FOI-R--3990--SE_reducerad

FOI-R--3990--SE
The Russian diaspora is a potentially strong factor in Russian policy not only in
the post-Soviet space, but also globally. It is estimated that there are 30 million
Russians living outside Russian territory. 368 In the Baltic states alone, there are
over one million Russians. However, Lithuania – the biggest of the Baltic states
by population – has the smallest Russian minority. According to the latest
census, there are about 177,000 Russians in Lithuania, 369 some 324,000 in
Estonia 370 and about 531,000 in Latvia. 371 This means that Russia potentially has
a very strong political ally in Latvia and Estonia, but that the situation is different
in Lithuania. The Russian minority is not even the largest minority in the
country. There are about 200 000 Poles in Lithuania.
Table 4: Population of Lithuania, by ethnicity, statistical indicator and year 372
Total
Population at the beginning of the
year (000)
1979 1989 2001 2011
3 391.5 3 674.8 3 484.0 3 043.4
Percentage of total population 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Lithuanians
Population at the beginning of the
year (000)
2 712.2 2 924.3 2 907.3 2 561.3
Percentage of total population 80.0 79.6 83.5 84.1
Russians
Population at the beginning of the
year (000)
303.5 344.5 219.8 176.9
Percentage of total population 8.9 9.4 6.3 5.8
Poles
Population at the beginning of the
year (000)
247.0 258.0 235.0 200.3
Percentage of total population 7.3 7.0 6.7 6.6
It is not just the comparatively small and gradually shrinking size of the Russian
minority that is important. There are no strong linkages between Russian policies
and Lithuania’s Russian-speaking community. Lithuania has not one, but several
368 Intervyu direktora Departamenta po rabote s sootechestvennikami MID Rossii A.V. Chepurina.
“Vneshneekonomicheskiye svyazi” (March 2006).
369 See http://www.stat.gov.lt/.
370 See http://www.stat.ee/.
371 See http://www.csb.gov.lv/.
372 See Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania,
http://www.stat.gov.lt/en/.
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