Demographic history of Transnistria
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A demographic history of Transnistria shows that Transnistria has been home to numerous ethnic groups, in varying proportions, over time. Until 1792, it was sparsely populated.
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[edit] Ethnicity prior to 1792
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[edit] 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 people of Ukrainian, Romanian, Russian and German ethnicity.
Russia began attempting to lure Romanian settlers (mostly from Moldavia, but also from Transylvania, Bukovina and Muntenia) to settle in its territory in 1775, after it gained the largely uninhabited territory between the Dnieper and the Bug. [1]But the colonization was to a larger scale after 1792, to Transnistria and beyond, when the Russian government declared that the region between the Dnister and the Bug was to become a new principality named "New Moldavia", under Russian suzeranity. [2]
[edit] Soviet and post-Soviet periods (1917 to present)
Since the Soviet era, Transnistria was home to three major groups: Moldovans forming a plurality alongside Russians and Ukrainians. In 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 the Soviets. The trend continued after 1991, too, as the Moldovan population decreased between 1989 and 2004 from 39% to 32% of the total population. However, the Moldovans are still the largest single group of the region.
| Ethnicity | 1926 census | 1936 census | 1989 census | 2004 census |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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% |
