Moldovans in the context of "Bukovina"

Romanians (Romanian: români, pronounced [roˈmɨnʲ]; dated exonym Vlachs) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Romanians share a common culture, history, ancestry and language and live primarily in Romania and Moldova. There is a debate regarding the ethnic categorisation of the Moldovans, concerning whether they constitute a subgroup of the Romanians or a completely different ethnic group. The origin of the Romanians is also fiercely debated, one theory suggests that the ancestors of Romanians are the Daco-Romans, while the other theory suggests that Romanians are mainly the Thraco-Romans and Illyro-Romans from the inner balkans, who later migrated north of the Danube.

In one interpretation of the 1989 census results in Moldova, the majority of Moldovans were counted as ethnic Romanians as well. Romanians also form an ethnic minority in several nearby countries situated in Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, most notably in Hungary, Serbia (including Timok), and Ukraine.

The Hertsa region, also known as the Hertza region (Ukrainian: Край Герца, romanized: Krai Hertsa; Romanian: Ținutul Herța), is a region around the town of Hertsa within Chernivtsi Raion in the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine, near the border with Romania. With an area of around 304 km (117 sq mi), it has a population of about 32,300 people (as of 2001), 93% of whom are ethnic Romanians.

This article represents an overview on the history of Romanians in Ukraine, including those Romanians of Northern Bukovina, Zakarpattia, the Hertsa region, and Budjak in Odesa Oblast, but also those Romanophones in the territory between the Dniester River and the Southern Buh river, who traditionally have not inhabited any Romanian state (nor Transnistria), but have been an integral part of the history of modern Ukraine, and are considered natives to the area. There is an ongoing controversy whether self-identified Moldovans are part of the larger Romanian ethnic group or a separate ethnicity. A large majority of the Romanian-speakers living in the former territories of Bukovina and Hertsa region, as well as in Transcarpathia, consider themselves to be ethnic Romanians, but only a minority of those in the historical province of Bessarabia, and the areas further to the east, do. There was a significant decrease in the number of individuals who identified themselves as ethnic Moldovans in the 1989 Soviet census, and a significant increase in the number of self-identified ethnic Romanians, especially, but not exclusively, in northern Bukovina and the Hertsa area according to the 2001 Ukrainian census (see the data later in the article).

A controversy exists over the national identity and name of the native language of the main ethnic group in Moldova. The issue more frequently disputed is whether Moldovans constitute a subgroup of Romanians or a separate ethnic group. While there is wide agreement about the existence of a common language, the controversy persists about the use of the term "Moldovan language" in certain political contexts.

The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova from 1991 calls the official language "Romanian", and the first anthem adopted by the independent Moldova was "Deșteaptă-te, române!" ("Awaken, Romanian!"), the same as the anthem of Romania. Mirroring political evolutions in the country, the Constitution of Moldova (1994) calls the official language "Moldovan", and establishes as anthem "Limba noastră" (Our language, without any explicit reference to its name). Moreover, in 2003, a non-judicial political document called "The Concept of National Policy of the Republic of Moldova", adopted by the then Communist-dominated Parliament, explicitly designates the Romanians as an ethnic minority in Moldova.

Sectorul Centru (Romanian pronunciation: [t͡ʃen.tru] ) is one of the five sectors in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. The local administration is managed by a pretor appointed by the city administration. It governs over a portion of the city of Chișinău itself (central and western parts), and the suburban town of Codru. It is largely populated by Moldovans and Romanians.

The Moldovan diaspora is the diaspora of Moldova, including Moldovan citizens abroad or people with ancestry from the country, regardless of their ethnic origin. Very few of them have settled in other parts of the world, but there is a significant number of them in some countries, mostly in the former Soviet Union, Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Greece, Canada, and the United States of America.