Epress.am News from Armenia
After the results of the 2010 census in Russia have been received, it seems that the number of Armenians in Russia might be artificially deflated. According to a Jan. 27, 2010 decision, a list of possible options was proposed for the answer to question no. 7 (which refers to ethnicity) in the population census, reports Yerkramas, a Russian-language publication serving Armenians in Russia.
According to the options available, in addition to simply “Armenian,” one can identify as “Hamshen Armenian,” “Hamsheni,” “Armenian of Hamshen,” “Mountain Armenian,” “Armenian of the Don,” “Crimean Armenian,” “Circassian Armenian,” “Armenian Roma,” “Karabakh,” “Armenian Tats,” and other related categories.
“It’s possible that a majority of Armenians will be recorded as ethnic minorities or Caucasians [other than “Armenian”],” writes the paper.
Yerkramas editors also received information on how the poll was conducted. Particularly, in Krasnodar, those Armenians whose surnames ended in “ov” (Khatchaturov, Sarkisov, etc.), the question on ethnicity was asked as follows: “Are you Russian?” or asked about language, “Your mother tongue is Russian?”
While in those areas where Hamshen Armenians live, they were asked “Are you Hamsheni?” thereby obviously skewing the response.