Demographic history of Romania

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

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Religion number %
Romanian Orthodox 4,198,862 94.89
Jewish 134,168 3.03
Roman Catholic 45,152 1.02
Protestant 28,903 0.65
Lipovans 8,375 0.19
Armenians 8,178 0.18
Muslim 1,323 0.03
Total[2][3][4] 4,424,961 100.0

1887 estimate

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Ethnicity number %
Romanians 4,500,000 81.8
Jews 300,000 5.5
Romani 200,000 3.6
Bulgarians 100,000 1.8
Germans 50,000 0.9
Hungarians 50,000 0.9
Armenians 15,000 0.3
Others* 285,000 5.2
Total[5] 5,500,000 100.0

* Mainly in Dobruja (details)

December 1899 census

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Persons in Romania by citizenship (1899 census)
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 5,489,296 92.2
Jews 256,588 4.3
Others 210,806 3.5
Total[6] 5,956,690 100.0

19 December 1912 census

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number %
Total[7] 7,234,919 100.0

29 December 1930 census

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Ethnic map (1930 census)[8][9]
 
Postage stamp issued in 1930, marking the census that year.
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 12,981,324 71.9
Hungarians 1,425,507 7.9
Germans 745,421 4.1
Jews 728,115 4.0
Ruthenians and Ukrainians 582,115 3.2
Russians 409,150 2.3
Bulgarians 366,384 2.0
Romani 262,501 1.5
Turks 154,772 0.9
Gagauz 105,750 0.6
Czechs and Slovaks 51,842 0.3
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 51,062 0.3
Poles 48,310 0.3
Greeks 26,495 0.1
Tatars 22,141 0.1
Armenians 15,544 0.0
Hutsuls 12,456 0.0
Albanians 4,670 0.0
Others 56,355 0.3
Undeclared 7,114 0.0
Total[10] 18,057,028 100.0

6 April 1941 census

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Ethnic map (1941 census)
number %
Total[11] 13,535,757 100.0

25 January 1948 census

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1948 census on a stamp
Mother tongue number %
Romanian 13,597,613 85.7
Hungarian 1,499,851 9.4
German 343,913 2.2
Yiddish 138,795 0.9
Romani 53,425 0.3
Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian 45,447 0.3
Russian 39,332 0.2
Ukrainian 37,582 0.2
Czech and Slovak 35,143 0.2
Turkish and Tatar 28,782 0.2
Bulgarian 13,408 0.1
Greek 8,696 0.1
Armenian 6,987 0.0
Polish 6,753 0.0
Albanian 735 0.0
Others 15,639 0.2
Undeclared 523 0.0
Total[12] 15,872,624 100.0

21 February 1956 census

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1956 census on a pair of stamps
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 14,996,114 85.7
Hungarians 1,587,675 9.1
Germans 384,708 2.2
Jews 146,264 0.8
Romani 104,216 0.6
Ukrainians 60,479 0.4
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 46,517 0.3
Russians 38,731 0.2
Slovaks 23,331 0.2
Tatars 20,469 0.2
Turks 14,329 0.1
Bulgarians 12,040 0.1
Czechs 11,821 0.0
Greeks 11,166 0.0
Poles 7,627 0.0
Armenians 6,441 0.0
Others 13,357 0.1
Undeclared 4,165 0.0
Total[12][13] 17,489,450 100.0

15 March 1966 census

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Ethnicity number %
Romanians 16,746,510 87.7
Hungarians 1,619,592 8.5
Germans 382,595 2.0
Romani 64,197 0.3
Ukrainians 54,705 0.3
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 44,236 0.3
Jews 42,888 0.2
Russians 39,483 0.2
Slovaks 22,221 0.1
Tatars 22,151 0.1
Turks 18,040 0.1
Bulgarians 11,193 0.1
Czechs 9,978 0.0
Greeks 9,088 0.0
Poles 5,860 0.0
Armenians 3,436 0.0
Others 4,681 0.0
Undeclared 2,309 0.0
Total[12][13] 19,103,163 100.0

5 January 1977 census

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Ethnic map (1977 census)
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 18,999,565 88.1
Hungarians 1,713,928 7.9
Germans 359,109 1.6
Romani 227,398 1.05
Ukrainians 55,510 0.3
Serbs 34,429 0.2
Russians 32,696 0.2
Jews 24,667 0.1
Turks 23,422 0.1
Tatars 23,369 0.1
Slovaks 21,286 0.1
Bulgarians 10,372 0.0
Czechs 7,683 0.0
Croats 7,500 0.0
Greeks 6,262 0.0
Poles 4,641 0.0
Armenians 2,342 0.0
Others 5,279 0.0
Undeclared 452 0.0
Total[12][13] 21,559,910 100.0

7 January 1992 census

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Ethnic map (1992 census)
 
1992 census on a stamp
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 20,408,542 89.5
Hungarians 1,624,959 7.1
Romani 401,087 1.8
Germans 119,462 0.5
Ukrainians 65,472 0.3
Russians 38,606 0.2
Turks 29,832 0.1
Serbs 29,408 0.1
Tatars 24,596 0.1
Slovaks 19,594 0.1
Bulgarians 9,851 0.1
Jews 8,955 0.0
Czechs 5,797 0.0
Poles 4,232 0.0
Croats 4,085 0.0
Greeks 3,940 0.0
Armenians 1,957 0.0
Others 8,894 0.0
Undeclared 766 0.0
Total[12][13] 22,810,035 100.0

18 March 2002 census

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Ethnic map (2002 census)
 
Promotional poster for the 2002 census
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 19,399,597 89.5
Hungarians 1,431,807 6.6
Romani 535,140 2.5
Ukrainians 61,098 0.3
Germans 59,764 0.3
Lipovan Russians 35,791 0.2
Turks 32,098 0.2
Tatars 23,935 0.1
Serbs 22,561 0.1
Slovaks 17,226 0.1
Bulgarians 8,025 0.0
Croats 6,807 0.0
Greeks 6,472 0.0
Jews 5,785 0.0
Czechs 3,941 0.0
Poles 3,559 0.0
Italians 3,288 0.0
Chinese 2,243 0.0
Armenians 1,780 0.0
Csángó 1,266 0.0
Macedonians 695 0.0
Albanians 477 0.0
Rusyns 257 0.0
Krashovani 206 0.0
Slovenes 202 0.0
Others 15,013 0.1
Undeclared 1,941 0.0
Total[14][15] 21,680,974 100.0

20 October 2011 census

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Ethnic map by county (2011 census)
 
Ethnic map by commune (2011 census)
Ethnicity number %
Romanians 16,792,868 88.9
Hungarians 1,227,623 6.5
Romani 621,573 3.3
Ukrainians 50,920 0.3
Germans 36,042 0.2
Turks 27,698 0.1
Lipovan Russians 23,487 0.1
Tatars 20,282 0.1
Serbs 18,076 0.1
Slovaks 13,654 0.1
Bulgarians 7,336 0.0
Croatians 5,408 0.0
Greeks 3,668 0.0
Jews 3,271 0.0
Italians 3,203 0.0
Poles 2,543 0.0
Czechs 2,477 0.0
Chinese 2,017 0.0
Csángó 1,536 0.0
Armenians 1,361 0.0
Macedonians 1,264 0.0
Others 18,524 0.1
Data unavailable 1,236,810 6.1
Total[16] 20,121,641 100.0

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

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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

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  1. ^ "Lista recensămintelor populaţiei din România". Institutul Naţional de Statistică. 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  2. ^ Leonida Colescu, director of the Romanian Statistics Service between 1899 and 1922, conjectured that the number of people was overestimated in the census conducted in 1859-1860 and calculated that the real figure was 3,864,848 people. Colescu, Leonida (1944). Analiza rezultatelor recensãmântului general al populației României din 1899 (PDF). Institutul Național de Statistică. p. 7-8; 19.
  3. ^ Parliamentary Reports. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1867. p. 153.
  4. ^ Statul si cultele religioase Archived 30 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
  5. ^ The Statesman's Year-Book. St. Martin's Press. 1889. p. 407.
  6. ^ New International Yearbook. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1915. p. 612.
  7. ^ The Statesman's Year-book. St. Martin's Press. 1918. p. 1198.
  8. ^ Recensământul populaţiei din 1930 (in Romanian). Institutul Central de Statistică. p. L. Retrieved 8 June 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Recensământul populaţiei din 1930 (in Romanian). Institutul Central de Statistică. p. LI. Retrieved 8 June 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Recensământul populaţiei din 1930 (in Romanian). Institutul Central de Statistică. p. XXIV. Retrieved 8 June 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Recensămintele României: 1899–1992 (in Romanian). Editura Meronia. 2002. p. 358. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. ^ a b c d e "Hungarians in Transylvania between 1870 and 1995". Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  13. ^ a b c d "Populaţia după etnie la recensămintele din perioada 1930–2002, pe judeţe" (PDF) (in Romanian). Institutul Naţional de Statistică. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  14. ^ "Populaţia după etnie" (PDF) (in Romanian). Institutul Naţional de Statistică. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  15. ^ "Date naţionale" (in Romanian). Erdélyi Magyar Adatbank. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  16. ^ "Rezultatele finale ale Recensământului din 2011 - Tab8. Populaţia stabilă după etnie – judeţe, municipii, oraşe, comune" (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). 5 July 2013. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Population and housing census, 2021 - provisional results". insse.ro. 30 December 2022.
  18. ^ Marina, Georgiana (6 January 2021). "Recensământul populației nu va mai avea loc în 2021. A fost amânat pentru 2022, iar datele vor fi colectate și online". Digi24 (in Romanian).
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