Dynamics of the index of ethnic polarization in the republic of Russia in the context of the concept of ethnic contact zones

One of the new trends in ethnic dynamics in the post-Soviet period was the increase in the proportion of titular ethnic groups in the population of the national subjects of the Russian Federation. In this study, an attempt was made to consider the change in the share of the titular population of the modern republics of Russia through the prism of the concept of ethno-contact zones, for which the phases of development of ethno-contact zones were identified using one of the indicators of national heterogeneity of territories — the ethnic polarization index. The main research methods are statistical, graphic and cartographic. The result of the study was the classification of the republics of Russia according to the peculiarities of the dynamics of the titular ethnic groups in the period between the 1926 and 2021 censuses. In accordance with the positive or negative dynamics of the polarization index and the share of the titular peoples of the republics, the phases of the development of contact zones between the titular and non-titular populations were determined. According to the peculiarities of the dynamics of the share of titular peoples and the polarization index, three main groups of republics were distinguished. In general, the ethnic dynamics in the Russian republics in the second decade of the XXI century. indicates the beginning of the refraction of the indicated trend, which most clearly manifested itself at the beginning of the post-Soviet period. If between the 2002 and 2010 censuses the share of titular ethnic groups increased in fourteen republics, then between the 2010 and 2021 censuses — only at eight.