Dangerous demographics

For Russia according to the Washington Times.

Russia's population is declining rapidly, with almost half of Russian families childless, a senior member of Russia's lower house of parliament has said.

Yekaterina Lakhova, chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on women's affairs, said Thursday, "Today, almost half of the country's 41 million families have no children at all," RIA Novosti reported.

Addressing parliamentary hearings on family policy, Lakhova said that 34 percent of Russian families have only one child, 15 percent have two children, and less than 3 percent have more than two children.

She added that the Russian birthrate is 1.34 children per woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.14, causing a steady decline in the population growth rate.

U.N. statistics say that at this rate Russia's population will be 101.5 million by 2050, shrinking by almost half from the over 143 million population of today.

Numbers like those cited above don't bode well for either Russia's economy or society in general. I'll hazard a guess but causes are probably related to the country's formerly communist system of government. Enviormental and social damage was inflicted on the country and Russia will be showing signs of that debacle for years to come.

Then this is just speculation, but I see another danger. A large country with a growing population and limited resources. That sees the wide open Russian areas of Siberia as a possibility to relieve their own overcrowding and need of natural resources. The country?

China. Maybe I've read too much Tom Clancy, but I don't think this scenarion will be so far fetched say in another fifty years. Good I won't be alive to see it.

Hat tip- Wizbang
Open Post- Outside the Beltway, Right Wing Nation,