List of urban-type settlements in Russia by population. The most beautiful villages in Russia Beautiful names of Russian villages

The Russian village... For some it is a relic of the agrarian past, for others it is the keeper of the Russian soul. One way or another, on average, urbanization “eats up” three villages in the country every year.

What are the reasons for the extinction and degradation of the Russian village? How many villages are there in Russia today? And which of them are the most beautiful? You will find answers to all these questions in our article.

Unemployment, hopelessness, despondency...

It is with such unpleasant words that the modern Russian village is most often described. Broken asphalt, fragmentarily left over from prosperous Soviet times, abandoned farms, destroyed houses of culture, dirt, lack of lighting and central sewerage - this is typical for most of the villages and villages of today's Russia. Of course, there are pleasant exceptions. But they are catastrophically few.

Many villages in Russia, in view of the vast area of ​​the latter, are literally cut off from any benefits of civilization. They can be located several hundred kilometers from the nearest city or regional center. In such villages, people, like a hundred or two hundred years ago, live by subsistence farming: they sow fields, raise livestock, fish, hunt and drink strong tea from real samovars.

A classic example of the "Russian hinterland" is the so-called Krasny Bereg. This is an area consisting of three villages, lost in the middle of the coniferous forests of the Vologda region. Their total population is 10 people. In fact, there are no roads to these settlements. In winter it can only be overcome by snowmobile, and in summer (after heavy rain) only by tractor. Water - from springs, light - from kerosene lamps, generator - one for three villages.

And how many similar villages are scattered across the expanses of vast Russia is hard to say.

Russian villages are dying out

According to Rosstat, in the first nine months of this year, the population of Russia decreased by 173,000 people. The villages of the northwest and the center of Russia are dying out faster than others. And in the Tver region, the pace is higher than the national average.

“The most alarming situation in terms of mortality today is observed in the Ivanovo, Tula, Novgorod, Tver and Pskov regions,” Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova named the five regions suffering from a demographic disaster.

The countryside is particularly affected. The government financially encourages the birth of a second and subsequent children, the same measures are provided for at the regional level. But bad roads and lack of work convince more than maternity capital.

“Only resettlement from the village to the city gave 20-30% of the salary. It was enough to move to the city. And if you raise the level of qualifications, then the difference will be even higher,” says Salavat Abylkalikov, a demographer and researcher at the Higher School of Economics.

In the summer of 2018, experts counted 2,234 empty villages in the Tver region. This is more than in any other region of Russia. Statistics will be replenished, because there are many villages in which 1-2 people live.

Every fourth village in the Tver region is abandoned. Away from the main roads are crumbling houses. The farther from the highway "Russia", the more often such a picture occurs.

“The houses are empty. This one is empty, this one is empty, this one is empty. That one is empty, that one is empty, and that one is empty. Three houses on the street are residential. That is, a dying village. Well, let's move on,” says Sergey Krivchenkov, a resident of the Tver region.

Not only businesses and hospitals are closing, but also schools. Due to optimization, schoolchildren have to be transported to large villages and small towns. The villagers call life in the village difficult.

“There were 800-900 people here. I graduated from high school in 1972. There were 200 of us - students in this school. But before my eyes, they all died.”

“We are used to it, but life, of course, is hard. Because little attention is paid to us. The roads are bad. The light turns off. Little attention is paid to us.”

The Tver region is in third place both in terms of mortality and population decline. Neighbors in all these ratings are the same old-developed "root" regions of Russia near Moscow and St. Petersburg.

“Therefore, the leaders are the millionaire cities. That's why all cities with millionaires want... or rather, all cities want to get the status of a millionaire or 500,000. If you have acquired this status, this is a different level of attention, a different level of funding,” says Salavat Abylkalikov, a demographer and researcher at the Higher School of Economics.

Whether it is necessary and whether it is possible to stop this process?

Alexander Merzlov: In our opinion, of course, this must be done. But, unfortunately, modern agrarian policy is not conducive to this. Since the rate of depopulation continues to be very high, let's say there is a program for the sustainable development of rural areas. But it mainly affects those rural settlements that are located next to large objects of the agro-industrial complex. The majority of rural areas are not covered by this program, and the rate of disappearance of villages and their depopulation continues to be very high.

That is, in fact, this is an inevitable process?

Alexander Merzlov A: No, it depends on the type of agricultural policy. If agrarian policy is oriented towards large agricultural holdings, if its interests are not the interests of the rural community, but the interests of large agricultural business, then, of course, this is actually the American model, everything will remain as it is. Our agriculture is developing, milk yields are growing, productivity is also growing, but at the same time, the state of the social sphere continues to deteriorate. It can be said that business continues to be concentrated in rural areas.

There are countries with more socially oriented models, for example, France, where more emphasis is placed on supporting small forms of management. And this leads to a greater variety of agricultural products, and to a better care of rural landscapes, and has a very large indirect effect in the form of attractive jobs in various fields. Our country is large enough, and in order to be engaged in the agro-industrial complex, thank God, we have vast expanses where you can do it - I don’t want to, I mean large-scale farming.

But, in our opinion, in residential areas where people live, in areas with increased recreational and cultural potentials, it is necessary to develop small-scale farms that will be focused on quality food, varied food, and the development of recreational and tourist potentials. And so we can implement these models.

List of abandoned villages in Russia

Bezenchuksky
Zolotovsky
Grigorievka
Shirokopolie
Victory

Bolshechernihiv
Khasyanovo

Borsky
14th km
Bazhenovka

Elkhovsky
Resurrection
Petropavlovka
Zabotskoye
Sosnovka
Berezovka

Isaklinsky
New Bogolyubovka

Kinelsky
platform 1150th km
platform 1157th km

Klyavlinsky
Barkovo junction
junction Chistakovka
Dolgorukovo
Klyuchevka
Red Elkha
Upper Key

Koshkinsky
Bogodukhovka
Upper Ivanovka
New Zubovka
Grannovka

Krasnoarmeisky
Nesterovka

Pokhvistnevsky
Podbelshchyna
Sadovaya

Sergievsky
Elkhovka
Velyka Lozovka
queen
Mamykovo
round bush
Deep
Slingshot

Syzransky
Petrovka
junction 912 km
junction 950th km
Rizaday junction
Caves Coast
Priusinsk
hemp
Yasnaya Polyana

Chelno-Vershinskiy
Krivozerikha
Pokrovka
Sheehan
viburnum bush
Upper Kondurcha

Shentalinsky district

Surusha
Balandaevo
Cheremshanka
Svetlaya Polyana
Light Key
Upper Khmelyovka
Motherland
Wolf

For real beautiful villages in Russia there are not very many left, they are painstakingly collected and numbered by specialists of historical and security organizations in order to carefully preserve the remaining crumbs. Today in the list of "not yet lost" there will be a little more than a dozen. Each of them is interesting in terms of history, architecture, traditional way of life. Each will leave a mark in the heart after visiting.

So, the most beautiful villages in Russia:

The most colorful villages

Desyatnikovo village. Buryatia. The first mention is 1746.

Desyatnikovo village consists of five streets.

Currently, 778 people live in the village of Desyatnikovo.

The village of Desyatnikovo is located near the Selenga River.

Atsagat village. This word translated from the Buryat language means “stone”.

There are about 100 households in the village of Atsagat.

Atsagat datsan. Founded in 1825.

The village of Tarbagatai is one of the largest Old Believer villages in Transbaikalia.

The village of Tarbagatai is located along the Kuytunka River (the right tributary of the Selenga)

The village of Tarbagatai was founded in the 1710s.

The village of Bolshoi Kunaley was founded in 1765.

The name of the village of Kunaley is "khunilla", which in Buryat means "assembly" or "fold".

The village of Kunaley preserves the identity, culture and traditions of its ancestors.

Lost among the mountains and meadows with fragrant herbs, very similar to each other and not similar at all, there are four villages in Buryatia at once, located approximately at the same distance to the east and south of Ulan-Ude.Desyatnikovo, Atsagat, Tarbagatai and Bolshoi Kunaley. Almost all the buildings in these villages are painted on the outside with bright colors: red, orange and blue, and the interior walls, furniture and even ceilings are painted even brighter. Such traditional decoration was very typical for wealthy peasant houses. No less striking are the traditional folk costumes, it seems that the most cheerful people in the world live in these villages, who do not want to part with their childhood. Meanwhiletraditional culture of Tarbagatai villageIt has been declared a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. And the village of Atsagat is also one of the religious centers of the region. Back in 1825, a datsan was erected here, which brought up more than one generation of lamas. And local herbs can be found even in the atlases of Tibetan medicine.

The oldest villages

The village of Staraya Ladoga was founded in 753.

Until 1703, Ladoga was a city.

According to the Novgorod Chronicle, the grave of the Prophetic Oleg is located in Ladoga (according to the Kiev version, his grave is located in Kiev on Mount Shchekovitsa).

When the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Schötkonung, Princess Ingigerda, married the Novgorod prince Yaroslav the Wise in 1019, she received the city of Aldeigyuborg (Staraya Ladoga) with the adjacent lands, which have since received the name Ingermanlandia (the land of Ingegerda), as a dowry (veno).

Afanasievskaya Church in Varzuga.

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in Varzuga.

The main source of income for the local population at all times was the sale of salmon caught in the Varzuga River.

Perhaps it was the harsh northern weather, frosts and winds and ice that contributed to the fact thatthe most ancient villages in Russialocated in the northwest, in the Leningrad and Murmansk regions: Staraya Ladoga and Varzuga. Let's not argue who is older than them, let's leave it to specialists, the history of both of them has more than 600 years. , which stands on the Volkhov River is considered the starting point of the great journey "from the Varangians to the Greeks", one of the three Varangian brothers called to Russia ruled here. It was the largest trading center even before Novgorod, and the walls of its fortress were stormed by the Swedes. She absorbed the entire culture of the North Russian peoples. stands on the banks of the river of the same name, which flows into the White Sea. Its main decorations are wooden churches, of which as many as five were built here, built without a single nail, like many religious buildings of northern masters. Here wasPatriarchal House of the Solovetsky Monasterytherefore, the lands and springs around are holy. And the main craft of the locals was salmon fishing and pearl mining, which gave birth to the Varzuga River.

The harshest villages

The first mention of Teriberka dates back to the 16th century.

The village got its name from the Teriberka river of the same name, the name of which, in turn, according to one version, goes back to the outdated name of the Kola Peninsula - Ter.

Until 1984, Teriberka did not have a road connection and it was possible to get there either by sea or by helicopter.

The village of Esso got its name in 1932.

Almost the entire village of Esso is heated by natural geothermal waters.

The village of Esso is called "Kamchatka Switzerland".

Every year in March, the international dog sled race "Beringia" starts from the village.

Harsh not because of the characters of the locals, but because they are located in such places that it is not clear how people can live here at all, and even build such beautiful villages. They are scattered on the two extreme sides of our country: on the Barents Sea and Esso on the . Teriberka appeared on the Kola Peninsula in the 16th century, but it became very famous only now, after Filming "Leviathan". Here, in the tundra zone, where the cold sky meets the cold earth and is reflected in the cold water, there was a commercial whaling village. Today, this village is beautiful, perhaps only by nature, because most of the infrastructure is abandoned and in a very deplorable state. It is the combination of the decline of civilization against the backdrop of harsh landscapes that makes this place eerily beautiful. On the contrary, the village of Esso is full of health in the middle of the snowy Kamchatka, because it is surrounded on all sides by hot thermal springs. Happy people live here who even manage to grow grapes in such a climate. And from here starts every year the most famous dog sled race.

The very first and the very last village

The ancient merchant village of Vyatskoye is located in the Nekrasovsky district, one of the most environmentally friendly and historically significant areas of the Yaroslavl region.

The village of Vyatskoye was first mentioned in documentary sources in 1502 as the center of the metropolitan Vyatka volost.

The village of Vyatskoye is a unique town-planning complex of the 18th – 19th centuries with more than 50 registered architectural monuments, former merchant and peasant houses, tea and tavern establishments, almshouses.

Not so long ago, Russia joined the world association that is looking for the most beautiful villages on earth in every country. The main selection criteria are: the village must be alive, not museumified, it must have no more than 2,000 inhabitants, and the rural way of life must be preserved. Each found village is solemnly awarded the honorary title of “Most Beautiful”, a corresponding tablet is issued, and a special inauguration ceremony is held. After that, the village falls into the list of its own kind. There are only six officially recognized beautiful villages in Russia so far, but we must not forget that the list was opened only in 2015. The very first was recognized as a beautiful village, or rather a village, . Old merchant houses, almost each of which is a monument of architecture, as well as ten museums of completely different directions: from traditional to polytechnic. The last village on the listin Karelia, whose inauguration took place on June 10, 2016. The village, which got into the scribe books back in the 16th century, and began its history with four households, now consists of only 16 old Karelian houses, the Chapel of the Smolensk Mother of God and five residents, two of whom have a family tree with local roots of 500 years.

Unusual names: villages, settlements in RUSSIA and got the best answer

Answer from Dmitry Shapovalov[guru]
On the forum of the Radio Mayak website, I found the following list:
We publish unusual names of Russian cities, villages and villages sent by our listeners.
City of Slavgorod, Altai Territory.
City and river Karasuk, Novosibirsk region.
Strashevo village, Pskov region.
Yakhrenka village, Kirov region.
Bambuchki village on Sakhalin.
The villages of Baikal and Mars in Bashkiria.
In the Moscow region - the rivers Besputa and Mutenka.
Village Nedomerki, Pskov region.
Near Norilsk is the river Gryaznukha.
The Vyssa River flows in the Kaluga region.
Dagestan, the village of Luxembourg.
Orenburg region, the village of Blyavtamak.
The village of Grudishchi near the city of Kostroma.
The village of Oladikha in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Ik river in Bashkiria.
In Astrakhan - the river Balda.
In Krasnoyarsk - the village of Chesnoki.
In Chukotka - the village of Chaplino.
In the Magadan region - the city of Gadlya.
Belgorod region - the village of Zhabskoye, Ladomirovka, the Yamki farm, Zazhuevka, Khryapino, Salovka, Valuyki.
In Altai - the village of Aya, its inhabitants are Aychans.
In Stary Oskol - the river Ublya.
Sinebryukhovo village, Arkhangelsk region.
The village of Muzhi in the north of the Tyumen region.
Republic of Altai, Choya village.
In the Kemerovo region, the village of Mutnoe.
Moscow region, Klinsky district, Gologuzovo village.
In the Tobolsk region, the village of Drums.
In the Lukhovitsky district of the Moscow region - the Voblya river.
In Chukotka, in the Bilibinsky district, there is the Keperveem River, which means the Wolverine River.
In Khakassia - a small river Parnushka, which flows near the village of Parnoe.
In Ulyanovsk - the rivers Gushcha and Herring.
Kaluga region, the villages of Korekozevo - Zheltoukhi - Sinyavka - Matyukovo - Marmyzhi - Zlovodka - Malaya Bolshukha - Lyubun - Svinukhovo - Chumazovo - Life Waves.
In the Republic of Bashkortostan - the village of Batraki.
In Transbaikalia there are villages Ulyoty and Zaigraevo.
In the Kostroma region - the village of Red Elephant.
In the village of Poputnaya, Krasnodar Territory, the Bei-Murza-Chekhrak river.
In the Chunsky district there are the villages of Bayanda, Vesely and Vydrino.
In Tatarstan, in the Aznakaevsky district, there is the village of Chemodurovo.
The village of Potnyaki in the Kirov region.
In Altai - the villages of Polovinkino, Novoskluikha, Novoperunovo.
In Bashkiria, in the Belebeevsky district - the village of Kum-Kosyak.
Not far from the city of Noyabrsk, on Yamal, the Nyudya-Pidya-Yakha stream.
Shchekotikha village, Ivanovo region.
In Yakutia, in the Olekminsky district - the village of Biryuk.
In the Volgograd region there is a river Raztverdyaevka in the Shakin farm.
In the Stavropol Territory there are the Kuma and Podkumok rivers. And in Kabarda, the city of Zalukokoazhe.
Republic of Buryatia - the village of Zabuhay.
In the Chita region - the Duralei River.
In Udmurtia, the village of Igra, the village of Baldeyka.
In the Altai Territory, the villages of Petukhov Log, Bezrukavka, Warsaw.
Perm region, Fools village.
In the Tver region, the village of Lokhovo (Small and Large).
Khokhotuy village, Trans-Baikal Territory.
In the north of the Omsk region, the rivers: Shish, Uy, Ibeyka, Arkarka.
In Kamchatka there is a stream Ipukik.
On Sakhalin - the Khoyambushibin River.
In the Bodaibo district of the Irkutsk region - the village of Mama.
Village Promokashka, Chelyabinsk region.
In the Krasnoyarsk Territory - the village of Kozulka.
In the Chelyabinsk region, the villages of Fershampenoise and Paris.
In the Tomsk region - the river Chemondaevka.
In the Ural outback there is a place called San Donato.
Kosoy Byk village, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
In the Samara region there is a village with the cute name Koshki.
In the Omsk region, in the village of Sidelnikovo, the river Uy flows.
Bedoba village, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Pereplyuyka river, Tomsk region, Asino.
Kirov region, Kobeli village, Ezhikha village, Gusi village.
Lakes Krivoe and Khoroshenkoe in the Samara region.
The Pokhabikha River flows into Baikal.
The village of Tebenki in the Kemerovo region.
In the Stavropol Territory - the Mukha River.
Srakino village, Vologda region.
Near Novosibirsk - the village of Mochishche.

Answer from Oksana[guru]
in the Ryaz region there is the village of Nasilovo)

Answer from unknown[master]
In the Moscow region Durykino, Rzhavki))

Answer from Lobotomy and Anhedonia[guru]
stone end, pancakes, goats, pikes, Mocha river, Bolshoy Kuyash, r. Uy, Malaya Pyssa, Lower Khachiki, Scrotum, Black, the village where Galkin lives is called Mud (from Mud to riches)) Bayandai, Dudes, Plan, Blue, Upper Shmara, Lokhovo, Vydropuzhsk, Pyankovo, Pedrilovo, Lobok (in company with the Scrotum) ) Deep, Narrow, Soft, Malaya Blizzard, Khomutikha, and somewhere the river Ublya flows

Answer from Alexander Nefedov[guru]
voblya river in the suburbs and every 2 more name

Answer from kornadochka[guru]
In the Nizhny Novgorod region there is the village of Vad. If you answer someone that you are going there, you hear "To Hell."

Answer from Roman Kapustin[newbie]
The village of Solovikha and the Village of Petropavlovskoye (Petropavlovka)

What in Russia, with all the desire, it is impossible to complain about - the lack of beautiful settlements. In this regard, the space is limitless: here are historical monuments, and wonderful landscapes, and the utmost naturalness, and even modern architectural finds. Let's talk about ten most picturesque villages in Russia(we give in a conditional order, since we would not like to distribute them in places, making up the top 10).

Vyatskoe

It is unlikely that this village, invariably included in all lists and ratings, needs to be introduced; suffice it to point out the fact that there are ten museums in the settlement, a colossal number of pre-revolutionary buildings. Nature is also conducive to relaxation and study: Vyatka is “framed” by rivers and valleys on all sides. This is an ideal option for those travelers who do not like to give up comfort: there are three hotels, a restaurant, and a cinema.

Kinerma

Getting here is not easy: the village is located in Karelia. Structure - seventeen structures, ten of which are architectural monuments. In the center you can see the cemetery of Catherine's times; there is also a restored chapel. There is a smoke sauna, a well, a barn; not without a small and already quite modern hotel.

space lake

The wonderful location near the lake, which is distinguished by its peculiar shape (similar to a river one), determines the popularity of the settlement. Hayfields, ancient huts, courtyards and, of course, the bewitching tented Assumption Church (built in 1720) - that's what will appear before the eyes of those who have arrived in the village.

Staraya Ladoga

Speaking about the oldest villages in Russia, it is impossible to omit the old Ladoga - a settlement whose history began more than a thousand years ago. Although not so many people live here today, once the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” began in this place (it was one of the largest settlements in Ancient Russia).

Yasnaya Polyana

A trip to Yasnaya Polyana is recommended not only for those who are not indifferent to the classics of critical realism and connoisseurs of Leo Tolstoy's novels, but also for everyone who appreciates the combination of natural naturalness and architectural elegance. Being discreet, the village strikes the imagination precisely with its conciseness. Among the attractions: the writer's house, the remains of the greenhouse, the Middle Pond, the park.

Nikolo-Lenivets

Initially, the settlement did not stand out in any way: it seemed that Nikolo-Lenivets was another of the villages of Russia gradually falling into disrepair. However, thanks to the efforts of Vasily Shchetinin, a well-known enthusiastic architect, who appeared here, it turned into a real creative gallery of folk art. The most amazing thing is that absolutely everything here is made by hand.

Tarbagatai

There are many wonderful villages in Buryatia (among the famous ones: Desyatnikovo, Bolshoi Kunaley, Atsagat); the most famous of them is Varbagatai, which is located fifty-two kilometers from Ulan-Ude. Founded in the 18th century, the settlement at one time served as a home for the Old Believers; Until now, you can see the buildings erected by them, which are distinguished by their colorful coloring, wonderful fences and unusual shutters.

Chamerevo

The village boasts a rich history: the family of the writer Griboedov (and Alexander Sergeevich himself in childhood) once lived here, and Ivan the Terrible came here. Also in the village is the holy spring of Alexander Nevsky. Panoramic landscapes around and the well-groomed village itself make this place one of the most interesting for Russian travelers.

Vorzogory

The village is located right on the shores of the White Sea and dates back to the 16th century. It was already known then: wooden ships were built here for the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery. In the village itself, you can see the wooden temple of Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky (erected in the middle of the 19th century) and the “wooden tee”, consisting of the St. Nicholas Church (17th century), the Vvedenskaya Church (end of the 18th century) and the bell tower (18th century) .

Oshevensky Pogost

You should not be afraid of the name: the village of Pogost, which is also called Oshevensky Pogost, has been a wonderful place and one of the most beautiful villages in Russia for several centuries. Here is the monastery of St. Alexander Oshevensky, the Church of the Epiphany (18th century), the bell tower, Popov's house-yard.

The Russian village... For some it is a relic of the agrarian past, for others it is the keeper of the Russian soul. One way or another, on average, urbanization “eats up” three villages in the country every year. What are the reasons for the extinction and degradation of the Russian village? How many villages are there in Russia today? And which of them are the most beautiful? You will find answers to all these questions in our article.

Unemployment, hopelessness, despondency...

It is with such unpleasant words that the modern Russian village is most often described. Broken asphalt, fragmentarily left over from prosperous Soviet times, abandoned farms, destroyed houses of culture, dirt, lack of lighting and central sewerage - this is typical for most of the villages and villages of today's Russia. Of course, there are pleasant exceptions. But they are catastrophically few.

Many villages in Russia, in view of the vast area of ​​the latter, are literally cut off from any benefits of civilization. They can be located several hundred kilometers from the nearest city or regional center. In such villages, people, like a hundred or two hundred years ago, live by subsistence farming: they sow fields, raise livestock, fish, hunt and drink strong tea from real samovars.

A classic example of the "Russian hinterland" is the so-called Krasny Bereg. This is an area consisting of three villages, lost in the middle of the coniferous forests of the Vologda region. Their total population is 10 people. In fact, there are no roads to these settlements. In winter, it can only be overcome by snowmobile, and in summer (after heavy rain) - only by tractor. Water - from springs, light - from kerosene lamps, a generator - one for three villages.

And how many similar villages are scattered across the expanses of vast Russia - it's hard to say.

Russian village: in facts and figures

• As of the beginning of 2018, 19.1% of the total population of the Russian Federation lives in rural areas.
• Between 2002 and 2010 (between the last two censuses) the number of depopulated villages in Russia increased by 6,000.
• Today there are about 150 thousand rural settlements in the country.
• About half of them have no more than 100 people.
• 17 thousand Russian villages do not have a permanent population.
• The average density in the Russian Federation is 2 persons/sq. km.
• The maximum percentage of the rural population is observed in the Krasnodar Territory - almost 45%.
• The largest villages are located in the North Caucasus.
• The largest village in Russia in terms of population is Novaya Usman. 27.5 thousand people live here.

Reasons for the extinction of the Russian village

The degradation of the countryside is one of the most acute socio-economic problems of modern Russia. In the last twenty years, the country's rural population has been steadily declining. And not only due to natural decline (high mortality against the background of low birth rates), but also due to the colossal migration outflow.

Young people categorically do not want to live in the village, trying by any available means to escape to the capital or the nearest large city. As a result, in many Russian villages only old people and openly asocial elements remain. The share of depopulated villages in some subjects of the Russian Federation has already reached 20%.

Why is the Russian village dying out? There are several reasons:

• High unemployment.
• Degradation of social infrastructure (lack of schools, kindergartens, clinics, etc.).
• Lower standard of living compared to urban environment.
• Frequent lack of housing and communal benefits (sewerage, gasification, lighting, Internet, etc.).

To revive the Russian village and return young people to it, a comprehensive state program is required to save it and further develop it. Of course, this requires huge amounts of money.

The most beautiful villages in Russia: list

Let's try to end our article on a positive note. Not all villages in Russia look dull and hopeless. Some of them are able to surprise with their color, authentic spirit and original architecture. Listed below are five ancient Russian villages that are definitely worth visiting at least once in your life:

1. Varzuga, Murmansk region. The village arose in the middle of the 15th century. Fishing center for Atlantic salmon.
2. Big Kunaley, Buryatia. Quite a large village, reminiscent of its appearance an illustration to a collection of children's fairy tales. The design of all the local houses is exactly the same: brown walls, blue windows, green fences.
3. Vershinino, Arkhangelsk region. Traditional village of the Russian North. It is famous for its unique and perfectly preserved architecture of the 17th-18th centuries.
4. Okunevo, Omsk region. A colorful, amazing and mystical village, in which adherents of five different religions found refuge at once. The village is a place of attraction for all lovers of esotericism and meditation.
5. Elovo, Perm region. Ecologically clean village located on the banks of the Kama. It impresses all guests not only with magnificent natural landscapes, but also with its landscaping. There is asphalt, walking paths, flower beds and playgrounds.

Finally…

The process of rural extinction is not a unique Russian phenomenon. In general, it is similar to similar processes in other countries and regions of the planet. But, in spite of everything, the Russian village is still alive, with all its advantages and disadvantages. And, hopefully, in the near future it will begin to revive. After all, as they say in one old Russian proverb: "The city is the kingdom, and the village is paradise."