| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 594 (additional 19,460Moldovans)[1] 40,000[2] to 50,000[3] (estimate) | |
| Languages | |
| Romanian (native), alsoKazakh andRussian | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyEastern Orthodox Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Romanians (includingMoldovans) |
| Part ofa series of articles on |
| Romanians |
|---|
 |
Native communities |
TheRomanians in Kazakhstan (Romanian:români;Kazakh:Румындар,romanized: Rwmındar) are an ethnicRomanian minority inKazakhstan. In the 1999 Kazakh census, 594 Romanians and 19,460Moldovans, which Romanian media has claimed as also being part of the Romanian minority of the country, were registered in Kazakhstan.[1] However, they are estimated to be around 40,000[2] or even 50,000 people.[3]
Most of theRomanians inKazakhstan come from the regions ofBessarabia, theHertsa region andNorthern Bukovina, all of which used to be part ofRomania. They live scattered mostly in the north of the country, although some Romanians also live in the south, including in the former Kazakh capital ofAlmaty and its surroundings. The Romanians of Kazakhstan have received sporadic visits from the Romanian ambassador to Kazakhstan.[1]
The Romanian minority of Kazakhstan arrived to this country through several migration waves. The first was during the period of rule of theRussian Empire over Bessarabia. Some Romanians migrated to modern Kazakhstan after being promised lands by the Russian authorities, with some posteriorly returning while others staying. The second wave occurred as a result of theSoviet deportations from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, after which many Romanians were taken to Kazakhstan but also to other places likeSiberia.[1][2]
According to Romanian media, most of the Romanians of the country are distinctly consideredMoldovans by the Kazakh authorities. This is allegedly not because they self-identify as such, but because, in Kazakhstan, the ethnicity of a person is determined by that of their father, with many people being recorded as Moldovans as a result of the times ofSoviet rule over Kazakhstan. Only a small number of Romanians are officially considered as such in the country, mostly because they are descended fromRomanian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union.[2]
In Kazakhstan there are noRomanian Orthodox churches, so Romanians attendRussian Orthodox churches like other non-RussianOrthodox minorities in the country. Two Romanian villages in theAktobe Region have survived in Kazakhstan, Bessarabka (now known asSaryqobda) and Moldavanka.[2]
The Kazakh Romanians have a cultural organization of their own, the Dacia Association of Kazakhstan, led by Nicolae Plushkis.[4] In 2010,Traian Băsescu, thePresident of Romania at the time, promulgated a law granting Romanians who had lost their Romanian citizenship "abusively", including the Kazakh Romanians, the right to reobtain it. Since then, some Kazakh Romanians have migrated to Romania.[5]
| Europe |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americas | ||||||
| Asia and Oceania | ||||||
