1979 Soviet census

1979 All-Union Population census
17 January 1979
General information
Country	Soviet Union
Results
Total population	262,442,000 (8.4%)
Mostpopulous​republic	Russian SFSR 137,397,089
Leastpopulous​republic	Estonian SSR 1,464,476

In January 1979, theSoviet Unionconducted its first census in nine years (since 1970).Between 1970 and 1979, the total Soviet population increased from 241,720,134 to 262,084,654, an increase of 8.4%.

Summary

Moscow in 1970. The Soviet Union experienced increased urbanization between 1970 and 1979.

As in 1970,Russians,Ukrainians,Uzbeks,andBelarusianswere the largest ethnic groups in the Soviet Union in 1979.Specifically, there were 137,397,089 Russians, 42,347,387 Ukrainians, 12,455,978 Uzbeks, and 9,462,715 Belarusians living in the Soviet Union in 1979.Meanwhile, the largestSSRsin the Soviet Union by population in 1979 were theRussian SFSR(with 137.6 million inhabitants), theUkrainian SSR(with 49.8 million inhabitants), theUzbek SSR(with 15.4 million inhabitants), the Russian-pluralityKazakh SSR(with 14.7 million inhabitants), and theByelorussian SSR(with 9.6 million inhabitants).

TheTajik SSR,Uzbek SSR, andTurkmen SSRswere the fastest-growing SSRs between 1970 and 1979.During this time, the Tajik SSR grew by 31% while the Uzbek SSR grew by 30% and the Turkmen SSR grew by 28%.Overall, other parts of theCaucasusandCentral Asiaalso experienced large growth between 1970 and 1979 while the slowest-growing SSRs during this time were the Russian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, and the Byelorussian SSR (all of which only grew by 6% between 1970 and 1979).

Between 1970 and 1979, the Soviet Union become more urban, with 62% of its total residents living in urban areas in 1979 in comparison to 56% in 1970.Indeed, there were 18 cities in the Soviet Union with over one million residents in 1979 (in comparison to 10 such cities in 1970).In addition to this, the male to female ratio also increased between 1970 and 1979.Indeed, while males only made up 46.1% of the Soviet Union's total population in 1970, this figure increased to 46.7% by 1979.Overall, between 1970 and 1979, the total Soviet population increased from 241,720,134to 262,084,654, an increase of 8.42%.

Between 1970 and 1979, theSoviet Jewishpopulation fell by over 300,000, decreasing from 2,167,000 in 1970 to 1,833,000 in 1979.This fall was caused at least in part by the1970s Soviet Union aliyah.Meanwhile, theethnic Germanpopulation in the Soviet Unionincreased from 1,846,317 in 1970to 1,936,214 in 1979.