Minorities in Ukraine

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Map showing the proportion of non-Ukrainian minorities in Ukraine according to the 2001 census

Minorities in Ukraine form 22.2 percent of the country's population as of 2001. Large ethnic Russian (the largest ethnic minority in the country), Belarusian, Moldovan, Crimean Tatar, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Romanian minorities exist in Ukraine,[1] and Romania and Hungary have striven for the minority rights of the minorities they respectively represent.[2] Ukraine also has a small number of Poles, Jews, Armenians, Roma and other nationalities.[3]

Issues regarding minorities in Ukraine are, according to Financial Times, the biggest potential obstacle to the start of negotiations for the accession of Ukraine to the European Union.[4] Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán has threatened to veto Ukraine's process of EU accession numerous times over minority rights issues.[4]

Ethnic groups

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The following table shows the number and percentage of the population belonging to major (above 5,000 people) ethnic minorities per the 2001 Ukrainian census.[1]

Nationality Number Percentage
Russians 8,334,141 17.199%
Belarusians 275,763 0.569%
Moldovans 258,619 0.534%
Crimean Tatars 248,193 0.512%
Bulgarians 204,574 0.422%
Hungarians 156,566 0.323%
Romanians 150,989 0.312%
Poles 144,130 0.297%
Jews 103,591 0.214%
Armenians 99,894 0.206%
Greeks 91,548 0.189%
Tatars 73,304 0.151%
Romani 47,587 0.098%
Azerbaijanis 45,176 0.093%
Georgians 34,199 0.071%
Germans 33,302 0.069%
Gagauz 31,923 0.066%
Koreans 12,711 0.026%
Uzbeks 12,353 0.025%
Chuvash 10,593 0.022%
Mordvins[a] 9,331 0.019%
Turks 8,844 0.018%
Lithuanians 7,207 0.015%
Arabs 6,575 0.014%
Slovaks 6,397 0.013%
Czechs 5,917 0.012%
Kazakhs 5,526 0.011%
Latvians 5,079 0.01%

Other notable ethnic minorities are the Albanians,[5] Austrians,[6] Crimean Karaites,[7] Krymchaks,[8] Swedes (in Gammalsvenskby)[9] and Vlachs.[10]

Sub-ethnic groups

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The 2001 Ukrainian census listed seven sub-ethnic groups of Ukrainians: Boykos, Hutsuls, Lemkos, Litvins, Polishchuks, Rusyns, and Pinchuks [uk], with nobody identifying as the latter at the time of the census.[11] Other sub-groups of Ukrainians include the Batyuks [uk], Bukovinians, Dolynians [uk], Opolyans [uk], Podolyans, Pokuttians [uk], Siverians, Slobozhans [uk], and Volhynians. Outside of Ukraine, the Rusyns are often recognized as a separate nationality.

Russian sub-ethnic groups in Ukraine are the Lipovans and Molokans,[12] as well as the Goryuns, who self-identify as a separate ethnic group distinct from both Russians and Ukrainians, or as a mix of the two.[13] Other such groups are the Crimean and Nadazovia Greeks;[14] Carpathian, Crimean, Galician, Mennonite, Volhynian, and Zipser Germans; as well as Meskhetian Turks,[15] Bessarabian Bulgarians, and Hollenders.[16]

Indigenous peoples of Ukraine

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According to the 2021 law "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine", the indigenous peoples of Ukraine are defined as ethnic minorities with distinctive languages, cultures, and representative bodies, that formed on the territory of Ukraine and do not have their own state entities outside of the country. The law lists the Crimean Tatars, Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks as such indigenous peoples of Crimea.[17][18] There have been attempts to recognize other groups, such as the Gagauz and the Nadazovia Greeks, as indigenous.[19][20]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Erzyas and Mokshas

References

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  1. ^ a b Розподіл населення за національністю та рідною мовою [Distribution of the population according to nationality and native language]. State Statistics Service of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  2. ^ Sánchez Costa, Raúl (31 January 2023). "Treatment of ethnic communities pits Ukraine against neighbors Romania and Hungary". El País.
  3. ^ Ukraine - World Directory of Minorities & Indigenous Peoples
  4. ^ a b Hall, Ben (12 September 2023). "Ukraine open to minority rights concessions in quest to join EU". Financial Times.
  5. ^ Албанці України. Хто вони? [Albanians of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 27 November 2019. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  6. ^ Австрійці України. Хто вони? [Austrians of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 5 September 2019. Archived from the original on 25 May 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  7. ^ Караїми України. Хто вони? [Karaites of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 3 October 2020. Archived from the original on 24 June 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  8. ^ Кримчаки України. Хто вони? [Krymchaks of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 24 December 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  9. ^ Шведи України. Хто вони? [Swedes of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  10. ^ Волохи України. Хто вони? [Vlachs of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 26 July 2020. Archived from the original on 10 February 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  11. ^ Чисельність осіб окремих етнографічних груп украінського етносу та їх рідна мова [The number of individuals of individual ethnographic groups of the Ukrainian ethnic group and their native language]. State Statistics Service of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  12. ^ Росіяни України. Молокани. Хто вони? [Russians of Ukraine. Molokans. Who are they?]. Ukrainer. 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 March 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  13. ^ Хто такі горюни? [Who are the Goryuns?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 16 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 May 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  14. ^ Греки України. Хто вони? [Greeks of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 16 October 2019. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  15. ^ Турки-месхетинці України. Хто вони? [Meskhetian Turks of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 12 September 2019. Archived from the original on 15 February 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  16. ^ Забузькі голєндри України. Хто вони? [Zabuzhzhia Hollenders of Ukraine. Who are they?]. Ukrainer (in Ukrainian). 13 August 2023. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  17. ^ Про корінні народи України [On the indigenous peoples of Ukraine]. Official website of the Parliament of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 31 March 2023. Archived from the original on 4 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  18. ^ "The Law on the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine. What does it bring to national minorities?". Culturico. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  19. ^ Гагаузи хочуть, щоб їх теж визнали корінним народом України, наразі безрезультатно [The Gagauzs want to be recognized as an indigenous people, so far unsuccessfully]. Karpat.in.ua (in Ukrainian). 4 July 2021. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  20. ^ Віктор Єленський: «Ми повинні зберегти наших греків і їхню культуру, Україна обов’язково повернеться на окуповані території» [Viktor Yelenskyi: "We must save our Greeks and their culture, Ukraine will definitely return to the occupied territories"]. State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (in Ukrainian). 28 September 2024. Archived from the original on 13 June 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2025.