THE MAIN TENDENCIES OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF CITIES IN THE TRANS-BAIKAL TERRITORY

In this paper, city-status settlements of the Trans-Baikal Territory are considered. The Trans-Baikal Territory is a territorial entity of the Russian Federation located in the south of Asian part of Russia. Cities of the Trans-Baikal Territory are economic and cultural centres of regions; they play an important role in development and support of the surrounding territory. In this paper, demographic, migration, social and economic conditions of the cities are reviewed. The analysis of conditions in cities has been performed on the basis of statistical data collected from the administrations of the cities of the region and other published statistical materials on the basis of a comparative geographical method, as well as a review of the literature. The generality of tendencies in the social and economic situation and regional peculiarities of cities are shown. In all cities of the region there is a decrease in the population. The paper concludes that, by now, the issue of migration loss is the strategically important development problem in the Trans-Baikal Territory.