Komis Declining in Number but Increasing Share of Their Republic’s Population

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 9 – In the current demographic situation of the Russian Federation where most national groups are declining in numbers because of birthrates below replacement level, those who decline less rapidly than others who may be leaving their homelands as well may actually see their percentage in their republics increase.

            That is happening in the Finno-Ugric Komi Republic where since 1989, the total population has fallen from 1.25 million to 715,000, but where over the same period, the share of Komis in the republic’s population has risen from 23 percent to 33 percent, not because the Komis have not declined but because others, predominantly Russian, have declined more.

            That does not mean that the Komis are about to become dominant, but it suggests that this Finno-Ugric nation has at least one reason to be more optimistic about its future than statistics about declining language use and the number of people declaring Komi as their native language might suggest (mariuver.eu/2026/04/09/procent-komi-rastet/).

            More immediately, the Komi Republic which has been among the most active in defending its environment against Moscow’s encroachment and calling for the restoration of the rights of republics may become even more active, a pattern that may also take place in other republics where the exodus of ethnic Russians makes the titular nation more important.

            This demographic pattern, which might be called a race to the bottom, is found in many Finno-Ugric areas and in some other non-Russian ones and may provide a basis for optimism at a time when the Kremlin is working so hard to destroy the non-Russians and when other statistics provide little encouragement about the future.