A monthly look at newcomers to Rochester

Post-Bulletin Passport to Rochester	Russian immigrants in Minnesota Related story • Building a new life in America Most Russian immigrants in Minnesota arrived in the past 10 years as a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union. Religious and political persecution during the Cold War years prompted earlier waves of Russian immigrants, while economic chaos and uncertainty have driven this one. More than 128,000 immigrants came from the former Soviet Republics to the United States between 1989 and 2000, according to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. About 7,000 of that number settled in Minnesota, according to Minnesota State Demographic Office. Most of them settled in the Twin Cities area, especially western Hennepin County. In Rochester, between 200 and 300 Russian immigrants arrived between 1989 and 2000, according to Phil Wheeler, Rochester/Olmsted Planning Department Director. An exact number is hard to determine because the estimate is derived from a formula based on the number of children enrolled in Olmsted Country public schools who speak Russian at home. Minnesota ranks 24th in the United States in percentage of population made up of immigrants. The total for Minnesota is 5 percent compared to a national average of 10.4 percent. The number of immigrants living in the United States has more than tripled since 1970, from 9.6 million to 28.4 million. Russians were the sixth-largest immigrant population in Minnesota in 1999 and 2000. Compared with Minnesota's other major immigrant populations, Russian immigrants are generally older (83 percent are 50 or older), have fewer children (only 10 percent have at least one child younger than 18), and are more educated (95 percent have at least a high school degree). Eighty-four percent of Russian immigrants in Minnesota arrived during the 1990s. Sixty-six percent are women and 56 percent are Jewish. In the past two years, younger Russian immigrants including Christian fundamentalists and Pentecostals have begun to arrive in greater numbers, according to Barbara Ronningen, a research analyst in the State Demographic Office. Sources: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 2000 Statistical Yearbook; "Language Spoken at Home," Minnesota State Demographic Center, February 2002; and "Speaking for Themselves: A survey of Hispanic, Hmong, Russian, and Somali immigrants in Minneapolis-Saint Paul," Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, November 2001; Rochester Olmsted Planning Department demographic data. Tale of two cities Ozersk Population: 85,000. Geography: Southern Urals, forest-steppe climate, coniferous forest. Main business: Mayak Combinat, plutonium fuel reprocessing. Number of employees at Mayak Combinat: 17,100. Other businesses: Iron, magnetite and gold mining. Average annual income (2001): $1,380. Nearest big city: Chelyabinsk, 1.15 million population. Average January temperature: 4.5 degrees F. Average July temperature: 68 degrees F. Life expectancy, male: 58. Life expectacy, female: 72. Size of Chelyabinsk County: 32,818 square miles. Number of lakes in Chelyabinsk County: 3,000. Sources: World Bank; Bellona Foundation; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; CIA Factbook; VCIOM (Russian Center for Public Opinion and Market Research) Rochester Population: 82,238. Geography: Zumbro River Valley, limestone bluffs, deciduous woodland. Main business: Mayo Clinic, health care provision. Number of employees at Mayo Clinic: 24,587. Other businesses: IBM, agriculture. Median annual income (in Minnesota, 2000): $50,865 Nearest big city: Minneapolis/St. Paul, 669,768 population. Average January temperature: 11.8 degrees F. Average July temperature: 70 degrees F. Life expectancy, male: 73.8. Life expectacy, female: 79.5. Size of Olmsted County: 653 square miles. Number of lakes in Olmsted County: Five reservoirs. Sources: National Weather Service; FedStats; Metropolitan Council; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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