Ethnodemographic processes in the Republic of Buryatia through the lens of student population census

The Republic of Buryatia is a unique region, the most multilingual and multiconfessional in the Russian Federation. The multinational people are the driving force of the regional development, and the entire way of life of the republic depends on the peaceful coexistence of the nations. It was not until fairly recently that the whole world, including the Republic of Buryatia, was propeled into a state of absolute confusion in the face of a new coronavirus infection. The population census took place in these difficult conditions. On the back of this we have made an attempt to analyze how the new restrictive conditions affected the perception of the population census procedure itself and what issues seemed most important to the most mobile and active part of our society - student youth. The sociological study reveals how young people evaluate interethnic and interconfessional relations in the region and identify themselves, whether the local regional identity is closer for them than the general Russian identity, and whether the native language is a key factor in their affiliation with one community or another. We present a perception of inter-ethnic relations by students of higher educational institutions through the lens of the population census.