Ethnic contact index as a tool for studying territories with a mixed national composition of the population

Abstract

Territories with a mixed ethnic composition of the population are complex phenomena. Ethnocontact zones belong to the same type of formations. In domestic science, the index of ethnic mosaic proposed by B. M. Ekkel is the main quantitative indicator used in the identification of multicomponent ethno-contact zones. The Eckel index is convenient for displaying on a map, but subsequent ethnogeographical analysis needs additional information that is difficult to map. This shortcoming can be avoided if one moves from multicomponent ethnocontact zones to a cartographic analysis of two-component ethnocontact zones. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology for the cartographic analysis of two-component ethnocontact zones, as well as to test this methodology in studying the dynamics of ethnocontact zones within the Pskov region based on the results of population censuses from 1897 to 1939. As one of the tools for studying two-component ethno-contact zones, the article proposes an “ethnic contact index”, which reflects the probability of meeting representatives of two nationalities in a particular territory. An undoubted advantage of using the ethnic contact index when studying two-component ethno-contact zones is the ability to display the ethnic component with a higher share on the map as a qualitative background. In addition, mapping the change in the ethnic contact index over a certain period may be accompanied by a display of positive or negative dynamics in the number and proportion of representatives of nationalities that make up two-component ethno-contact zones.