History of Ukraine

[dobko]

(found this in Wikpedia)

In 1940, the total population of the region was around 805.000, out of which 47.5% were Ukrainians in 1940 and 28.3% were Romanians. Germans, Jews, Poles, Hungarians and Russians(Lipovans) [1]) comprised the rest. In north Bukovina and Hertsa alone, however, Romanians made up 32.6% of the population while the Ukrainians made up only slightly more. In northern Khotin county, Ukrainians were more predominant and comprised the majority.

In the immediate aftermath of the Soviet takeover (1940) and during the Second World War, major demographic changes occurred. Most Poles were deported by the Soviet authorities, while most Germans returned to Germany. Under the Romanian occupation during the war, the Jewish community of the area was destroyed by the deportations to the death camps. The Soviet government deported or killed about 41.000 Romanians while at the same time, further encouraging an influx of Ukrainians from the Ukrainian SSR.

According to the Ukrainian Census (2001) data [2], the Ukrainians represent about 75% (689.1 thousand) of the population of the region. The census also identified a fall in the Romanian and Moldovan populations to 12.5% (114.6 thousand) and 7.3% (67.2 thousand), respectively. The artificial division between Moldovans and Romanians is an old Soviet-era practice and has been condemned as such by Romanian organizations in Ukraine. Russians are the next largest ethnic group with 4.1%, while Poles, Belarusians, and Jews comprise the rest. The languages of the population closely reflect the ethnic composition with over 90% within each of the major ethnic groups declaring their national language as the mother tongue (Ukrainian, Romanian, and Russian, respectively).

The bulk of the Russian minority (estimated at around 6%) lives in the city of Chernivtsi (Russian: Черновцы, Chernovtsy). The same is true for the 1.5% of the population who indentify themselves as Jewish and the 0.5% Poles.

In the Herta district, the Romanian population is over 95%, while in the city of Chernivtsi (Cernauti), 14 400 or 6% of the 250 000 total are Romanians, the rest being mostly Ukrainians (80%) and Russians (11%).

In Novoselitsa raion (district) (Suliţa Nouă) Romanians comprise 60% of the population and in Hlyboka (AdБncata) district they represent 50%. Storozhinetz (Storojineţ) district has a compact Romanian population in the south around the village of Crasna.

The appearance of Romanians and Moldovans in the census as two separate ethnic groups has been criticized by the Romanian Community of Ukraine - Interregional Union which complain that this old Soviet-era practice results in the Romanian population being undercounted. However, the census respondents were free to claim their ethnicity as they wished with no predermined set of choices, not to respond to any particular census question or not answer any questions at all. Some have chosen to claim to be Rusyns, which are ethnic groups that were not previously recognized [3]. Thus, the census official results adequately reflect the answers freely given by the respondents as no serious allegation of the counting fraud were ever brought up.