Who speaks Russian — and where?

197 countries · Russian-language evidence is incomplete

Highlights prioritize source verification, then native language, proficiency, use and additional languages. All remaining evidence stays below.

One latest eligible national observation per country and exact definition; ties use the date, then record ID. Counts only; percentages are never summed. Missing is not zero.

Select a country to compare its sourced facts. Different definitions are never added together.

Qualified and unresolved records remain visible but are excluded from verified count subtotals.

We multiply the number of migrants from each origin country by the share of residents there who reported knowing Russian. This estimates language knowledge; it does not count migrants who were asked directly. Moldova’s broad knowledge and Kyrgyzstan’s fluency figures stay separate. Migrants may differ in age and language from residents in their country of origin. Some migration routes are missing. Do not add these estimates to resident figures.

Migration figures come from the supplied workbook, which cites the sources linked below. We have not independently checked every figure against those sources. A person’s origin does not tell us which languages they speak. Missing routes mean missing information, not zero migrants.

Open a country card to see available percentages. A percentage needs a matching population: the same year, ages and territory. We do not calculate population shares from migrant estimates. Country shading is not available in this view.