Figure 5.17: Ethnic character of Russia and percentage of Russians in the post-Soviet states. Russia, with all of its internal republics and administrative regions, is formally called the Russian Federation. The ethnic character of many internal republics was changed by the policy of central planning, so Russians now form significant minorities in the republics. The pie charts for each country indicate the percentages of Russians in the post-Soviet states. In 2002, the ethnic makeup of Russia was 79.8 percent Russian, 3.8 percent Tatar, 2 percent Ukrainian, 1.2 percent Bashkir, 1.1 percent Chuvash, and 12.1 percent other.

[Sources consulted: James H. Bater, Russia and the Post-Soviet Scene (London: Arnold, 1996), pp. 280–281; Graham Smith, The Post-Soviet States (London: Arnold, 2000), p. 75; “Ethnic Groups,” The World Factbook 2012, Central Intelligence Agency, at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/fields/2075.html#rs]