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Soviet Union [USSR] Other Slavs
Poles made up the largest of the West Slavic nationalities in
the Soviet Union. Although their numbers have been declining, in
1989 over 1 million Poles remained. Most of them lived in the
western republics--the Belorussian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and
Latvian republics. Bulgarians, belonging to the South Slavic group,
numbered nearly 379,000 in 1989. A majority of the Bulgarians lived
in the Ukrainian Republic, with a large number residing also in the
Moldavian Republic. In the 1980s, small numbers of Czechs and
Slovaks (members of the West Slavic group) and Croatians and Serbs
(members of the South Slavic group) also lived in the Soviet Union.
Baltic Nationalities
Although each is a separate and distinct nationality, the three
Baltic peoples share many characteristics and experiences. Residing
in the northwestern corner of the Soviet Union, the Baltic peoples
have been the most Western oriented of all the Soviet
nationalities. They have had a strong and highly developed national
consciousness, primarily because of the historic German and Polish
influences and the religious heritage of western Europe. They were
the only non-Russian nationalities to have experienced significant
periods of political independence after World War I. It should be
noted that the United States government has not recognized the
incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet
Union. Although in 1989 the approximately 5.6 million members of
the three Baltic nationalities made up only a small fraction of the
Soviet population, they have achieved a higher level of economic
and industrial development and social modernization than any other
peoples in the Soviet Union.
Data as of May 1989
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