People continue to move away from Russia’s Murmansk region

About 400,000 people have left the Kola Peninsula since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Latest statistics from Murmanskstat confirms the trend seen for the last two decades in the Russian north. People pack their belongings and move south.
By January 1, the population of Murmansk region counted to 758,000 inhabitants. That is down 4,300 year-on-year.
At the peak in 1989, Murmansk region had 1,146,757 inhabitants, 389,000 more than today.
For Russia as such, population is now 144,5 million, excluding Crimea. Including Crimea and Sevastopol, the population stands at 146,8 million, figures from Statistics Russia reads, according to Wikipedia.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Census 2016: Nunavut leads Canada’s population growth, Radio Canada International
Norway: More people now live in Oslo than in most of northern Norway, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Cities are population winners in northern Sweden, The Independent Barents Observer
United States: Populations on the rise in Alaska villages threatened by erosion, changing climate, Alaska Dispatch News