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Genetic Demography of the Population of St. Petersburg: Migration Processes

  • HUMAN GENETICS
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Abstract

The principal genetic demographic parameters that describe migration processes affecting the structure of the St. Petersburg population gene pool were determined on the basis of the demographic statistics obtained from the Petrostat Agency, All-Russian population censuses, and a sample survey of St. Petersburg residents. The migration coefficient was 0.36 according to the survey data, 0.42 according to the 2002 census, 0.44 according to the 2010 census, and 0.69 according to the 1897 census. The estimated average migration distance was 1746 km from the survey data, 1526 km according to the 2002 census, and 1652 km according to the 2010 census. The sources of the St. Petersburg population gene pool in different periods are discussed: in the 18th and 19th centuries, the main source was the population of the Upper Volga and Northwestern provinces of the Russian Empire, as well as foreign immigrants, whereas currently three quarters of the population gene pool originates from the Northwestern Federal District, 10% comes from natives of foreign countries, and only 6–9% is due to the population of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation. An analysis of the Rosstat migration statistics showed that the composition of migrants by countries of exit varied over time. For instance, the share of migrants who arrived in St. Petersburg from Russia in the last five years ranged from 74 to 87%. In 2013–2014, most international migrants came from Uzbekistan (10% of all arrivals) and Tajikistan (3–4%), while in 2017, the countries with the highest number of migrants ranked as follows: Kyrgyzstan (almost 4%), Ukraine (about 2%), Belarus (1.5%), Kazakhstan (1.25%), and Armenia (1%). Migration processes determine the dynamics of the ethnic composition of the population. Gender differences in migration flows are manifested in different age structure and in unequal sex ratio within particular ethnic groups (e.g., predominance of men in the “young” ethnic diasporas: Armenians, Azerbaijani, and Uzbeks). The described features of migration processes in St. Petersburg should be taken into account when forming genetic marker databases for the purposes of DNA-based identification. The areas of migration attraction of St. Petersburg and Moscow overlap only partially, which predetermines the need to create separate databases for each megacity.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to our colleagues who conducted the St. Petersburg population survey, as well as the residents of the city who participated in the survey, and appreciate their collaboration.

Funding

This study was performed as a part of Project 10 of the Research and Development Program of the Union State of Russia and Belarus: “Development of Innovative Genographic and Genomic Techniques of Personal Identification Based on the Gene Pools of the Union State Regions” (“DNA-Based Identification”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    O. L. Kurbatova, I. G. Udina, A. S. Gracheva, E. Yu. Pobedonostseva & S. A. Borinskaya

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  1. O. L. Kurbatova
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  2. I. G. Udina
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  3. A. S. Gracheva
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  4. E. Yu. Pobedonostseva
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  5. S. A. Borinskaya
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Correspondence to O. L. Kurbatova.

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Conflicts of interest. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of compliance with standards of research involving humans as subjects. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Vavilov Institute. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study. The demographic data obtained in the survey and the results of the study are presented and stored in anonymous form.

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Translated by D. Timchenko

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Kurbatova, O.L., Udina, I.G., Gracheva, A.S. et al. Genetic Demography of the Population of St. Petersburg: Migration Processes. Russ J Genet 55, 1119–1129 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795419090084

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