Representation of the Romanian population and of the co-inhabiting ethnicities of Basarabia on the maps of the Russian Empire (XIX – beginning of XX century)
Representation of the Romanian population and of the co-inhabiting ethnicities of Basarabia on the maps of the Russian Empire (XIX – beginning of XX century)

Summary/Abstract: This article is dedicated to the study of cartographic documents elaborated and published in the Russian Empire in the XIX century – beginning of the XX century and on which the population and the territory of Bessarabia (1812–1918) are represented. The maps were drawn in the historical realities of the period under the direct control of censorship and reflect the vision of the cartographic contemporaries of the era. The analysed cartographic sources attest and locate the Romanians (called sometimes Wallachians, Moldavians (Walachians) as the majority population in the space between the Prut and the Nistru with the subsequent explanation that Moldovans are Romanians. The cartographic documents attest and present the ethnicities co-inhabiting with the Romanians: the Ukrainians (Malorussians, sometimes Rusins), the Russians (Velicorussians), Bulgarians, Germans, Gypsies and other ethnicities, which had a smaller share. The Poles, the Swiss, the Armenians are mentioned only in some sources and maps. We conclude that the ethnic maps elaborated in the XIX–XX centuries represent a valuable source for the research of the ethnic history of the population of Bessarabia (1812–1918). They serve for the geographical mapping of ethnicities; contribute to a better understanding of the ethno-demographic processes that have taken place, including of the imperial colonization policies.

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