2.5 MILLION ARMENIANS LIVE IN RUSSIA

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS:The exact number of Armenians living in the Russian Federation is not known as the last population census was held there back in Soviet times in 1989. According to some figures, the RFE/RL correspondent in Moscow picked up in the Moscow city council, the approximate number of Armenians in the Russian capital is about 500,000, a ten time growth since the last census. A similar growth of Armenians is said to have taken place in several other Russian cities. According to Russian diocese of the Armenian Church, the strongest Armenian community is in Krasnodar territory where 600,000 Armenians live, then comes the Stavropol territory with 400,000 community and about 300,000 Armenians live in Moscow province, besides the capital. According to the diocese, the overall number of Russian Armenians is some 2.5 million. The same source said that the number of Armenians in Russia increased due to 350,000 Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, 100,000 Armenians fled from Georgia°s breakaway region of Abkhazia, another 280,000 Armenians left for Russia from central Asian republics. However, the biggest portion of newcomers, about 1 million, was from Armenia proper.