The population of Irkutsk and its dynamics by years. Ethnic communities of the city

Irkutsk is the largest city in Siberia, located 60 kilometers from the famous Lake Baikal. What is the population of Irkutsk? How has it changed over the years? Representatives of which nations and nationalities inhabit this city today?

City of Irkutsk: population and area

Irkutsk is a large East Siberian city on the banks of the Angara River. It is an important educational center of the country with a large number of cultural and architectural monuments. Irkutsk is a historical city. Its central part in the near future can be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The city covers an area of 277 square kilometers. The population of Irkutsk is about 625 thousand people (as of 2016). Thus, the density of the population in the city is 2250 people / sq. Km of area.

In the immediate vicinity there are two more cities: Shelekhov and Angarsk. Together with Irkutsk they form the so-called Irkutsk agglomeration, in which about 40% of the total population of the region is concentrated. The agglomeration began to form in the second half of the twentieth century. The population of Irkutsk, together with these two satellite cities, is 1.1 million people.

Administrative city consists of four territorial units - districts (Sverdlovsk, Oktyabrsky, Leninsky and Pravoberezhny). The most populated Sverdlovsk district. More than 200 thousand people live here.

How did the population of the city change?

Irkutsk was founded in the second half of the XVII century. If you believe the "Scribe book" for 1686, the first inhabitants of the city were immigrants from various places of the empire. So, among them were Muscovites, natives of Ustyug, Pinega, Yeniseisk, Pskov and even one Ukrainian. In the last year of the XVII century the population of Irkutsk was already 1000 people.

Thanks to its favorable geographical position, the city grew and developed very quickly. In the middle of the XIX century there were about 25 thousand inhabitants in Irkutsk, and by the end of the same century their number almost doubled. The maximum jump in the population in Irkutsk was observed in the 30s of the twentieth century. At that time the city "recruited" about 20 thousand people annually.

The maximum population of the city was recorded in 1991 - 641 000 people. During the crisis of the 90's and in the first eight years of the new millennium, it declined. But since 2009 the population of Irkutsk has been growing steadily.

Ethnic communities of Irkutsk

The city has always been distinguished by the rather heterogeneous ethnic structure of its population. The most numerous nationality in Irkutsk are Russians (85%). Behind them go Buryats, which here are just over 2%. Ethnos, whose number in Irkutsk exceeds 2000 people, are Ukrainians, Tatars, Kirghiz, Azeris and Armenians.

The Poles appeared in the city in the 1860s. Among them there were many scientists and talented cultural figures. It was with the money of the Polish community in Irkutsk in 1881 that the most beautiful neo-Gothic church was built of red brick. To this day, the Polish cultural center "Ognivo" operates in the city.

Two ethnic communities - Jews and Poles - left a big mark in the history and culture of the city. In the middle of the XIX century a rather powerful colony of Jews was formed in Irkutsk. They compactly settled within the modern street of Karl Liebknecht. Irkutsk Jews were mainly engaged in trade, industry and medicine. By the way, it was here that the well-known ophthalmologist, professor of Jewish origin ZG lived and worked. Franz-Kamenetsky.