National Minorities From Republic of Moldova

8/2/2019 National Minorities From Republic of Moldova

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National Minorities from

Republic of Moldova

Cebotar Mihai


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The ethnic structure of population of any

country with significant minority groups, the

quantitative and qualitative relationship

between population and ethnic minorities wasa difficult and delicate problem for society, In

Republic of Moldova was the same situations.


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Moldova has 4.32 million inhabitants. In the 1989

census, 64.5 percent of the population was Moldovan,

13.8 percent Ukrainian, 13 percent Russian, 3.5 percent

Gagauz (a Christian Orthodox Turkic people), 2 percentBulgarian, 1.5 percent Jewish, and 1.7 percent other

nationalities, mainly Belarussians, Poles, Greeks,

Germans, and Rom (Gypsies).


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Although the official number of Rom is only

11,600, the real number probably is 100,000. There

are few concentrated Rom settlements in Moldova,

and the degree of linguistic assimilation (Russian

or Moldovan) is high. The Ukrainian population

traditionally settled in the north and east. Gagauz

and Bulgarians have concentrated settlements in

th

e southern Budjak region.


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The Russian population, for the most part workers and

professionals brought to Moldova after World War II,

is concentrated in Chiinu, Bli, and the industrial

zones ofTransdniestria. Jews have lived in Moldovan

cities in great numbers since the early nineteenth

century, but many have left.


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Between 1990 and 1996, Moldova experienced a total

migration loss of 105,000 persons. Jews, Ukrainians,

and Russians were the most likely to leave.

Consequently, the Moldovan portion of the population

was believed to have increased to 67 percent by 1998.

The population density is the highest in the territory of

the former Soviet Union.


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Ethnic Relations. Bessarabia has always been amultiethnic region, and ethnic relations generally are

considered good. Especially in the north, Moldovans

and Ukrainians have lived together peacefully for

centuries and share cultural features. In recent history,Moldova has rarely experienced ethnic violence.


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InApril 1903, for example, 49 Jews were killed and

several hundred injured during the Chiinu pogrom,

but mainly by Russians rather than Moldovans. In the

late 1980s, when support for the national movement

began to grow, ethnic tension between Moldovans and

non-Moldovans increased, initially in Transdniestria

and Gagauzia and later in Chiinu and Bli.


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Whereas the conflict between Gagauz and

Moldovans was kept below the level of large-scale

violence, the Transdniestrian conflict escalated into

a full-fledged civil war in spring 1992. More than a

thousand people were said to have been killed, and

over a hundred thousand had to leave theirhomes.


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A

lthoug

hth

is conflicth

ad a strong eth

nic component, itwas not ethnic by nature; it was fought mainly between

the new independence-minded political elite in

Chiinu and conservative pro-Soviet forces in

Tiraspol. Moldovans and non-Moldovans could befound on both sides. On the right bank of the Dniestr,

where the majority of the Russian-speaking community

lives, no violent clashes took place.


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Since the war, additional efforts have been made toinclude non-Moldovans in the nation-building

process. The 1994 constitution and subsequent

legislation safeguarded the rights of minorities, and

in the same year broad autonomous powers were

granted to the Gagauz.


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NATIONAL MINORITIES IN REPUBLIC

OF MOLDOVA

Ukrainians: 8,35%

Russians: 5,95%

Gagauz: 4,36%

Romanians: 2,17%

Bulgarians: 1,94%

Jews : 0,11%

Poles: 0,07%

Other: 0,89%


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National Minorities From Republic of Moldova