Ethnic Diversity in Romania. A 20th and 21st Centuries Censuses’ Data Analysis

Voluntary assumed and self-declared ethnicity challenge specific data collected within the censuses.Despite this limit, it is of vital importance to consider the characteristics of a population with respect to ethnicity and recent history.Globalisation, increased migration, the demand for policies against discrimination, and tailored interventions targeting the specific needs of different communities or areas are shaping both modern societies and our adaptive policies that balance development with cultural integration.This study undertakes an examination of ethnic diversity in Romania using 1930 to 2021 censuses data, delving into the evolution of Romania's ethnic composition, the distribution of the population by ethnicity, and an analysis of how the population's ethnicity concentration has changed over time (the same timespan censuses years) and space (across development regions).The results show a declining level of entropy, a distinction between the magnitude and structure of diversity becoming relevant for understanding potential disparities in socioeconomic status, intergroup relations, and various characteristics of different populations (based on ethnicity).The paper captures the structural diversity dimension linked to the regional socioeconomic development.