Mishchuk S.N., Alekseev A.I. Population of two villages of the Jewish Autonomous Region: statistics and reality. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 5, Geografiya. 2022;(2):133-138. (In Russ.)

Abstract

Statistical data and the actual population numbers were compared in two villages (RS) of the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR). One of them (Waldheim) is the center of a rural settlement, the second (Krasivoe) belongs to peripheral settlements. Official statistical data, as well as data provided by the administration of rural settlements, were taken as an information base on the population size and dynamics of migration processes. Official sources are supplemented by the results of questioning of local residents and experts in August 2021. It is noted that the migration outflows are recorded for both RSs. It is partially compensated by the inflow in the suburban RS, but there is no inflow to the remote RS. The bulk of immigrants to Waldheim RS are middle-aged families moving from other, more remote villages of the JAR, as well as from the town of Birobidzhan. As a result of the study, it has been shown that the accuracy of statistical accounting of the population is higher in the suburban village and much lower in the remote one. This is due to the fact that the outflow of population from the suburban village is relatively low, and that from the remote one is much larger-scale. The structure of emigrants in the considered RSs is different. The majority of those who left the Waldheim RS are young people after graduating from the secondary school; middle-aged families and the elderly people rank second and third. The migration decline in population in the peripheral Krasivoe RS is associated with the departure of families with school-age children. The percentage of school graduates among those moved out is insignificant due to their small numbers. The comparison of two RSs with different population numbers results in conclusion that a small population provides for serious distortions of statistics in assessing the migration loss of population. Thus, the population of the suburban village is more permanent and official data are more consistent with the actual data. The reliability of statistical data largely depends on the population numbers in a RS rather than on its status.