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,[1] 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

Religionnumber%
Romanian Orthodox4,198,86294.89
Jewish134,1683.03
Roman Catholic45,1521.02
Protestant28,9030.65
Lipovans8,3750.19
Armenians8,1780.18
Muslim1,3230.03
Total[2][3][4]4,424,961100.0

1887 estimate

Ethnicitynumber%
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[5]5,500,000100.0

* Mainly in Dobruja (details)

December 1899 census

Persons in Romania by citizenship (1899 census)
Ethnicitynumber%
Romanians5,489,29692.2
Jews256,5884.3
Others210,8063.5
Total[6]5,956,690100.0

19 December 1912 census

number%
Total[7]7,234,919100.0

29 December 1930 census

Ethnic map (1930 census)[8][9]
Postage stamp issued in 1930, marking the census that year.
Ethnicitynumber%
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[10]18,057,028100.0

6 April 1941 census

Ethnic map (1941 census)
number%
Total[11]13,535,757100.0

25 January 1948 census

1948 census on a stamp
Mother tonguenumber%
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[12]15,872,624100.0

21 February 1956 census

1956 census on a pair of stamps
Ethnicitynumber%
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[12][13]17,489,450100.0

15 March 1966 census

Ethnicitynumber%
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
Total[12][13]19,103,163100.0

5 January 1977 census

Ethnic map (1977 census)
Ethnicitynumber%
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
Total[12][13]21,559,910100.0

7 January 1992 census

Ethnic map (1992 census)
1992 census on a stamp
Ethnicitynumber%
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
Total[12][13]22,810,035100.0

18 March 2002 census

Ethnic map (2002 census)
Promotional poster for the 2002 census
Ethnicitynumber%
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[14][15]21,680,974100.0

20 October 2011 census

Ethnic map by county (2011 census)
Ethnic map by commune (2011 census)
Ethnicitynumber%
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[16]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

The 2021 Romanian census (RPL2021), with the reference day for the census data set at 1 December 2021,[17] was held between February and July 2022, being postponed from its original scheduled year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania.[18] The first provisional results of the RPL2021 published at the end of 2022 show a resident population of Romania of 19,053,815 people.[17]

References