Demographic changes of the Visaginas town

The youngest Lithuanian town surrounded by pine forest is situated at the shore of a picturesque lake of Visaginas. The level of radiation of the town and its suburbs doesn't prevail the standards due to the data given by the Lithuanian Department of Environmental Protection. A relatively small, hilly, green, full of lakes areas have all facilities for tourism and recreation. The town's birth is directly linked with the construction of the nuclear power plant. Great number of nuclear energy specialists came here with their families from the East. The specific character of the town determined the ethnic composition of its population. In 1994-1995 there were Russians (59%), Lithuanians (14%), Byelorussian s (11%), Poles (6%), other nationalities (10%). The number of the residents in Visaginas is stable now with a slight tendency of increasing on the number of women. In 1990 the population of Visaginas was 33192, the women comprised 566 more in number than the men, in 1997 of its 33508 people were 1172 more women than the men. Recent Lithuanian social-economic changes greatly influenced the number of inhabitants of the town. In 1987, 3567 new inhabitants arrived to Visaginas and 1588 moved out. The inhabitants who had arrived to Visaginas in 1987 -1996 were 5,5 times less than in 1987, and moved out 5,4 times less also. One half of the inhabitants who moved from Visaginas went abroad. It shows that the mechanic and social mobility of the town's population decreased too. From 1989 to 1996 the main factor in changing the population number was not the natural increase of it but its migration. Then the natural increase lowered 4,8 times. The economic situation of the town is complex and becoming worse. The town was built as a satellite of the power plant. When the construction of the third block was stopped, the building of many objects was not completed. Other industries didn't develop in Visaginas. Most unemployed are the inhabitants at the age of 19-49 (87,9%). The majority of them do not know Lithuanian and can't find work in other cities, they are not able to attend qualification courses. (author)