Hotin County was a county (ţinut is Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, judeţ after) in the Principality of Moldavia (1359-1812), the Governorate of Bessarabia (1812–1917), the Moldavian Democratic Republic (1917–1918), and the Kingdom of Romania (1918–1940).
Its capital was in the city of Hotin (today Khotyn). The territory of the county in currently divided between Ukraine (northern half) and Moldova (southern half).
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Between the two world wars, Hotin County covered 3,782 km2 and was located in the northeastern part of Greater Romania, being the northernmost County of Bessarabia. It was located on the border with the Soviet Union. In the interwar period, its borders were as follows: the Vinnytsia Oblast in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union to the north and north-east, the Stanislawow Voivodship of Poland to the north-west, Soroca County to the south-east, Bălţi County to south, Dorohoi County to the south and south-west, and Cernăuţi County to the west.
Administratively, Hotin County was divided into the city of Hotin and four (later six) districts (plăşi, singular plasă):
Later two more were formed:
According to the Romanian census of 1930 the population of Hotin County was 392,430, of which 41.6% were ethnic Ukrainians, 35.0% ethnic Romanians, 13.6% ethnic Russians, 9.2% Jews, 0.3% ethnic Poles. Classified by mother tongue: 45.1% spoke Ukrainian, 33.4% spoke Romanian, 12.0% spoke Russian, 9.2% spoke Yiddish. Classified by religion: 87.0% were Orthodox Christian, 9.2% Jewish, 1.9% Baptist, 1.0% Old Believers, and 0.3% Roman Catholic.
According to Russian census of 1897, Ukrainians (Little Russians) represented the majority of population of Khotin Uyezd.There were 160,000 Ukrainians (55%) in rural areas, or 164,000 (53%) including urban areas.[1]
In 1930 the urban population of Hotin County was 15,334, which included 37.7% Jews, 36.6% Russians, 14.8% Ukrainians, 8.8% Romanians, and 1.5% Poles by ethnicity. The major mother tongues among the urban population were: Yiddish (37.6%), Russian (37.5%), Ukrainian (14.7%), Romanian (8.6%), and Polish (1.2%) The religious mix of the urban population was 57.6% Eastern Orthodox, 37.7% Jewish, 2.1% Old Believers, and 1.6% Roman Catholic.
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