Abstract: the main purpose of the study is to identify the features of the formation of a modern network of rural settlement in the steppe zone of Russia. Most of the regions of this zone are border regions, which determines the relevance of the study of demographic processes in this territory. The main factors of the evolution of the rural settlement system in the considered regions are administrative transformations and depopulation processes. Migration and negative natural growth in the vast majority of municipalities in the regions of the steppe zone have an impact on all categories of rural settlements. Using the methods of statistical analysis based on the dynamics of the distribution of settlements by population, three spatial types of settlement evolution are identified. It is also revealed that the processes of polarization and depolarization are actively going on in the steppe zone, the network of settlements is evolving to different degrees in the steppe regions. The most difficult situation has developed beyond the Urals – rural settlements are actively decreasing in size, the network of settlements is sparse, intermediate links of the settlement framework that ensure widespread development of the territory are lost. The study is of practical importance for determining the most problematic areas in terms of development to prevent residential “desertification” of both large areas between large cities and border areas.
Keywords: rural population, settlement network, depopulation, steppe zone of Russia, spatial development