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| The ''']''' is the most common ] in Eastern and Southern ] and ], the country's capital, and the most widespread ] throughout the country. | The ''']''' is the most common ] in Eastern and Southern ] and ], the country's capital, and the most widespread ] throughout the country. | ||
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| According to official data from the ], the Russian language is native for over 14,273,000 Ukrainian citizens (29.3 % of the total population).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/|title=Results / General results of the census / Linguistic composition of the population|accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=] |language=English}}</ref> Ethnic ] form 56% of the total Russian-speaking population, while the remaining Russophones are people of other ethnic background: 5,545,000 ], 172,000 ], 86,000 ], 81,000 ], 62,000 ], 46,000 ], 43,000 ], 43,000 ], 22,000 ], 21,000 ], 15,000 ]. | According to official data from the ], the Russian language is native for over 14,273,000 Ukrainian citizens (29.3 % of the total population).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/language/|title=Results / General results of the census / Linguistic composition of the population|accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=] |language=English}}</ref> Ethnic ] form 56% of the total Russian-speaking population, while the remaining Russophones are people of other ethnic background: 5,545,000 ], 172,000 ], 86,000 ], 81,000 ], 62,000 ], 46,000 ], 43,000 ], 43,000 ], 22,000 ], 21,000 ], 15,000 ]. | ||
| Therefore, the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine forms the largest linguistic community in ] that does not have official status for its language. Furthermore, the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine constitutes the largest ] community outside the ]. | Therefore, the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine forms the largest linguistic community in ] that does not have official status for its language.{{fact}} Furthermore, the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine constitutes the largest ] community outside the ]. | ||
| ===Polls=== | ===Polls=== | ||
| Judging by public opinion polls, the Russian language may appear to be used far more than was claimed by the official census. A survey by the Kiev International Sociology Institute (2004) showed that Russian is used at home by 43–46% of the population (in other words the same or a slightly larger proportion than the Ukrainian-speaking population). According to this survey, Russophones form the majority of the population in all Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.analitik.org.ua/researches/archives/3dee44d0/41ecef0cad01e/|title=Portrait of Yushchenko and Yanukovych electorates |accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=Analitik |language=Russian}}</ref> | |||
| * ] — 97% of the population | * ] — 97% of the population | ||
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| * ] — 74% | * ] — 74% | ||
| However, 2006 poll shows that 34% of respondents use only Russian at home; 38% of the population regard it as their native language. | |||
| The Russian language dominates in informal communication in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.korrespondent.net/main/print/148750|title=Byurkhovetskiy: Klichko - ne sornyak i ne buryan, i emu nuzhno vyrasti |accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=] |language=Russian}}</ref> It is also used by a sizeable linguistic minority (4-5% of the total population) in Central and Western Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2002/059/panorama01.php#13|title=In Ukraine there are more Russian lanaguage speakers than Ukrainian ones |accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=Evraziyskaya panorama |language=Russian}}</ref> | |||
| According to data obtained by the "Public opinion" foundation (2002), the population of the oblast centers prefer to use Russian (75%).<ref>http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2002/059/panorama01.php#13</ref> Continuous Russian liguistic areas occupy certain regions of Crimea, |
The Russian language dominates in informal communication in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev.{{fact}} It is also used by a sizeable linguistic minority (4-5% of the total population) in Central and Western Ukraine.{{fact}} | ||
| According to data obtained by the Russia-based "Public opinion" foundation (2002), the population of the oblast centers prefer to use Russian (75%).<ref>http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2002/059/panorama01.php#13</ref> Continuous Russian liguistic areas occupy certain regions of Crimea, Donbas, Slobozhanschyna, southern parts of Odessa and Zaporizhia oblasts, while Russian linguistic enclaves exist in central Ukraine and Bukovina. | |||
| {| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
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| ==Russian language in Ukrainian politics== | ==Russian language in Ukrainian politics== | ||
| {{cleanup-section|April 2007}} | |||
| {| class="wikitable" style="float:right;margin:0 0 1em 1em;" | {| class="wikitable" style="float:right;margin:0 0 1em 1em;" | ||
| |+ '''Do you consider it necessary to make Russian an official language in Ukraine?''' (according to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dif.org.ua/modules/pages/files/us5.pdf/|title=Ukrainian society 1994-2005: sociligical monitoring|accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=http://dif.org.ua |language=Ukrainian}}</ref> | |+ '''Do you consider it necessary to make Russian an official language in Ukraine?''' (according to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dif.org.ua/modules/pages/files/us5.pdf/|title=Ukrainian society 1994-2005: sociligical monitoring|accessdate= |accessmonthday=] |accessyear=] |work=http://dif.org.ua |language=Ukrainian}}</ref> | ||
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| |} | |} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| According to the ],<ref name=LoL>See </ref> |
According to the ],<ref name=LoL>See </ref>, Ukrainian is the sole language to be given the status of official ] in the country while the other languages spoken in Ukraine are also guaranteed constitutional protection. Even though Russian is the only language explicitly mentioned in Article 10 of the constitution among the languages other than Ukrainian to be given state protection,<ref name=Constitution> of the Constitution says: "The state language of Ukraine is the Ukrainian language. The State ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed."</ref> the issue of Russian receiving status of second official language has been a subject of extended controversial discussion ever since Ukraine became independent in ]. | ||
| In every Ukrainian election, some politicians, such as ], used their promise of making Russian a second state language to win support. The current ], ], has continued this practice. Current president ], during his 2004 campaign, also claimed a willingness to introduce more guarantees for Russian speakers. His clipping service spread an announcement of his promise to make Russian language proficiency obligatory for officials who interact with Russian-speaking citizens.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| | author = Clipping service of Viktor Yuschenko | | author = Clipping service of Viktor Yuschenko | ||
| | url = http://www.yuschenko.com.ua/rus/Future/decrees/1318/ | | url = http://www.yuschenko.com.ua/rus/Future/decrees/1318/ | ||
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| | datepublished = 18 July 2005}}</ref> | | datepublished = 18 July 2005}}</ref> | ||
| <!--This controversy is seen as a deliberate policy of ]. PLEASE FIND A PLACE AND A CONTEXT FOR THIS ORPHANED PHRASE-->The amount of Russian-teaching schools has been systematically reduced since 1991. Now it is much lower than the proportion of Russophones{{fact}}. | |||
| The reduction of Russian television broadcasts and the recent decision to dub rather than subtitle Russian programmes on Ukrainian channels have created a controversy: in one hand, the TV companies complained about "Ukrainization" that undermines their marketing strategies, in other hand, Russian language and Russia-made TV products still dominate the broadcastings (which is admitted by both sides of the dispute). <!-- ] 2004 стало известно, что кандидат в президенты ] будто бы намерен подписать проект указа «О защите прав граждан на использование русского языка и языков других национальностей Украины», которым обяжет чиновников общаться с гражданами на родном для них языке Согласно этому указу, государственные служащие должны были бы свободно владеть русским языком и проходить аттестацию на знание как ] (]), так и языков национальностей, которые компактно проживают на той территории, где работает конкретный чиновник. Указ должен был увидеть свет ещё в феврале ] года, однако до сих пор этого не произошло, а в апреле 2005 года Ющенко вообще заявил, что никогда подобного проекта указа не подписывал <ref>{{cite web | |||
| --> | --> | ||
| ===2006-2007 political campaign for Russian language=== | |||
| In 2006 the ] City Rada was the first to declare Russian to be "official at the local level", although that decision was above its jurisdiction and is now ruled out by the courts and prosecutor's office. Following that, several southern and eastern oblast councils (], ], ], ], ], and ] oblasts), and some councils of large cities (], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]) followed the political campaign of claiming the "local official status" for Russian. All these councils are dominated by the ] which is widely seen as the organizer of campaign. | |||
| According to 2006 survey by "Research and Branding group" the majority of Ukrainian citizens supported that campaign: 52% largely supported (including 69% of population of eastern oblasts and 56 % of southern regions), 34% largely opposed, 9% - answered "partially support and partially not", 5% had no opinion. <ref>http://www.ura-inform.com/ru/print/politics/2006/07/17/resultati_oproso</ref> | |||
| ==Russophone community== | ==Russophone community== | ||
| {{cleanup-section|April 2007}} | |||
| Over the course of the 20th century, if not during the whole period of ]n rule in Ukraine, the ever-changing policies of ] and ] have created a society that lives in south-eastern Ukraine that is thought to be neither wholly Russian nor Ukrainian. | Over the course of the 20th century, if not during the whole period of ]n rule in Ukraine, the ever-changing policies of ] and ] have created a society that lives in south-eastern Ukraine that is thought to be neither wholly Russian nor Ukrainian. | ||
| Potentially this could cause Ukraine serious problems, and the official reasoning of those who reject making Russian official is that such a move would force Ukraine to slowly gravitate back to Russia, or, on a regional level, threaten its territorial integrity at a time of crisis. | Potentially this could cause Ukraine serious problems{{fact}}, and the official reasoning of those who reject making Russian official is that such a move would force Ukraine to slowly gravitate back to Russia, or, on a regional level, threaten its territorial integrity at a time of crisis. | ||
| ] of a Russian public school in ] (], 2005).]] | ] of a Russian public school in ] (], 2005).]] | ||
Revision as of 23:58, 19 April 2007
The Russian language is the most common first language in Eastern and Southern Ukraine and Kiev, the country's capital, and the most widespread second language throughout the country.
Distribution
2001 Census
According to official data from the 2001 Ukrainian census, the Russian language is native for over 14,273,000 Ukrainian citizens (29.3 % of the total population). Ethnic Russians form 56% of the total Russian-speaking population, while the remaining Russophones are people of other ethnic background: 5,545,000 Ukrainians, 172,000 Belarusians, 86,000 Jews, 81,000 Greeks, 62,000 Bulgarians, 46,000 Moldavians, 43,000 Tartars, 43,000 Armenians, 22,000 Poles, 21,000 Germans, 15,000 Crimean Tartars.
Therefore, the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine forms the largest linguistic community in Europe that does not have official status for its language. Furthermore, the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine constitutes the largest Russophone community outside the Russian Federation.
Polls
Judging by public opinion polls, the Russian language may appear to be used far more than was claimed by the official census. A survey by the Kiev International Sociology Institute (2004) showed that Russian is used at home by 43–46% of the population (in other words the same or a slightly larger proportion than the Ukrainian-speaking population). According to this survey, Russophones form the majority of the population in all Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine:
- Autonomous Republic of Crimea — 97% of the population
- Dnipropetrovsk Oblast — 72%
- Donetsk Oblast — 93%
- Zaporizhia Oblast — 81%
- Luhansk Oblast — 89%
- Mykolaiv Oblast — 66%
- Odessa Oblast — 85%
- Kharkiv Oblast — 74%
However, 2006 poll shows that 34% of respondents use only Russian at home; 38% of the population regard it as their native language.
The Russian language dominates in informal communication in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev. It is also used by a sizeable linguistic minority (4-5% of the total population) in Central and Western Ukraine.
According to data obtained by the Russia-based "Public opinion" foundation (2002), the population of the oblast centers prefer to use Russian (75%). Continuous Russian liguistic areas occupy certain regions of Crimea, Donbas, Slobozhanschyna, southern parts of Odessa and Zaporizhia oblasts, while Russian linguistic enclaves exist in central Ukraine and Bukovina.
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian language | 34.7 | 37.8 | 36.1 | 35.1 | 36.5 | 36.1 | 35.1 | 38.1 | 34.5 | 38.1 | 35.7 | 34.1 |
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainly Russian | 32.4 | 32.8 | 33.1 | 34.5 | 33.4 | 33.6 | 36.0 | 36.7 | 33.2 | 36.0 | 34.3 | 36.4 |
| Both Russian and Ukrainian | 29.4 | 34.5 | 29.6 | 26.8 | 28.4 | 29.0 | 24.8 | 25.8 | 28.0 | 25.2 | 26.3 | 21.6 |
Russian language in Ukrainian politics
You must add a |reason= parameter to this Cleanup template – replace it with {{Cleanup|section|reason=<Fill reason here>}}, or remove the Cleanup template.
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 52.0 | 50.9 | 43.9 | 47.6 | 46.7 | 44.0 | 47.4 | 48.6 | 47.3 | 47.5 | 48.6 |
| Hard to say | 15.3 | 16.1 | 20.6 | 15.3 | 18.1 | 19.3 | 16.2 | 20.0 | 20.4 | 20.0 | 16.8 |
| No | 32.6 | 32.9 | 35.5 | 37.0 | 35.1 | 36.2 | 36.0 | 31.1 | 31.9 | 32.2 | 34.4 |
| No answer | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
According to the Constitution of Ukraine,, Ukrainian is the sole language to be given the status of official state language in the country while the other languages spoken in Ukraine are also guaranteed constitutional protection. Even though Russian is the only language explicitly mentioned in Article 10 of the constitution among the languages other than Ukrainian to be given state protection, the issue of Russian receiving status of second official language has been a subject of extended controversial discussion ever since Ukraine became independent in 1991.
In every Ukrainian election, some politicians, such as Leonid Kuchma, used their promise of making Russian a second state language to win support. The current Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, has continued this practice. Current president Viktor Yushchenko, during his 2004 campaign, also claimed a willingness to introduce more guarantees for Russian speakers. His clipping service spread an announcement of his promise to make Russian language proficiency obligatory for officials who interact with Russian-speaking citizens. In 2005 Yuschenko stated that he had never signed this decree project.
The amount of Russian-teaching schools has been systematically reduced since 1991. Now it is much lower than the proportion of Russophones.
The reduction of Russian television broadcasts and the recent decision to dub rather than subtitle Russian programmes on Ukrainian channels have created a controversy: in one hand, the TV companies complained about "Ukrainization" that undermines their marketing strategies, in other hand, Russian language and Russia-made TV products still dominate the broadcastings (which is admitted by both sides of the dispute).
2006-2007 political campaign for Russian language
In 2006 the Kharkiv City Rada was the first to declare Russian to be "official at the local level", although that decision was above its jurisdiction and is now ruled out by the courts and prosecutor's office. Following that, several southern and eastern oblast councils (Lugansk, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts), and some councils of large cities (Sevastopol, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Yalta, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kryvyi Rih, Odessa) followed the political campaign of claiming the "local official status" for Russian. All these councils are dominated by the Party of Regions which is widely seen as the organizer of campaign.
According to 2006 survey by "Research and Branding group" the majority of Ukrainian citizens supported that campaign: 52% largely supported (including 69% of population of eastern oblasts and 56 % of southern regions), 34% largely opposed, 9% - answered "partially support and partially not", 5% had no opinion.
Russophone community
You must add a |reason= parameter to this Cleanup template – replace it with {{Cleanup|section|reason=<Fill reason here>}}, or remove the Cleanup template.
Over the course of the 20th century, if not during the whole period of Imperial Russian rule in Ukraine, the ever-changing policies of Ukrainization and Russification have created a society that lives in south-eastern Ukraine that is thought to be neither wholly Russian nor Ukrainian.
Potentially this could cause Ukraine serious problems, and the official reasoning of those who reject making Russian official is that such a move would force Ukraine to slowly gravitate back to Russia, or, on a regional level, threaten its territorial integrity at a time of crisis.
However, some, like the French researcher Dominique Arel, hold a different opinion on the matter. Despite the ethnic mixing that took place ever since the land was settled in the 19th century by colonisers from other regions of the Empire, the people there do not share the same Ukrainian mentality as those in the central and western regions, and thus many feel alienated by Kiev's pro-Western Ukrainian orientation. Arel thinks that if Russian were to be raised to the level of state language, this alienation would promptly end, and the people would cease to feel like second-class citizens and realise that they hold equal importance in Ukrainian politics as those from the central and western regions.
A Ukranian historian, Viktor Horodyanenko, states that "The Russian-speaking socio-cultural community is characterized by informal integrity; it appears as an independent subject in social behavior. The basic system-formative characteristics are ethnicity (there are 11,000,000 Russians in Ukraine), residence (Russophones live in the industrial cities of Eastern and Southern Ukraine), intactness of the native language among Russians, firm ties of the Russians in Ukraine with the maternal ethnic group, largely intact national traditions and Russian spiritual culture, and adherence to a single faith (Orthodoxy). For the time being, the Russian-speaking citizens do not aspire to separatism, have faith in democratic reforms, but preserve their distinctive mentality and social behaviour"
Bibliography
- Русские говоры Сумской области. Сумы, 1998. — 160 с ISBN 966-7413-01-2
- Русские говоры на Украине. Киев: Наукова думка, 1982. — 231 с.
- Степанов, Є. М.: Російське мовлення Одеси: Монографія. За редакцією д-ра філол. наук, проф. Ю. О. Карпенка, Одеський національний університет ім. І. І. Мечнікова. Одеса: Астропринт, 2004. — 494 с.
- Фомин А. И. Языковой вопрос в Украине: идеология, право, политика. Монография. Второе издание, дополненное. — Киев: Журнал «Радуга». — 264 с ISBN 966-8325-65-6
- Rebounding Identities: The Politics of Identity in Russia and Ukraine. Edited by Dominique Arel and Blair A. Ruble Copub. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 384 pages. ISBN 0801885620 and ISBN 9780801885624
- Bilaniuk, Laada. Contested Tongues: Language Politics And Cultural Correction in Ukraine. Cornell University Press, 2005. 256 pages. ISBN 9780801443497
- Laitin, David Dennis. Identity in Formation: The Russian-Speaking Populations in the Near Abroad. Cornell University Press, 1998. 417 pages. ISBN 0801484952
References
- "Results / General results of the census / Linguistic composition of the population". 2001 Ukrainian Census.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Portrait of Yushchenko and Yanukovych electorates". Analitik (in Russian).
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2002/059/panorama01.php#13
- "Ukrainian society 1994-2005: sociligical monitoring". http://dif.org.ua (in Ukrainian).
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Ukrainian society 1994-2005: sociligical monitoring". http://dif.org.ua (in Ukrainian).
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Ukrainian society 1994-2005: sociligical monitoring". http://dif.org.ua (in Ukrainian).
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - See highlights in English
- Article 10 of the Constitution says: "The state language of Ukraine is the Ukrainian language. The State ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine. In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed."
- Clipping service of Viktor Yuschenko. "Yuschenko guarantee equal rights for Russian and other minority languages - Decree project". Retrieved April 10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|datepublished=ignored (help) - Lenta.ru. "Yuschenko appealed to Foreign Office to forget Russian language". Retrieved April 10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|datepublished=ignored (help) - http://www.ura-inform.com/ru/print/politics/2006/07/17/resultati_oproso
- http://krytyka.kiev.ua/articles/s.3_11_2006.html
- http://www.niurr.gov.ua/ukr/dialog_1999/Gorodianenko.html