On demographic consequences of the Great Patriotic War for the peoples of Yakutia

Based on the materials of the All-Union Population Censuses of 1939 and 1959, this article reveals the impact of the Great Patriotic War on the age-gender composition of the Yakut and the Russian population of the republic, as well as the Evenki and the Even. When comparing the age groups based on the data of the All-Union Population censuses of 1939 and 1959, the losses of the Yakut population are estimated at 84.5 thousand people, which is a third of its population in 1939. And this figure of 84.5 thousand people are the losses that took place during the Great Patriotic War and afterwards (due to severe injuries, impaired health), and losses due to natural decline (natural mortality) and insignificant migration outflow. The number of representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North, Evenki and Even, also significantly decreased. The war had a negative impact on the demography of the Russian population of the republic as well, despite its intense migration movement. In general, the loss of population during the Great Patriotic War entailed a deformation of the demographic composition of all peoples inhabiting the RSFSR. Human losses led to a reduced share of the most able-bodied, demographically promising groups in the age structure of the Russian population.