Hutsuls

In Ukraine, they have often been officially and administratively designated a subgroup of Ukrainians, and, among Ukrainian scholars, are largely regarded as constituting part of the broader Ukrainian ethnicity. However, in the eyes of some scholars and of some Hutsuls, they are either their own nation, or a part of the Rusyn nation, alongside the closely related ethnic groups of Boykos and Lemkos.

The origin of the name Hutsul is uncertain. The most common derivations are from the Romanian word for "outlaw" (cf. Rom. hoț "thief", hoțul "the thief"), and the Slavic kochul (Ukr. kochovyk "nomad") which is a reference to the semi-nomadic shepherd lifestyle of the inhabitants who fled into the mountains after the Mongol invasion. As the name is first attested in 1816, it is considered to be of recent origin and as an exonym, used by neighboring groups and not Hutsuls themselves, although some have embraced it. Their name is also found in the name of Hutsul Alps, Hutsul Beskyd, Hutsulshchyna National Park, and the National Museum of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttia Folk Art.

The territory historically inhabited by Hutsuls is known in Ukrainian as Hutsulshchyna (). It encompasses parts of the historical regions of Halychyna, Bukovyna and Zakarpattia, spanning across the basins of rivers Prut, Cheremosh, Seret, as well as the upper flows of Suchava, Bystrytsia Nadvirnianska and Tysa. In the southeast Hutsul ethnic territory borders areas populated by Romanians, in the west - Boykos, and in the north and south its territory is bordered by several river valleys and the Carpathian Mountains. The historical western border of Hutsul territory is traditionally delimited by the settlements of Deliatyn, , Zelena and, according to some authors, Pasichna, and in Zakarpattia - the villages of Dilove and Kosivska Poliana. Hutsul population is also present in some villages of Romanian Marmarosh region.

First historical information about Hutsuls appears in Polish chronicles from the 14-15th centuries. The Hutsul settlement of Zhabye is first mentioned in 1424. The territory populated by Hutsuls was frequently engulfed by rebellions against the Polish rule, such as the Mukha uprising of 1490, and during the Polish-Moldavian Wars local nobility fought on the side of Moldavia. In 1648 the uprising led by Semen Vysochan, a supporter of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, spread around the area. Starting from the late 17th century, gangs of opryshky were active in the territory populated by Hutsuls, with their most notable leader being Oleksa Dovbush from Pechenizhyn.