Ethnic Intermarriage in Russia: The Tale of Four Cities

Abstract

Background: Across most Western societies, trends towards increased ethnic intermarriage have been observed across the second half of the 20th century. Whether such trends hold across the multi-ethnic society of Russia is not known.Objective: We describe levels and trends in ethnic intermarriage rates in four highly different regions of Russia.Methods: We analyse census data from Moscow, Kazan, Makhachkala, Vladikavkaz, calculate odds ratios for ethnic intermarriage and fit log-linear and log-multiplicative models to test for trends in intermarriage. We use age as a proxy for marriage/cohabitation cohorts. Results: We find no change in ethnic intermarriage in Moscow, but more intermarriage in younger cohorts in the other three cities. However, in Kazan and Vladikavkaz the trend is towards more intermarriage between Russians and Tatars, and between Russians and Ossetians, respectively, while in Makhachkala, where there are few ethnic Russians, the trend is towards more intermarriage between indigenous Muslim peoples. Conclusions: Levels and trends in ethnic intermarriage vary substantially throughout Russia by locality and ethnic group. There is no evidence for a trend towards increased intermarriage in Moscow. Contribution: We provide new insight into ethnic intermarriage in Russia. More generally, our study highlights how trends in intermarriage can vary within a society, and how the local, historic context may play an important role.