Bălcăuți (; also Балківці) is a commune located in

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county (') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat and the ...

, in the

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

, northeastern

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is composed of three villages, namely: Bălcăuți, Gropeni, and Negostina. At the

2011 Romanian census The 2011 Romanian census was a census held in Romania between 20 and 31 October 2011. It was performed by some 120,000 census takers in around 101,000 statistic sectors throughout the country established by the National Institute of Statistics ( ...

, 70.3% of inhabitants were

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

and 29.6%

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

. At the 2002 census, 74.4% were

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

, 6.9% stated they belonged to another religion, 6.3% were

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

, 6.1%

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

and 4.5% Christian Evangelical.

Negostina

The village of Negostina () features an important community of

Ukrainians of Romania The Ukrainians of Romania (, ) are the third-largest ethnic minority in Romania. According to the 2011 Romanian census they number 51,703 people, making up 0.3% of the total population. According to the 2021 Romanian census, there were 45,835 ...

, with folk festivals taking place there from time to time. Negostina hosts a bust of Ukrainian national poet

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

, one of three in Romania. Every year, on March 9 and 10, Ukrainian and Romanian officials lay wreaths on the bust.

1930 Romanian census

According to the Romanian census conducted in 1930, the population of Negostina was 1,957 inhabitants. Most of the inhabitants were

Ruthenians A ''Ruthenian'' and ''Ruthene'' are exonyms of Latin language, Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common Ethnonym, ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term ...

(51.3%), with a minority of

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Bukovina Germans The Bukovina Germans ( or ''Buchenlanddeutsche'', ), also known and referred to as Buchenland Germans, or Bukovinian Germans, are a German diaspora, German Ethnicity, ethnic group which settled in Bukovina, a historical region situated at the cro ...

(1.94%), one of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

(0.85%), one of

(43.35%), one of

Lipovans The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russians, Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of D ...

(1.96%) and one of

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

(0.6%). From a religious point of view, most of the inhabitants were Orthodox (95.8%), but there were also Greek Catholics (0.75%), Jews (0.85%), and Roman Catholics (2.3%). Other people declared to be

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

(4 people) and

Adventists Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Willi ...

(4 people).

2002 census

According to the 2002 Romanian census, the village had a population of 1474. 1095 (74.3%) declared Ukrainian nationality, while 371 (25.2%) declared Romanian nationality and 5 (0.3%) Polish nationality. As far as language 1118 (75.8%) declared Ukrainian language, while 347 (23.5%) declared Romanian language and 5 (0.3%) Polish nationality. In 2002 the national composition was: The declared language was:

Gallery

Image:Căminul Cultural din Negostina1.jpg, Negostina's cultural center. Image:Căminul Cultural din Negostina P.jpg, Building in Negostina.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balcauti Communes in Suceava County Localities in Southern Bukovina Ukrainian communities in Romania