International cartographic association

The period between the 1959 and 1970 Soviet censuses represents one of stability insofar as demographic processes have not been disturbed by external factors, in contrast to the upheavals during and after the 1939–1945 war. Nevertheless, basic population structures, in particular the varying levels of urbanization, have been modified by internal migration of people from the countryside to the industrial towns. Consequently in European Russia rural areas, while increasing their population in absolute terms, have suffered severe losses in favour of the expanding industrial zones, especially the Ukraine and the lower Volga region. Methods of calculating this change must involve careful scrutiny of the data and also an appreciation of settlement patterns as well as purely demographic features.