ETHNOCULTURAL SPACE OF THE POST-SOVIET COUNTRIES: THE COMPONENTS OF THE TERRITORIAL STRUCTURE

Abstract

The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in a radical ethnic transformation, the study of which requires the development of its own tools in geography. Drawing on the concept of geocultural space and geo-ethnocultural systems, the article proposes a methodological tool for identifying the main components of the territorial structure of the ethnocultural space of post-Soviet countries. The method was tested based on the results of the 2009–2011 population census rounds. It allows taking into account the proportion of the Russians and the titular population of national-state entities simultaneously. In total, we have identified eight main components of the territorial structure of the ethnocultural space of post-Soviet countries. Three of them reveal the structure of the Russian geo-ethnocultural system in the main territory of residence of the Russian ethnos in Russia (Russian ethnic core, contact zone, and inner periphery). The remaining five components reflect the degree of manifestation of the ethnic nuclei of national geo-ethnocultural systems while taking into account the influence of the Russian geo-ethnocultural system on them. In particular, within Russia, some national autonomies proved to pertain to a category of regions with a clear dominance of the Russian geo-ethnocultural system.