Demographics
Birth rate: Quite high at 13.77 (2004), but still there were more deaths than births (2005 official figures).
The population were mostly Russians and Buryats, along with some Ukrainians and a few Evenks. There were 1,000 Jews, who mostly speak Yiddish in the regional capital. According to the 2002 census, Russians made up 89.8% of the population while Buryats were 6.1%. Other significant groups were Tatars (0.71%), Armenians (0.31%), Belarusians (0.26%), Azeri (0.18%), Evenks (0.13%), Nemts (0.11%), Chuvash (0.11%), Bashkirs (0.11%), Moldvin (0.07%), Mordvin (0.06%), Uzbek (0.06%) and Dargwa (0.05%).
In 2007, Chita Oblast recorded a small natural population increase (+0.03% without taking any migration into account), becoming one of the only two Russian federal subjects to reverse its population decline in 2007. The other federal subject was Kamchatka Oblast, with a NGPR of +0.005%. Chita Oblast is one of only twenty Russian federal subjects to have a +ve natural growth of population. But population of Chita actually decreased in 2007 due to very heavy emigration.
Vital Statistics for 2007: Source
- Birth Rate: 14.63 per 1000
- Death Rate: 14.33 per 1000
- Net Immigration: -3.2 per 1000
- NGR: +0.03% per Year
- PGR: -0.29% per Year
Read more about this topic: Chita Oblast