title: Introduction to the Russia section
abstract: The 20th century in Russia may be referred to as the “urban age”, not only due to the increase in the number of cities and share of urban population but also due to the profound transformations in the way of life which followed urbanization. Along with many other countries of the world, Russia has been affected by the decrease in birth rates already in the Soviet era because of the demographic transitions. Moreover, the adverse events in the country’s past in the first half of the 20th century—w