Maybe I missed it, but...

Submitted by Fay Voshell (United States), Feb 16, 2009 at 12:26

...there are gaps in the article.

There are at least two reasons for the precipitous decline in Russia's population which are not mentioned:

One is the abortion rate. There are 1.7 abortions for every live birth in Russia. The average Russian woman has three abortions during the time she is fertile. Seven to eight abortions is not uncommon. In addition to the high abortion rate, about 10-13% of Russian couples are infertile due to the consequences of abortion. Although recent restrictions have slowed abortion rates a bit, the state's abortion policies are still extremely liberal.

Next, the catasprophic loss of life under Communist rule totaled 61,000,000 souls. WWII saw the loss of another 20-25,000,000. A nation takes a long time to recuperate from such losses. Sometimes it never recovers. The Back Plague in Europe saw similar losses, and it took quite a while for Europe's population to recover.

On a side note, though not noticed by the media in general, the rise of evangelical Christianity within Russia has been a largely unmentioned and unoticed phenomenon, as has been the revitalization of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Fay Voshell

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