Hotin County was a county ( ținut is Middle Ages and Early Modern Period,

județ A ''județ'' (, plural ) is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used from 1940 to 1947 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1998 to 2003 in Moldova. ''Județ'' translates into English as "jurisdiction", but is co ...

after) in the

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...

(1359–1812), the Governorate of Bessarabia (1812–1917), the

Moldavian Democratic Republic The Moldavian Democratic Republic (MDR; ro, Republica Democratică Moldovenească, ), also known as the Moldavian Republic, was a state proclaimed on by the '' Sfatul Țării'' (National Council) of Bessarabia, elected in October–Novemb ...

(1917–1918), and the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romania ...

(1918–1940, 1941–1944). Its capital was in the city of

Hotin Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of t ...

(today

Khotyn Khotyn ( uk, Хотин, ; ro, Hotin, ; see other names) is a city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine and is located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of the ...

). The territory of the county is currently divided between Ukraine (northern half) and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

(southern half).

Geography

Between the two world wars, Hotin County covered 3,782 km² and was located in the northeastern part of

Greater Romania The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea. As a concept, its main goal is the creation ...

, being the northernmost County of

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds o ...

. It was located on the border with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relati ...

, its borders were as follows: the

Vinnytsia Oblast Vinnytsia Oblast ( uk, Ві́нницька о́бласть, translit=Vinnytska oblast; ; also referred to as Vinnychchyna — uk, Ві́нниччина) is an oblast of western and southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsia ...

in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

of the

to the north and north-east, the Stanislawow Voivodship of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

to the north-west, Soroca County to the south-east, Bălți County to south, Dorohoi County to the south and south-west, and Cernăuți County to the west.

Administrative organization

Administratively, Hotin County was divided administratively into the city of

and four (later six) districts ('' plăşi'', singular ''plasă''):Portretul României Interbelice - Județul Hotin
/ref> #Plasa Briceni #Plasa Hotin #Plasa Lipcani #Plasa Secureni Subsequently, two more districts were created: #Plasa Sulița #Plasa I.G. Duca At the autumn 1941 census, the county was administrative divided as follows: # city of

# city of Sulița #Plasa Cetatea Hotinului (or Clișcăuți), headquartered at Clișcăuți #Plasa Chelmenți (or Vadul lui Traian), headquartered at Chelmenți #Plasa Briceni, headquartered at Briceni #Plasa Lipcani, headquartered at Lipcani #Plasa Secureni, headquartered at Secureni #Plasa Sulița (or B.P. Hașdeu), headquartered at Sulița

Population

According to the Romanian census of 1930 the population of Hotin County was 392,430, of which 41.6% were ethnic

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Or ...

, 35.0% ethnic Romanians, 13.6% ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, 9.2%

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

, 0.3% ethnic

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland i ...

. Classified by mother tongue: 45.1% spoke Ukrainian, 33.4% spoke Romanian, 12.0% spoke Russian, 9.2% spoke

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

. Classified by religion: 87.0% were Orthodox Christian, 9.2%

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

, 1.9%

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

, 1.0%

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow be ...

, and 0.3% Roman Catholic. According to Russian census of 1897, Ukrainians (Little Russians) represented the majority of population of Khotin

Uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

. There were 160,000 Ukrainians (55%) in rural areas, or 164,000 (53%) including urban areas.

Urban population

In 1930 the urban population of Hotin County was 15,334, which included 37.7% Jews, 36.6% Russians, 14.8% Ukrainians, 8.8% Romanians, and 1.5% Poles by ethnicity. The major mother tongues among the urban population were: Yiddish (37.6%), Russian (37.5%), Ukrainian (14.7%), Romanian (8.6%), and Polish (1.2%) The religious mix of the urban population was 57.6% Eastern Orthodox, 37.7% Jewish, 2.1% Old Believers, and 1.6% Roman Catholic.

History

After the

Union of Bessarabia with Romania The union of Bessarabia with Romania was proclaimed on by Sfatul Țării, the legislative body of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. This state had the same borders of the region of Bessarabia, which was annexed by the Russian Empire following ...

in 1918, the county was part of Romania, which set up the county formally in 1925. The area county of the county was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 and became part of the Moldavian SSR and the

. The area returned to Romanian administration following the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1941. A military administration was established and the region's Jewish population was either executed on the spot or deported to Transnistria, where further numbers were killed. Despite the Hotin County was geographically part of Bessarabia, it was not incorporated into the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included t ...

, but rather in the Bukovina Governorate, centered around the geographical region of Bukovina. Dorohoi County was also posteriously attached to the governorate even though it was not in Bukovina either. As the Soviet Union's offensive pushed the Axis powers back, the area again was under Soviet control. On September 12, 1944, Romania signed the Moscow Armistice with the Allies. The Armistice, as well as the subsequent peace treaty of 1947, confirmed the Soviet-Romanian border as it was on January 1, 1941.

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

. Foreign relations of the United States, 1946
Paris Peace Conference: documents Volume IV (1946)
/ref> The areas of the county, along with the rest of the Moldavian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR, became part of the independent countries of

and Ukraine, respectively.

References

External links

Hotin website (in Romanian)
{{coord missing, Romania Former counties of Romania Counties of Bessarabia 1925 establishments in Romania 1938 disestablishments in Romania 1941 establishments in Romania 1944 disestablishments in Romania States and territories established in 1925 States and territories disestablished in 1938 States and territories established in 1941 States and territories disestablished in 1944