Integration processes in the European north from the perspective of the interregional population migrations

Despite some positive consequences for Russia, the market reforms of the 1990s, resulted in the disruption of a number of inter-regional relations, increased disintegration and fragmentation processes in space, the formation of the so-called “economic benefit islands” at the national level, and the degradation of intra-regional centers of attraction. At the same time, the complex global political and geo-economic situation has exacerbated the need to develop interregional cooperation and strengthen the economic space coherence. Under these conditions, the factors of further socio-economic development of Russia are its internal sources, the effective use of which depends on the coherence of the national space, the intensity of economic resources movement in it, and so on. While for the Northern regions with their significant internal spatial heterogeneity, the coherence strengthening is of particular importance. The purpose of the article is to study the integration of the European North of Russia (ENR) from the perspective of the interregional migration flows. The authors use the monographic method, methods of analysis and synthesis, methods of economic-mathematical and statistical analysis. As a result, it was found that the observed decrease in the ENR subjects’ population in the post-Soviet period was due to significant scales of both natural and migration losses. It is determined that the increase in the degree of the European North integration into the economic space of the North-Western Federal District is associated not only with the active involvement of the ENR subjects in the migration flows of a larger economic region, but also with structural imbalances in the economy, the destruction of the established economic ties of the North, fragmentation and disintegration of the entire Russian space. The research results contribute to the development of ideas about the Northern territories’ spatial coherence and can be used by researchers in developing on similar topics, as well as by federal and regional authorities in developing strategies and programs for socio-economic and spatial development.