The Russian Far East is a land of contradictions. It is a vast territory of 6.2 million sq. km., roughly one-third the size of the United States, although it has less than 3 percent of the U.S. population.
Despite being rich in natural resources, it is desperately poor. Largely neglected by Moscow, it is coveted by its neighbors. Ten percent of the region's Soviet population of 8 million have migrated away, notably from the far north, yet unemployment remains high as more than 40 percent of the population subsists at less than the official poverty rate. Meanwhile, an inflow of Chinese is raising concerns that the neighbor to the south may gradually annex the territory.
The Russian Far East is pulled between Moscow, its historical orientation point, and its Asian neighbors, which offer tangible benefits through greater integration into the regional economy. The future of the region and perhaps even that of Northeast Asia as a whole depends on how this tension is resolved. While predictions that the Russian Federation will be dismembered are more often than not attempts to get Moscow's attention, demographic and economic forces do tug at the region.