The Commonwealth of Independent States is an international treaty that was signed by part of the republics that became independent after the collapse of the USSR. The founders of the Commonwealth were three states: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The document was signed on December 8, 1991 and was ratified on December 10.
CIS members
To date, 11 countries have signed the agreement. Negotiations are underway to create a free economic zone with two states: Vietnam and New Zealand.
The collapse of the USSR is one of the most extraordinary events of the 20th century. Millions of people who were citizens of one country, who were able to freely move throughout its territory without obtaining visas and other documents, who had the right to live in peace in any city, suddenly became foreigners to their relatives and friends, because they were divided by the borders drawn by ambitious politicians . Not immediately, but rather soon, in many newly formed states, the national question arose sharply, sowing discord among the more recently friendly nations, provoking armed conflicts. Difficulties arose on economic grounds. To smooth out the emerging problems, the CIS was created.
For clarity, we put out information about the population of the CIS countries in the table:
the country | ratification of the contract, year | Charter ratification, year | FTA signing date, year | number of population | The number of employed population (age from 15 to 64 years), in% ratio to the total number of citizens of the country, end of 2016 |
Armenia | 1991 | 1993 | 2012 | 2 986 100 | 52.1 |
Belarus | 1991 | 1994 | 2012 | 9 491 823 | 55.5 |
Kazakhstan | 1991 | 1993 | 2012 | 18 157 078 | 73.7 |
Kyrgyzstan | 1992 | 1993 | 2013 | 6 140 200 | 60,4 |
Moldova | 1994 | 1994 | 2012 | 3 550 900 | 45,2 |
Russia | 1991 | 1993 | 2012 | 146 880 432 | 70.0 |
Tajikistan | 1991 | 1993 | 2015 | 8 991 725 | 42.0 |
Ukraine | 1991 | - | 2012 | 42 248 598 | 60.1 |
Uzbekistan | 1992 | 1993 | 2015 | 32 979 000 | 59.7 |
Turkmenistan | 1991 | - | - | 5,490,563 | - |
Azerbaijan | 1993 | 1993 | - | 9 574 000 | 71,4 |
Georgia withdrew from the CIS in 2009.
Gross domestic product
This indicator is nominal and real. It reflects the aggregate value of goods, but one of the important and determining indicators of the well-being of the population in the country is the indicator per capita.
GDP per capita of the CIS countries (PPP):
the country | U.S. dollars |
| |
Russia | 29 926 |
Kazakhstan | 25,669 |
Belarus | 18 600 |
Azerbaijan | 17,500 |
Turkmenistan | 15,583 |
Uzbekistan | 7023 |
Armenia | 6128 |
Moldova | 5039 |
Kyrgyzstan | 3467 |
Tajikistan | 3146 |
Ukraine | 2052 |
As can be seen from this table, not all new CIS countries have good economic indicators.
Facts of Discrimination against Non-Indigenous Populations in the CIS Countries
As mentioned above, the division into parts of a single state caused previously unthinkable national problems. The 90s saw a surge in nationalism. In some former republics, everything happened openly, for example, in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. After the separation of these republics from the USSR, many Russians left there, since they could not get the documents necessary for living. In other republics, pressure on “foreigners” was veiled. For example, in Ukraine it was forbidden to draw up documentation in Russian. Employees who violate this rule could be deprived of bonuses or other administrative penalties. All this happened amid the economic downturn.
To date, the situation has subsided a bit. Migration within the former USSR also decreased. However, in some regions, oppression of persons of a different nationality is still observed. The most striking example is the state of affairs in Ukraine. At the moment, not only is the Russian language prohibited, many Russian publishers, banks, commercial and public organizations are closed, but even all Russian sites are blocked.
Russia
The population of Russia, the CIS country with the largest territory and the most multinational composition, is practically not familiar with any oppression on the basis of nationality. The only exception is the attitude towards the Armenians and to the Caucasians as a whole. This state of affairs has especially intensified after a series of terrorist attacks in Moscow.
Confirming fact of "Armenian phobia" are the events when there were mass pogroms of Armenian settlements in the Moscow region in 2002. Similar riots occurred in 2005 in Novorossiysk. In 2006, an attack on Armenians was also recorded in the Saratov region.
In recent years, a new trend has been observed in Russia - “Ukrainophobia”. Ukraine is a CIS country whose population in the recent past considered Russians to be kindred peoples. Now many dislike the former "brothers". Against the backdrop of the current conflict between countries in Russia, some people believe that Ukrainians carry a certain threat.
Another dangerous trend in the country is Nazi skinheads. This is a kind of youth subculture, whose members are fighting for the purity of the race and advocating the expulsion from the country of all other nationalities, from blacks to Jews. And the ideology of the community is that visitors take away jobs from the local population.
Azerbaijan
Little is said about this, because pogroms, in our understanding, are genocide against Jews. However, in the once multinational Azerbaijan, which was considered the most hospitable CIS country, the population began to be very unkind to the Russians. Therefore, their number is rapidly decreasing every year. So in 1939, 18% of Russians lived in Azerbaijan, and in 2009 there were only 1.34% of them.
If in Georgia they dealt with the Russians because of territorial disputes, then in Azerbaijan they destroyed the Slavs only because they belong to this race. The first pogroms began in 1990. The main slogan at that time was: "Azerbaijan for Azerbaijanis!" Only the first wave of refugees to Russia consisted of 20 thousand people who had previously lived in Baku. Later, when it was possible to suppress the armed conflict, the Russians were simply evicted from apartments and houses, recommending that they leave the republic.
There is also a conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia (since 1998), which claims that Azerbaijanis purposefully destroy Armenian shrines on the territory of their state and in Turkey.
Ukraine
The country closest in ethnic composition to Russia. Therefore, Russians here should feel comfortable. However, here before the national question is extremely acute. Despite the fact that Ukraine has the largest ethnic group of Russians, their number is inexorably decreasing.
In the CIS country, Ukraine, the population also began to have a negative attitude towards Russians. This happens with the filing and full approval of the authorities.
The country's legislation completely ignores the Russian language, although it is spoken by more than 70% of all residents. Today, forced Ukrainization is taking place in the country, which has affected not only the institution of education, but also the media. The schools completely removed the Russian language from the program. It cannot be studied even as a foreign language. Children are allowed to get acquainted only with some works of Pushkin and Lermontov, but their poems are translated into Ukrainian!
A similar situation was observed in Belarus in the 90s. At that time, the Russian language also did not have the status of a second state. However, everything changed after the referendum in 1995.
Demographic situation
Despite the efforts of the governments of many countries, the population of Russia and the CIS countries is inexorably declining. Natural growth and fertility began to decline significantly since the 90s of the last century.
This situation is associated not only with economic problems, but also with the tendency to create single-parent families. The times have already passed when each family had three or more children.
Another problem is the outflow of the population from countries with low economic potential in search of a better life.