Until 1945, the vast majority of Rusyns in Carpathian Rus’ inhabited over 1,100 small villages that averaged in size between 600 and 800 residents. Aside from Carpatho-Rusyns, most villages also had a small number (usually 5 to 15 percent) of inhabitants belonging to other national groups. These generally included a few Jewish families (small shopowners and tavern keepers as well as farmers), Romany/Gypsies who often lived on the outskirts of the village, and a Magyar, Polish, Slovak, or Czech official (gendarme, notary, schoolteacher).

The Carpatho-Rusyns were mostly employed as farmers, livestock herders (especially sheep), and in forest-related occupations. The mountainous landscape that characterized Carpathian Rus' never allowed for extensive agricultural production. As a result, Carpatho-Rusyns were usually poor and were often forced to survive by working in neighboring countries or by emigrating permanently abroad, most especially to the United States.

After World War II, industrial enterprises were established in or near the Carpathian homeland, and many Rusyn villagers moved to nearby cities. Those cities (Užhorod, Mukačevo, Prešov, Humenné, Košice, Michalovce, Sanok, Nowy Sącz, Gorlice, Novi Sad) were most often located outside Carpatho-Rusyn ethnolinguistic territory. As a result, many Rusyns who migrated to cities intermarried, attended schools using the state language, and eventually gave up their identity as Carpatho-Rusyns.

Language, Identity, and Culture
Carpatho-Rusyns belong to the Slavic branch of Indo-European peoples. Their dialects are classified as East Slavic, but because they live in a borderland region Carpatho-Rusyn dialects are heavily influenced by Polish, Slovak, and Hungarian vocabulary. These influences, together with numerous terms from the Church Slavonic liturgical language and vocabulary unique to Carpatho-Rusyns, are what distinguish their spoken language from other East Slavic languages like Ukrainian.

In contrast to their West Slavic (Polish and Slovak), Magyar, and Romanian neighbors, Carpatho-Rusyns use the Cyrillic alphabet. Their national name, Rusyn (also spelled Rusin), connects them to the east, since Rus' was the name of the inhabitants and territory of a large medieval state centered in Kiev. The many names by which Carpatho-Rusyns have called themselves or were called by others – Carpatho-Russian, Carpatho-Ukrainian, Rusnak, Ruthene, Ruthenian, Uhro-Rusyn -- all relate to their traditional association with the East Slavic world of the Rus'.

Despite the seeming confusion about names, the most appropriate designation is Carpatho-Rusyn, or simply Rusyn. This is the name the nineteenth-century national awakener Aleksander Duchnovyč used in poetic lines in what became the national credo--"I was, am, and will remain a Rusyn"--and it is the name that appears in the first line of the national anthem--"Subcarpathian Rusyns, Arise from Your Deep Slumber." Carpatho-Rusyn and Rusyn are also the names used by most of the new cultural organizations and publications established in the European homeland since the Revolution of 1989. In Poland, Carpatho-Rusyns call themselves Lemkos. This is a new name. Before the twentieth century Lemkos, too, called themselves Rusyns or Rusnaks. Aware of their origins, recent publications and organizations in Poland often use the term Lemko Rusyn to describe their people.

Continue to Page 3

Return to Documents & Articles index