status and future development of science, the military, the standard of living, industrial and agricultural production, welfare, technology, medicine and space flight in the USA and the USSR; assessment of the steadfastness of the American as well as Soviet population in the respective basic ideas and assessment of the readiness of the peoples to make an effort for this conviction; judgement on the prospects for the future of the two economic systems; frequency of watching television in the evening hours; TV possession; number of adults watching television in the afternoon as well as in the evening; going to the movies; assessment of the influence of foreign films on one´s own country; impression of Americans (tourists, students, business people, musicians, politicians) who have been in one´s country; assessment of the influence of American magazines, books, films, television programs, the Voice of America and Jazz on one´s own country; attitude to stationing of American troops in the country and judgement on their conduct; most important sources of information about the USA; perceived differences between American and British broadcast of news and information; most trustworthy source of news; attitude to construction of nuclear weapons by France and the atomic bomb test in the Sahara; the significance of the visit by Khruschev in France for world peace.

The following questions were posed except in Great Britain: media usage in form of a detailed recording of the frequency of listening to foreign radio stations (BBC, BFN, AFN) as well as the Voice of America; self-assessment of knowledge of English and judgement on the understandability of radio announcers; union membership; length of interview.

The following questions were posed in France: possession of a motor vehicle; possession of a radio; house ownership.

The following questions were posed in Germany: number of contact attempts; willingness of respondent to cooperate.

The following questions were posed in Italy: place of interview; day of interview.

Over the course of the Second World War, approximately 44.5 percent of the Soviet population and 8.7 of Soviet territory was occupied by the Axis forces at some point. Despite being allied in the war's early stages, with both countries invading Poland in 1939 via the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany would launch Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR, in 1941, which would become the largest military invasion in history. Movement of the Eastern Front The surprise invasion began on June 22, and Axis forces caught the Soviets off-guard, quickly pushing their way eastward along a frontline that stretched from the Baltic to Black seas. The length of the front-line allowed Axis forces to execute pincer movements around cities and strongholds, which cut off large numbers of Soviet soldiers from their supply lines, as well as preventing reinforcements; in this process millions of Soviet troops were taken as prisoner. Within three weeks, the Germans had taken much of present-day Poland, Belarus, and the Baltic states, before taking Moldova and Ukraine in September, and pushing into western Russia between September and December. The front lines had reached the outskirts of Moscow by November, before exhaustion and cold weather helped Soviet forces hold the line and stall the German offensive. The Red Army was then able to regroup and turning the Germans' own tactics against them, using two-pronged attacks to encircle large numbers of troops, although harsh weather made this stage of the conflict much slower.

The lines remained fairly static until mid-1942, when the Germans focused their offensive on the south, concentrating on the Caucasian oil fields and the Volga River. By November 1942, Axis forces had pushed into these regions, establishing what would ultimately be the largest amount of occupied Soviet territory during the war. Once again, winter halted the Axis advance, and allowed the Red Army to regroup. Learning from the previous year, the Axis command strengthened their forces near Moscow in anticipation of the Soviet counter-offensive, but were caught off-guard by a second counter-offensive in the south, most famously at Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad would come to epitomize the extreme loss, destruction, and brutality of war on the eastern front, with conflict continuing in the city months after the rest of the Axis forces had been pushed west. As 1943 progressed, the Red Army gained momentum by targeting inferiorly-trained and equipped non-German regiments. The spring then became something of a balancing act for the Axis powers, as the Soviets consistently attacked weak points, and German regiments were transferred to reinforce these areas. In the summer of 1943, the front line was static once more, however the momentum was with the Soviets, who were able to capitalize on victories such as Kursk and gradually force the Axis powers back. By 1944, the Red Army had re-captured much of Ukraine, and had re-taken the south by the summer. When the Western Allies arrived in France in June, the Soviets were already pushing through Ukraine and Belarus, towards Berlin. In August 1944, the last Axis forces were pushed out of Soviet territory, and Soviet forces continued their push towards the German capital, which fell in May 1945. Soviet death toll In addition to the near-five million Soviet troops who died during Operation Barbarossa, millions of civilians died through starvation, areal bombardment, forced labor, and systematic murder campaigns. Due to the nature and severity of Soviet losses, total figures are difficult to estimate; totals of 15-20 million civilians and 7-9 million military deaths are most common. Further estimates suggest that the disruption to fertility, in addition to the high death toll, meant that the USSR's population in 1946 was 40 million lower than it would have been had there been no war.

Beurteilung von Sicherheitsfragen. Ost-West-Vergleich. Themen: Zufriedenheit mit dem Lebensstandard; Einstellung zuFrankreich, Großbritannien, Italien, USA, UdSSR, Rotchina,Westdeutschland; präferierte Ost-West-Orientierung des eigenenLandes und Übereinstimmung der Landesinteressen mit denInteressen ausgewählter Länder; Beurteilung derFriedensbemühungen Amerikas, der Sowjetunion und Rotchinas;Beurteilung der Außenpolitik der USA und der UdSSR; Vertrauenin die außenpolitischen Fähigkeiten der USA; mächtigstes Landder Erde, derzeit und zukünftig; Vergleich der USA mit derUdSSR bezüglich der militärischen und wirtschaftlichen Stärke,der Atomwaffen und auf den Gebieten Kultur, Wissenschaft,Weltraumforschung, Bildung sowie der wirtschaftlichenAussichten für den Durchschnittsbürger; Bedeutung einerMondlandung; Sowjetbürger oder Amerikaner als erster auf demMond; vermutete Bedeutung der Weltraumforschung für diemilitärische Entwicklung; Einstellung zu einem vereinten Europaund zu einem Beitritt Großbritanniens zum Gemeinsamen Markt;präferierte Beziehung eines vereinten Europas zu denVereinigten Staaten; gerechter Anteil an den angenehmen Dingendes Lebens; fehlende Anstrengung oder Schicksal als Gründe fürArmut; allgemeine Lebenszufriedenheit; perzipierte Zuwachsrateder Bevölkerung im Lande und Präferenz für Bevölkerungszuwachs;Einstellung zu einem Anwachsen der Weltbevölkerung; präferierteMaßnahmen zur Bekämpfung einer Überbevölkerung; Einstellung zueinem Geburtenkontrollprogramm in den Entwicklungsländern undim eigenen Lande; gegenwärtige Politikeridole in Europa und inder übrigen Welt; Einstellung zur Abrüstung; Vertrauen in dieBündnispartner; Bekanntheitsgrad der Nato und Einschätzungihrer derzeitigen Stärke; Einstellung zu einer europäischenAtomstreitmacht; gewünschte und eingeschätzte Loyalität derAmerikaner gegenüber den Nato-Bündnispartnern; Einschätzung derEntwicklung der UNO; gleiches Mitspracherecht für alleUNO-Mitglieder; gewünschte Verteilung der UNO-Finanzlasten;Einstellung zu einer Aufnahme Rotchinas in die VereintenNationen; Kenntnisse über Kämpfe in Vietnam; Einstellung zumVietnamkrieg; Einstellung zum Verhalten Amerikas, Rotchinas undder Sowjetunion in diesem Konflikt; Einstellung zum Rückzugamerikanischer Truppen aus Vietnam und präferierte Haltung deseigenen Landes in diesem Konflikt und im Falle eines Konfliktesmit Rotchina; Beurteilung der Behandlung von Farbigen inGroßbritannien, Amerika und der Sowjetunion; Beurteilung deramerikanischen Bundesregierung und der amerikanischenBevölkerung in bezug auf die Gleichberechtigung für Neger;Bekanntheitsgrad der chinesischen Atombombenversuche;Auswirkungen dieses Versuchs auf die militärische StärkeRotchinas; Einstellung zu amerikanischen Privatinvestitionen inder Bundesrepublik; einflußreichste Gruppen und Organisationenim Lande; Parteipräferenz; Religiosität. Interviewerrating: Schichtzugehörigkeit des Befragten. Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: Anzahl der Kontaktversuche;Interviewdatum. Opinion on questions concerning security policy. East-West comparison. Topics: Satisfaction with the standard of living; attitude to France,Great Britain, Italy, USA, USSR, Red China and West Germany; preferredEast-West-orientation of one´s own country and correspondence ofnational interests with the interests of selected countries; judgementon the American, Soviet and Red Chinese peace efforts; judgement on theforeign policy of the USA and the USSR; trust in the foreign policycapabilities of the USA; the most powerful country in the world,currently and in the future; comparison of the USA with the USSRconcerning economic and military strength, nuclear weapons and theareas of culture, science, space research, education as well as theeconomic prospects for the average citizen; significance of a landingon the moon; Soviet citizen or American as first on the moon; assumedsignificance of space research for military development; attitude to aunited Europe and Great Britain´s joining the Common Market; preferredrelation of a united Europe to the United States; fair share of thepleasant things of life; lack of effort or fate as reasons for poverty;general contentment with life; perceived growth rate of the country´spopulation and preference for population growth; attitude to the growthof the population of the world; preferred measures againstover-population; attitude to a birth control program in the developingcountries and in one´s own country; present politician idols in Europeand in the rest of the world; attitude to disarmament; trust in thealliance partners; degree of familiarity with the NATO and assessmentof its present strength; attitude to a European nuclear force; desiredand estimated loyalty of the Americans to the NATO alliance partners;evaluation of the development of the UN; equal voice for all members ofthe UN; desired distribution of the UN financial burdens; attitude toan acceptance of Red China in the United Nations; knowledge aboutbattles in Vietnam; attitude to the Vietnam war; attitude to thebehavior of America, Red China and the Soviet Union in this conflict;attitude to the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam andpreferred attitude of one´s own country in this conflict and in case ofa conflict with Red China; opinion on the treatment of colored peoplein Great Britain, America and the Soviet Union; judgement on theAmerican Federal Government and on the American population regardingthe equality of Negros; degree of familiarity with the Chinese nucleartests; effects of this test on the military strength of Red China;attitude to American private investments in the Federal Republic; themost influential groups and organizations in the country; partypreference; religiousness. Interviewer rating: social class of respondent. Additionally encoded were: number of contact attempts; date of interview.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Lithuania was estimated to be just under 780,000. Lithuania’s rate of population growth would remain largely unchanged in the 19th century, as the Russian Empire would slowly but gradually develop its border regions. While large numbers of Lithuanians would emigrate west-ward (largely to the United States) between 1867 and 1868 after a famine in the country, growth would remain largely uninterrupted until the beginning of the First World War in 1912, which would see Lithuania, like much of the Baltic region, devastated as the battleground between the German and Russian Empires. As the conflict spread, those who were not made to evacuate by orders from the Russian government would face economic turmoil under German occupation, and as a result, Lithuania’s population would fall from just under 2.9 million in 1910, to under 2.3 million by 1920.

While Lithuania’s population would start to grow once more following the end of the First World War, this growth would be short-lived, as economic turmoil from the Great Depression, and later occupation and campaigns of mass extermination in the Second World War, most notably the extermination of 95 to 97 percent of the country’s Jewish population in the Holocaust, would cause Lithuania’s population growth to stagnate throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In the years following the end of the Second World War, Lithuania’s population would steadily climb, as industrialization by the Soviet Union would lead to improved economic growth and access to health, and campaigns of mass immunization and vaccination would lead to a sharp decline in child mortality. As a result, by the 1990s, Lithuania would have a population of over 3.7 million. However, Lithuania’s population would rapidly decline in the years following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, as economic crises and mass emigration from the country, paired with sharp declines in fertility, would result in a dramatic reduction in population. As a result, in 2020, Lithuania is estimated to have a population of just over 2.7 million.

In 1800, the population of Latvia was approximately 591,000, a number which would grow steadily throughout the 19th century as reforms in agrarian law and steady improvements in standards of living and production allowed for a significant expansion in population. However, the population of Latvia would peak at just under 2.5 million in 1909, before falling sharply in the First World War. As the battlefield between the German and Russian Empires, Latvia and the other Baltic states were the site of widespread combat, attacks on civilians, and scorched earth campaigns, devastating the country. Even many of those who did not lose their lives in the war were forced to evacuate under orders from the Russian Empire, leading hundreds of thousands to flea eastward. As a result, by the end of the First World War, the population of Latvia would fall to approximately 1.8 million, and would not recover to pre-war population levels until the 1980s.

Following the end of the First World War, Latvia's population would remain largely stagnant at this level, rising slightly before falling back down in the Second World War. However, population growth would increase rapidly in the post-war years, as rapid industrialization by the Soviet Union and sharp decreases in mortality as mass immunization and vaccination would allow for the population to return to pre-World War levels by the 1980s. Latvia's population would begin to decline rapidly with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, as significant unemployment and economic turmoil would lead large numbers of Latvians to migrate west to the European Union in search of work, particularly so following Latvia's inclusion into the Schengen Area in 2003. As a result, in 2020, Latvia is estimated to have a population of just under 1.9 million.

Over the course of the Second World War approximately 127.2 million people were mobilized. The world's population in 1940 was roughly 2.3 billion, meaning that between five and six percent of the world was drafted into the military in some capacity. Approximately one in every 25 people mobilized were women, who generally served in an administrative or medical role, although hundreds of thousands of women did see active combat. Largest armies In absolute numbers, the Soviet Union mobilized the largest number of people at just under 34.5 million, and this included roughly 35 percent of the USSR's male population. By the war's end, more Soviets were mobilized than all European Axis powers combined. However, in relative terms, it was Germany who mobilized the largest share of its male population, with approximately 42 percent of men serving. The USSR was forced to find a balance between reinforcing its frontlines and maintaining agricultural and military production to supply its army (in addition to those in annexed territory after 1941), whereas a large share of soldiers taken from the German workforce were replaced by workers drafted or forcibly taken from other countries (including concentration camp prisoners and PoWs). Studying the figures The figures given in these statistics are a very simplified and rounded overview - in reality, there were many nuances in the number of people who were effectively mobilized for each country, their roles, and their status as auxiliary, collaborative, or resistance forces. The British Empire is the only power where distinctions are made between the metropole and its colonies or territories, whereas breakdowns of those who fought in other parts of Asia or Africa remains unclear. Additionally, when comparing this data with total fatalities, it is important to account for the civilian death toll, i.e. those who were not mobilized.

Throughout the 19th century, what we know today as Poland was not a united, independent country; apart from a brief period during the Napoleonic Wars, Polish land was split between the Austro-Hungarian, Prussian (later German) and Russian empires. During the 1800s, the population of Poland grew steadily, from approximately nine million people in 1800 to almost 25 million in 1900; throughout this time, the Polish people and their culture were oppressed by their respective rulers, and cultural suppression intensified following a number of uprisings in the various territories. Following the outbreak of the First World War, it is estimated that almost 3.4 million men from Poland served in the Austro-Hungarian, German and Russian armies, with a further 300,000 drafted for forced labor by the German authorities. Several hundred thousand were forcibly resettled in the region during the course of the war, as Poland was one of the most active areas of the conflict. For these reasons, among others, it is difficult to assess the extent of Poland's military and civilian fatalities during the war, with most reliable estimates somewhere between 640,000 and 1.1 million deaths. In the context of present-day Poland, it is estimated that the population fell by two million people in the 1910s, although some of this was also due to the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed in the wake of the war.

Poland 1918-1945

After more than a century of foreign rule, an independent Polish state was established by the Allied Powers in 1918, although it's borders were considerably different to today's, and were extended by a number of additional conflicts. The most significant of these border conflicts was the Polish-Soviet War in 1919-1920, which saw well over 100,000 deaths, and victory helped Poland to emerge as the Soviet Union's largest political and military rival in Eastern Europe during the inter-war period. Economically, Poland struggled to compete with Europe's other powers during this time, due to its lack of industrialization and infrastructure, and the global Great Depression of the 1930s exacerbated this further. Political corruption and instability was also rife in these two decades, and Poland's leadership failed to prepare the nation for the Second World War. Poland had prioritized its eastern defenses, and some had assumed that Germany's Nazi regime would see Poland as an ally due to their shared rivalry with the Soviet Union, but this was not the case. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, in the first act of the War, and the Soviet Union launched a counter invasion on September 17; Germany and the Soviet Union had secretly agreed to do this with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August, and had succeeded in taking the country by September's end. When Germany launched its invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 it took complete control of Poland, which continued to be the staging ground for much of the fighting between these nations. It has proven difficult to calculate the total number of Polish fatalities during the war, for a variety of reasons, however most historians have come to believe that the figure is around six million fatalities, which equated to almost one fifth of the entire pre-war population; the total population dropped by four million throughout the 1940s. The majority of these deaths took place during the Holocaust, which saw the Nazi regime commit an ethnic genocide of up to three million Polish Jews, and as many as 2.8 million non-Jewish Poles; these figures do not include the large number of victims from other countries who died after being forcefully relocated to concentration camps in Poland.

Post-war Poland

The immediate aftermath of the war was also extremely unorganized and chaotic, as millions were forcefully relocated from or to the region, in an attempt to create an ethnically homogenized state, and thousands were executed during this process. A communist government was quickly established by the Soviet Union, and socialist social and economic policies were gradually implemented over the next decade, as well as the rebuilding, modernization and education of the country. In the next few decades, particularly in the 1980s, the Catholic Church, student groups and trade unions (as part of the Solidarity movement) gradually began to challenge the government, weakening the communist party's control over the nation (although it did impose martial law and imprison political opponent throughout the early-1980s). Increasing civil unrest and the weakening of Soviet influence saw communism in Poland come to an end in the elections of 1989. Throughout the 1990s, Poland's population growth stagnated at around 38.5 million people, before gradually decreasing since the turn of the millennium, to 37.8 million people in 2020. This decline was mostly due to a negative migration rate, as Polish workers could now travel more freely to Western Europea...

This statistic shows the total population of the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from 1950 to 2020. Although the populations are quite different, all three countries followed a relatively similar trend throughout the last seventy years. Each country's population was devastated during the Second World War, Lithuania losing over 14 percent of the population, and Latvia and Estonia losing 12.5 percent and 7.3 percent respectively. In 1950 the populations were at around one, two and 2.5 million people respectively, and all three populations grew steadily until 1990 (although Estonia's grew at a slower rate than the other two countries). Independence movements After the Second World War the three Baltic states were incorporated into the Soviet Union, but when the Soviet economy began failing in the 1980s these states became increasingly dissatisfied with Soviet policies in the region. With growing nationalism in the area, the countries coordinated peaceful protests aimed at restoring independence to the region, in what would become known as the Singing Revolution, which involved a human chain that involved approximately 2 million people and stretched for over 675 kilometers connecting the three capital cities. Large declines following independence Within two years of the revolution all three countries became independent from the Soviet Union, and this change coincides with the drops in population of all three countries. By 1995 the populations of each country had dropped, and at a faster rate in Estonia and Latvia than in Lithuania. This decline has continued for the past 30 years, with the numbers falling at every five year interval for each country. By 2020, Estonia's population will have dropped by almost 240 thousand people, Latvia's by over 770 thousand, and Lithuania's by almost one million. The fall of the Soviet Union, combined with the Baltic nations joining the EU in 2004, meant that emigration was much easier and many from the Baltics went to Western Europe in search of work. Along with a declining natural birth rate, the populations of each country have been in steady decline and this trend is expected to continue into the next few decades, although new figures do suggest some growth for Estonia.

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Germany was split into four zones, each administered by France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union respectively. In 1949, the Soviet-controlled zone formed the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), while the rest became the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In this time, Berlin was also split into four zones, and the three non-Soviet zones formed West Berlin, which was a part of West Germany (although the West's administrative capital was moved to Bonn). One population grows, while the other declines Between 1949 and 1961, an estimated 2.7 million people migrated from East to West Germany. East Germany had a communist government with a socialist economy and was a satellite state of the Soviet Union, whereas West Germany was a liberal democracy with a capitalist economy, and western autonomy increased over time. Because of this difference, West Germany was a much freer society with more economic opportunities. During the German partition, the population of the west grew, from 51 million in 1950 to 62.7 million in 1989, whereas the population of East Germany declined from 18.4 million to just 16.4 million during this time. Little change after reunification In 1989, after four decades of separation, the process of German reunification began. The legal and physical barriers that had split the country were removed, and Germans could freely travel within the entire country. Despite this development, population growth patterns did not change. The population of the 'new states' (East Germany) continued to decline, whereas the population of the west grew, particularly in the 1990s, the first decade after reunification. The reasons for this continued imbalance between German population in the east and west, is mostly due to a low birth rate and internal migration within Germany. Despite the fact that levels of income and unemployment in the new states have gotten closer to those reported for the west (a major obstacle after reunification), life and opportunities in the west continue to attract young Germans from rural areas in the east with detrimental effect on the economy and demography of the new states.

Over the course of the long nineteenth century, Estonia's population almost tripled, from 0.33 million in 1800, to over one million at the outbreak of the First World War. Throughout this time, Estonia was a part of the Russian Empire, however Germany then annexed the region during the First World War; when the German army eventually retreated in 1918, Estonian forces prevented Russia from re-taking the area in the Estonian War of Independence, and an independent Estonian Republic was gradually established between 1918 and 1920. Relative to its size and population, Estonia developed into a prosperous and peaceful nation in the interwar period, and Estonian language and culture thrived, although political stability proved difficult for the Baltic state.

Estonia in WWII Estonia's independence was short lived, as the country was then annexed by the Soviet Union as part of the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviets. The invasion was achieved with little-to-no conflict, as Estonia capitulated when faced with the vastly superior military and navy of the Soviet Union. Annexation became official in June 1940; a puppet, communist government was quickly established, and many military and political rivals were imprisoned or executed under Soviet control. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union the following year, they quickly took control of Estonia, but simply replaced the Soviet Union's rule with their own, and did not grant re-establish sovereignty as many Estonians had expected or hoped for. By the war's end, Estonia suffered approximately 83,000 deaths at the hands of the Soviet Union and Germany, with almost 50,000 of these civilian deaths, and the rest were fatalities of Estonian soldiers who were forced to fight in other nations' armies.

Post-war Estonia Following the war, Estonia remained under Soviet control, and between 1950 and 1990, the population of Estonia grew steadily, from 1.1 million to almost 1.6 million. In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Estonia established a rapid, but peaceful independence in 1991; and the population dropped by roughly ten percent by the end of the century. This was mostly due to non-Estonians returning to their country or region of origin, although a wave of Estonian emigration soon followed. Estonia joined the European Union in 2004, and from 2000 until 2015, Estonia's population continued to fall, reaching just 1.3 million people in 2015. Recent years, however, have seen a reversal in this trend, with limited growth since 2015; although demographers predict that Estonia's population will drop below one million people in the next half-century. The past three decades have marked the longest continuous period in the past 800 years, where the region of Estonia was not under German, Polish, Russian or Scandinavian control.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Hungary was approximately 3.3 million, a figure which would steadily rise in the first two decades of the 19th century, as modernization driven by rising exports of cash crops resulting from the ongoing Napoleonic wars would see Hungary become a major exporter in Europe. The slowing in population growth in the 1920s can be attributed in part to the economic recession which hit Hungary in the years following Napoleon defeat, as a grain prices collapsed, and economic hardship intensified in the country. Hungary would see a small increase in population growth in the 1860s, as the country would merge with the Austria to form Austria-Hungary in 1967. As industrialization would continue to accelerate in Hungary, the country’s population rise even further, reaching just over seven million by 1900.

While Hungary had enjoyed largely uninterrupted growth throughout the 19th century, the first half of the 20th century would see several major disruptions to Hungary’s population growth. Growth would slow greatly in the First World War, as Austria-Hungary would find itself one of the largest combatants in the conflict, losing an estimated 1.8 to 2 million people to the war. Hungary’s population would flatline entirely in the 1940s, as the country would see extensive military losses in the country’s invasion of the Soviet Union alongside Germany, and further loss of civilian life in the German occupation of the country and subsequent deportation and mass-murder of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews. As a result, Hungary’s population would remain stagnant at just over nine million until the early 1950s.

After remaining stagnant for over a decade, Hungary’s population would spike greatly in the early 1950s, as a combination of a tax on childlessness and strict contraception restrictions implemented by then-Minister of Public Welfare Anna Ratkó would lead to a dramatic expansion in births, causing Hungary’s population to rise by over half a million in just five years. However, this spike would prove only temporary, as the death of Stalin in 1953 and subsequent resignation of much of the Stalinist regime in Hungary would see an end to the pro-natalist policies driving the spike. From 1980 onward, however, Hungary’s population would begin to steadily decline, as a sharp reduction in birth rates, combined with a trend of anti-immigrant policies by the Hungarian government, both before and after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, has led Hungary’s population to fall steadily from its 10.8 million peak in 1980, and in 2020, Hungary is estimated to have a population of just over nine and a half million.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Slovakia was estimated to be just over two million, a figure which would grow steadily throughout the 19th century as part of the kingdom of Hungary and later under the dual kingdom of Austria-Hungary. This growth would continue even throughout the first half of the 20th century, as the country would largely escape conflict in both the First and Second World Wars. As a result, Slovakia’s population would rise to just under three and a half million by 1950.

Slovakia’s population would begin to rapidly increase in the years following the Second World War, however, as the country would experience both a baby boom and large-scale modernization and industrialization as part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. After slowing somewhat in the late 1960s, population growth would increase once more in the 1970s and 1980s, as Slovakia would become the first of the Soviet republics to begin the “normalization” process of reforms brought about by the Soviet perestroika (restructuring) movement. While population growth would largely flatline following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, unlike many former Soviet republics who saw their populations decline as net emigration rose, Slovakia’s population has managed to avoid declining, and in the 2010s, has even begun to rise again. As a result, in 2020, Slovakia is estimated to have a population of just under five and a half million.