Vorkuta urban district in the arctic space of Russia: the population dynamics and peculiarities of reproduction

The paper consists of three parts: introduction, main part and conclusion. In the introduction it is noted that the object of research is the Arctic as a special zone of public management having priority importance in the system of global and national interests of the country. The subject of research is the resettlement and reproduction of the urban population of the Arctic. The aim is to show, by the example of Vorkuta, the dynamics and peculiarities of reproduction of the population in the Arctic town. The materials of the population censuses (1979, 1989, 2002 and 2010) and current records of the Russian Statistical Department as of January, 1 of the corresponding year make the information base. Data for Russia are presented excluding the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The main body of the paper consists of four parts. The first part - “The administrative- territorial division and the population dynamics of the Arctic zone of the Rus- sian Federation” deals with the general problems of territorial development of the Arctic in the context of municipal and urban districts, dynamics and resettlement of the population. In the second part - “Towns of the Russian Arctic” the number of towns, their grouping by population and populousness are ana- lyzed, it is noted that the number of towns remains stable - 36-38, but their number with the population of 100 thousand people decreased, at the same time in the Russian Arctic two towns have the population of over 250 thousand people. In the period from 1979 to 2017 the average population density of the towns decreased from 71 to 53 thousand people, that will not affect the comfort of living of the population in the best way. The third part - “Vorkuta in the Arctic space of Russia: the history of formation and development” describes the history and stages of socio-economic development of Vorkuta, the soviet and market periods are compared. The fourth part - “The population dynamics and reproduction in Vorkuta” describes the peculiarities of reproduction of Vorkuta population, comparison of the considered processes with the Komi Republic and other northern towns is given. In the end it is concluded that the urban subjects of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation require new, deeper researches at the interdisciplinary level. Special attention should be paid to the justification of the population density of the Arctic towns and rural settlements, demographic and sociological aspects of the organization of work in shifts.