Number and composition of the population of Zlatoust according to the All-Union Census of 1959

Abstract

The article is based on the published results of the All-Union Population Censuses of 1939 and 1959 and archival data, for the first time in Ural historiography, changes in the size and composition of the population of Zlatoust are analyzed over the twenty years that have passed between censuses. During this period, the population of Zlatoust increased significantly, which retained third place in terms of the number of people was living in it among the cities of the Chelyabinsk region. At the end of the 1950s the population remained young, the share of able-bodied citizens increased. At the same time, there is a trend towards an aging population. The authors rightly noted that the gender and age characteristics and marriage rates of the residents of Zlatoust were influenced by the socio-economic and political events of the first half of the 20th century, especially the Great Patriotic War. The 1959 census revealed two demographic holes which concerned citizens aged 25–29 and 35–44 years; noted an increased disproportion between the sexes in favor of women from the age of 35 and an increased gap between married and married city residents (the majority of single people in the population structure were women aged 35 and older); as well as a high level of literacy of the population of Zlatoust from 9 years of age and older with a fairly low level of education.