The population of Kursk: history, strength, ethnic composition

The city of Kursk is one of the most important economic and transport centers of Russia. It is located south of the capital at 530 km. The main attraction of the city is its industrial complex, which is accompanied by a dozen scientific institutes. Today, Kursk is the most important transport hub of the entire central region of the country. The city received the name in honor of the river Kur.

History of settlement

The first communities in the city began to form in the beginning of the 5th century. A few hundred years later a large settlement appeared on the bank of the River Kur . Local residents mainly engaged in trade. Even then, Kursk was an important economic center of the region, which is why it attracted thousands of new settlers so much.

In 1095 the same princedom was founded here. During the reign of Izyaslav Monomakh, a powerful fortress appeared at the gate of the settlement. From the beginning of the 12th century the city was the most important outpost of all Kievan Rus. Handicraftsmen and merchants from all the principalities came here. With this, the urban population increased significantly. The population of Kursk in those days reached several thousand people.

In the middle of the 13th century, the city was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars. The remains of the principality were ruled by subjects of the Golden Horde. Gradually, the ethnic group of the Slavs began to dilute the Mongoloid race. At the end of the 14th century the region passed to the Lithuanian principality. However, until the 16th century the settlement was subjected to numerous raids by the Nogais and Tatars. The date of the revival of the city is 1586.

Administrative separation

Modern Kursk consists of 3 districts: Central, Seim and Zheleznodorozhny. It is noteworthy that until the spring of 1994 they carried the names of the Lenin, Industrial and Kirov districts, respectively.

The large population of Kursk is concentrated in the Central District. The number is about 214 thousand people. Back in the early 2000s, similar figures barely reached 180,000. One of the main reasons for the demographic growth is the expansion of the territory. Now the area covers an area of 85 square meters. Km. The share of children and adolescents here is about 35%.

The number of the Seim district varies within the limits of 150 thousand inhabitants. In contrast to the Central District, here the population is gradually decreasing. In comparison with 2000, there are almost 25 thousand people in the district now. A quarter of the holdings are occupied by park areas.

The population of the Railway district is about 70 thousand people. This is the smallest area of the city. Only in recent years, its demographic strength began to grow.

The population of Kursk

At the moment the number of local residents is about 435 thousand. According to this indicator, the city takes 41 place in the country. Every year, the death rate prevails over birth rate by about 15%. Recently, both indicators have grown significantly. As for the average life expectancy in the region, it is at around 70 years.

Today the population of Kursk is growing every day, but it was not always so. At the beginning of the 19th century, the population of the city was 23.5 thousand people. A century later the population of Kursk was already equated to 88 thousand. Nevertheless, in the early 1920s there was a gradual decline in demographic indicators. Almost 50% of its inhabitants left the city. Most of them moved to the main megacities of the country.

In the 1960s, the population of the city of Kursk was about 250 thousand people, and by the end of the 1990s - almost 2 times more. Decrease in indicators began to be marked with the onset of the new millennium. By 2008, the number fell by 12%. And only from the beginning of 2010 the demographic situation of the city began to improve.

Today in Kursk live mainly Russian, but also there are such nationalities as Ukrainians, Armenians, Byelorussians, Gypsies, Tatars, Turks, Lithuanians, Georgians, etc.

Population growth

In recent years, the population of the city of Kursk has inexorably grown. A positive trend is observed throughout the region. Only since 2009 the population of Kursk has grown by 25 thousand inhabitants. At the end of 2012, the number reached 423 thousand people. Thus, the population growth per year is about 1%.

A large part of the positive trend belongs to migrants. Mortality continues to outstrip fertility rates. However, newcomers support growing dynamics. Annually more than 10 thousand new residents are registered in the city. At the same time, he leaves the Kursk region 45% less. Thus, the migration increase every year is about 5,5 thousand people.

By January 2017, record numbers of the population are expected. The maximum number of residents in the history of the city was noted in 1998 - 441 thousand people.

Population of the region

At the end of the 19th century, the population of the administrative region was about 2.4 million people. At the same time, the population grew until the beginning of World War II. During the war years, the number fell significantly (by 50%).

Over the next years, demographic and migration indicators continue to bear a negative character. Every year the Kursk region loses up to 1% of the inhabitants. Today its population is no more than 1.1 million people.

According to the census, the majority of residents represent cities - almost 67%.

The dominant ethnic group is the Russians. Traditional worship is Orthodoxy.