By IANS,
Moscow: Around 5.6 million people in Russia failed to identify their ethnicity during the 2010 census, according to a latest report.
The census results showed the country’s total permanent resident population was 142.9 million, a fall of 2.3 million from the 2002 census.
The non-resident population — foreign nationals temporarily residing in Russia — was around 489,000.
The ethnicity entry was removed from internal passports in 2000 so people are now free to identify or not identify their ethnic status.
Russia has over 170 ethnic groups. Their population varies enormously, from millions in the case of Russians and Tatars to under 10,000 in the case of Samis and Kets.
Some people found it hard to specify their ethnicity because of mixed parentage, said Federal Statistics Service official Olga Antonova.
Almost every fourth family in Russia had members from different ethnic backgrounds, she said.