From Fred Koch's book (1977) The Volga Germans . The first years were very hard for the settlers. In 1773 the population had increased to 240. It was 1775 before they had their first successful crop.

In 1912 the population was estimated to be 3500. Between 1880 and 1915 many residents of Galka left Russia; emigrating to Canada, the United States, South America (esp Argentina and Brazil) and Australia.

From the AHSGR Journal, Vol.23, #1, Spring 2000:
Writing in 1921, Alexander Schick born in 1875 in Galka, stated that his great great grandfather, Ludwig Schick left Germany with two sons - George Phil. and Nikolaus to settle in Russia. 'The colony Galka, which is located forty verst northeast of Kamyshin on the west side of the river and which before the war had approximately 3,500 inhabitants, was founded by Swedish prisoners during the reign of Peter the Great. The Swedes mixed with their German newcomers and disappeared in this manner.'
This information was translated by Herman G. Rempel from an article entitled :'The Return of the Great Grandchild'. Alexander Schick descended from George Phil. Schick who was born Sept 30, 1757 and died at 94 years of age in about 1851/1852. The author, Alexander, was born only 23 years after the death of his great grandfather and would have known family members who remembered him and the stories he told.