The population of the city of Bender was characterized and characterized by a considerable diversity of ethnic and linguistic composition. In the early Middle Ages, the Slavs settled in the area - Tiver , gradually crowded out by nomadic Turkic tribes - Tatars , Polovtsy , Pechenegs , who converted to Islam during the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. A significant Moldovan population appeared in the region around the 13th century, in the period after the decline of Slavic culture and before the establishment of Ottoman rule. The Russian, as well as Ukrainian, Polish and Bulgarian population in the city appeared during the development of these poorly populated lands in the XIX century with the encouragement of the administration of the Russian Empire . Moreover, in modern times, Bender was historically distinguished by the predominance of the Russian and, more broadly, Russian-speaking population, attracted by the industrial potential of the development of the city in the Soviet era. The Tatar and Turkish population moved to Ottoman-controlled Dobrudja , the so-called. refugees - Muhajirs . A large Jewish population rooted in the city. During the Romanian occupation of 1919-1940, the city retained its Russian-speaking character, although the Romanian administration pursued a deliberate policy of Romanization and derusification . Romanians from the southern regions of Romania were attracted to the city. In the Soviet period, Bender experienced a phase of rapid population growth as a result of high natural and migratory growth of people of all nationalities. The predominant religion in the city is Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Judaism, and many atheistic beliefs are widespread. In the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Bender Fortress was the center of the spread of Islam in the region.
Census data
| Bender population dynamics ( in thousands ) [1] |
Russian Empire
According to the 1897 census, 31,797 people lived in the city. The mother tongue indicated: Russian (Great Russian) - 10 984, Jewish - 10 632, Ukrainian (Little Russian) - 6 112, Moldovan and Romanian - 2 338, Polish - 1 017 [2] .
At the beginning of the XX century, the relative majority of the Bender population were Jews (34.5% or 20 thousand). A similar pattern was observed and in many other cities of the Russian Bessarabia and the Northern Black Sea Region ( Chisinau , Odessa , etc.). Despite a small share of the actual Russian population, the Russian language by this time became the main one for the overwhelming majority of the multinational population of the city.
Composition of Romania
1930
According to the Romanian census of 1930 , there were 31.384 inhabitants in the city:
- Russians 15.116 (48.2%),
- Jews 8.279 (26.4%),
- Romanians 5.464 (17.4%), (all Moldovans were recorded as Romanians)
- Ukrainians 1.349 (4.3%),
- Poles 309,
- Germans 243,
- Bulgarians 170,
- Armenians 46,
- Gagauz 40,
- Greeks 37.
USSR Census 1989
According to the 1989 census, there were 138,000 inhabitants in the city with subordinate settlements, of which:
- Russians 57.800 (41.9%),
- Moldovans 41.400 (29.9%),
- Ukrainians 25.100 (18.2%),
- Bulgarians 3.800 (2.8%),
- Gagauz 1.600 (1.2%)
- other 8.300 (6.0%)
- total 138,000
In the city of Bender itself (without subordinate settlements), according to the 1989 census, there were 129.969 people [3] .
Transnistria Population Census 2004
According to the 2004 census, there were 97.027 inhabitants in the city (without subordinate rural settlements of Gyska and Protyagailovka ) (a decrease to the level of 1989 was 25.4% or 33 thousand, mainly due to migration, but also a negative natural increase ), of which [4] :
- Russians - 41949 people. (43.23% of the total or 46.44% of the indicated nationality)
- Moldovans - 24313 people. (25.06% of the total or 26.92% of the indicated nationality)
- Ukrainians - 17348 people. (17.88% of the total or 19.20% of the indicated nationality)
- Bulgarians - 3001 people (3.09% of the total or 3.32% of the indicated nationality)
- Gagauzians - 1066 people. (1.10% of the total or 1.18% of the indicated nationality)
- Belarusians - 713 people (0.73% of the total or 0.79% of the indicated nationality)
- Jews - 383 people (0.39% of the total or 0.42% of the indicated nationality)
- Germans - 258 people. (0.27% of the total or 0.29% of the indicated nationality)
- others - 1301 people. (1.34% of the total or 1.44% of the indicated nationality)
- total indicated - 90332 people. (93.10% of the total or 100.00% of the indicated nationality)
- not indicated - 6695 people. (6.90% of total)
- In total - 97027 people. (100.00% of total)
According to the 2004 census, in the city (with subordinate rural settlements of Gyska and Protyagailovka ) there were 105.010 inhabitants (a decrease to the level of 1989 was 23.9% or 33 thousand), of which [4] :
- Russians - 46387 people. (44.17% of the total, or 47.18% of the indicated nationality)
- Moldavians - 25888 people. (24.65% of the total or 26.33% of the indicated nationality)
- Ukrainians - 18725 people. (17.83% of the total or 19.05% of the indicated nationality)
- Bulgarians - 3332 people. (3.17% of the total or 3.39% of the indicated nationality)
- Gagauzians - 1182 people. (1.13% of the total or 1.20% of the indicated nationality)
- Belarusians - 740 people (0.70% of the total or 0.75% of the indicated nationality)
- Jews - 392 people (0.37% of the total or 0.40% of the indicated nationality)
- Germans - 286 people. (0.27% of the total or 0.29% of the indicated nationality)
- others - 1383 people. (1.32% of the total or 1.41% of the indicated nationality)
- total indicated - 98315 people. (93.62% of the total or 100.00% of the indicated nationality)
- not specified - 6695 people. (6.38% of the total)
- In total - 105010 people. (100.00% of total)