Poleshuks
Poleshuks from Kobryn (1916)
Regions with significant populations
 Ukraine9,000[1][2]
 Belarus14,000[3]
Languages
Polesian language, Russian language, Ukrainian language, Belarusian language
Religion
Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Belarusians, Ukrainians, Podlashuks

The Poleshuks,[1] also known as Polesians (Ukrainian: поліщуки, romanized: polishchuky, Belarusian: палешукі, romanized: paleshuki, Russian: полещуки, romanized: poleshchuki) are the indigenous population of Polesia (also known as Polesie and Polissia).[1] Their language (or dialect), Polesian, forms a dialect continuum with the Ukrainian and Belarusian languages. In addition, Polesian includes many local variations and dialects, or sub-dialects.[4]

History

Polesia (dark green), current borders

During and after World War II, the Poleshuks developed a strong sense of identity and currently the ethnic group of Poleshuks is considered one of the distinct cultural and ethnic identities in the area, while most of the population of the Belarusian, Polish and Ukrainian parts of the region of Polesie have assimilated with the respective nations.[1]

At the end of the 1980s, there was a minor campaign in Soviet Byelorussia for the creation of a standard written language for the dialect based on the dialects of Polesia launched by Belarusian writer Nikolai Shelyagovich and his associates as part of his activities for the recognition of Poleshuks as a separate ethnicity and for their autonomy. However, they received almost no support and the campaign eventually melted away.[5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Poleshuks.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Christopher Lord; Olga Strietska-Ilina (2001). Parallel Cultures: Majority/minority Relations in the Countries of the Former Eastern Bloc. Ashgate. "Poleshuks"; pp. 197-198, 202. ISBN 0754616169. Poleshuk leaders emphasised that the best possible territorial and political arrangement of the Ukrainian state for Poleshuks would be a Federation with a high degree of decentralisation.
  2. ↑ Етнографічні групи: поліщуки (з українською самосвідомістю) Державний комітет статистики України.
  3. ↑ Население по национальности и родному языку Population by nationality and native language
  4. ↑ Marek Jan Chodakiewicz (2012). Intermarium: The Land Between the Black and Baltic Seas. Transaction Publishers. p. 493. ISBN 978-1412847742. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Цадко О. Полесье и опыт национального конструирования (1988–1995), Палітычная сфера. Гісторыя і нацыя, no.24 (1), 2016, pp. 78-93.


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