The Russians of Moldova: Ethnic-Demographic Transformations

Abstract

The article examines the processes of ethnic-demographic transformations that the Russian population of Moldova has been undergoing during the post-soviet period. It draws on materials of the Soviet censuses of 1959, 1970, 1979, and 1989, as well as on the 2004 Moldova census, further taking into account the birth rate and marriage statistics over an extended period. It is also based on the authors’ own multiple ethnosociological studies conducted in Moldova in 1993-2007. The article analyzes an array of factors influencing the population dynamics and composition of Moldova’s Russian diaspora and traces the changes in the ethnic identity of the latter.