EVERYDAY LIFE AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROCESSES IN VIRGIN LANDS OF ORENBURG REGION

Abstract

The need for this research was caused by an attempt to determine deeper links between demography and everyday history, which are now being neglected by many researchers. The article studies the artiicially formed population group of virgin lands of the Orenburg (Chkalov) region in the irst decade of their development in the relationship of demographic processes and everyday life. The research considers the issues of gender relations caused by the disproportion of the sex ratio of the newcomers to the virgin lands, concludes the problems in the society as a consequence of the wrong demographic policy of the state. The social structure characterizing the form of coexistence of different national traditions in virgin territories is analyzed. The article characterizes the level of education, directly related to the needs of the level of organization of cultural life of the first ones who worked virgin land. The relationship between fertility, mortality, natural population growth, sex and age ratio, migration of the population with the level of readiness of material and living conditions in virgin lands is determined. Almost all demographic statistics are compared with the average Soviet, which allows one to determine the characteristics of demographic processes in the virgin lands. Thus, the conclusions about the previously unexplored impact of demographic processes on the daily life of the irst ones who worked on virgin land are made. For the first time, the social portrait of the newcomers to the virgin lands based on the investigated demographic data complex is deined. The special place in the research is given to the issues of re-emigrants from China who came to develop virgin and disused lands. Based on archival data, their gender, ethnic composition, level of education, needs and problems of relations with new settlers from other regions are analyzed. The comparative characteristic of demographic indicators of re-emigrants and the newcomers to the virgin lands from the regions and republics of the USSR is carried out. Conclusions about the determining role of re-emigrants in the process of formation of a new artificial social group on virgin lands in the irst few years of its development are made.