How many Soviet republics were there?

Let's go through the points again.
1. How then do you explain that the population of the USSR grew steadily, and specifically during the 60-80s it increased by 80 million. Is this all because of a "hard life," right?
2. Any major country strives for world own dominance. And there is nothing wrong with that. But no one remembers that Great Britain was the largest colonial power, squeezing every last drop out of its colonies.
3. For your information, GULAG is an office. A concentration camp is a British invention. And, I repeat, 8-20% of those in the camps were political prisoners in different years. Now in Russia, more people are imprisoned without any camps at all. And there is more bureaucracy in Russia now than there was in the USSR under Brezhnev, even though the population has decreased by almost 100 million. As for the essence of communism—it's not even funny anymore. Where did you read such nonsense? Try reading Marx and Engels for once before speaking. Do not attribute someone else's stupidity to them.
4. I wonder what alternative options there were?