Russian population exceeds 145 million

Russia's population totals 145,100,000.

The data based on the preliminary results of the All-Russian census was cited on Friday by Russian Nationalities Minister Vladimir Zorin.

The minister said that the figures refuted the sceptic forecasts which said that the Russian population would not exceed 137 million. Zorin recalled that according to the latest census of 1989 there were 147 million people on Russian territory.

The minister reported that the census revealed a 2-million increase in the number of Muscovites who now make 10 million people. Apart from that, the Moscow region population has increased by 300,000 people, that in St. Petersburg by 150,000 and in the Leningrad region by 150,000 too.

According to Zorin, the population of the republics in the Southern federal district has increased 6 percent, mostly because of a population growth in the Caucasian republics.

Vladimir Zorin announced that the exact number of urban and rural population and the correlation between the number of men and women would be known in April-March.

Russia's national composition will be approximately known in autumn, and the socio-economic indices -- in December 2003.