Editing Sumy (section)

== Demographics ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
{{historical populations|1897|27564|1926|43814|1939|63976|1959|98015|1970|159168|1979|228174|1989|291264|2001|293141|2011|271016|2022|256474|align=right|cols=1|source=<ref>{{cite web|title=Cities & Towns of Ukraine|url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-cities.htm}}</ref>}}
* 1897 - 70.53% [[Ukrainians]], 24.1% [[Russians]], 2.6% Jewish, 2.67% others
* 1926 - 80.7% Ukrainians, 11.8% Russians, 5.5% Jewish, 2% others
* 1959 - 79% Ukrainians, 20% Russians, 1% others{{citation needed|date=October 2007}}
* 2001 - 85% Ukrainians, 12% Russians, 3% others<ref>{{Cite web |title=Національний склад міст |url=https://datatowel.in.ua/pop-composition/ethnic-cities |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Datatowel.in.ua |language=uk}}</ref>

The majority of residents are [[Christians]] ([[Eastern Orthodox]], [[Roman Catholic Deanery of Sumy|Roman Catholics]] and [[Protestantism|Protestant or Evangelical Christians]]). There is also a Jewish minority.

From the beginning of the twentieth century, Sumy was the center of [[Roman Catholicism in Ukraine|Roman Catholicism in northeastern Ukraine]]. The Blessed Virgin Mary Annunciation Church was established in the city in 1901 and [[consecration|consecrated]] in 1911, but closed by governmental authorities two decades later; the churchhouse was thereafter used for non-religious purposes (e.g., it was used as a gym for Oleksandrivska Gymnasia) until its restoration as a Roman Catholic [[parish]] in May 1994, after the disintegration of the [[Soviet Union]]. It was reconsecrated in the spring of 1998.

According to the census held in 1660, the population of Sumy was 2740 people. In 1732 it was 7700 people, in 1773 — 9380 people, in 1850 — 10,256 people, in 1898 — 26,355 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=ЭСБЕ/Сумы — Викитека |url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%A1%D1%83%D0%BC%D1%8B |website=ru.wikisource.org |access-date=2019-09-03}}</ref>

During Soviet times, the population grew significantly. In 1939 it reached 63.9 thousand people.<ref>{{cite book |last=гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский |title=Сумы // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. |publisher=Государственное научное издательство «Большая Советская энциклопедия» |year=1956 |pages=2-е изд. том 41. М., стр.285–286}}</ref> In 1959 it was 98,015 people,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/ussr59_reg2.php|title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.|website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref> 159 thousand people in 1970, 194 thousand people in 1975,<ref>{{cite book |title=Сумы // Большая Советская Энциклопедия. / под ред. А. М. Прохорова. 3-е изд. том 25. М., "Советская энциклопедия" |year=1976 |pages=стр.76}}</ref> 291,264 people in 1989,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng89_reg2.php|title=Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей.|website=www.demoscope.ru}}</ref> and 303.3 thousand people in 1991.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sumy, city |encyclopedia=The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th edition. Micropaedia. Vol.11. Chicago |year=1994 |pages=387}}</ref>

According to the [[Ukrainian Census (2001)|Ukrainian Census of 2001]], the population of Sumy was 292,139 people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/z7503/A005?rdat1=09.06.2009&rf7571=28527|title=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine}}</ref> By January 1, 2013, it had decreased to 269,177 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2013 року. Державна служба статистики України. Київ, 2013. стор.92 |url=http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/PXWEB2007/ukr/publ_new1/2013/sb_nnas_2012.pdf |access-date=2019-09-03 |archive-date=2013-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012013028/http://database.ukrcensus.gov.ua/PXWEB2007/ukr/publ_new1/2013/sb_nnas_2012.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> On January 1, 2016, the population was 267,633 people.<ref>Чисельність наявного населення України на 1 січня 2016 року. Державна служба статистики України. Київ, 2016. стор.65</ref>

=== Language ===
Distribution of the population by [[First language #Defining "native language"|native language]] according to the [[2001 Ukrainian census|2001 census]]:<ref>{{cite web | lang=uk | url=https://socialdata.org.ua/projects/mova-2001/ | title=Рідні мови в об'єднаних територіальних громадах України}}</ref>
{| class="standard"
|-
! Language
! Number
! Percentage
|-
| [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]
| align="right"| 225 784 ||align="right"| 77.29%
|-
| [[Russian language in Ukraine|Russian]]
| align="right"| 59 461 || align="right"| 20.35%
|-
| Other or undecided
| align="right"| 6 894 || align="right"| 2.36%
|-
| Total
| align="right"| 292 139 || align="right"| 100.00%
|}

According to a survey conducted by the [[International Republican Institute]] in April-May 2023, 64&nbsp;% of the city's population spoke Ukrainian at home, and 27&nbsp;% spoke Russian.<ref>[https://ratinggroup.ua/files/ratinggroup/reg_files/municipal_survey_may_2023_ua_-_final.pdf The eighth all-Ukrainian municipal survey], ''ratinggroup.ua,'' Retrieved 2024-01-24</ref>