According to respondents, “Russian world” is not limited to the territory of the Russian state; it refers to all Russian people, no matter what part of the world they live in.
MOSCOW, December 3, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the Russian perceptions of the expression “Russian world”.
Those who know what the “Russian world” means say that it refers to Russians (3%) or people who were brought up according to the traditions of the Russian culture (3%). Certain respondents mention people whose native language is Russian (1%); for others the Russian world is synonymous with the words “Russia” and “Motherland” (1%). Two percent of respondents fail to say what the Russian world means. Most of those who are familiar with this expression believe that the Russian world exists (63%). Seventy-one percent of Russians have never heard about the “Russian world”.
According to two-thirds of respondents, the Russian world really exists and it involves people of different religions (67%) and nationalities (65%). It also refers to the territories where Russians live (including overseas territories) – 66%. People who do not speak Russian may also belong to the Russian world (56% of respondents). Russians are divided in their opinions on whether people of cultures other than the Russian culture may belong to the Russian world: 48% say yes and 45% say no.
Respondents consider that Donbass and Transnistria belong to the Russian world (75% and 63%, respectively). Besides, these territories involve Russian communities abroad: in Europe and America (63%) and in Israel (62%). Others mention territories of the Northern Kazakhstan (56%), Abkhazia (55%), South Ossetia (52%), and Serbia (48%). At the same time, Central and Western Ukraine and Baltic States are not perceived as parts of the Russian world (56% and 64%, respectively).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on November 22-23, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 132 communities in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
Have you heard the expression “Russian world”? If yes, can you explain it in two or three words? (open-ended, any number of questions) | |
| Total respondents |
I have never heard about it | 71 |
All Russian people | 3 |
Those who were brought up according to the Russian traditions | 3 |
Yes, I heard but I cannot explain it | 2 |
Everyone whose language is Russian | 1 |
Nationalist movement | 1 |
Peace for Russia, for Russians (“when we have no war”) | 1 |
Russia, motherland | 1 |
Community of people living in Russia | <1 |
People belonging to the Orthodox religion | <1 |
Russian World shop | <1 |
Russian World magazine | <1 |
Patriots | <1 |
Spiritual unity of the Russian people | <1 |
Commonwealth of states (friendly towards Russia) | <1 |
Other | 3 |
Don`t know | 13 |
In your opinion, does the Russian world mentioned by Russian politicians exist? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who heard about the Russian world) | |||||
| Total respondents | Elementary (incomplete secondary) education | Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher (not less than three years in a higher education institute), higher education |
Rather yes | 63 | 50 | 60 | 66 | 64 |
Rather no | 20 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 21 |
Don`t know | 17 | 25 | 22 | 15 | 15 |
Please, choose the statement that you most agree with (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who believe that the Russian world exists) | |||||
| Total respondents | Elementary (incomplete secondary) education | Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher (not less than three years in a higher education institute), higher education |
Only orthodox believers belong to the Russian world | 26 | 11 | 24 | 25 | 29 |
Russian world involves not only orthodox Christians but people of other religions and atheists | 67 | 67 | 71 | 68 | 62 |
Don`t know | 7 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
From the pair of statements choose the one which is closer to your point of view (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who believe that the Russian world exists) | |||
| Total respondents | Men | Women |
Russian world covers the territory of the modern Russia | 28 | 35 | 20 |
Russian world covers all the territories where Russians live including the overseas territories | 66 | 61 | 72 |
Don`t know | 6 | 4 | 8 |
From the pair of statements choose the one which is closer to your point of view (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who believe that the Russian world exists) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and more |
Russian world is people of Russian ethnicity | 31 | 41 | 37 | 35 | 30 | 18 |
Russian world is not only people of Russian ethnicity | 65 | 55 | 63 | 60 | 64 | 75 |
Don`t know | 4 | 3 | <1 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
From the pair of statements choose the one which is closer to your point of view (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who believe that the Russian world exists) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Elementary (incomplete secondary) education | Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher (not less than three years in a higher education institute), higher education | |
Russian world involves only people who speak Russian language | 38 | 11 | 31 | 43 | 40 | |
Russian world includes not only Russian-speaking people but people speaking other languages | 56 | 56 | 59 | 52 | 57 | |
Don`t know | 6 | 33 | 9 | 5 | 3 | |
From the pair of statements choose the one which is closer to your point of view (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who believe that the Russian world exists) | |||||
| Total respondents | Elementary (incomplete secondary) education | Secondary education (school, vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher (not less than three years in a higher education institute), higher education |
Russian world is Russians belonging to the Russian culture | 45 | 33 | 40 | 47 | 48 |
Russian world is not only people belonging to the Russian culture but representatives of other cultures | 48 | 44 | 55 | 45 | 46 |
Don`t know | 7 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
In your opinion, do the following territories belong to the “Russian world”? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of those who believe that the “Russian world” exists) | |||
| Rather the Russian world | Rather not the Russian world | Don`t know |
Donbass | 75 | 13 | 12 |
Transnistria | 63 | 18 | 19 |
Russian communities in Germany, Great Britain, France and the USA | 63 | 22 | 14 |
Russian communities in Israel | 62 | 23 | 14 |
Northern Kazakhstan | 56 | 28 | 16 |
Abkhazia | 55 | 30 | 15 |
South Ossetia | 52 | 31 | 17 |
Serbia | 48 | 31 | 21 |
Central and Western Ukraine (Kyev, Lvov) | 29 | 56 | 15 |
Baltic states | 25 | 64 | 11 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!