Migration in the Cities of Sakha Republic (Yakutia): Temporal-Social Aspects

Migration has played a leading role in the process of urbanization in Yakutia from the outset. In the Soviet period, it occurred when migrants arrived en masse from beyond the confines of the republic due to administrative regulation. This raised concerns about the ability of new settlers to adapt to their unfamiliar surroundings. In the twentieth century, a clear distinction was formed in public opinion between new settlers and old-timers, the newcomer and local (indigenous) population. Based on empirical material from 2001-2017, this article examines the post-Soviet period of migration in industrial cities in the center of the region—Yakutsk, Mirny, Lensk, and Neriungri. Migrants include people from other parts of Russia, and from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine. The aim of the analysis was to identify the effect of respondents’ place of origin, date of arrival, and beginning of marital relations on their habitation in a household given their change of permanent residence.