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Journalism of Courage
Russia’s population shrunk by another 87,500 in the first half of 2011 due to poor health care system and sharp decline in the living standards,a media report said.
The trend in the decline in Russia’s population continues since the Soviet collapse 20 years ago.
According to Interfax agency on July 1,2011 it stood at 142.8 million (14 crore 28 lakh).
In the Soviet era the population of the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic had a more than 147 million population.
In the first half of the current year,the number of newborns has declined to 8,42,600 against 8,68,800 in the period January-June 2010.
The overall collapse of the free medical care system and sharp decline in the living standards after the Soviet fragmentation has led to high mortality rate and low birth rate among the population due to bleak economic outlook in the transition to a market oriented economy from the totally state controlled system.
However,the social oriented programmes funded by the oil windfall and abundance of petrodollars under Putin-Medvedev rule have resulted in some improvement,although the shrinking population remains a major challenge to the state as it would
have to more and more depend on the growing number of immigrants.
