Belarusian language in Ukraine
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According to the Ukrainian census of 2001, the Belarusian language is native to 56,249 people in the country,[1] including 19.8% of ethnic Belarusians. The largest number of Belarusian-speakers live in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (6,239), Crimea (5,204) and Donetsk Oblast (4,842). The regions with the largest percentages of Belarusian speakers out of their total population are Crimea (0.26%), Chernihiv Oblast (0.19%) and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (0.18%).
Overall
Among ethnic Belarusians
According to censuses, the native languages of ethnic Belarusians in Ukraine were:[3][4]
| Language | 1979 | 1989 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russian | 56.0% | 55.2% | 62.5% |
| Belarusian | 35.1% | 35.5% | 19.8% |
| Ukrainian | 8.9% | 9.3% | 17.5% |
| Other | 0.02% | 0.1% | 0.2% |
Among Belarusians of Ukraine, their fluency in the Belarusian language dropped from 48.5% to 31.7% from 1989 to 2001.[5][6]
Significant Belarusian-speaking settlements
This chart lists settlements in which at least 10% of the population spoke Belarusian as their mother tongue during the 2001 census.[7] Italics indicate settlements with a population of less than 25 people.
| Settlement | % Belarusian speakers |
|---|---|
| Vesela Dolyna | 60.0 |
| Vyshchepanivka | 40.0 |
| Krasniy Bir | 27.3 |
| Omelusha | 25.0 |
| Hannivka | 19.6 |
| Trudove | 19.1 |
| Sosnivka | 15.4 |
| Kalashnyky | 14.3 |
| Sadky, Sumy Raion | 14.3 |
| Noviy Myr | 12.6 |
| Harkavec | 12.5 |
| Vasylivka | 12.5 |
| Olenivka | 12.0 |
| Kisivka | 12.0 |
| Soborne | 11.8 |
| Dmitrivka | 11.1 |
| Hodyn | 10.0 |
| Skelky | 10.0 |
| Konovalik | 10.0 |