Kaliningrad's population: dynamics, characteristics, quality of life

Kaliningrad is a special city. Its history, geographical position, climate significantly distinguish it from other cities of Russia. Let's talk about the population of Kaliningrad, its demographic indicators and living conditions.

History of settlement

In the west of the Russian Federation there is a city that connects with the rest of the country only by sea. This semi-exclave is Kaliningrad. The settlement is located at the confluence of the Pregolis River in the Baltic Sea. A comfortable place on the riverbank has long been settled by people. The first settlers lived here in the Bronze Age. A permanent settlement appeared in the 6th century.

The history of the city is associated with different cultures: Germanic, Polish, Lithuanian. A significant role in the formation and development of the city was played by the Teutonic Order. Kaliningrad suffered many destructive wars, the most terrible of which was the Second World War. After it, the city became part of the Soviet Union and began a new life. The population of Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) has been growing throughout most of history, and this has been facilitated by an exceptionally convenient geographical position.

Climate and ecology

Despite the fact that Kaliningrad is located in the northern latitudes, here, thanks to the warm Gulf Stream stream, a comfortable temperature is maintained throughout the year. However, the peculiarity of this region is a rather high humidity, here for a year about 800 mm of precipitation falls. There is no heat and severe frost in Kaliningrad. In summer, the thermometer rises to an average of 18 degrees Celsius, in winter it goes down to 0 ...- 2 degrees.

Such mild weather conditions attracted residents to the region, due to which the population of Kaliningrad has steadily grown from century to century. And today the city is an attractive place for migrants. Despite the growing number of residents, the ecology in the city is within the norm. Of course, the increasing number of cars pollute the air, but in general this is not critical. In the city there are no harmful industries, so the water and air here are fairly clean.

Dynamics of the number

It is known that in 1897 162 thousand people lived in Koenigsberg. Regularly the population of Kaliningrad begins to be estimated since 1956, when there were 188,000 citizens. Since that time, the number of residents has grown steadily, a slight decline was observed in 1986. The decrease in the number of Kaliningraders was recorded from 2000 to 2009. After that the growth of the number of inhabitants is again noticed. Today Kaliningrad, whose population (2016) is 459 thousand people, is one of the most attractive places to move from other regions of the country and near abroad.

Demographic indicators

In recent years, the population of the city of Kaliningrad has increased mainly due to migrants. In the city for several years in a row, negative natural growth of residents is recorded. Kaliningrad clearly demonstrates the all-European tendency to increase the life expectancy of people and the aging of the population. Today, there are 722 disabled people (children and pensioners) for every thousand able-bodied citizens of Kaliningrad. Such a high pension load factor creates rather big problems for the city budget, and so far no solution has been found for them.

Economy and quality of life

Stable population growth is usually associated with a good quality of life. In Kaliningrad, the economic situation as a whole is quite prosperous, although the financial crisis is felt and there is a decline in production. Unemployment in the city is officially about 1%, but in reality there are more unemployed, problems with employment, especially for specialists with higher education, are available.

In the city there are two large enterprises: the wagon and shipbuilding plants, and the sphere of rendering services is also well developed. There is also a good social infrastructure: a sufficient number of hospitals, schools, leisure facilities. But the roads, according to the citizens, require additional attention, but this is an all-Russian problem. In general, Kaliningrad has a fairly high standard of living and therefore people from other regions are eager to come here. This leads to the fact that the population of Kaliningrad is steadily increasing, albeit at a small pace.