Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990, the population of the island has decreased (2592 in 2002 census, 5180 in the 1989 census), and villages that once lined the coast are now ghost towns.
Logo da disolución da Unión Soviética en 1990, a poboación da illa diminuíu (2.592 habitantes no censo de 2002, 5.180 no censo de 1989), e os pobos que unha vez bordearon a costa son agora cidades pantasmas.