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Moldovans

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Peoples

   Moldovans
   (Moldoveni)
   Total population ca. 3,200,000
   Regions with significant populations Moldova:
   2,741,849 (2004) ( Transnistria included)
   Ukraine:
   258,619 (2001)
   Russia:
   172,330 (2002)
   Kazakhstan:
   19,458 (1999)

   Spain:
   10,434 (2006)
   Belarus:
   4,300 (1999)
   Kyrgyzstan:
   778 (1999)
   Tajikistan:
   300 (2000)
   Language Moldovan/ Romanian
   Religion Predominantly Eastern Orthodox.
   Related ethnic groups •  Vlachs

     •  Romanians
     •  Aromanians
     •  Megleno-Romanians
     •  Istro-Romanians
   • other Latin peoples note:Many Moldovans declare themselves Romanians

   Moldovans, or Moldavians ( Moldovan/ Romanian: Moldoveni; Молдовень is
   the form used by the Moldovan Cyrillic script, which nowadays has
   official status only in the unrecognized state of 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 recognition of Moldovans as a separate ethnicity, distinct from
   Romanians, is a relatively new and controversial subject. Before the
   annexation of Bessarabia by the USSR in 1940, there was no such thing
   as a recognized Moldovan ethnic group. Today, outside of Moldova, this
   group is recognized as a minority ethnic group by several CIS
   countries.

   The majority of Moldovans live in the Republic of Moldova where,
   according to the 2004 Moldovan Census, they officially comprise 76.1%
   of the population, and in Ukraine, where according to the 2001
   Ukrainian census results they constitute a recognized ethnic minority
   of 0.53%. This definition is a matter of much controversy.

History

   Prior to the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia in the 1940s, which led to
   the formation of the Moldovan SSR Moldovans in the territories of
   modern Romania and Moldova were considered to form a subgroup or
   regional group of the Romanian ethnos along with Transylvanians,
   Oltenians, etc. 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. and the claim
   that Moldovans constitute a separate ethnic group. Numerous Romanians,
   as well as a large part of the Moldovan populace, claim that external
   interference rather than any actual differences led to Moldova's
   increasingly separate identity.

   Despite this, certain Moldovans have pressed for recognition of an
   ethnic Moldovan identity, separate from that of Romanians.
   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.

Religion

   Some differences between Moldovans and Romanians include denominational
   affiliation, as under Soviet rule the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia was
   transferred from the Romanian Orthodox Church to the Russian Orthodox
   Church. However, immediately after Moldova declared independence from
   the Soviet Union, 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 the Metropolitan Church
   of Bessarabia and the Metropolitan Church of Chişinău and the Whole
   Moldova which depends on the Russian Patriarchate.

Moldovan ethnos theory and the Romanian identity

   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, in a movement called
   Moldovenism. On December 19, 2003, the 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
   and speak two different languages, Romanians form an ethnic minority in
   Moldova, and that the Republic of Moldova is the legitimate successor
   to the Principality.

   Today, Moldovans are recognized as an ethnic group by several former
   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,
   although a group of international census experts has identified certain
   problems in the collection of data for this census, particularly in the
   domain of nationality (that is, Romanian vs. Moldovan) and language.
   These experts claim that many respondents were encouraged to state that
   they were "Moldovans" rather than "Romanians". 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).

Controversy

   The issue is an extremely sensitive and controversial one. Even within
   the Republic of Moldova there is disagreement on whether Moldovans
   represent a distinct ethnic group, as demonstrated by the political
   platforms of parties such as the PPCD. In Romania, despite its
   proximity to Moldova, no Moldovan ethnicity was reported in the 2002
   census, as Moldovans are understood to be a regional Romanian subgroup
   that lives in the Romanian historical province of Moldavia. The
   Romanian government as well as various other states do not recognize
   the existence of a Moldovan ethnic group. For example, in the United
   States, no difference is made between the two, as can be seen in the
   CIA World Factbook.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldovans"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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