Growing up and living in the Midwest of the US, I in every day life often conflated the concepts of ethnicity and race. In discussing the difference between these two concepts, Historian Dr. John Cheng comments: "Ethnicity isn't just a question of affiliation; it's also a question of choice. It's also a question of group membership. And it's usually associated with a geographic region. It's also often confused or conflated with nationality, but that's not the same thing." Ethnicity, in general, is about cultural affiliation and expression. This involves language, food, dress, traditions, values, norms & assumptions. I bring this up to preface an graphic I find interesting. In the 2014 census, people in Moldova were asked how they identify ethnically. The majority identify as Moldovan. Some identify as Romanian, reflecting Moldova's history as part of Bassarabia, united with part of Romania many years ago. Some identify as Russian, reflecting the intentional colonization by Russia of countries in the Soviet Union, moving settlers from Russia into the country. The prevalence of Ukrainians is related to this intentional migration. Through the mapping out by district, you can also see the regional prevalence of smaller ethnic groups such as Gaugauzian, Bulgarian, and Roma people.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Rebecca LehmanHealth Education volunteer serving at Boris Dînga Middle & High School in Criuleni, Moldova. Archives
May 2017
Categories |