At 04:38 PM 11/15/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>[so is the demographic crisis passing?]
>
>CENSUS PRELIMINARY RESULTS: POPULATION OF RUSSIA IS 145 MILLION PEOPLE
>
>MOSCOW, November 15th, 2002. /From a RIA Novosti correspondent/. - Vladimir
>Zorin, head of the committee on nationalities, told Russian President
>Vladimir Putin on Friday that according to the preliminary results of the
>all Russian census the population of Russia is more than 145 mln. people.
>
>Mr. Zorin pointed out that experts had though it would be 143 mln. people.
>
>The head of the committee of nationalities affairs stressed that "despite
>all difficulties this country is facing now, its population is growing."
>According to him, the highest natality has been registered in the Central
>and South Federal constituencies, Moscow, Daghestan and Chechnya.
>
>After his meeting with the Russian President, Mr. Zorin said that Vladimir
>Putin had instructed the committee to specify federal programs taking into
>account the state concept of national policy. He also recalled that it had
>been adopted in 1996 and it did not take into account all changes that had
>occurred, in particular, migration.
>
>According to data of the State Committee of the Russian Federation on
>Statistics, about 7 mln. people entered Russia, 3 mln. people left the
>country and 27 mln people changed their residences inside the country in
>the last decade.