2002 Russian census

The census was primarily intended to collect statistical information about the resident population of the Russian Federation.

All (resident) participants were asked questions on their gender, birth date, marital status, household composition, birthplace, citizenship, ethnic or tribal self-identification (национальность), education level, language competence, sources of income, and employment status.

The Census recorded a resident population of 145,166,731 persons, including 67,605,133 men and 77,561,598 women.

Among Russia's resident population, 1,025,413 foreign citizens and 429,881 stateless persons were counted.

The questions did not distinguish native and non-native speakers, nor did they try to measure the degree of language competence.