BUKOVINA IN BRIEF

THE DILEMMA

On a personal note the first time I heard mention of Bukovina I was more than a little confused. I had always assumed I was Ukrainian by ethnicity, so to find out I was of Bukovinian descent was somewhat perplexing. For the sake of clarity I asked where Bukovina was. The response threw me further in the dark- Bukovina it seems was part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire - and there was also some mention of Romania at one point - so now I was apparently a Bukovinian Austrian Hungarian Romanian whose entire family it seemed, with the exception of me, spoke Ukrainian ( I have since been working to remedy that). All this seemed too much information to absorb at the time, but it did make me want to ultimately seek out the truth. What I discovered over the years follows in a somewhat condensed version.

BUKOVINA

The name "Bukovina" means "Land of the Beech Trees" and is also referred to as "Bukowina" (Polish and German), "Bucovina" ( Romanian), "Bukovyna" (Ukrainian) and "Buchenland" ( German). The spelling of "Bukovina" will be used hereafter for the sake of consistency. In a constant state of political flux and incursion from neighbours each of these countries ruled over the region at one time or another. Currently half of Bukovina lies in the Suceava county of Romania to the south and the Chernivitski Oblast of the Ukraine to the north. It is also bordered by the Carpathian mountain range, which provides a natural barrier between itself and Hungary. A number of rivers run through the area, the largest of which are the Dneister and Oder, which ultimately empty southwards into the Black Sea. The Great Plains of Russia extend into the region providing rich and fertile soil. According to the census of 1910 46% of all the land belonged to landed gentry which operated a feudal system by which the peasantry could live off the land owned by the landlords, but could not earn a living- an important distinction.

Principal agricultural crops were wheat, barley, hemp, flax, buckwheat, rape, potatoes and sugar beets. Tobacco and hops ( used in beer making at the Budweiss and Pilsen breweries ) were also quite lucrative crops. Livestock included cattle, sheep, pigs, horses (Bukovinian horses are recognized as the finest of breeds) , poultry, mules and donkeys. At the base of the mountain range lush greenery flows upwards towards a forest of oak, pine, beech, ash, elm with patches of fir and yew trees scatttered throughout- all of which covers roughly 40% of the land. Reaching further upwards snowlines and peaks stretch skyward to an elevation of about 8000 feet. This area is naturally rocky and not suitable for agriculture. Wildlife abounds in the form of wild boars, deer, goats, bears, wolves, lynxes, fox, wildcats and jackals. Smaller game such as rabbits and beavers are widespread, while a good number of eagles and hawks dominate the sky.

Winters are long and cold and the year round average temperature is around 60 degrees F or 15 degrees c. Rainfall ranges from 20- 24 inches ( 51 - 60 cm ) on the plains and about 30 - 40 inches ( 76 - 102 cm) in the mountainous regions. With a only a few exceptions the area is very similar to Canada west of Ontario. This in a nutshell is Bukovina.

As to the question of ethnicity, and the answer to the above dilemma, in the 1910 census of Bukovina the highest population of Ruthenians ( Ukrainians ) in the Austro Hungarian Empire was concentrated in Bukovina and Eastern Galicia- over three million at the time- second only to the Romanian population - with a good number of Ukrainian speaking peoples scattered throughout Hungary and the rest of the empire. These numbers dropped dramatically when over one million people emigrated in the period between 1900 - 1910, primarily to Canada and the United States.

Bukovina In European Context

1910 Ethnographic Map of Bukovina- Orange Dots Indicate Ruthenian Enclaves

( Sourced from Bukovina Society of the Americas- Link to site below to zoom on map and for more information on Bukovina )

Bukovina Society of The Americas