Sklyar V. Change of national composition and language structure of the population of Ukraine from 1959 till 1989.

The author researches change of national composition and language structure of the population of Ukraine according to the population census in 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and its causes. At that time the population of the Ukrainians and Ukrainian-language population was increasing considerably slower than that of the Russians and Russian-language population. As a result the Russians and Russian-language population predominated in number in Ukraine of that time. The processes of language and ethic russification were evident among the Ukrainians, especially in 70-80th,when the population of Ukraine was increasing mainly owing to the Russians. Russian minority group was not assimilated. Every third that spoke Russian was not Russian. There is a fact that in 1959 the population ratio between Ukrainian-language and Russian-language population was as follows - 3:1 and in 1989 - 2: 1. There was the danger for the Ukrainians and Ukraine-language population to be a minority group in their homeland, especially in eas tern and southern regions. This change of national composition and language structure of the population in 1959-1989 was determined rather by russification in Ukraine than by influence of natural conditions.