Editing Chernivtsi Oblast (section)

==Population and demographics==
[[File:Bucovina-ethnic.png|thumb|350px|Ethnic divisions in Chernivtsi Oblast at the end of the Soviet Period [https://web.archive.org/web/20120105083759/http://www.romanimea.com/pdf/Romanii%20_din_Bucovina_sud_maramures.pdf], with [[Ukrainians]], [[Romanians]], [[Russians]] and [[Jews|Jewish]] areas depicted in white, blue, red, and yellow respectively. Note that the [[Moldovans]], which represented 9% of the region's population according to the last Soviet census (1989),{{cn|date=February 2025}} are shown as Romanians.]]
[[File:EthnicChernivtsi 2001UkrCensus.png|thumb|350px|Ethnic division of the Chernivtsi Oblast according to the latest [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|2001 Ukrainian census results]]. Areas inhabited by [[Ukrainians]], [[Romanians]], [[Moldovans]], [[Russians]], and other ethnicities are depicted in yellow, blue, green, red, and white respectively. Circle sizes represent total population size in each area. Romanians and Moldovans form a single ethnic group.]]

{| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align:left; width:25%; margin-left:10px; font-size:90%"
|+Largest settlements in the region
|-
!  style="text-align:left; background:#f5f5f5;"| <small>#</small> 
!  style="text-align:left; background:#f5f5f5;"| [[List of cities in Ukraine|City]]
!  style="text-align:center; background:#f5f5f5;"| Population
|- 
|  style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| 1 ||align=left | '''[[Chernivtsi]]''' || 240,621 (<small>2001</small>)
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| 2 ||align=left | '''[[Storozhynets]]''' || 14,693 (<small>2001</small>)
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| 3 ||align=left | '''[[Khotyn]]''' || 11,216 (<small>2001</small>) 
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| 4 ||align=left | '''[[Novodnistrovsk]]''' || 10,342 (<small>2001</small>)
|-
|  style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| 5 ||align=left | '''[[Sokyriany]]''' || 10,258 (<small>2001</small>)
|}

According to the latest [[2001 Ukrainian census|Ukrainian Census (2001)]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/Chernivtsi/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113170140/http://www.unibuc.ro/eBooks/istorie/istorie1918-1940/13-4.htm|title=2001 Ukrainian Census|archive-date=November 13, 2007}}</ref> [[Ukrainians]] represent 74.98% (689,056) of the population of Chernivtsi Oblast out of 919,028 inhabitants. Moreover, 12.46% (114,555) reported themselves as Romanians, 7.31% (67,225) as [[Moldovans]], and 4.12% (37,881) as [[Russians]]. The other nationalities, such as [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Belarusians]], and [[Jews]] sum up to 1.2%.<ref>The Ukrainian census of 2001, ethnicity/nationality data by localities, at http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-ethnic2001.htm</ref> According to the 2001 census, the majority of the population of the Chernivtsi region was Ukrainian-speaking (75.57%), and there were also Romanian (18.64%) and Russian (5.27%) speakers.<ref>The Ukrainian census of 2001, language data by localities, at https://socialdata.org.ua/projects/mova-2001/ {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref> In the last Soviet census of 1989, out of 940,801 inhabitants, 666,095 declared themselves Ukrainians (70.8%), 100,317 Romanians (10.66%), 84,519 Moldovans (8.98%), and 63,066 Russians (6.7%).<ref>Ion Popescu and Constantin Ungureanu, ''Romanii din Ucraina - intre trecut si viitor'', vol. 1 (''Romanii din Regiunea Cernauti''), Cernauti, 2005, p. 242.</ref> The decline in the number (from 84,519 to 67,225) and proportion of Moldovans (from 8.98% to 7.31%) was explained by a switch from a census Moldovan to a census Romanian ethnic identity, and has continued after the 2001 census.<ref name="auto">Ion Popescu and Constantin Ungureanu, ''Romanii din Ucraina - intre trecut si viitor'', vol. 1 (''Romanii din Regiunea Cernauti''), Cernauti, 2005, p. 242, 257, 259, 261.</ref> By contrast, the number of self-identified ethnic Romanians has increased and so has their proportion of the population of the oblast (from 10.66% to 12.46%), and the process has continued after the 2001 census.<ref name="auto"/>

A 2015 survey found that 86% of respondents ascribed to the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] church while 2% ascribed to [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Greek Catholic]]. Another 5% was "unspecified Christian."<ref name="2015survey2">[http://infolight.org.ua/content/religiyni-vpodobannya-naselennya-ukrayiny "Religious preferences of the population of Ukraine". Sociology poll by] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709204810/http://infolight.org.ua/content/religiyni-vpodobannya-naselennya-ukrayiny |date=2017-07-09 }} [[Razumkov Centre]]<span>, </span>[[SOCIS]]<span>, </span>[[Sociological group "RATING"|Rating]] <span>and </span>[[Kyiv International Institute of Sociology|KIIS]] <span>about the religious situation in Ukraine (2015)</span>The survey sample was 25000 people, excluded Crimea, so 1000 people for oblast.</ref>

The use of separate categories for the [[Moldovans]] and Romanians, as well as for the Moldovan and Romanian languages in the Ukrainian census has been criticized by various Romanian organizations in Ukraine, including the Romanian Community of Ukraine Interregional Union.<ref name=RDSCJ>[http://noinu.rdscj.ro/article.php?articleID=146&document=3 Noi, NU! Revistă de atitudine şi cultură - Românii din Ucraina] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027141332/http://noinu.rdscj.ro/article.php?articleID=146&document=3 |date=October 27, 2007 }} {{in lang|ro}}</ref> Furthermore, it was alleged that individuals, especially, but not exclusively, in the Odessa region were threatened with dismissal from their jobs if they declared that they were "Romanians" rather than "Moldovans", and it was also claimed that the ethnicity of some individuals was listed arbitrarily by census-takers who did not even ask those individuals what their ethnicity was.<ref>George Coman, "SOS romanii din Ucraina!" ("SOS the Romanians of Ukraine"), in Ziua, March 4, 2003, originally accessed at http://www.ziua.ro/archive/2003/03/04/docs/5846.html, though the link is not currently working.</ref> Nevertheless, all census respondents had to write in their ethnicity (no predetermined set of choices existed), and could respond or not to any particular census question, or not answer any questions at all.<ref name=Censform>[http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/organization/ The Organization Order of the Population Census] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830230721/http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/organization/ |date=August 30, 2006 }} at the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine web-site.</ref> 

According to Kateryna Sheshtakova, a professor at the Pomeranian University of Slutsk in Poland who did field research among 15 self-identified Romanians and self-identified Moldovans in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, 'Some Moldovans use both names of the mother tongue (Moldovan or Romanian) and accordingly declare two ethnic affiliations.'<ref>Kateryna Sheshtakova, "Ethnic Identity and Linguistic Practices of Romanians and Moldovans (On the Example of Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine), in ''Studia Humanistyczne AGH'', Tom 12/2, 2013, p. 65.</ref> Opinion polling from the Chernivtsi oblast, as well as the discussions of the delegates of the Meeting of the Leaders of the Romanophone Organizations from Ukraine of December 6, 1996, indicated that many of the self-identified Moldovans believed that the Moldovan and Romanian languages were identical.<ref>Ion Popescu and Constantin Ungureanu, ''Romanii din Ucraina - intre trecut si viitor'', vol. 1 (''Romanii din Regiunea Cernauti''), Cernauti, 2005, p. 230-231, 237-238 and passim. Popescu and Ungureanu noted that, while the leader of the Moldovans from the Odesa Oblast, Anatol Fetescu, the leader of the "Luceafarul" Society of Moldovans from Odesa, disagreed with the line that the Moldovan language should be called Romanian, the leaders of the Moldovan organizations from the Chernivtsi Oblast and five other specific oblasts agreed that the Moldovan language is, and should be called, Romanian. Previous similar congresses of the Romanian-speakers from 1992, both for the entire oblast, and by raion, from the region had unanimously supported the same position, including the president of the raion administration of the [[Novoselytsia Raion]], with a mostly Moldovan ethnic identity population, in 1992, Gheorghe Ciubrei and other leaders from the raion. See Popescu and Ungureanu, p. 237-238.</ref> Shestakova suggests that those self-identified Moldovans who see differences between Moldovan and Romanian tend to be from "the older generation".<ref>Kateryna Sheshtakova, "Ethnic Identity and Linguistic Practices of Romanians and Moldovans (On the Example of Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine), in ''Studia Humanistyczne AGH'', Tom 12/2, 2013, p. 72, second paragraph, first sentence.</ref> More information on the Romanian identity population and Moldovan identity population in Ukraine, including in the Chernivtsi oblast, and including detailed statistical data, may be found in the articles [[Romanians in Ukraine]], [[Moldovans in Ukraine]] and [[Moldovenism]].

According to the Romanian census of 1930, the territory of the future ''Chernivtsi Oblast'' had 805,642 inhabitants in that year, out of which 47.6% were [[Ukrainians]], and 28.2% were Romanians. The rest of the population was 88,772 [[Jews]], 46,946 [[Russians]] (among them an important community of [[Lipovan]]s), around 35,000 [[Germans]], 10,000 [[Polish people|Poles]], and 10,000 [[Hungarians]].<ref name=RDSCJ/>

During the inter-war period, [[Cernăuți County]] had a population of 306,975, of which 136,380 were Ukrainians, and 78,589 were [[Romanians]]. [[Storojineţ County]] had 77,382 Ukrainians and 57,595 [[Romanians]]. (The three other counties of [[Bukovina]], which remained in [[Romania]], had a total of 22,368 Ukrainians). The northern part of the [[Hotin County]] had approximately 70% Ukrainians and 25% [[Romanians]]. The Hertsa region, smaller by area and population, was virtually 100% [[Romanians|Romanian]].

Major demographic changes occurred during the [[Second World War]]. Immediate after the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] takeover of the region in 1940 the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] government deported or killed about 41,000 Romanians (''see [[Fântâna Albă massacre]]''), while at the same time further encouraging an influx of [[Ukrainians]] from the [[Ukrainian SSR]]. Most [[Polish people|Poles]] were deported by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] authorities, while most [[Germans]] forcibly returned to [[Germany]]. After the [[Kingdom of Romania]] took control of the region during the war (1941–1944), the [[The Holocaust#Who was directly involved in the killings?|Jewish community of the area was largely destroyed]] by the deportations to [[ghetto]]s and [[concentration camps]].

The languages of the population closely reflect the ethnic composition with over 90% within each of the major ethnic groups declaring their national language as the mother tongue.

{| border=1 cellpadding=4 frame=void rules=none style="border-collapse:collapse; border:0 none transparent; text-align:right;"
|+ '''National Structure of Chernivtsi Oblast ([[Ukrainian Census (2001)|2001 Census]])'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oblstat.cv.ukrtel.net/perepus/1/nsklad.html |title=2001 Census results |access-date=2006-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310231545/http://www.oblstat.cv.ukrtel.net/perepus/1/nsklad.html |archive-date=March 10, 2007 }} Statistics Committee of Chernivtsi Oblast</ref><ref>The Ukrainian census of 2001, ethnicity/nationality data by localities, at http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-ethnic2001.htm </ref>
|- style="border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;"
! style="text-align:left;" | [[Raion]]s/Cities
! Total 
! [[Ukrainians]]
! [[Russians]]
! [[Romanians]]
! [[Moldovans]]
! Other
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Hertsa Raion]]
| 32,316 || 1,616 || 299 || 29,554 || 756 || 91
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Hlyboka Raion]]
| 72,676 || 34,025 || 877 || 32,923 || 4,425 || 426
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Kelmentsi Raion]]
| 48,468 || 47,261 || 607 || 25 || 477 || 98
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Khotyn Raion]]
| 72,398 || 66,060 || 927 || 59 || 5,102 || 250
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Kitsman Raion]]
| 72,884 || 71,805 || 674 || 116 || 88 || 201
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Novoselytsia Raion]]
| 87,461 || 29,703 || 1,235 || 5,904 || 50,329 || 290
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Putyla Raion]]
| 25,352 || 25,182 || 98 || 19 || 20 || 33
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Sokyriany Raion]]
| 48,889 || 43,927 || 3,044 || 43 || 1,681 || 194
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Storozhynets Raion]]
| 95,295 || 56,786 || 1,367 || 35,095 || 307 || 1,740
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Vyzhnytsia Raion]]
| 59,993 || 58,924 || 631 || 196 || 58 || 184
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | [[Zastavna Raion]]
| 56,261 || 55,733 || 335 || 38 || 55 || 100
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | city of [[Chernivtsi]] 	
| 236,691 || 189,021 || 26,733 || 10,553 || 3,829 || 6,555
|-
! style="text-align:left; font-weight:normal;" | city of [[Novodnistrovsk]]
| 10,344 || 9,013 || 1,054 || 30 || 98 || 149
|- style="border-top:1px solid #aaa;"
! style="text-align:left;" | Total
| 919,028 || 689,056 || 37,881 || 114,555 || 67,225 || 10,311
|}

===Age structure===
: ''0-14 years:'' 16.7% {{increase}} (male 77,507/female 73,270)
: ''15-64 years:'' 69.7% {{steady}} (male 304,793/female 325,677)
: ''65 years and over:'' 13.6% {{decrease}} (male 41,980/female 80,871) (2013 official)

===Median age===
: ''total:'' 36.9 years {{increase}}
: ''male:'' 34.5 years {{increase}}
: ''female:'' 39.4 years {{increase}} (2013 official)