This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derussification aimed at reversing former trends of Russification, while Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko and the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin reintroduced Russification policies in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively.

After the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, derussification occurred in the newly-independent Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Kars Oblast, the last of which became part of Turkey.

The new Soviet Union initially implemented a policy of Korenizatsiya, which was aimed partly at the reversal of the Tsarist Russification of the non-Russian areas of the country.^[1] Vladimir Lenin and then Joseph Stalin mostly reversed the implementation of Korenizatsiya by the 1930s, not so much by changing the letter of the law, but by reducing its practical effects and by introducing de facto Russification. The Soviet system heavily promoted Russian as the "language of interethnic communication" and "language of world communism".

Eventually, in 1990, Russian became legally the official all-Union language of the Soviet Union, with constituent republics having the right to declare their own regional languages.^[2][3]

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, about 25 million Russians (about a sixth of the former Soviet Russians) found themselves outside Russia and were about 10% of the population of the post-Soviet states other than Russia. Millions of them later became refugees from various interethnic conflicts.^[4]

Statistics

Native speakers

Country	Speakers	Percentage	Year	Reference
Russia	118,581,514	85.7%	2010	[5]
Ukraine	14,273,670	29.6%	2001	[6]
Belarus	6,672,964	70.2%	2009	[6][note 1]
Kazakhstan	3,793,800	21.2%	2017	[7][note 2]
Uzbekistan	720,300	2.1%	2021	[8]
Latvia	698,757	33.8%	2011	[6]
Kyrgyzstan	482,200	8.9%	2009	[9]
Estonia	383,118	29.6%	2011	[6]
Turkmenistan	305,802	5.4%	2016	[10]
Moldova	264,162	9.7%	2014	[11]
Lithuania	190,733	6.8%	2021	[6][12]
Azerbaijan	122,449	1.4%	2009	[6]
Georgia	45,920	1.2%	2014	[6]
Tajikistan	40,598	0.5%	2012	[6]
Armenia	23,484	0.8%	2011	[6]
Australia	54,874	0.2%	2022	[13]
Austria	8,446	0.1%	2001	[6]
Canada	112,150	0.3%	2011	[6]
Croatia	1,592	0.04%	2011	[6]
Cyprus	20,984	2.5%	2011	[6]
Czech Republic	31,622	0.3%	2011	[6]
Finland	87,552	1.6%	2021	[14]
Germany	2,257,000	2.8%	2010	[15][note 3]
Guinea-Bissau	2,104	0.14%	2009	[6]
Israel	1,155,960	15%	2011	[16][note 4]
Mauritius	40	0.003%	2011	[6]
New Zealand	7,896	0.2%	2006	[6]
Norway	16,833	0.3%	2012	[6]
Poland	21,916	0.1%	2011	[6]
Romania	23,487	0.11%	2011	[17]
Serbia	3,179	0.04%	2011	[6]
Slovakia	1,866	0.03%	2001	[6]
Sweden	29,000	0.3%	2012	[18]
United States	900,205	0.3%	2016	[19]

Subnational territories

Territory	Country	L1 speakers	Percentage	Year	Reference
Harju County	Estonia	208,517	37.7%	2011	[20]
Ida-Viru County	Estonia	121,680	81.6%	2011	[20]
Riga Region	Latvia	326,478	55.8%	2011	[21]
Pieriga Region	Latvia	87,769	25.9%	2011	[21]
Vidzeme Region	Latvia	16,682	8.4%	2011	[21]
Kurzeme Region	Latvia	47,213	19.3%	2011	[21]
Zemgale Region	Latvia	54,761	23.3%	2011	[21]
Latgale Region	Latvia	165,854	60.3%	2011	[21]
Klaipėda County	Lithuania	34,074	10.57%	2021	[12]
Utena County	Lithuania	18,551	14.54%	2021	[12]
Vilnius County	Lithuania	109,045	13.45%	2021	[12]

Native and non-native speakers

Former Soviet Union