The Ethnic Profile of the City of Bălți in Different Periods of Development

Abstract

The authors of this article contribute to the research of the ethnic diversity of the city of Bălți throughout its history and the contribution of the ethnic groups to the socio-economic development of the town. The results of the research confirm the fact that this settlement was and remains inhabited by various ethnic groups, the main group being the native population. Although for a long time a family with Greek roots owned the locality, this did not lead to the formation of a large Greek community here. The most present in the socio-economic life during the 19th century – the first part of the 20th century was the Jewish community, who at that time reached more than 50% of the city’s population, dealing mainly with commerce and providing services. Other ethnicities (Poles, Germans, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks and Armenians, etc.) were insignificant in terms of population in the city of Bălți during the above-mentioned period. The annexation of Bessarabia in 1940 by the USSR with the subsequent installation of the Soviet regime resulted in the substantial reduction of the number of Jews from the ethnic picture of Bălți and a significant increase in the number of Russians and Ukrainians in this locality during the Soviet period. As a result, after more than 30 years of independence, approximately 41% of the city’s population still declare Russian as their mother tongue.

Keywords

• the city of bălți
• the ethnic diversity
• the ethnic picture
• the native population
• the greek community
• the jewish community
• the russian empire
• the interwar period
• the soviet period
• the community of russians and ukrainians