The share of the Russians who believe that the Constitution is relevant and respected has doubled over the past seven years, according to a survey released Thursday.

Only 21 percent of 1,600 Russians polled on the eve of Constitution Day, which is celebrated Saturday, said the document is unimportant and not respected, compared with 40 percent in 2002, the state-run VTsIOM pollster said.

Also, 47 percent said the Constitution should be amended only in extremely rare circumstances, an increase from 35 percent in a similar poll nine years ago.

The 1993 Constitution underwent its first significant amendments last year at the request of President Dmitry Medvedev, who extended the presidential term to six years, from four, and parliamentary terms to five years, from four.

All previous amendments reflected only changes in the number and names of the country’s regions.

Only 16 percent of respondents said in the latest poll that they had read the Constitution and knew its contents.

The margin of error in the nationwide poll was less than 3.4 percentage points.