Spatial Aspects of Development of the Ethno-Contact Zone in Karelia

Abstract

The significant diversity of ethnic dynamics in Karelia at the level of its districts is of interest from the standpoint of the concept of ethno-contact zones being developed in the national science. The aim of the study is to classify the districts of Karelia on the basis of the concept of ethno-contact zones according to the peculiarities of the dynamics of the titular population for three periods: from 1933 to 1959, from 1959 to 1989 and from 1989 to 2010. The article carried out approbation of the methodology of identifying the phases of development of ethno-contact zones at the intra-regional level. In total, eight types of ethnic dynamics have been identified, corresponding to positive or negative values in the change in the share of titular population (waves of titularization and detitulization) and four phases of development of ethno-contact zones (initial, growth of contact, beginning of dissolution and complete dissolution). In the period from 1933 to 1959, most districts of the republic entered the initial phase of dissolution of the ethno-contact zone on the wave of detitulization of the population. In the period from 1959 to 1989, in the northern part of the republic, there was a belt of districts, passing to the complete dissolution of the ethno-contact zone. In the period from 1989 to 2010, all eastern districts of Karelia and northern Ladoga were in the phase of complete dissolution of the ethno-contact zone. The districts in the western part of the republic retained the type of ethnic dynamics corresponding to the beginning of dissolution of the ethno-contact zone. Throughout all three periods, Olonetskiy district, located in the south of the republic, demonstrated a type of ethnic dynamics atypical for Karelia. In 2010, it remained the only district of the Republic of Karelia where the share of the titular ethnic group exceeded half of the population.