After the previous census population of Dagestan went up by almost 400,000

According to the preliminary data of the 2010 census, about three million people live in Dagestan. About a quarter of the total population was registered in the capital - Makhachkala, where about 700,000 people live.

According to the data obtained by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at the territorial body of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service for the Republic of Dagestan ("Dagestanstat"), the initial results of the 2010 Russian census indicate that census lists contain 2,964,000 persons permanently residing in the territory of Dagestan.

Under the previous 2002 census Dagestan had 2,576,000 people. Of them, 42.8 percent lived in cities, and 57.2 percent - in villages.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told at the Makhachkala territorial department of statistics that according to preliminary results, about 700,000 people live in Makhachkala. In 2002, the figure was 534,000. This significant increase in population of Makhachkala is explained by the experts by the fact that thousands from other towns and villages of Dagestan come to the capital in search of employment.

A decrease of listed population against the expected numbers was marked in the Tlyaratin and Tsuntin Districts. According to statisticians, it was caused by decrease in the number of registered residential houses and departure of people from rural communities to cities.

Meanwhile, Dagestan saw cases when census takers twice inscribed same people into the census lists. Local residents believe that the reason was in poor training of the takers.

As reported by the "Dagestanstat", preliminary results of the census will be available in April 2011, while the completion of the official publication of the 2010 National Population Census is scheduled for 2013.