History of Crimea - Demographic History

Demographic History

For over two hundred years, Crimea has been an ethnically diverse region. In the beginning of the 18th century, Crimean Tatars formed a vast majority of the population of the peninsula. Although they continued to be a majority until the mid 19th century, many other groups migrated to the area. New populations of Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, and Jews mixed with the previous Crimean Tatar, Karaylar, Greek, Armenian, Bulgarian, and Krymchak inhabitants.

By the late 19th century, Crimean Tatars continued to form a slight plurality of Crimea's still largely rural population but there were large numbers of Russians and Ukrainians as well as smaller numbers of Germans, Jews (including Krymchaks and Crimean Karaites), Bulgarians, Belarussians, Turks, Armenians, and Greeks and Gypsies.

The Tatars were the predominant portion of the population in the mountainous area and about half of the steppe population. Russians were concentrated most heavily in Feodosiya district. Germans and Bulgarians settled in the Crimea at the beginning of 19th century, receiving a large allotment and fertile land and later wealthy colonists began to buy land, mainly in Perekopsky and Evpatoria uyezds.

The upheavals and ethnic cleansing of the 20th century vastly changed Crimea's ethnic situation. In 1944, 70,000 Greeks and 14 000 Bulgarians from the Crimea were deported to Central Asia and Siberia, along with 200,000 Crimean Tatars and other nationalities. and, by the latter 20th century, Russians and Ukrainians made up almost the entire population. However, with the fall of the Soviet Union, exiled Crimean Tatars began returning to their homeland and, by the beginning of the 21st century were over 10% of the population.