Demographic history of Transnistria
Encyclopedia
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
has been home to numerous ethnic groups, in varying proportions, over time. Until the early 19th century, it was sparsely populated. In the last centuries most of the population is romanian/moldavian.
Ethnicity prior to 1792
The word "Transnistria" means literally lands beyond the Dniester river (this river is called "Nistru" in romanian/moldavian) and these lands are historically related to the neo-latin populations that lived east of BessarabiaBessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
. Indeed actual Transnistria is only a small area of these lands, and the most western: Transnistria historically reached during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Bug river, while ethnic Moldavians/Romanians moved to live even near the Don river
Don River
- Australia :* Don River , a tributary of the Fitzroy River * Don River in North Queensland* Don River - United Kingdom :* River Don, South Yorkshire, England...
in 1712.
In the coastal area of these lands, during the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
there were small cities of nearly 5,000 inhabitants like Tyras
Tyras
Tyras , was an ancient Greek city founded as colony of Miletus, probably about 600 BC, situated some 10 m from the mouth of the Tyras River...
and Olbia
Olbia, Ukraine
Pontic Olbia or Olvia is the site of a colony founded by the Milesians on the shores of the Southern Bug estuary , opposite Berezan Island...
, where Roman colonists settled under the protection of Roman legionaries. The interior was sparsely populated by barbarians and for many reasons all the region between the Dniester and the Bug river for centuries -during the middle ages- remained a nearly desert steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
, continuously raided by invasions.
Beside the droughty periods typical for the region, the second reason for the underpopulation of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
northern shores is the vicinity of the Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
. Their presence
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, both military and civil, impeded the settling of the east European type life and blocked the Moldavian or even Polish expansion to the east. The Transnistrian lands settled in the Middle Ages by Romanians were only partially and temporarily ruled by Moldavian princes or possessions of the Moldavian Principality. Probably those Moldavians living east of the Dniester were only a few thousands.
The steppe around the Bug river was mostly depopulated in the XIII and XIV centuries because of the Golden Horde
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, according to some travelers (like in the "Chorographia Moldaviae" of Georg Reicherstorfer, written in 1541). They found there only some Vlach shepherds and a few Moldavian and Slav villages.
Meanwhile the Romanian/Moldavian colonization east of Bessarabia -that had started around the year 1000 AD- had reached the Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
area in the XV century and in 1712 even the Don river
Don River
- Australia :* Don River , a tributary of the Fitzroy River * Don River in North Queensland* Don River - United Kingdom :* River Don, South Yorkshire, England...
, with the Dimitrie Cantemir
Dimitrie Cantemir
Dimitrie Cantemir was twice Prince of Moldavia . He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer....
leadership
Ethnically the area of Transnistria between the Dniester and the Bug river -even if depopulated- was probably 2/3 moldavian speaking (while between the Bug and the Dnieper most of the population was slav), when Russia started to conquest it. Indeed, according to the results of the census (quoted in Romanian sources) of 1793 AD, 49 villages out of 67 between the Dniester and the Bug
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
were Romanian.
Russian Empire period (1792 - 1917)
In 1792, the whole Transnistria became part of the Russian Empire. At that time, the population was sparse and the Russian Empire encouraged large migrations into the region, including ethnic UkrainiansUkrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
and Germans
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
.
Russia began attempting to lure Romanian settlers (mostly from Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, but also from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
and Muntenia
Muntenia
Muntenia is a historical province of Romania, usually considered Wallachia-proper . It is situated between the Danube , the Carpathian Mountains and Moldavia , and the Olt River to the west...
) to settle in its territory in 1775, after it gained the largely uninhabited territory between the Dnieper and the Bug
Bug
A bug is an insect of the order Hemiptera, known as the "true bugs".Bug or BUG may also refer to:-Biology:* Informally, most arthropods, except marine crustaceans, including individuals or species of** centipede** insect** millipede** mite...
. But the colonization was to a larger scale after 1792, to Transnistria and beyond, when the Russian government declared that the region between the Dniester and the Bug was to become a new principality named "New Moldavia", under Russian suzeranity.
After 1812 Russia annexed Bessarabia (located west of the Dniester and up to the Prut river), while a process of russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
started to be done with the moldavian/romanian populations east of the Dniester.
Soviet and post-Soviet periods (1917 to present)
Since the Soviet era, Transnistria is home to three major groups: Moldovans forming a plurality alongside Russians and Ukrainians.Historically, after one century of russification, the Moldovans
Moldovans
Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova...
were no more the majority of population in the areas of Soviet MASSR (Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) established in 1924. MASSR was limited to some areas east of the Dniester, until Balta
Balta
-Places:*Balta, Shetland, an island in Scotland*Balta Sound, a sound on the east coast of the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland*Bâlta, a village in the town of Filiaşi, Dolj County, Romania*Bâlta, a village in Runcu, Gorj, Romania...
. East of Balta, most of the romanians/moldavians -settled there since the end of Tartar attacks in the XVI century- were already "assimilated" by the slavs in the early XX century (but there were nearly 100,000 moldovan speaking living east of the MASSR and up to the Dnieper river).
| Ethnic group |
census 1926 | 1936 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | |
| Ukrainians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... |
277,515 | 48.5% | 265,193 | 45.5% |
| Moldovans Moldovans Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova... |
172,419 | 30.1% | 184,046 | 31.6% |
| Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... |
48,868 | 8.5% | 56,592 | 9.7% |
| Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation... |
48,564 | 8.5% | 45,620 | 7.8% |
| Germans Germans The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages.... |
10,739 | 1.9% | 12,711 | 2.2% |
| Bulgarians Bulgarians The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:... |
6,026 | 1.1% | ||
| Poles Poles thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe... |
4,853 | 0.8% | ||
| Roma (Gypsies) | 918 | 0.2% | ||
| Romanians Romanians The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania.... |
137 | 0.0% | ||
| Other | 2,300 | 0.4% | 13,526 | 2.4% |
| Total | 572,339 | 582,138 | ||
Despite this relatively extensive territory allotted to the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, more than 85,000 Moldovans remained in Ukraine (and Soviet Russia) outside the territory of MASSR.
When Romania created the Governorate of Transnistria in 1941 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, most of the population was ukrainian/russian and only nearly 10% was romanian. The main reason of this was that all the area from the Dniester up to the Bug (that historically was part of the Yedisan
Yedisan
Yedisan is a historical region in modern southwestern Ukraine and southeastern Moldova . The region lies to the north of the Black Sea between the Dniester and Dnieper rivers...
territory of the expelled Nogais
Nogais
The Nogai people are a Turkic ethnic group in Southern Russia: northern Dagestan and Stavropol Krai, as well as in Karachay-Cherkessia and the Astrakhan Oblast; undefined number live in Chechnya...
) was included in this fascist "Greater Romania".
In this way, from 1941 to 1944 the Romanian "irredentism" had obtained the union of nearly 200,000 ethnic Romanians to their motherland, even if with the loss of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
to Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Even Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
was subject to Romania
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
n administration, as the city had been made part of Transnistria
Transnistria (World War II)
Transnistria Governorate was a Romanian administered territory, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, and occupied from 19 August 1941 to 29 January 1944...
.
In December 1941 Romanian authorities conducted a census in Transnistria, and the ethnic structure was the following:
| Ethnicity | Number | % | Rural | Urban |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... |
1,775,273 | 76.3 | 79.9 | 57.4 |
| Romanians Romanians The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania.... |
197,685 | 8.4 | 9.3 | 4.4 |
| Russians | 150,842 | 6.5 | 2.4 | 27.9 |
| Germans Germans The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages.... |
126,464 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 2.7 |
| Bulgarians Bulgarians The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:... |
27,638 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Jews | 21,852 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Poles | 13,969 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Lipovens | 968 | - | - | 0.1 |
| Tatars | 900 | - | - | 0.1 |
| Others | 10,628 | 0.5 | 10.2 | 1.7 |
| Total | 2,326,224* | 100 | 1,956,557 | 369,669 |
When the Soviet reconquered the area in 1944, they created the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic with former MASSR included, where ethnic Moldovans were the majority.
| ethnic group | 1941 | 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moldavians Moldovans Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova... |
1,620,800 | 68.8% | 1,886,566 | 65.4% | 2,303,916 | 64.6% | 2,525,687 | 63.9% | 2,794,749 | 64.5% |
| Romanians Romanians The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania.... |
- | - | 1,663 | 0.06% | 1,581 | 1,657 | 2,477 | 0.06% | ||
| Ukrainians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... |
261 200 | 11.1% | 420,820 | 14.6% | 506,560 | 14.2% | 560,679 | 14.2% | 600,366 | 13.8% |
| Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... |
158,100 | 6.7% | 292,930 | 10.2% | 414,444 | 11.6% | 505,730 | 12.8% | 562,069 | 13.0% |
| Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation... |
- | - | 95,107 | 3.2% | 98,072 | 2.7% | 80,127 | 2.0% | 65,672 | 1.5% |
| Gagauz Gagauz Gagauz may refer to:* Gagauz people* Gagauz language* Gagauzia... |
115,700 | 4.9% | 95,856 | 3.3% | 124,902 | 3.5% | 138,000 | 3.5% | 153,458 | 3.5% |
| Bulgarians Bulgarians The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:... |
177,700 | 7.5% | 61,652 | 2.1% | 73,776 | 2.1% | 80,665 | 2.0% | 88,419 | 2.0% |
| Gypsy | - | - | 7,265 | 0.2% | 9,235 | 0.2% | 10,666 | 0.3% | 11,571 | 0.3% |
| others | 23,200 | 1.0% | 22,618 | 0.8% | 43,768 | 1.1% | 48,202 | 1.2% | 56,579 | 1.3% |
| Total | 2,356,700 | 2,884,477 | 3,568,873 | 3,949,756 | 4,335,360 | |||||
Note: "-" means the official census data does not identify that group in that year, i.e. counts it within other groups, not that the group is not present.
In the first year of the latter half of the 20th century, the ethnic proportions have changed in large measure due to industrialization and the immigration of Russian and Ukrainian workers, encouraged by Stalin. During the Soviet rule, up to one million people settled in Moldova.
The trend continued after 1991, too, as the Moldovan population in Transnistria decreased between 1989 and 2004 from 39% to 32% of the total population. However, the Moldovans
Moldovans
Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova...
are still the largest single group of the Transnistria region (followed by the Russians).
| Ethnicity | 1926 census | 1936 census | 1989 census 1989 Census in Transnistria The 1989 Census in Transnistria was organized by the authorities of the MSSR in the final days of its existence as a Soviet republic. It took place as part of the Soviet Census of 1989.... |
2004 census 2004 Census in Transnistria The 2004 Census in Transnistria was organized in Transnistria at roughly the same time that Moldova held its own census, which Transnistria refused to participate in out of principle and deference to its September 2, 1990 Declaration of Independence.... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moldovans | 44.1% | 41.8% | 39.9% | 31.9% |
| Ukrainians | 27.2% | 28.7% | 28.3% | 28.8% |
| Russians | 13.7% | 14.2% | 25.5% | 30.4% |
| Jews | 8.2% | 7.9% | 6.4% | |
| Bulgarians | 6.8% | 7.4% | 2.5% | |
| Poles | 2% | |||
| Gagauz: | 0.7% | |||
| Belarusians | 0.7% | |||
| Germans | 0.4% | |||
| Others | 4.6% | |||
Moldovans (Romanians) are the most numerous ethnic group, representing an overall majority in the two sub-districts in the central Transnistria (Dubăsari sub-district, 50.15%, and Grigoriopol sub-district, 64.83%), a 47.82% relative majority in the northern Camenca sub-district, and a 41.52% relative majority in the southern (Slobozia sub-district). In Râbniţa sub-district they are a 29.90% minority, and in the city of Tiraspol
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...
, they constitute a 15.24% minority of the population.
Russians are the second numerous ethnic group, representing a 41.64% relative majority in the city of Tiraspol
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...
, a 24.07% minority in Slobozia, a 19.03% minority in Dubăsari, a 17.22% minority in Râbniţa, a 15.28% minority in Grigoriopol, and a 6.89% minority in Camenca.
Ukrainians are the third numerous ethnic group, representing a 45.41% relative majority in the northern Râbniţa sub-district, a 42.55% minority in Camenca, a 32.97% minority in Tiraspol, a 28.29% minority in Dubăsari, a 23.42% minority in Slobozia, and a 17.36% minority in Grigoriopol.
See also
- 1989 Census in Transnistria1989 Census in TransnistriaThe 1989 Census in Transnistria was organized by the authorities of the MSSR in the final days of its existence as a Soviet republic. It took place as part of the Soviet Census of 1989....
- 2004 Census in Transnistria2004 Census in TransnistriaThe 2004 Census in Transnistria was organized in Transnistria at roughly the same time that Moldova held its own census, which Transnistria refused to participate in out of principle and deference to its September 2, 1990 Declaration of Independence....
- History of TransnistriaHistory of TransnistriaThis is the history of Transnistria.See also the history of Europe.-Antiquity:In ancient times, the area was inhabited by Thracian and Scythian tribes...
- Demographics of MoldovaDemographics of MoldovaThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Moldova, including distribution, ethnicity, languages, religious affiliation and other statistical data.- Overview of the demographic statistics :...