Kharkiv Okruha in the 1920s: Number and Ethnic Composition of the Population

Author

Skliar Volodymyr

a Doctor of History, a professor, a chief research fellow at the Ukrainian Ethnological Centre Department of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0020-5973

Kharkiv Okruha in the 1920s: Number and Ethnic Composition of the Population

Abstract

The ethno-cultural environment of Ukraine, in particular the ethnic structure of the population and its territorial features, is an important topic of Ukrainian ethnology. The materials of censuses are the main sources for studies of the ethnic composition. The results of the 1926 census, the publication of which has been the most complete, are of unique importance for conducting such scientific research. The population of not only areas, towns, districts, but also every rural settlement without exception, as well as the ethnic composition of the population of each village council, has been promulgated. There is currently no separate investigation devoted to the study of the population and ethnic composition of the population of Kharkiv Okruha as a whole, its urban and rural population. The author’s tables have been prepared based on the processing of statistical materials of the 1926 census. In 1926 Ukrainians have constituted an absolute majority in the ethnic population of the Kharkiv Okruha as a whole, among the urban and rural population, among the population of 24 out of 27 districts, as well as among the population of 348 out of 411 village councils. In 1926 most of the territories of Kharkiv region have been characterized by the dominance of Ukrainians in terms of number and ethnic homogeneity of the population with a minimal territorial representation of scattered ethnic minorities. The level of the share of Russians and Jews among the entire population of Kharkiv is noticeable, but the majority of them are migrants. Russians have made up the majority of the population in 3 districts of the okruha. The territories of the former Kharkiv Okruha in the borderlines of 1926 now belong not only to Kharkiv Oblast (established in 1932), but also to Sumy Oblast (founded in 1939). The territory of 12 districts of the former Kharkiv Okruha has been under Russian occupation completely or partially from the end of February to the beginning of September, 2022 and suffered significant human losses and material damage from Russian aggression.

Keywords

Kharkiv Okruha, census of 1926, administrative-territorial structure, population size, urban and rural population, ethnic composition of the population, Ukrainians, ethnic minorities.

References

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