Old belief communities in samara province: size, structure, dynamics

The article is devoted to the history of Old Believers migration to Samara province in the second half of the XIX century. The authors pay special attention to demographic aspects of the process: number of Old Believers in different uezds of Samara province, factors which determined the growth of Old Believer communities, legal relations both with the Russian Orthodox Church and government bodies, the establishment of Belokrinitskaya (Austrian) Church as a spiritual centre of Old Belief. The authors give names of Samara province localities with high percentage of Old Believers among population, and surnames of prominent members of Old Belief communities.