Impact of Depopulation on Political Life and Legitimacy of Unrecognized States (a Case Study of Transnistria)

V. A. Kolosov () and A. V. Crivenco ()
Additional contact information
V. A. Kolosov: Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
A. V. Crivenco: T.G. Shevchenko Pridnestrovian State University

Regional Research of Russia, 2021, vol. 11, issue 2, 263-272

Abstract: Abstract—The rapid depopulation that covered vast regions of Central and Eastern Europe has had long-lasting consequences not only for their socioeconomic, but also political development. For unrecognized polities, the ability to retain population became an important criterion for successful competition with the mother state for citizens’ loyalty, the legitimacy of political regimes, and claims to sovereignty. The aim of the study is to identify the impact of depopulation on the socioeconomic situation and political life of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, or Transnistria) in comparison with the Republic of Moldova (RM). On the basis of official statistics, the authors compare the rates, factors, and reasons for population decline in the PMR and RM. The consequences of depopulation typical of Central and Eastern European countries and specific to Transnistria and Moldova are shown. Assessment of migration losses in general for these territories and their individual regions shows that population outflow in Transnistria began earlier and was more intensive than from the Republic of Moldova. In Moldova, depopulation is intensifying the identity crisis and contradictions between Moldovans and supporters of unification with Romania; in the PMR, the instability of political life, uncertainty of the region’s prospects, and an increasing critical attitude towards the authorities.

Keywords: depopulation; migrations; political impact; legitimacy; Moldova; Transnistria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1134/S2079970521020064 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:rrorus:v:11:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1134_s2079970521020064

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... cience/journal/13393

DOI: 10.1134/S2079970521020064

Access Statistics for this article

Regional Research of Russia is currently edited by Vladimir M. Kotlyakov and Vladimir A. Kolosov

More articles in Regional Research of Russia from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().