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Revision as of 22:46, 24 April 2006 by WikiEditor2004 (talk | contribs) (improved the table)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Ethnic group| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Moldova: 2,564,849 (2004) Ukraine: 258,619 (2001) Russia: 172,330 (2002) Belarus: 4,300 (1999) Tajikistan: 300 (2000) Kyrgyzstan: 778 (1999) Romania: unknown | |
| Languages | |
| Moldovan/Romanian | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Eastern Orthodox. | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Latin peoples, especially Daco-Romanians |
The term Moldovan denotes an ethnic group that lives mainly in the Republic of Moldova, where they comprise 76.1% of the population, and in Ukraine, where they constitute a recognized ethnic minority of 0.53 % (7.28 % in Chernivtsi Oblast and 5.01 % in Odessa Oblast). The recognition of Moldovans as a separate ethnicity, distinct from Romanians, is a relatively new and controversial subject. For example, in Romania, despite its proximity to Moldova, no Moldovan ethnicity has been reported in the 2002 census.
The Moldovans in the territories of modern Romania and Moldova were considered ethnic Romanians until the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia in the 1940s, which led to the formation of the Moldovan SSR. A series of Soviet propaganda campaigns attempted to erase the links between Moldova and Romania in order to dissuade any ideas of re-unification of the two states, including an emphasized 'distinct' "Moldovan language", history, culture etc. Numerous Romanians, as well as a large part of the Moldovan populace, claim that external interference led to Moldova's increasingly separate identity rather than any actual differences.
Certain Moldovans, due to life under the Soviet Union and other factors, have pressed for recognition of an ethnic Moldovan identity, separate to that of Romania. Nevertheless, in the 2004 Moldovan Census, about 40% of the population of Moldova (55% of all Moldovans and Romanians in Moldova) reported Romanian as a native tongue, rather than Moldovan. Some differences include denominational affiliation, as under the Soviet regime the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia was transferred from the Romanian Orthodox Church to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, immediately after Moldova broke off the USSR, the Romanian Orthodox Church reorganized the Moldovan Metropolitan Church under its authority, forming the autonomous Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia (Romanian/Moldovan: "Mitropolia Basarabiei"). Moldovans are now split between Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and the Metropolitan Church of Chisinau and the Whole Moldova which depends on the Russian Patriarchate.
References
- 2004 census results in Moldova
- , , , 2001 census results in Ukraine
- 2002 census results in Romania
- Critics of the the 2004 Moldovan Census (and of the Soviet ones) suggest that many who declared their ethnicity as Moldovan rather than Romanian may have done so due to a misunderstanding of the question asked, and/or due to social pressure or direct pressure from enumerators.