According to the data, the Crimean Federal District has a population of 2,284,400 people with 1,889,400 people living in the Republic of Crimea and 889,400 people in Sevastopol.
Crimean residents, like people from Russia’s other regions, gave way to their imagination during the census. According to a Rosstat official, there were a lot of people who described their ethnic origin as "Crimeans". But there were even more exotic statuses.
"A family from Evpatoria said they were forest elves, and they cannot take part in the census. It took much effort to persuade them to name their gender status and age," Rosstat official Svetlana Nikitina said.
According to Surinov, "elves and dwarves" were written in the ethnic nationality entry on the census form. However, after the data procession is completed, they will be referred to as "others".
A precise number of fairy-tale and extraterrestrial characters living in Crimea will be announced in spring.
Crimea and Sevastopol became Russian regions in March following a referendum was held there. Most of the population voted yes for the region’s division from Ukraine and reunification with Russia.
Last time, a census in Crimea was held in 2001. According to its results, Crimea had a population of more than 2 million people of 130 ethnic nationalities.
Earlier, it was reported that the population decreased by more than 250,000 during the last decade, from 1995 to 2014.
