Part 3/11:
Despite Putin's rhetoric celebrating the region's modest increase in population, the statistics reveal a sobering reality. Between 2010 and 2021, Chukotka recorded a net population growth of just 157 people—merely 14 individuals annually. This increase stands in stark contrast to trends seen across much of Russia, where most cities have experienced contraction since the 1990s. Though Chukotka's fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman is low by global standards, it is the highest in a nation where the birth rate has dramatically plummeted since the Soviet Union's dissolution.