The Gagauz are an ethnic Turkic minority in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The total number of the Gagauz diaspora was 31,923 counted in the 2001 census, most of whom (86.51%) live in the Bessarabian region of

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administ ...

Izmail Izmail (, , translit. ''Izmail,'' formerly Тучков ("Tuchkov"); ro, Ismail or ''Smil''; pl, Izmaił, bg, Исмаил) is a city and municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administra ...

, Reni,

Kiliya Kiliia or Kilia ( uk, Кілія́, translit=Kiliia, ; ro, Chilia Nouă) is a town in Izmail Raion, Odesa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kiliia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Kiliia is located in t ...

, and Bolhrad raions (districts).

Place of residence

The Gagauz are speaking Gagauz language who live in Ukraine, mainly in the Odesa region, where they make up 1.1% of the region's population. The number of Gagauz in the period between the

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

and 2001 censuses increased by 0.9%, and the share of residents of the region - by 0.1%. Regions of Ukraine by the number of Gagauz in 2001: Gagauz live in the south and southwest of Odesa region in Bolhrad (18.7%), Reni (7.9%), Tarutyne (6.0%),

Kiliia Kiliia or Kilia ( uk, Кілія́, translit=Kiliia, ; ro, Chilia Nouă) is a town in Izmail Raion, Odesa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kiliia urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Kiliia is located in ...

(3.8%) and

Artsyz Artsyz (, ; bg, Арциз ''Artsiz''; ; or ''Arsız''; or ''Arzis'') is a city and the administrative center of Artsyz municipality, Bolhrad Raion in Odesa Oblast, Ukraine. Population: In 2001, population was 16,370. History The city was ...

(1.8%) areas. The number of Gagauz increased in Ivanivka (+ 100.0%),

Ovidiopol Ovidiopol ( uk, Ові́діополь; russian: Овидиополь; tr, Hacıdere) is a coastal urban-type settlement in Odesa Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the eastern bank of Dniester Estuary directly across Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi an ...

(+ 100.0%), Bolhrad (+ 0.7%) districts and the city of

(+ 14.3%), slightly decreased in

(-14, 8%),

(-10.0%), Tarutyne (-6.9%) and Reni (-5.9%) districts. The Gagauz also traditionally lived in the south of the Zaporizhzhia region, where they moved from Budzhak with Bulgarians and Albanians after the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. There the Gagauz population was present in the villages of Oleksandrivka, Vovchanske, Golivka, Dechnya, and Dimitrivka.

Language

The majority of Gagauz (71%) consider Gagauz their mother tongue, a significant proportion (23%) consider

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

their mother tongue. Native language of Gagauz of Ukraine according to population censuses:Итоги Всесоюзной переписи населения 1970 года. Том IV — М., Статистика, 1973Всеукраїнський перепис населення 2001. Розподіл населення за національністю та рідною мовою
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Notable people

* (born 1980), colonel during the Russo-Ukrainian War, recipient of the

Hero of Ukraine Hero of Ukraine (HOU; uk, Герой України, ''Heroi Ukrainy'') is the highest national title that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the President of Ukraine. The title was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma and as ...

award

References

Ethnic groups in Ukraine Gagauz people Bessarabian ethnic groups Odesa Oblast {{Ukraine-stub

Place of residence

Language

Notable people

See also

References