Migration and colonization in Russian Empire and the settlers: from the nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries.

In Russia, the resettlement to Asiatic Russia beyond the Urals was promoted as a national project, and the government gave various privileges and support to the settlers. On the other hand, migrants did not always act according to the migration policy of the state. Especially, selecting their destination was vitally important for the peasant-settlers: many of them preferred settling at their own choice without receiving any support, rather than receiving land allotments in such areas as were hard to cultivate. They acted on their initiative.