Zakarpattia Oblast - Demographics

Demographics

According to the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of Zakarpattia Oblast is 1,254,614. The current estimated population is 1.2 million people (as of 2004). With the comparison of the last official Soviet Census of 1989 the total population grew by 0.7%.

Although ethnic Ukrainians are in the majority (80.5%), other ethnic groups are relatively numerous in Zakarpattia. The largest of these are Hungarians (12.1%), Romanians (2.6%), Russians (2.5%), Roma (1.1%), Slovaks (0.5%) and Germans (0.3%). The Ukrainian government does not recognize the Rusyn people living in that country as a distinct nationality but rather as an ethnic sub-group of Ukrainians. About 10,100 people (0.8%) identify themselves as Rusyns according to the last census.

Out of 1,010,100 Ukrainians in the region, 99.2% (~1,002,019) acknowledged their native language, while about 0.5% (~5,051) consider their native language to be Russian. Out of 151,500 Hungarians, 97.1% (~147,107) acknowledged their native language, while about 2.6% (~3,939) consider their native language to be Ukrainian. Out of 32,100 Romanians, 99.1% (31,811) acknowledge their native language, while 0.6% (~193) consider their language Ukrainian. Out of 31,000 Russians, 91.6% (28,396) acknowledge their native language, while 8.1% (~2,511) consider their language Ukrainian. Out of 14,000 Romani peoples only 20.7% (2,898) acknowledge their native language, while 62.9% (~8,806) consider their language Ukrainian or Russian. Out of 5,600 Slovaks 43.9% (2,458) acknowledge their native language, while 42.1% (~2,358) consider their language Ukrainian. Out of 3,500 Germans, 50.0% (1,750) acknowledge their native language, while 38.9% (~1,362) consider their language Ukrainian. About 81% of the oblast population considers the Ukrainian language their native one, while 12.7% of population gives consideration to the Hungarian language and just over 5% considers either the Russian or Romanian languages.

The largest denomination is the Ruthenian Catholic Church; the oblast's territory forms the church's Eparchy of Mukachevo; with 380,000 faithful, it has a solid majority of the oblast's churchgoers. Other smaller groups include Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox, which are largely associated with minority groups; Roman Catholics and Protestants tend to be Hungarian or local Ukrainian, while the Eastern Orthodox are usually Romanians, Russians, or Ukrainians from further east.

Their languages and culture are respected by the provision of education, clubs, etc. in their respective languages. Those who recognize Ukrainian as their native language total 81.0% of the population, Hungarian— 12.7%, Russian— 2.9%, Romanian— 2.6%,and Rusyn— 0.5%Residents in seven of Mukachivskyi Raion's villages have the option to learn the Hungarian language in a school or home school environment.Zakarpattia is home to approximately 14,000 ethnic Roma(otherwise known as Gypsies), the largest population of Roma in Ukraine. The first Hungarian College in Ukraine is in Berehovo, the II. Rákoczi Ferenc College. Beside the major ethnic groups, Zakarpattia is home to several Ukrainian ethnic sub-groups such as Boykos, Lemky, Hutsuls, and others.