HISTORY OF RUSSIAN IMMIGRATION   Over the last centuries there have been many strong waves of immigration coming from Russia. Before the start of the 20th Century most of the immigration occured because of religious reasons, when the Orthodox Groups were persued by the Government. The majority of the immigrants headed for North America, and the most popular place there was Alaska, which was part of Russia until the middle of the 19th Century. Later on, they spread from Alaska to the US and Canada.   In the 20th Century Russia lived through several waves of Immigration. At the very beginning of the Century a very tough economical crisis forced people to immigrate. A large number of those immigrants came from Ukraine, where the ecomonical crisis in agriculture was most devastating. In 1905-1910, over half a million people immigrated from Ukraine to Canada. The main places where they settled were Alberta and Manitoba, although a lot of them went to Quebec and Ontario. Even now, the Ukranian Community is one of the largest ones in Toronto. Its important to note that the Russian and Ukranian languages are very much alike, and people who speak Ukranian have no problem understanding Russian, and vice versa. At that time there was a large wave of immigration coming from the Jewish population that lived in the Southern part of Russia, and some of the Ukranians. A lot of those people headed for the US (mainly to New York) and Canada (Toronto and Montreal). The representatives of this wave had a great deal of influence on the economical and cultural life of USA and Canada. Mostly, the founders of the company Harley Davidson were immigrants from Russia, as well as the founders of Smirnoff. Many famous people in the US have families with Russian roots, or Russian ancestors.   The second wave of immigration from Russia occured during the 20 years after the revolution and the civil war, when over 5 million people had to flee from Russia and save themselves from terror. This was one of the largest waves of immigration, where the finest people were taken away. Amongst the immigrants were famous political candidats, people of art, scientists and businessmen. At first, most of them settled in Europe (mainly in Paris, Prague, and Belgrade), and also in China, although part of them went straight to North America. Later on, during World War 2 and after most of the immigrants went overseas to USA and Canada. Part of the people that settled in China went to Australia and New Zealand. The other part, even though not very large, went to Argentinia. This wave if often called "Aristocratic".   The third wave of immigration from Russia occured during the years after World War 2, when a lot of people who lived on German-Occupied territory or were prisonres of the Germans decided to immigrate and settle in Canada and the US.   The next wave of immigration from Russia began in the late 60’s and lasted until the end of the 80’s. It occured because at the end of the 60’s the Jews were allowed passage from the USSR to Israel. Part of the ones who were leaving and got to Italy and Austria decided to settle in Canada and USA. Thats why this wave is often called the "Jewish" one.   The last wave of immigration began in the 90’s and is still going until present time. This wave is often called "Professional", because most of the incoming immigrants are highly qualified specialists who were successful in Russia and are looking for a job in Canada to apply their skills and knowledge to. In average, over 15 thousand people come to Canada from Russia and other countries of the CIS each year, and 70% of those people settle here in Toronto. In conclusion, the Russian Community of Toronto in growing very rapidly. In the present day, it is counted by numerous tests that its number ranges from 120-200 thousand people. The newcoming immigrants slightly change the image of the Russian Community, making it more lively and dynamic. An example which describes how fast the Community grows is that 5 years ago there were only 3 Russian Newspapers in Toronto, the largest of them being 16 pages. Right now, there is over 20 newspapers and magazines in Russian, some of them being 64+ pages.