Editing Jewish Autonomous Oblast (section)

== Demographics ==
{{Historical populations|3=1926|4=35540|5=1939|6=108900|7=1959|8=162856|9=1970|10=172449|11=1979|12=190219|13=1989|14=215937|15=2002|16=190915|17=2010|18=176558|19=2021|20=150453|type=|footnote=Source: Census data}}The population of JAO has declined by over 40% since 1989 due to massive exodus in 1989–1996, with the numbers recorded being {{ru-census|p1989=215,937|punct=}} and {{ru-census|p2021=150,453|punct=.}}

===Ethnic groups===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Ethnicities in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in 2021<ref name="census2021">{{Cite web |title=Национальный состав населения |url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx |access-date=30 December 2022 |publisher=[[Federal State Statistics Service (Russia)|Federal State Statistics Service]]}}</ref>
|-
! Ethnicity 
!Population !! Percentage
|-
| [[Russians]] 
|133,625|| 88.8%
|-
| [[Ukrainians]] 
|1,292|| 0.9%
|-
| [[Jews]] 
|837|| 0.6%
|-
| [[Tatars]] 
|431|| 0.3%
|-
| [[Azerbaijanis]] 
|411|| 0.3%
|-
| [[Tajiks]] 
|371|| 0.2%
|-
| Other ethnicities
| 2,712|| 1.8%
|-
| Ethnicity not stated 
| 10,774|| 7.2%
|}

In the late 1940s, the [[Jews|Jewish]] population in the region peaked around 46,000–50,000, approximately 25% of its population.<ref name="David Holley">{{Cite news |last=David Holley |date=August 7, 2005 |title=In Russia's Far East, a Jewish Revival |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-07-fg-enclave7-story.html}}</ref> The census of 1959 found that the Jewish population of the JAO had declined by approximately 50%, down to 14,269 persons.<ref name=atlas/> In 1987, the reformist Soviet government led by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] pardoned many political prisoners and told the American Jewish community that it would allow the emigration of 11,000 Jewish [[refusenik]]s.{{sfnm|1a1=Doder|1a2=Branson|1y=1990|1p=195}} According to the 1989 Soviet Census, there were 8,887 Jews living in the JAO, or 4% of the total JAO population of 214,085.<ref name="siegel"/> In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast became the [[Federal subjects of Russia|federal subject]] of Russia and thus was no longer subordinated to [[Khabarovsk Krai]]. However, by that time, most of the Jews had emigrated from the Soviet Union and the remaining Jews constituted fewer than 2% of the local population.<ref name="jewishcurrents"/><ref>{{Cite news |title='Sad And Absurd': The U.S.S.R.'s Disastrous Effort To Create A Jewish Homeland |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/09/07/492962278/sad-and-absurd-the-u-s-s-r-s-disastrous-effort-to-create-a-jewish-homeland |access-date=2022-10-15}}</ref> In early 1996, 872 people, or 20% of the Jewish population at that time, emigrated to Israel.<ref name="jamesbrook"/> As of 2002, 2,357 Jews were living in the JAO.<ref name=atlas/> A 2004 article stated that the number of Jews in the region "was now growing".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Julius Strauss |date=August 17, 2004 |title=Jewish enclave created in Siberia by Stalin stages a revival |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1469623/Jewish-enclave-created-in-Siberia-by-Stalin-stages-a-revival.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1469623/Jewish-enclave-created-in-Siberia-by-Stalin-stages-a-revival.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> An April 2007 article in ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' claimed that the Jewish population had grown to about 4,000. The article cited [[Mordechai Scheiner]], the [[Chief Rabbi]] of the JAO from 2002 to 2011, who said that, at the time the article was published, Jewish culture was enjoying a religious and cultural resurgence.<ref name="jpost"/> However, the [[2021 Russian census]] indicated (see the table above) a population of only 837 ethnic Jews, or 0.6% of the JAO population were Jewish.

'''Vital statistics for 2024:<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 February 2025 |title=Естественное движение населения в разрезе субъектов российской федерации за декабрь 2024 года |url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/EDN_12-2024.htm |url-status=live |access-date=25 February 2025 |website=Rosstat}}</ref>'''
*Births: 1,120 (7.7 per 1,000)
*Deaths: 2,193 (15.1 per 1,000)

'''Total fertility rate (2024):<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-25 |title=Рейтинг рождаемости в регионах: кто в лидерах, а кто в аутсайдерах {{!}} Москва |url=https://fedpress.ru/article/3365231 |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=ФедералПресс |language=ru-RU}}</ref>'''<br />
1.35 children per woman

'''Life expectancy (2021):'''<ref name="rosstat">{{cite web|url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/folder/210/document/13207 |title=Демографический ежегодник России |publisher=[[Federal State Statistics Service (Russia)|Federal State Statistics Service of Russia]] (Rosstat) |access-date=2022-06-01 |language=ru |trans-title=The Demographic Yearbook of Russia}}</ref>  <br />
Total — 66.12 years (male&nbsp;— 61.73, female&nbsp;— 70.58)

=== Languages spoken ===

In the Soviet Union there was an attempt to make Yiddish an official language within Birobidzhan.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170322115050/http://old.ipkpr.ru/index.php/pedagogicheskij-vestnik-eao/item/633 Идиш в ЕАО: традиции, опыт, современность]</ref>
According to the statute of JAO (1997), Yiddish is one of the recognized [[minority language]]s.<ref name=jao-ustav/>

Yiddish is taught in three of the region's schools, but the community is almost exclusively Russian-speaking.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Gal Beckerman |date=August 31, 2016 |title=A Promised Land in the U.S.S.R. |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/136493/promised-land-ussr |magazine=[[The New Republic]]}}</ref>

According to an article published in 2000, Birobidzhan has several state-run schools that teach Yiddish, a Yiddish school for religious instruction and a kindergarten. The five- to seven-year-olds spend two lessons a week learning to speak Yiddish, as well as being taught Jewish songs, dance, and traditions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Steen |first=Michael |date=January 13, 2000 |title=Soviet-era Jewish homeland struggles on |work=Utusan Online |url=http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2000&dt=0113&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Features&pg=fe_02.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113171700/http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2000&dt=0113&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Features&pg=fe_02.htm |archive-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref> A 2006 article in ''[[The Washington Times]]'' stated that Yiddish is taught in the schools, a Yiddish radio station is in operation, and the ''Birobidzhaner Shtern'' newspaper includes a section in Yiddish.<ref name="washingtontimes.com"/>

=== Religion ===
{{Bar box
| title=Religion in Jewish Autonomous Oblast as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)<ref name="2012ArenaAtlas">[https://sreda.org/en/arena "Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia"]. Sreda, 2012.</ref><ref name="2012Arena-religion-maps">[http://c2.kommersant.ru/ISSUES.PHOTO/OGONIOK/2012/034/ogcyhjk2.jpg 2012 Arena Atlas Religion Maps]. "Ogonek", № 34 (5243), 27/08/2012. Retrieved 21/04/2017. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170421154615/http://c2.kommersant.ru/ISSUES.PHOTO/OGONIOK/2012/034/ogcyhjk2.jpg Archived].</ref>
| float=right
| bars=
{{Bar percent|[[Russian Orthodoxy]]|DarkOrchid|23}}
{{Bar percent|Other [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]]|MediumOrchid|6}}
{{Bar percent|Other [[Christianity in Russia|Christians]]|DeepSkyBlue|10}}
{{Bar percent|[[Islam in Russia|Islam]]|Green|1}}
{{Bar percent|[[Judaism]]|Blue|1}}
{{Bar percent|[[Spiritual but not religious]]|DarkSlateGray|35}}
{{Bar percent|[[Atheism]] and [[irreligion]]|Black|22}}
{{Bar percent|Other and undeclared|Gray|3}}
}}

According to a 2012 survey, 23% of the population of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast adhere to [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]], 6% are [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Christians]] of other church jurisdictions or Orthodox believers who are not members of any church, and 9% are [[Nondenominational Christianity|unaffiliated]] or generic Christians.<ref name="2012ArenaAtlas" /> [[Judaism]], despite being the associated religion of the oblast's titular ethnoreligious group, is practiced by just 1% of the population, which is only slightly higher than the national average and is close to that of communities in other federal subjects. In addition, 35% of the population identify as "spiritual but not religious", and 22% profess [[atheism]], making the Jewish Autonomous Oblast one of the least religious regions in Russia. A total of 5% of the population follows other religions or declined to answer the question.<ref name="2012ArenaAtlas" />

Archbishop Ephraim (Prosyanka) (2015) is the head of the Russian Orthodox Eparchy (Diocese) of Birobidzhan (established 2002).