Do practically everyone in the former Soviet Republics speak Russian?

Question

Do practically everyone in the former Soviet Republics speak Russian as a native language or second language?
Is there specific data on the number of people who can speak it?
Thanks.

Answer 1

First of all one has to state that each former Soviet republic has a national language which is not Russian (in addition, there are lots of minority languages). Some of the countries (for example Belarus) still use Russian as an official language, others, including the Baltic countries do not. Of all those language, only Belarusian and Ukrainian are Slavic languages and therefore close to Russian. Estonian (Finno-Ugric language, close to Finnish), Latvian and Lithiuanian (Baltic languages), the Turkic languages spoken in many republics of Central Asia, Romanian (spoken in Moldova) or Georgian are not related to Russian at all. However, there are still minorities of varying sizes (almost 50 percent in Latvia, less in Estonia or Lithuania) of native Russian speakers in all those countries.
The acceptance of Russian as a means of communication is also different in each country. While in Belarus, for example, Russian is used far more frequently than Belarusian, the Baltic countries have adopted quite strict language policies. In the case of Latvia (and in the future probably also Estonia) this means that for example education is only available in Latvian (or Estonian).
While many nations where opposed to russification during Soviet times, Russian served as the lingua franca in the Soviet Union and therefore in the older generations one can assume that almost everyone has at least a passive knowledge of the language. This is not true of the younger generation, where in many countries English, and to a lesser degree also other languages, such as German, have become more popular.

Answer 2

Dear Asker,
you are the first person who asked this question.

My routs is from East of Russia. And every time I mention that, people think I speak Russian, but I speak a total different language that it called: Caucasian language
and these other language that I would like to call them - our home country friends -:
Abaza,
Abkhazian
Adyge,
Aghul,
Akhvakh,
Andi,
Archi,
Avar,
Bagvalal,
Bezhta,
Botlikh,
Chamalal,
Chechen,
Dargi,
Dido,
Ghodoberi,
Hinukh,
Hunzib,
Ingush,
Kabardian (Circassian),
Karata,
Khvarshi,
Lak,
Lezgi,
Rutul,
Tabasaran,
Tindi,
Tsakhur

Answer 3

Yes, they do. Russian is still used as a language of international communication. Parents who spoke it in the Soviet Union teach Russian to their children, tradition remains strong. Exept the Baltik states:)Knowledge of Russian helps, because links with Russia are still strong.

Answer 4

Yes, Well some speak Ukrainian and a few other languages but I think even if they do speak another language that language is very close to Russian.

Answer 5

almost all post Soviet Union republics speak Russian as second language.

but you must consider that only people of Soviet era do so, people born after Soviet Union prefer other languages such as English.

specefic data is the same as population of the USSR when it splited.

Answer 6

2 motives: a million) The Soviets have been continuously paranoid approximately their communist puppets escaping their sphere of have an result on*, and that they have got been confident that Hafizullah Amin replaced into orienting his u . s . interior the path of america and China. This was entire BS. Amin was so blindly dependable to Moscow that once, interior the early point of the invasion, Soviet precise forces have been attacking his palace with the intention to kill him, he was interior the commencing up confident that it was all some style of conspiracy to physique the Soviet Union. 2) Afghanistan was latest technique an Islamic revolt against the government, whose attempt to impose communism on the close by inhabitants had alienated anybody from it. The Soviets believed occupying Afghanistan could stabilize the quandary. All this executed replaced into to tutor the entire Afghan persons against the pink military and bring outdoors help for the revolt, once you communicate approximately that the entire international now suspected that the Soviet Union was going to apply Afghanistan as a springboard for a sprint in direction of the Indian Ocean via the two Pakistan or Iran. temporarily, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to maintain its communist government from defecting from its orbit, which it replaced into decrease than no circumstances going to do, or from being overthrown, which replaced into as quickly as basically as possibly after the invasion because of the fact it replaced into as quickly as before it. *now no longer without reason. See Albania, China, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Kampuchea, Mozambique, North Korea, Romania, Yugoslavia.

Answer 7

well i certainly believe it is their 1st language.