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Demographic history of Romania

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This article presents the demographic history of Romania through census results. See Demographics of Romania for a more detailed overview of the country's present-day demographics.

The 1930 census was the only one to cover Greater Romania. Censuses in 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992, 2002, and 2011 covered Romania's present-day territory,{{cite web|url=http://www.recensamantromania.ro/istoric/lista-recensafmintelor-populaaiei/|title=Lista recensămintelor populaţiei din România|year=2011|access-date=2011-06-03|publisher=Institutul Naţional de Statistică|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719063514/http://www.recensamantromania.ro/istoric/lista-recensafmintelor-populaaiei/|url-status=dead}} as does the current 2022 census.

All but the 1948 census, which asked about mother tongue, had a question on ethnicity. Moldavia and Wallachia each held a census in 1859. The Romanian Old Kingdom conducted statistical estimates in 1884, 1889, and 1894, and held censuses in 1899 and 1912. Ion Antonescu's regime also held two: a general one in April 1941, and one for those with "Jewish blood" in May, 1942.

1859–1860 census

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Religion !! number !! %

Romanian Orthodox4,198,86294.89
Jewish134,1683.03
Roman Catholic45,1521.02
Protestant28,9030.65
Lipovans8,3750.19
Armenians8,1780.18
Muslim1,3230.03
TotalLeonida Colescu, director of the Romanian Statistics Service between 1899 and 1922, conjectured that the number of people was overestimated in the census conducted in 1859-1860 and calculated that the real figure was 3,864,848 people. {{cite book |last1=Colescu |first1=Leonida|title=Analiza rezultatelor recensãmântului general al populației României din 1899 |date=1944 |publisher=Institutul Național de Statistică |page=7-8; 19 |url=http://omeka.bjc.ro/omeka/files/original/23/1264/BJAman_T_II_3.030.1.pdf}}{{cite book | pages=153 | title = Parliamentary Reports | year = 1867| publisher = Her Majesty's Stationery Office }}{{Cite web|url=http://culte.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BookRO.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030142936/http://culte.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BookRO.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Statul si cultele religioase|archivedate=30 October 2021}}4,424,961100.0

1887 estimate

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! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians4,500,00081.8
Jews300,0005.5
Romani200,0003.6
Bulgarians100,0001.8
Germans50,0000.9
Hungarians50,0000.9
Armenians15,0000.3
Others*285,0005.2
Total{{cite book | pages=407 | title = The Statesman's Year-Book | year = 1889| publisher = St. Martin's Press }}5,500,000100.0

* Mainly in Dobruja (details)

December 1899 census

File:Rumania citizenship 1899.JPG

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! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians5,489,29692.2
Jews256,5884.3
Others210,8063.5
Total{{cite book | pages=612 | title = New International Yearbook | year = 1915| publisher = Dodd, Mead and Company }}5,956,690100.0

19 December 1912 census

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! !! number !! %

Total{{cite book | pages=1198 | title = The Statesman's Year-book | year = 1918| publisher = St. Martin's Press }}7,234,919100.0

29 December 1930 census

File:Romania 1930 ethnic map EN.png

File:Recensamant 1930.JPG

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! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians12,981,32471.9
Hungarians1,425,5077.9
Germans745,4214.1
Jews728,1154.0
Ruthenians and Ukrainians582,1153.2
Russians409,1502.3
Bulgarians366,3842.0
Romani262,5011.5
Turks154,7720.9
Gagauz105,7500.6
Czechs and Slovaks51,8420.3
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes51,0620.3
Poles48,3100.3
Greeks26,4950.1
Tatars22,1410.1
Armenians15,5440.0
Hutsuls12,4560.0
Albanians4,6700.0
Others56,3550.3
Undeclared7,1140.0
Total{{cite book | title = Recensământul populaţiei din 1930 |page=XXIV | work = Populaţia pe Neamuri | publisher = Institutul Central de Statistică | url = http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Recensamant1930-II-XXIV.jpg | access-date = 2014-06-08 | language = ro}}18,057,028100.0

6 April 1941 census

{{Main|1941 Romanian census}}

File:RECENSAMANT 1941 JUDETE.png

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! !! number !! %

Total{{cite book | title = Recensămintele României: 1899–1992 |pages=358 | work = Enciclopedia de istorie a României | year = 2002| publisher = Editura Meronia | language = ro}}13,535,757100.0

25 January 1948 census

File:Recensamant 1948.JPG

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Mother tongue !! number !! %

Romanian13,597,61385.7
Hungarian1,499,8519.4
German343,9132.2
Yiddish138,7950.9
Romani53,4250.3
Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian45,4470.3
Russian39,3320.2
Ukrainian37,5820.2
Czech and Slovak35,1430.2
Turkish and Tatar28,7820.2
Bulgarian13,4080.1
Greek8,6960.1
Armenian6,9870.0
Polish6,7530.0
Albanian7350.0
Others15,6390.2
Undeclared5230.0
Total{{cite web | url = http://www.kia.hu/konyvtar/erdely/supplem.htm | title = Hungarians in Transylvania between 1870 and 1995 | access-date = 2008-07-20 | archive-date = 23 March 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190323041307/http://www.kia.hu/konyvtar/erdely/supplem.htm | url-status = dead }}15,872,624100.0

21 February 1956 census

File:Recensamant 1956.JPG

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians14,996,11485.7
Hungarians1,587,6759.1
Germans384,7082.2
Jews146,2640.8
Romani104,2160.6
Ukrainians60,4790.4
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes46,5170.3
Russians38,7310.2
Slovaks23,3310.2
Tatars20,4690.2
Turks14,3290.1
Bulgarians12,0400.1
Czechs11,8210.0
Greeks11,1660.0
Poles7,6270.0
Armenians6,4410.0
Others13,3570.1
Undeclared4,1650.0
Total{{cite web | url = http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/RPL2002INS/vol4/tabele/t1.pdf | title = Populaţia după etnie la recensămintele din perioada 1930–2002, pe judeţe | publisher= Institutul Naţional de Statistică |access-date = 2011-10-28|language=ro}}17,489,450100.0

15 March 1966 census

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians16,746,51087.7
Hungarians1,619,5928.5
Germans382,5952.0
Romani64,1970.3
Ukrainians54,7050.3
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes44,2360.3
Jews42,8880.2
Russians39,4830.2
Slovaks22,2210.1
Tatars22,1510.1
Turks18,0400.1
Bulgarians11,1930.1
Czechs9,9780.0
Greeks9,0880.0
Poles5,8600.0
Armenians3,4360.0
Others4,6810.0
Undeclared2,3090.0
Total19,103,163100.0

5 January 1977 census

File:Romania harta etnica 1977.PNG

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians18,999,56588.1
Hungarians1,713,9287.9
Germans359,1091.6
Romani227,3981.05
Ukrainians55,5100.3
Serbs34,4290.2
Russians32,6960.2
Jews24,6670.1
Turks23,4220.1
Tatars23,3690.1
Slovaks21,2860.1
Bulgarians10,3720.0
Czechs7,6830.0
Croats7,5000.0
Greeks6,2620.0
Poles4,6410.0
Armenians2,3420.0
Others5,2790.0
Undeclared4520.0
Total21,559,910100.0

7 January 1992 census

File:Romania harta etnica 1992.PNG

File:Recensamant 1992.JPG

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians20,408,54289.5
Hungarians1,624,9597.1
Romani401,0871.8
Germans119,4620.5
Ukrainians65,4720.3
Russians38,6060.2
Turks29,8320.1
Serbs29,4080.1
Tatars24,5960.1
Slovaks19,5940.1
Bulgarians9,8510.1
Jews8,9550.0
Czechs5,7970.0
Poles4,2320.0
Croats4,0850.0
Greeks3,9400.0
Armenians1,9570.0
Others8,8940.0
Undeclared7660.0
Total22,810,035100.0

18 March 2002 census

File:Romania harta etnica 2002.PNG

File:Recensamant2002poster.gif

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! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians19,399,59789.5
Hungarians1,431,8076.6
Romani535,1402.5
Ukrainians61,0980.3
Germans59,7640.3
Lipovan Russians35,7910.2
Turks32,0980.2
Tatars23,9350.1
Serbs22,5610.1
Slovaks17,2260.1
Bulgarians8,0250.0
Croats6,8070.0
Greeks6,4720.0
Jews5,7850.0
Czechs3,9410.0
Poles3,5590.0
Italians3,2880.0
Chinese2,2430.0
Armenians1,7800.0
Csángó1,2660.0
Macedonians6950.0
Albanians4770.0
Rusyns2570.0
Krashovani2060.0
Slovenes2020.0
Others15,0130.1
Undeclared1,9410.0
Total{{cite web | url = http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/rpl2002rezgen1/14.pdf | title = Populaţia după etnie| publisher= Institutul Naţional de Statistică |access-date = 2011-10-28|language=ro}}{{cite web | url = http://recensamant.referinte.transindex.ro/?pg=3&id=771 | title = Date naţionale | publisher = Erdélyi Magyar Adatbank | access-date = 2011-10-28 | language = ro | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110929201654/http://recensamant.referinte.transindex.ro/?pg=3&id=771 | archive-date = 29 September 2011}}21,680,974100.0

File:RoCensus2002Inhab.png|Ethnicity by county and number of inhabitants

File:RoCensus2002Proc.png|Ethnicity by county and percentage

20 October 2011 census

{{Main|2011 Romanian census}}

File:Harta etnica 2011 JUD.png

File:Romania harta etnica 2011.PNG

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; border:5"

! Ethnicity !! number !! %

Romanians16,792,86888.9
Hungarians1,227,6236.5
Romani621,5733.3
Ukrainians50,9200.3
Germans36,0420.2
Turks27,6980.1
Lipovan Russians23,4870.1
Tatars20,2820.1
Serbs18,0760.1
Slovaks13,6540.1
Bulgarians7,3360.0
Croatians5,4080.0
Greeks3,6680.0
Jews3,2710.0
Italians3,2030.0
Poles2,5430.0
Czechs2,4770.0
Chinese2,0170.0
Csángó1,5360.0
Armenians1,3610.0
Macedonians1,2640.0
Others18,5240.1
Data unavailable1,236,8106.1
Total{{cite web |url= http://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sR_Tab_8.xls |title= Rezultatele finale ale Recensământului din 2011 - Tab8. Populaţia stabilă după etnie – judeţe, municipii, oraşe, comune |date= 5 July 2013 |access-date= 18 December 2013 |publisher= National Institute of Statistics (Romania) |language= ro |archive-date= 18 January 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160118131243/http://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sR_Tab_8.xls |url-status= dead }}20,121,641100.0

Ethnic figures for 2011 are given as a percentage of individuals for whom data is available, while the "data unavailable" cohort is given as a percentage of the total population.

1 December 2021 census

{{Main|2021 Romanian census}}

The 2021 Romanian census (RPL2021), with the reference day for the census data set at 1 December 2021,{{Cite web |url=https://insse.ro/cms/en/content/population-and-housing-census-2021-provisional-results |title=Population and housing census, 2021 - provisional results |website=insse.ro |date=30 December 2022}} was held between February and July 2022, being postponed from its original scheduled year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania.{{cite news|url=https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/social/recensamantul-populatiei-nu-va-mai-avea-loc-in-2021-a-fost-amanat-pentru-2022-iar-datele-vor-fi-colectate-si-online-1429101|title=Recensământul populației nu va mai avea loc în 2021. A fost amânat pentru 2022, iar datele vor fi colectate și online|first=Georgiana|last=Marina|newspaper=Digi24|date=6 January 2021|language=ro}} The first provisional results of the RPL2021 published at the end of 2022 show a resident population of Romania of 19,053,815 people.

References

{{Reflist|2}}

External links

{{Europe topic|Demographic history of}}

{{Romanian censuses}}

Category:Demographics of Romania

Category:Historical geography of Romania

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