Crimean Tatars constituted the majority of Crimea's population from the time of ethnogenesis until the mid-19th century, and the largest ethnic population until the end of the 19th century.[14][15]Russia attempted to purge Crimean Tatars through a combination of physical violence, intimidation, forced resettlement, and legalized forms of discrimination between 1783 and 1900. From Russia's annexation of Crimea in 1783 to 1800, between 100,000 and 300,000 Crimean Tatars emigrated.
While Crimean Tatar cultural elements were not completely eradicated under the Romanov dynasty, the Crimean Tatars were almost completely driven from the Crimean peninsula under the Soviets.[16] Almost immediately after retaking of Crimea from Axis forces, in May 1944, the USSR State Defense Committee ordered the deportation of all of the Crimean Tatars from Crimea, including the families of Crimean Tatars who had served in the Soviet Army. The deportees were transported in trains and boxcars to Central Asia, primarily to Uzbekistan. The Crimean Tatars lost 18–46 percent of their population as a result of the deportations.[17] Starting in 1967, a few were allowed to return and in 1989 the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union condemned the removal of Crimean Tatars from their motherland as inhumane and lawless, but only a tiny percent were able to return before the full right of return became policy in 1989.
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^"Recensamant Romania 2002". Agentia Nationala pentru Intreprinderi Mici si Mijlocii (in Romanian). 2002. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
No similarity was found between the gene pool of the peoples of Crimea and their geographical neighbors - Russians and Ukrainians. The results of genomic studies indicate the preservation in the gene pool of Crimea of both the original "Mediterranean" component for more than 2.5 thousand years, and the later - "Eurasian steppe" component - in the northern steppe regions of Crimea.