Changes in the Number of Hungarians in Transcarpathia Based on the Survey ‘SUMMA 2017’
Changes in the Number of Hungarians in Transcarpathia Based on the Survey ‘SUMMA 2017’

Summary/Abstract: According to the last Ukrainian census in 2001, 152 thousand people declared Hungarian ethnicity in Transcarpathia. Since then, there has been no reliable and up-to-date data on the ethno-demographic development of the region’s population. However, for instance, migration flows, which are particularly salient since the outbreak of the armed conflict in East Ukraine in 2014, must have contributed to transformations of the ethnic structure. Thus, this paper aims at exploring the demographic development of Hungarians in Transcarpathia based on the survey “SUMM A 2017”. The study also intends to reveal how certain demographic factors contributed to the change of number of Hungarians. According to the survey results, the number of Hungarians fell to around 130 thousands by mid-2017. The number of Hungarians living in urban areas and in the ethnic contact zone decreased the most. Behind this negative trend one can find emigration as the main reason, however, negative natural change also contributed to the decreasing numbers. The third factor, assimilation, has not played an important role in the change of the Hungarian population’s number.

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