Ethnic composition of the urban population of the Chelyabinsk region based on the 1959 All-Union Census

Relevance. In the 1940s and 1950s, the national composition of the country and its regions was influenced by important socio-political, economic, demographic, and migration processes: the Great Patriotic War, the post-war restoration and development of the Soviet economy, and the repression and deportation of peoples. The changes that had taken place were reflected in a new census conducted on January 15, 1959. The study of its materials is especially important for a deeper understanding of the specifics of the ethnic development of regions both in the past and in the present, for the implementation of a scientifically based national policy in Russia.The purpose – – to determine the ethnodemographic composition of the urban population of the Chelyabinsk region, a large industrial region of the Urals, based on the 1959 census.Objectives: To identify changes in the national composition of the urban population of the Chelyabinsk region and the number of specific ethnic groups, in their distribution between urban and rural areas, in the process of assimilation of city residents; to establish the factors that influenced these transformations.Methodology. The methodological basis of the study was the theory of modernization, which is understood as a multifaceted process and includes transformations in the proportional relationship of the main ethnic groups, changes in the distribution of the population by national and linguistic affiliation. The problem posed in the article was studied using historical, statistical, and demographic methods based on the materials of the 1939 and 1959 censuses.Results. The 1959 census showed that the cities of the Chelyabinsk region retained their multi-ethnicity. Russians still predominated among the city's residents, but their share had decreased in favor of other nationalities. Most representatives of ethnic groups (with the exception of Bashkirs and Kazakhs) became urban residents, which led to an acceleration of the process of their assimilation. The growth of nationalities was driven primarily by migration. New diasporas began to form, consisting of people from the Caucasus and Central Asia.Conclusion. The 1959 census data showed significant shifts in the ratio of individual ethnic groups, but these shifts were not dramatic and could not destabilize interethnic relations among the citizens of the Chelyabinsk region.