Fifty-eight percent of Ukrainians speak only Ukrainian at home, 9% only Russian - poll

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) - When asked which language they speak at home, the majority (58%) of Ukrainians said they speak only Ukrainian, 9% said they speak only Russian, while 31% use a mix a both languages, Ukrainian media said, citing the findings of a survey conducted by the Rating sociological group for the Center for Insights in Survey Research of the International Republican Institute (IRI) on September 27-October 1.

In the country's western regions, 90% of those polled said they speak only Ukrainian, 1% only Russian, and 6% use both languages in their day-to-day life. In the central regions, 65% of respondents speak only Ukrainian, 6% only Russian, and 27% use a mix of both languages. In the south of the country, 32% speak only Ukrainian, 16% speak only Russian, and 51% use a mix of both languages. In the east of Ukraine, 24% speak only Ukrainian, 22% only Russian, and 52% use a mix of both languages.

Ninety-two percent of respondents who speak only Ukrainian in their day-to-day life said they have been doing so for a long time, while 8% said they have switched to Ukrainian recently and on purpose.

The center polled 2,000 adults in the Kiev-controlled parts of Ukraine via computer-assisted telephone interviewing. The margin of error at the 0.95 confidence level did not exceed 2.2%. The response rate was 7%.