2004 Moldovan census
The 2004 Republic of Moldova Census was carried October 5–October 12, 2004. The breakaway republic of Transnistria failed to come into an agreement with the Chişinău government and carried out its own census during November 11–November 18. The results of census in Transnistria are questioned.
Moldova's previous census was performed in 1989, when the territory was part of the Soviet Union.
The census was delayed several times and had difficulties because of political problems, ethnic tensions and a lack of resources.
Terminology
The questionaires used the term "Nationality", but the sense of this term must be understood as a synonym of ethnicity[1], as nation can be defined as a grouping based on cultural self-determination rather than on relations with a state. In the context of former Soviet Union, nationality is often used as translation of the Russian terms (национальность/ natsional'nost) used for ethnic groups and local affiliations within those (former) states.
Criticism
According to a May 19 2005 article carried by the Moldova Azi news agency, a group of international census experts described the Moldovan census as "generally conducted in a professional manner", while remarking that that "a few topics... were potentially more problematic". These were:
- The census includes at least some Moldovans who had been living abroad over one year at the time of the census.
- The entries referring to the nationality and spoken language have sometimes caused confusion among the respondents. Also, some enumerators have apparently encouraged respondents to declare that they were "Moldovan" rather than "Romanian", and even within a single family there may have been confusion about these terms. Therefore, the precision of the statistical data about nationality and language was questioned.
With respect to these matters, especially the latter, the expert group recommended that the Moldovan National Bureau of Statistics carry out an evaluation study, offered their assistance in doing so, and indicated their intention of further studying the matter themselves.[2]
Vitalie Valcov (the then director of the Department of Statistics and Sociology) stated that Transnistria did not comply with the international recommendations for carrying out a census and, thus, the data collected in Transnistria — where almost 17% of Moldova’s population live — may not be taken together with the data from the rest of Moldova, since it was gathered without international monitoring. Therefore, all census figures do not include territories that are under control of Transnistrian authorities.
Notes
- ^ "Official Chisinau Seeks Recognition Of Moldovan Ethnicity And Minority In Romania" The Jamestown Foundation, February 28, 2007, by Vladimir Socor.
- ^ Experts Offering to Consult the National Statistics Bureau in Evaluation of the Census Data, Moldova Azi, May 19, 2005, story attributed to Flux. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
External links
- Template:Ro icon, Template:Ru icon, Template:En icon DEMOGRAPHIC, NATIONAL, LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS; POPULATION CENSUS 2004 (.doc file)
- Template:Ro icon, Template:Ru icon, Template:En icon 2004 official census results (list of all available census documents in .xls and .doc format)