COLONIZAREA BUCOVINEI ȘI SUDULUI BASARABIEI (PÂNĂ LA MIJLOCUL SEC. AL XIX-LEA)
Colonization of Bukovina and the South of Bessarabia (until the Middle of 19th Century)

Summary/Abstract: During the military administration, five Hungarian colonies, three with Lippovans and one with German miners were founded in Bukovina. During the Galician administration in Bukovina, another several German colonies were founded. In the mountains of south-western Bukovina, five colonies were formed with German miners, mostly Lutherans, originally from Zips County and Transylvania. In four colonies were established German Catholic glassmakers, originally from Bohemia. The most numerous were the colonies founded by German peasants. In 1787-1789, Swabian peasants settled in nine villages in southern Bukovina, inhabited by Romanians. At the beginning of the 19th century, around 1930, five other colonies with German Catholic peasants were founded, and Slovak immigrants founded three colonies near Cacica. All the colonies were founded in the central and southern part of Bukovina, where the majority of the inhabitants were Romanians. In 1850, Bukovina had 380,826 inhabitants, including 25,592 (6.7%) Germans,5,586 (1.5%) Hungarians, 2,300 (0.6%) Lippovans, 1,844 (0.5%) Slovaks. In the first decades of Russian rule, the Bugeac region was heavily colonized with Balkan immigrants (Bulgarians, Gagauz people, initially also many Romanians),Germans, Russian peasants and Ukrainians. In 1819, Transdanubian immigrants obtained the status of settlers, as they were living at that time in 57 colonies. During1814–1816, 12 German colonies were established in the central part of Bugeac region, arriving from the Duchy of Warsaw. By 1842, 24 German colonies were founded in southern Bessarabia, 23 of them being inhabited by Lutherans and one by Catholics. After the end of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, a new wave of immigration to southern Bessarabia occurred. During 1828, Russian and Ukrainian peasants from several Russian gubernias arrived in southern Bessarabia and founded 18 new villages in Bugeac. In 1830-1831, 22 new immigrant colonies were established south of the Danube. In the mid-19th century, only in three counties in southern Bessarabia lived about 82,000 Bulgarians and Gagauz people, approx. 53,000 Ukrainians, about31 thousand Russians (including Lippovans), and approx. 24 thousand Germans.

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