Russian rural areas (populated areas outside towns and cities) occupy two thirds of the country territory. Practically all Russian constituent regions have rural areas, though varying by their share in a region’s total area and by their population number. In the Southern and European Russia and Siberia the former reaches 50%. In the Non-Black Earth Zone it is under 20%. The total population of rural areas is 39,2 million, which is 27% of the country population. About 150 000 villages constitute 24 409 rural administrations further grouped into 1865 administrative districts  Russia’s social and economic transformation of the recent 10 years has negatively affected the living standards and, in general terms, the rural social and economic situation.