Vinnytsia is the unspoken capital of Podolia, a historical and geographical region in the western part of Ukraine. The city is located on the picturesque banks of the Southern Bug and has been known since the middle of the 14th century. What is the population in Vinnitsa today? Representatives of what ethnic groups inhabit it? Who is more in the city - men or women? You will definitely find answers to all these questions in our article.
City of fountains and beautiful trams: general information about Vinnitsa
It is generally accepted that the name of the city comes from the ancient Slavic word "veno" (translated as "gift"). But there is another version: in the old days, wineries were called distilleries where fragrant alcoholic drinks were brewed.
The first mention of Vinnitsa dates back to 1362, when the Lithuanians founded a fortified castle here. For more than two centuries in a row (from 1569 to 1793), the city was part of Poland, after which it came under the rule of the Russian Empire. In the second half of the 19th century, Vinnitsa began to rapidlydevelop as a result of the construction of the Kyiv-Odessa railway line. Plants, factories, luxurious villas and mansions appear here. Local architects tried to follow all the metropolitan trends. Thanks to this, the central (historical) part of the city today looks magnificent and presentable.
In modern Vinnitsa there are no large-scale productions. But on the other hand, a number of enterprises of the light and food industries are operating. The most famous of them is the Roshen confectionery factory. Do not ignore this city and tourists. Travelers in Vinnitsa are primarily attracted by a huge light and music fountain, as well as pretty blue trams donated to the city by Swiss Zurich.
Next, we will tell you more about the population of Vinnitsa. With the demographic situation in the city, alas, not everything is as rosy as its residents would like.
Vinnitsa: population and main demographic indicators
The city ranks 12th in Ukraine by the number of inhabitants. Today, the population of Vinnitsa is 372.7 thousand people (data for 2017). Let's look at how its population has changed over the years:
- 1840 - 6.7 thousand people;
- 1897 - 30.6 thousand people;
- 1939 - 93.0 thousand people;
- 1970 - 211.6 thousand people;
- 1989 - 374.3 thousand people;
- 2001 - 356.6 thousand people;
- 2015 - 372.5 thousand people.
As we can see, since 1989 the population of the city of Vinnitsa has been steadily declining. A sharp jump in numbers in 2015is explained by the administrative reform - the annexation of seven adjacent villages to the urban area. In recent years, there has also been an active influx of refugees from the ATO zone in Donbas. But, despite all this, the population of Vinnitsa continues to decline by one thousand people annually.
The big problem of the region is the high percentage of mortality among the population. The statistics, alas, do not inspire optimism: over the past two decades, this figure has increased by 30%. So, if in 1996 6.2 people per 1000 inhabitants died in Vinnytsia, then in 2014 it was already 9.8 per 1000 inhabitants.
Gender and age structure
In Vinnitsa there are traditionally more women than men (ratio: 53.4% to 46.6%). The average age of a Vinnitsa resident is 35.9 years, which is three years less than the average value of the same indicator in the region. The age distribution of the population (as of 2014) is as follows:
- 0-14 years old - 14.5%;
- 15-64 years - 73.4%;
- 65 and older - 12.1%.
The working-age population is 65.4% of the total population (data for 2001).
Ethnic composition of the population
The modern population of Vinnytsia is quite diverse in its ethnic composition. Thus, according to the last census (2001), representatives of more than three dozen nations and ethnic groups live in the city. The most numerous of them:
- Ukrainians (87%);
- Russians (about 10%);
- Jews (0.5%);
- Poles (0.5%);
- Moldovans (0.4%).
Almost 85% of Vinnitsa residents consider Ukrainian as their mother tongue. In addition, Russian, Moldovan, Bulgarian, Polish and Gypsy speech can also be heard in the city.
Before World War II, there was a rather powerful community of Jews in Vinnitsa. By the end of the 19th century, they made up 35% of the urban population. Jews in Vinnitsa lived compactly, inhabiting areas with colorful names Lower and Upper Jerusalem.
During the first two years of the fascist occupation, up to 30 thousand Vinnitsa Jews were destroyed. Many of the survivors later joined the Soviet partisan movement. The city has preserved several monuments associated with the Jewish community. Among them are the Reicher brick synagogue and the old Jewish cemetery (only partially preserved).
