All Russia census 2010

Today we took part in our first ever Russian Census. I must admit I was quite looking forward to the experience. Then after the fact it was a little anti-climactic.

This was the first Russian census since 2002. The previous census was held in 1989. So it can be a long time between drinks. I have mined Russian census statistics in the past to get a better understanding of the Siberian peoples who live here.

It was worth taking part in the census first hand to see the kinds of questions that are asked. And there aren't very many. In a recent conversation with our taxi driver, he told us that the results will be available in six weeks. I was staggered by the efficiency that he forecast. I explained that when we have a census in Australia, the results are not published until a full year later.  But when there are very few questions, it is easier to see why the count comes in so quickly.

A woman came into our living room. We did not fill out any forms, she filled them out. She asked us about each person.

1) Are you a citizen?

2) Do you live here?

3) Name, date of birth.

4) Place of birth.

5) Nationality. ****

6) Citizenship.

7) Languages spoken.

8) Native language.

9) When we arrived in Krasnoyarsk.

10) How long we have lived in Russia.

11) Are we married? Is our marriage resgistered?

12) Do you have a home telephone? (no such question about mobiles though)

13) Do you have the internet connected at home?

From memory that is about all of the questions. It's a while since I have taken part in an Australian census. Although they are held every 5 years, the last was in 2006 and we were already in Russia at that point. But I do know that there is an extensive list of questions. A notable omission in the Russian census in my opinion is a question about religion. Surely this is important in understanding communities around the country.

The question of Nationality is curious. The question was not "what is your ethnicity", but "what is your nationality." From an indigenous person's point of view the question could easily lead to the answer of Russian, instead of their ethnicity. This is important, because minority peoples are only funded and taken notice of, from census results.

I was tempted to answer "Evenki" to languages spoken, but did not feel I have enough command of it yet. I was also tempted to say I am Siberian, but when the question came out as Nationality it felt silly to say anything other than Australian. Never mind the fact that I am English/ Irish/ German by ethnicity.

There is a movement in Siberia for people to say they are Siberian. If the numbers are large enough then they will be recognised as a separate ethnicity and be afforded greater rights by Moscow. This is significant considering how far we are from Moscow. Russia after all is the largest country on earth.

I'll be on the look out the for results in six weeks time.