Moldovans 2232012 225346286 2008-07-13T05:32:22Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes {{Cleanup|date=February 2008}} {{Original research|date=February 2008}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2008}} {{otheruses}} {{Ethnic group| |group=Moldovans <br> ''Moldoveni'' |image= |poptime= 3.2-3.5 million |popplace=[[Moldova]]:<br>2,741,849 (2004) ([[Transnistria]] included) [http://www.statistica.md/recensamint/Nationalitatea_de_baza.xls]<br> [[Ukraine]] (2001):<br />258,619 [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=60&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1] <br>[[Russia]]:<br />172,330 (2002) [http://www.perepis2002.ru/index.html?id=17]<br /> [[Italy]]:<br /> 55,803 (2006)<ref>[http://demo.istat.it/str2006/query.php?lingua=eng&Rip=S0&paese=A12&submit=Table "Foreign citizens. Resident Population" (2006)] at the Istituto nazionale di statistica</ref> <br /> [[Brazil]]:<br /> 20,000 - 30,000 (2006) <br /> [[Kazakhstan]]:<br />19,458 (1999)<br /> [[Portugal]]:<br /> 12,632 (2003) [http://imigrantes.no.sapo.pt/page2Leste.html]<br /> [[Spain]]:<br /> 10,434 (2006) <br /> [[Belarus]]:<br />4,300 (1999) [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2003/097/analit01.php]<br />[[Kyrgyzstan]]:<br />778 (1999) [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2005/0197/analit04.php]<br />[[Estonia]]<br />645 (2000) [http://www.stat.ee/files/eva2003/RV200102.pdf]<br />[[Tajikistan]]:<br />300 (2000) [http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2005/0191/analit05.php] |langs=[[Moldovan language|Moldovan]]/[[Romanian language|Romanian]] |rels=Predominantly [[Eastern Orthodox]]. |related=: &nbsp;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;[[Vlachs]]<br/> &nbsp;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;[[Romanians]]<br/> &nbsp;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;[[Aromanians]]<br/> &nbsp;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;[[Megleno-Romanians]]<br/> &nbsp;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;[[Istro-Romanians]]<br/> }} '''Moldovans''', or '''Moldavians''' (original name: ''Moldoveni''; ''Молдовень'' in the [[Moldovan alphabet|Moldovan Cyrillic script]], used nowadays only in [[Transnistria]]) are the native population in, depending on one's interpretation, all or part of the lands that correspond to the former [[Principality of Moldavia]]. The first chronicle ''Descriptio Moldaviae'' attesting of Moldavians dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, which itself describes Moldavians as of the XIVth century. In the [[Moldova|Republic of Moldova]], the term ''Moldovans'' is used to officially denote an ethnicity separate from [[Romanians]]<ref name=mold-census>[http://www.statistica.md/recensamint/Nationalitati_de_baza_ro.xls 2004 census results in Moldova]</ref><ref name=seeurope>[http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371949 "Official Chisinau Seeks Recognition Of Moldovan Ethnicity And Minority In Romania"] The Jamestown Foundation, February 28, 2007, by Vladimir Socor.</ref>. Among self-declared Moldovans, more than 80% consider themselves as different from Romanians, and only 5% see no difference.<ref>Pal Kolsto,''National Integration and Violent Conflict in Post-Soviet Societies: The Cases of Estonia and Moldova'', pg. 34, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002, ISBN 0742518884</ref> Outside of the [[Moldova|Moldovan Republic]], this group is currently recognized as a minority ethnic group in several former [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] republics. ==Population== Moldovans constitute 76.1% of the population of [[Moldova]].<ref name=mold-census/> In the breakaway region of [[Transnistria]], in the eastern part of the country, they compose a [[plurality]] with 31.9% of the population. The [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|2001 census in Ukraine]] counted 258,600 Moldovans. They live mostly in the [[Budjak]] region or south-west [[Odessa Oblast]] and the [[Novoselytskyi Raion]], but also in other areas of [[Odessa Oblast]], bordering the [[Republic of Moldova]]. <ref name=ukr-census>[http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=60&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1], [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=73&p=60&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1], [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=51&p=60&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1], [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/estimate/] 2001 census results in Ukraine</ref> In [[Romania]], some six or seven million people consider themselves to be "Moldovans" as an integral part of, not distinct from, the [[Romanians|Romanian nation]].{{dubious}} In 2007 a group of Romanian citizens have attempted to seek official recognition of the minority status for the Moldovans in Romania. Around the same time, during a visit of three delegates of this movement in Moldova, Moldovan President [[Vladimir Voronin]] spoke of 10 million Moldovans living in the neighbouring country, though this number may be exaggerated.<ref name=seeurope/> People who declared themselves Moldovans in the last Romanian census were reported as Romanians in the census results.<ref name="censushandbook">[http://www.unece.org/stats/census/2000/files/Romania/2002HandbookForCensusStaff.pdf The Handbook of the Census Staff], 2001, at [[UNECE]] website</ref> ==History== [[Image:Moldova Stefan cel Mare.png|thumb|200px|left|The Moldovan principality in the 15th century]] [[Image:Romania Mare (judete si regiuni istorice).JPG|thumb|200px|left|[[Greater Romania]] (1918-1940). Note the region [[Moldavia]] ([[German language|German]] ''Moldau'').]] [[Image:Romania Graiuri.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Romanian dialects|Romanian varieties]] (''graiuri'')<br />Blue: Southern varieties<br />Red: Northern varieties<br />The Moldovans speak the Moldovan variety]] [[Image:Major ethnics groups in Moldova 1989.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Ethnic composition of the Moldovan Republic (census 1989)]] Until the 1920s, specialists generally considered the Moldovans a subgroup or regional group of the [[Romanians|Romanian]] ethnos.<ref>King, pg. 2</ref> After 1924, [[Soviet]] authorities began to emphasize a distinct [[Moldovan language]], history and culture, and to support the claim that Moldovans constitute a separate ethnic group.<ref name=page3> King, pg. 3</ref> Soviet policy on the Moldovan language was not constant: there were two intervals (1932-1937 and in the mid-1950s) during which the Soviet scholars declared the unity between the two languages.<ref>Michael Bruchis. ''The Language Policy of the CPSU and the Linguistic Situation in Soviet Moldavia'', in ''[[Soviet Studies]]'', Vol. 36, No. 1. (Jan., 1984), pp. 119.</ref> Numerous Romanians, as well as a part of the Moldovan population, claim that external interference rather than any actual differences led to Moldova's increasingly separate identity.<ref name="page3" /> Despite this, Moldovans have pressed for recognition of an ethnic Moldovan identity, separate from that of Romanians. In the [[2004 Moldovan Census|2004 census]], out of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova, 16.5% (558,508) chose Romanian as their mother tongue, whereas 60% chose Moldovan. While 37% of all [[urban area|urban]] Romanian/Moldovan speakers chose Romanian as their mother tongue, in the countryside this percentage was just under 15.<ref>National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova: [http://www.statistica.md/recensamint.php?lang=ro Census 2004]</ref> == Religion == {{main|Moldovan Orthodox Church|Metropolis of Bessarabia}} The major [[Christian denomination|denomination]] in both Moldova and Romania is [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christianity]]. The difference between Moldova and Romania is the acceptance of different bishop authority (see [[Eastern Orthodox Church organization]]), expressed as affiliation to distinct [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] churches (respectively Russian and Romanian) within the Eastern Orthodox [[full communion|communion]]. Basically, there is an in Moldova ongoing politically charged bishop territorial jurisdiction and administrative succession issue which, from an ecclesiastical point of view, is subject to [[canon law]]s (not a faith related, theological, or [[Christian denomination|denominational]] difference). Thus, most Eastern Orthodox in Moldova belong to the autonomous [[Metropolis of Chişinău and Moldova|Moldovan Orthodox Church]], which depends on the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Immediately after Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union (1991), the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]] reactivated a previous structure, forming the autonomous [[Metropolis of Bessarabia]] (1992), which was officially recognized only in 2002. The dispute's subject is the succession of the pre-[[WWII]] Metropolitan [[Episcopal see|See]] of Bessarabia. The Supreme Court of Moldova ruled in favor of the Moldovan Orthodox Church, while the [[European Court of Human Rights]] - in favor of the Metropolis of Bessarabia.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} This remains an open issue between the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Churches. As of 2007, the Moldovan Orthodox Church has 1255 parishes, while the Metropolis of Bessarabia has 219. <ref>[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90189.htm International Religious Freedom Report 2007], by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor</ref> ==Moldovan ethnos theory and the Romanian identity== ===Moldovan ethnos theory=== In the past, the term Moldavian/Moldovan has been used to refer to the population of the historical Principality of Moldavia. Nevertheless, after 1924, Soviet sociologists began using the term to demonstrate the distinctiveness of the natives of [[Bessarabia]]. On December 19, 2003, the [[Parliament of the Republic of Moldova|Moldovan Parliament]] adopted "The Concept on National Policy of the Republic of Moldova" which critics have accused is a revival of the Soviet-style Moldovenist theories. The document states that Moldovans and Romanians are two distinct peoples that speak two similar languages, Romanians form an ethnic minority in Moldova, and that the Republic of Moldova is the legitimate successor to the Principality.<ref>Gribincea A., Grecu, M. [http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.pdf?tbl=RSDCOI&id=418f804a4 The Concept on National Policy of the Republic of Moldova] UNHCR. </ref> Today, Moldovans are recognized as an [[ethnic group]] by several ex-Soviet countries. Presently, the largest number of people who declared their ethnicity as Moldovan live in the Republic of Moldova, where according to the 2004 Census, they comprise 76.1% of the population<ref name="mold-census" />. In Ukraine, according to that country's census in 2001, Moldovans constitute a recognized ethnic minority of 0.53% (7.28% in [[Chernivtsi Oblast]] and 5.01% in [[Odessa Oblast]]).<ref name="ukr-census" /> ===Romanian identity=== On the other side of the debate, the arguments go that the self-designation of [[Romanians]] living in [[Transylvania]], [[Wallachia]] and the [[Moldavia|Principality of Moldova]] as Romans is mentioned in scholarly works as early as the 16th century, such as works of [[Italian people|Italian]] humanists traveling to those lands. Thus, Tranquillo Andronico writes in 1534 that [[Vlachs]] "now call themselves Romans".<ref>''"nunc se Romanos vocant"'' A. Verres, Acta et Epistolae, I, p. 243</ref> In 1532, Francesco della Valle accompanying Governor Aloisio Gritti to Transylvania, Wallachia and ''Moldavia'' notes that [[Romanians]]{{dubious}} preserved the name of the Romans (''Romani'') and "they call themselves in their language ''Romei''".<ref>Cl. Isopescu, Notizie intorno ai romeni nella letteratura geografica italiana del Cinquecento, in Bulletin de la Section Historique, XVI, 1929, p. 1- 90 </ref> Ferrante Capeci writes around 1575 that the inhabitants of these countries call themselves ''“Romanesci”'', <ref> ''“Anzi essi si chiamano romanesci, e vogliono molti che erano mandati quì quei che erano dannati a cavar metalli...”'' in Maria Holban, Călători străini despre Ţările Române, vol. II, p. 158&ndash;161</ref> Other evidence about the name "Romanians" comes from authors having lived in the [[Romanian principalities|these principalities]], such as Anton Verancsics, who writes around 1570 that Romanians living in Transylvania, ''Moldavia'' and Wallachia call themselves "Romans"<ref> ''„...Valacchi, qui se Romanos nominant...„ “Gens quae ear terras (Transsylvaniam, Moldaviam et Transalpinam) nostra aetate incolit, Valacchi sunt, eaque a Romania ducit originem, tametsi nomine longe alieno...“'' De situ Transsylvaniae, Moldaviae et Transaplinae, in Monumenta Hungariae Historica, Scriptores; II, Pesta, 1857, p. 120</ref> As the appellative "Romanian" was gaining more and more popularity throughout the western Ottoman-dominated Moldavia during the 19th century, its introduction in Bessarabia, a province of the Russian Empire at the time, was welcomed mostly by the Romanian-oriented elite, while the majority of local population continued to use the old ethnonym "Moldavians".<ref>Cristina Petrescu, "[http://www.pasts.ceu.hu/fileadmin/template/www.pasts.ceu.hu/files/nation_building_and_contested_identities.pdf Contrasting/Conflicting Identities:Bessarabians, Romanians, Moldovans]" in Nation-Building and Contested Identities, Polirom, 2001, pg. 157</ref><ref>Charles King, ''Moldovan Identity and the Politics of Pan-Romanianism'', Slavic Review, Vol. 53, No. 2. (Summer, 1994), pp. 345-368.</ref> === Modern controversy === In [[Romania]], there was no Moldovan ethnicity reported in the 2002 census because people whose self-identification is considered regional by the Romanian government having been counted as Romanians.<ref name="censushandbook"/> In the [[CIA World Factbook]]<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/md.html Moldova] CIA World Factbook. Retrieved [[2002]], [[July 17|07-17]]</ref> section on Moldova, a single entry "Moldovan/Romanian" is used. A group of international census experts observing the 2004 Moldovan census had stated that "the census had been generally conducted in a professional manner", however, they also identified certain problems in the collection of data for this census, among others in the domain of nationality and language. Experts have noted that large part of the population has responded spontaneously, however they have reported some cases when the census enumerators have encouraged respondents to declare that they were "Moldovans" rather than "Romanians".<ref>[http://azi.md/news?ID=34282 Experts Offering to Consult the National Statistics Bureau in Evaluation of the Census Data], ''Moldova Azi'', May 19, 2005, story attributed to [[AP Flux]]. Retrieved October 11, 2005.</ref> According to BBC, European observers that monitored the 2004 Moldovan census contested the data about the spoken language and the ethnic affiliation in reference to Moldovan-Romanian debate, noting that these data can not be considered as expressing the truth.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/romanian/moldova/story/2007/11/071129_moldovenism_stati_partid.shtml BBC, 29 Nov. 2007]</ref> == See also == * [[Ethnogenesis]] * [[Moldovan diaspora]] == References == {{reflist}} == Further reading == * Matthew H. Ciscel (2007) The Language of the Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and Identity in an Ex-Soviet Republic", ISBN 0739114433 - About the identity of the contemporary Moldovans in the context of debates about the their language. * King, C. (2000) The Moldovans: Romania, Russia and the Politics of Culture, Hoover Institution Press, ISBN 0-8179-9792-X. [[Category:Ethnic groups in Europe]] [[Category:Moldovan society]] [[Category:Romanian society]] [[Category:Romance peoples]] [[be:Малдаване]] [[bg:Молдовци]] [[cs:Moldavané]] [[de:Moldauer]] [[ko:몰도바인]] [[ka:მოლდაველები]] [[nl:Moldaviërs]] [[ja:モルドバ人]] [[pl:Mołdawianie]] [[pt:Moldávios]] [[ro:Moldoveni]] [[ru:Молдаване]] [[sr:Молдавци]] [[sh:Moldavci]] [[sv:Moldaver]] [[uk:Молдавани]]