Rusyns of Romania

Total population
262 (2002 census) 834 (2021 census)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Romania (Maramureș)
Languages
Rusyn (native), Romanian, Ukrainian
Religion
Mainly Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Rusyns

The Rusyns (Rusyn: Русины, romanized: Rusynŷ, Romanian: Ruteni) are an ethnic minority in Romania.

While only 262 people officially identified themselves as "Rusyns" in the 2002 Romanian census,^[2] 3,890 people identified as Hutsuls (Romanian: Huțuli; Rusyn Hutsuly).^[3] According to the 2021 Romanian census, there were 834 people (0.004% of the population) who identified themselves officially as Rusyns, and 594 who declared that their language was Rusyn.^[4] Among the self-declared Rusyns, 179 declared that they spoke Romanian, 90 Ukrainian, 4 Russian, and 545 Rusyn.^[5] In the 2011 Romanian census, there were 257 self-identified Rusyns in Romania.^[6] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 345 ethnic Ukrainians born in Romania who lived in the United States of America at that time.^[7] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015, there were no ethnic Carpatho-Rusyns born in Romania who lived in the United States of America at that time among the 156 foreign-born Carpatho-Rusyns^[8] and the 8,003 Carpatho-Rusyns living in the United States.^[9] By contrast, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 345 ethnic Ukrainians born in Romania who lived in the United States of America at that time.^[10]

Another 61,091 Romanian citizens identified as Ukrainian (Romanian: Ucrainieni). According to the 2021 Romanian census, 45,835 individuals declared that they were ethnic Ukrainians (0.24%), and 40,861 declared their mother tongue as Ukrainian; among the ethnic Ukrainians, 39,326 stated that their mother tongue was Ukrainian, and 15 said that it was Rusyn.^[11] As the archaic exonym Ruthenians was previously applied to both Rusyns and Ukrainians, some Ukrainian-Romanians may also regard themselves as Rusyns (without declaring themselves to, or being identified by, census collectors). Ukrainian-Romanians live primarily in northwestern Romania; the largest populations are found in Satu Mare and Maramureș counties.^{[citation needed]}

As an officially recognised ethnic minority, Rusyns have a reserved seat in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, which is currently held by a party called the Cultural Union of Ruthenians of Romania.^[12] In 2020, the political group obtained 3,779 votes (0.06%), while the Union of Ukrainians of Romania obtained 5,457 votes (0.09%) in the Chamber of Deputies election.^[13]