page_title: Russian Cross
hierarchical_section_title: Russian Cross
context_page_description: The Russian Cross is the name of a demographic trend that occurred in Russia and many other countries of the former Warsaw Pact. In Russia, starting in 1988, birth rates among native Russians were declining, while from 1991 the death rates started climbing.
  In 1992, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births, and continued to do so to a greater or lesser degree until 2013. When this trend is plotted on a line graph starting from the mid-1980s, the lines cross at 1992, hence the name.
context_section_description: The Russian Cross is the name of a demographic trend that occurred in Russia and many other countries of the former Warsaw Pact. In Russia, starting in 1988, birth rates among native Russians (as well as most other ethnic groups of the European part of the former Soviet Union) were declining, while from 1991 the death rates started climbing. 
  In 1992, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births, and continued to do so to a greater or lesser degree until 2013. When this trend is plotted on a line graph starting from the mid-1980s, the lines cross at 1992, hence the name.
caption: "Russian Cross"; the black curve reflects the death rate dynamics, the red one corresponds to the birth rate (per thousand)