Demographic Crisis in Russia - Essay Example

The recent Russian demographic trends caused a widespread public concern. Russia has been encountering abnormally high death rates since 1992 (Anderson, 2002). Life expectancy has been on a precipitous drop especially for the working-age males. The fertility rate of Russia is among the Worlds smallest, while abortion rates are at the highest making the annual number of deaths exceed the number of births. The population in Russia is aging rapidly, and this trend may accelerate in the next decades (Rowntree, Lewis, Price, & Wyckoff, 2012). Additionally, immigration is increasing, and this poses thorny social and political problems for a country historically accustomed to the net outflow of people.

High death rates

The death rate in Russia is about 15 deaths per 1000 people in a year, which is above the worlds death rate range of fewer than 9. Alcohol-related deaths and emergencies are high in Russia. The life expectancy of Russians is therefore low as the World Health Organization estimates it to be 59 years for men and 72 years for women with the difference resulting from high rates of alcoholism in men.

Low Birth Rate

The high rates of alcoholism, climate change including high temperatures and economic hardships discourage women in Russia from giving birth. There is a little total fertility rate of 1.3 births per woman thus contributing to the declining population.

Immigration

There is low immigration into Russia. The immigrants are mainly a trickle of the ethnic Russians moving out of the former republics of Soviet Union. In 2001, the net immigration offset the natural decrease 8 percent, meaning that population fell by 820,000. The slowing migration does not compensate the surplus of deaths over the births.

Abortion

Women are using abortion as a birth control method. In Russia, the number of abortions is higher than that of births. In 2004 for example, 1.6 million women did abortions while the deliveries were at 1.5 million.

Christian revival and Russian demographic crisis

Christian revival is thought to bring about the salvation of the Western Civilization. In my opinion, the problem of demographic crisis can end through the Christian resurgence. The crisis resulted from the mass immigration of the non-Europeans, increased abortions, Low birth rates, and lower life expectancy especially for men because of alcoholism. By a Christian revival, people will follow Christian ethics which will help solve the problem.

Cultural Geography of Central Asia

Religion both divides and unifies the people of a specific region. In Central Asia, religions that exist include Twelver Islam (Shia), Shia Ismaili, Zaydi Islam, Sufism, Tengriism, Nestorian, Russian Orthodox, Burkharan Jews, and Buddhism. Majority of the population are Muslims (Rowntree, Lewis, Price, & Wyckoff, 2008). Most of them belong to the Sunni Islam branch which believes that leadership must be in the hands of the Islamic community at large. Islamic religion dominated the central Asia for almost 1,300 years although Islam was in Central Asia essentially outlawed as it was part of Soviet Union. Although Islam did not vanish entirely, there was a reduction in its influence. The Soviet Unions collapse awakened the desire of the Muslims in Central Asia to rejoin the greater world of Muslims. Given an opportunity, they would rediscover Islam.

Though living under the communism for over seven decades changed the Central Asias Muslims, and to date, these Muslims are different from the others. Arguably, the government of Central Asia continues to provide best-recruiting motivations for the potential Islamic radicals. Unemployment, poor living standards, corruption, and injustice are issues that antigovernment groups tap (Khalid, 2014). The Central Asian Government clumsily tries to control Islam, a unifier for the social discontent. Although Christianity and Judaism originated from this region, their followers only represent a small percent. In 2013, Christianity was to turn out to be the official state religion in the US. The survey used 1,000 participants, and 34% supported the establishment of Christianity as the official state religion in the US. In 2014, 70.6% of the Americans were Christian. I would recommend the advocacy for a theocracy based on Christianity in the US. A society where the leaders hold the Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other is healthy. Godly men in positions of power can bring salvation to the nation. Godly leaders bring with them justice, love, and not the human rulers authority.

References

Anderson, B. A. (2002). Russia faces depopulation? Dynamics of population decline. Population & Environment, 23(5), 437-464.

Khalid, A. (2014). Islam after communism: religion and politics in Central Asia. University of California Press.

Rowntree, L., Lewis, M., Price, M., & Wyckoff, W. (2012). Diversity Amid globalization. World Regions.

Rowntree, L., Lewis, M., Price, M., & Wyckoff, W. (2008). Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment. Development.