Armenians in Moldova
Encyclopedia
Armenians in Moldova are the ethnic Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 that live in Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

. They settled in the Principality of Moldavia since the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....

, and were well-known as a merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

 community. They prospered, and built a number of Armenian church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...

es. Since the 18th century, however, their numbers decreased due to assimilation and emigration to other countries. During Soviet occupation, the number of Armenians increased a little, both during 1950s-1980s, and when new immigrants came from Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

 and Nagorno Karabakh in late 1980s. But after the fall of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, it decreased again.

Population

At the 1930 Romanian Census, there were 1,511 Armenians
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 in the nine counties of Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....

, including 583 in Lăpuşna County
Lapusna County
Lăpuşna was an administrative region of Moldova until February 2003. Major cities of the region included Troita, Batar, Cara-Biber, and Hînceşti....

 (490 in the city of Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...

, 66 in the city of Hînceşti
Hîncesti
Hînceşti is a city in Moldova, also written without diacritics as "Hincesti" or "Hancesti" .Hînceşti is situated on the Cogalnic River, southwest of the Moldovan capital, Chişinău...

), 407 in Cetatea Albă County
Cetatea Alba County
Cetatea-Albă was a county of Romania, in Bessarabia, with the capital city at Cetatea-Albă.-Neighbours:The county neighboured Odessa Oblast of USSR to the east, the Black Sea to the south-east, the counties of Tighina to the north, Ismail to the south and Cahul to the west.-Administration:The...

 (366 in the city of Cetatea Albă), 242 in Bălţi County
Bălţi County
Bălți was a county of Moldova from 1998 to 2003. Its population in 2003 was 500,900. Its capital was Bălți.-External links:* , Statoids.com...

 (158 in the city of Bălţi
Balti
Balti can refer to:* Balti language, a language spoken in Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir* Balti people, Muslims of Ladakhi/Tibetan origin from Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir...

), 73 in Ismail County (40 in the city of Ismail
Ismail
Ismail may refer to:*Ismail , people with the name*Ishmael, the English name of Ismail*Ismael Village, in Sangcharak District at Sar-e Pol Province of Afghanistan...

), 60 in Soroca County
Soroca County
Soroca was a county of Moldova. The seat was Soroca....

 (14 in the city of Soroca
Soroca
Soroca is a Moldovan city situated on the Nistru river about 160 km north of Chişinău. It is the administrative center of Soroca District.- History :The city has its origin in the medieval Genoese trade post of Olchionia, or Alchona...

), 58 in Tighina County
Tighina County
Tighina County was, until February 2003, a major subdivision of Moldova with its capital at Căuşeni. It bordered Ukraine, Transnistria, Lăpuşna County and Chişinău County....

 (46 in the city of Tighina
Tighina
Bender or Bendery, also known as Tighina is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Transnistria Republic since 1992...

), 42 in Orhei County
Orhei County
Orhei was a county of Moldova from 1998 to 2003. Its population in 2003 was 300,400. Its capital was Orhei.-External links:* , Statoids.com...

, 38 in Cahul County
Cahul County
Cahul County was a county of Bessarabia. In the Middle Ages, its territory belonged to the Fălciu County, but after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812 it became a county by itself.- History :...

 (22 in the city of Cahul
Cahul
-Demographics:According to the last Moldovan census from 2004 there were 35,488 people living within the city of Cahul and 1,317 people within Cotihana....

), and 8 in Hotin County
Hotin County
Hotin County was a county in the Principality of Moldavia , the Governorate of Bessarabia , the Moldavian Democratic Republic , and the Kingdom of Romania ....

.

According to estimates, in the Soviet era, the Armenian community of Moldova was 5,000 strong.

At the 2004 Moldovan Census
2004 Moldovan Census
The 2004 Republic of Moldova Census was carried between October 5 and October 12, 2004. The breakaway Transnistria failed to come into an agreement with the central government in Chişinău, and carried out its own census during between November 11 and November 18, 2004...

, Armenians were not among the 8 major reported ethnic groups, hence they numbered less than 2,000 in the territory controlled by the central government. In the Tiraspol
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...

-controlled areas, there were 980 Amrenians, including 785 in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...

 (360 in the city of Tiraspol
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...

), and 195 in other localities under Tiraspol control (173 in the city of Tighina
Tighina
Bender or Bendery, also known as Tighina is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Transnistria Republic since 1992...

). In the main part of Moldova, Armenians live mostly in the capital Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...

, and a small community in Bălţi
Balti
Balti can refer to:* Balti language, a language spoken in Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir* Balti people, Muslims of Ladakhi/Tibetan origin from Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir...

.

Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....

The first Armenians in Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

 arrived in 14th century from Little Armenia
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , also known as the Cilician Armenia, Kingdom of Cilician Armenia or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia...

 in Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...

, when their Kingdom with capital in Sis
Kozan, Adana
Kozan is a city in Adana Province, Turkey, 68 km north of the city of Adana, in the northern section of the Çukurova plain. The city is the capital of Kozan district. The Kilgen Stream, a tributary of the Ceyhan River , flows through Kozan crossing the plain south into the Mediterranean Sea....

 felt in 1375 to the Muslims, and Armenians spread through the Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...

. Some of them arrived in the Principality of Moldavia, and from there some made to Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...

. As well-acquainted with the commerce between Europe and Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

, Armenians were successful in Moldavia, and already during the reign of Alexander the Good had established themselves as a community. At one time they were persecuted due to competition they made to Moldavian merchants. However, Moldavians were always tolerant to their Christian, albeit separate Church. Most of Armenians settled in fairs, as merchants, and some in villages as renters. They were well known for preserving their traditions and church.

According to ancient Armenian historical documents, Armenian churches were built as early as 1350 in Botoşani
Botosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...

, in 1380 in Cetatea Albă, in 1395 in Huşi
Husi
Huși is a city in Vaslui County, Romania, former capital of the disbanded Fălciu County in the historical region of Moldavia, Romanian Orthodox episcopal see, and home of some of the best vineyards of Romania. The city is located on a branch of the Iaşi-Galaţi railway, nine miles west of the Prut...

, and a number of others in 1551. Later, in the 17th century, more Armenians moved and settled in Moldova from Poland to escape the Catholic domination of their church.

After their number has decreased very much over time, in the early 20th century, there were only 2,000 Armanians in Bessarabia. In 1930, there were 1,511. Nowadays, there are less than 2,000 Armenians in Moldova, mostly in Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...

, Bălţi
Balti
Balti can refer to:* Balti language, a language spoken in Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir* Balti people, Muslims of Ladakhi/Tibetan origin from Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir...

, and Tighina (173).

Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...

When the Russian empire arrived at the river Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...

 in 1792, Empress Catherine II of Russia ordered building a city on the eastern bank of the river, named by royal decree Grigoriopol
Grigoriopol
Grigoriopol is a city in Transnistria, Moldova. It is the seat of the Grigoriopol sub-district of Transnistria. The city is located on the left bank of the river Dniester at , in central Transnistria....

 . Some believe it was so named after Grigory Potyomkin, other that it was named after Gregory the Illuminator
Gregory the Illuminator
Saint Gregory the Illuminator or Saint Gregory the Enlightener is the patron saint and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church...

 (Sourb Grigor Lousavoritch), the patron saint of the Armenian nation. Armenian settlers were brought in to found and build this city. Later, Armenians moved on to more prosperous regions, such as the capital city Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...

, and the city of Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

 in neighboring Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, amongst others. Today, only 62 Armenians remain in the Grigoriopol sub-district, Transnistria, but its history is still strongly linked to the region's early Armenian settlers.

Today there are 785 Armenians in Transnistria, including 360 in Tiraspol
Tiraspol
Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...

.
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