The Rusyns are a distinct East Slavic people whose ethnogenesis took place in the Carpathian Mountains, shaped by a complex history of migration, assimilation, and cultural exchange. Their origins lie in the settlement of Eastern Slavs in the Carpathian region, particularly from the 10th century onward, as part of the broader expansion of Kievan Rus/Galicia-Volhynia. As these Slavic settlers moved into the highlands, they came into contact with and gradually assimilated pre-Slavic or Paleo-Balkan populations, such as remnants of Thraco-Dacians and Romanized locals. In the medieval and early modern periods, the Rusyns further interacted and intermarried with Vlachs: Romanian-speaking pastoralists who moved seasonally through the Carpathians; this lead to further blending (and even domination) of "Balkanic" cultural elements such as in music, dance, food, vocabulary, architecture, religious and folkloric styles, and general way of life. These historical factors lead to producing a localized Carpatho-East Slavic identity distinct from their neighbours and even other Ruthenians. Ruthenians being the collective name of the East Slavic people inhabiting the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which now includes Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Rusyns.
Over the 19th and 20th centuries, as modern nationalism developed, many Ruthenians in the part of the former PLC historically controlled by Poland, began to adopt a Ukrainian national identity (distinct from the Belarusian identity developed in the part of the PLC controlled historically by Lithuania). This emerging Ukrainian identity drew heavily on the historical legacy and symbolic mythology of the Zaporozhia Cossacks. However, not all Ruthenians in this region followed this path. Particularly in the Carpathian highlands and Transcarpathia, many Rusyns retained a distinct linguistic (as opposed to standardized Ukrainian) and regional identity, resisting assimilation into the emerging Ukrainian national project. As a result, while Rusyns and Ukrainians share common historical roots, many Rusyns today do not identify as Ukrainians and instead assert a separate ethnolinguistic and cultural identity. This distinction remains a subject of debate, especially in Ukraine, where Rusyns are often officially regarded as a regional branch of Ukrainians rather than a distinct ethnicity. The problem is further complicated by the fact that certain Rusyn sub-groups, such as the Hutsuls, were some of the people most eager to adopt a Ukrainian identity and nationalism.
Rusyns have had a historical presence in what is now northern Romania, particularly in the Maramureș region along the Carpathian Mountains. This area, once part of the Kingdom of Hungary and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, saw Ruthenian communities settle as early as the medieval period. These East Slavic highlanders shared linguistic and cultural ties with Rusyns in neighbouring Transcarpathia and maintained a Greek Catholic faith, pastoral traditions, and distinct identity. Although today their numbers are small, Romania officially recognizes the Rusyns as a national minority, preserving their cultural legacy in the region. Unlike in Ukraine, a larger amount of Hutsuls in Romania have seen themselves as Rusyns and distinct from Ukrainians.
