Dynamics of “Transdanubian settlers” in Bessarabia in the early XIXth century: migration processes and natural growth

Abstract

The population dynamics of Transdanubian settlers in Bessarabia during the first half of the XIXth century is a significant matter that can be addressed within historical demography. This paper uses its methods and employs the potential realization forms in the population’s age-andsex structure – a model or mode of the community demographic reproduction amid the large-scale migration. The research results are based on a comparative analysis of three variants of the population’s natural growth coefficient, calculated by us. The first one is applied to larger time intervals where birth and death rates are unknown; the second is for annual intervals where the total birth and death rates are known in absolute data. The third one is based on the birth and death rates variability, calculated for individual colonies. The author concludes that the investigated period is the time of community formation through resettlement and adaptation to the new Budzhak realia, its stabilization, and evolution in the region due to internal potential. The period 1818–1835 is a stage in population resource formation. In 1835–1850, the community develops demographically through self-reproduction without the intervention of migration factors. In 1850, the community totals 82,200 people due to demographic growth and birth rate. Obviously, the demographic potential of the group in the first half of the 19th century was quite strong.