After the dissolution of the USSR on December 26, 1991, virtually overnight, populations of most former Soviet republics were given the right to leave their country. Following this, the post-Soviet states have become one of the centers of global migration movements. Furthermore, migration flows among the former Soviet republics were transformed from an internal phenomenon to an external one. This "Great Migration," in which millions of people are involved, motivates this book, in which authors from 15 countries have teamed up to summarize the movement of population over the post-Soviet territories, both within the newly independent states and to and from other countries over the past 25 years. This book focuses on the volume of migration flows, the number and sociodemographic characteristics of migrants, migration determinants and the situation of migrants in receiving countries. The authors, who include demographers, economists, geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists, use varying methods in their contributions, which are informed by their research areas and disciplinary traditions. They rely on all available sources of information: censuses, administrative statistics, the results of mass sample surveys, and in-depth interviews.
Post-Soviet population movements represent a major contemporary migration network, and because they form an important demographic background to ongoing political, economic, and social change in Eurasia. The editors thus hope this volume will appeal not only to the scientific community, but also to other readers who seek to understand the role of migration in the development of post-Soviet states and their relations with the rest of the world.