Minorities of Romania

About 10.5% of Romania's population is represented by minorities (the rest of 89.5% being Romanians). The principal minorities in Romania are Hungarians (Szeklers, Csangos, and Magyars; especially in Harghita, Covasna, and Mureș counties) and Romani people, with a declining German population (in Timiș, Sibiu, Brașov, or Suceava) and smaller numbers of Poles in Bukovina (Austria-Hungary attracted Polish miners, who settled there from the Kraków region in contemporary Poland during the 19th century), Serbs, Croats, Slovaks and Banat Bulgarians (in Banat), Ukrainians (in Maramureș and Bukovina), Greeks (Brăila, Constanța), Jews (Wallachia, Bucharest), Turks and Tatars (in Constanța), Armenians, Russians (Lippovans, in Tulcea), Afro-Romanians, and others.

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Ethnic map of Romania in 2011
Ethnic map of the Romanian counties (2011 census)
Lesser minorities of Romania (under 100,000 members)
Ethnicity in Romania by county (inhabitants) based on the 2002 census data
Ethnicity in Romania by county (%) based on 2002 census data

To this day, minority populations are greatest in Transylvania and the Banat, historical regions situated in the north and west of the country which were former territorial possessions of either the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburgs, or the Austrian Empire (since 1867 the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary until World War I).

Before World War II, minorities represented more than 28% of the total population. During the war that percentage was halved, largely by the loss of the border areas of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina (to the former Soviet Union, now Republic of Moldova and Ukraine), Black Sea islands (to the former Soviet Union, now Ukraine), and southern Dobrudja (to Bulgaria), as well as by the postwar flight or deportation of ethnic Germans.

In the Romanian election law, government-recognized ethnic minorities in Romania are subject to a significantly lower threshold and have consequently won seats in the Chamber of Deputies since the fall of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime.

Overview

In the table below are enlisted all minority ethnic groups from Romania with more than 1,000 persons (based on the 2011 Romanian census):

MinorityPopulation (2002)Percentage of the
total population (2002)		Population (2011)Percentage of the
total population (2011)		County
Hungarians (incl. Szeklers and Csangos) 1,431,807 6.60% 1,227,623 6.10% Mainly Transylvania, but also Bucharest
Roma 535,140 2.46% 621,573 3.08% Mureș, Călărași
Ukrainians (incl. Hutsuls and Rusyns) 61,091 0.28% 50,920 0.25% Maramureș, Timiș, Suceava
Germans[1] 59,764 0.28% 36,042 0.17% Timiș, Sibiu, Satu Mare, Caraș-Severin, Brașov, Mureș, Maramureș, Hunedoara, Alba, Bihor, Suceava, Bistrița-Năsăud, Transylvania
Russians (incl. Lipovans) 35,791 0.17% 23,487 0.11% Tulcea, Constanța, Iași, Suceava
Turks 32,098 0.15% 27,698 0.13% Constanța
Crimean Tatars 23,935 0.11% 20,282 0.10% Constanța
Serbs 22,518 0.10% 18,076 0.08% Timiș, Arad, Caraș-Severin, Mehedinți
Slovaks 17,199 0.08% 13,654 0.06% Sălaj, Arad, Bihor, Suceava
Bulgarians 8,025 0.04% 7,336 0.04% Timiș
Croats (incl. Krašovani) 6,786 0.03% 5,408 0.03% Caraș-Severin
Greeks 6,472 0.03% 3,668 0.02% Constanța, Brăila, Transylvania
Jews 5,785 0.03% 3,271 0.02% Bucharest
Czechs 3,938 0.02% 2,477 0.01% Caraș-Severin, Mehedinți, Suceava
Poles 3,559 0.02% 2,543 0.01% Suceava, Bucharest
Italians 3,288 0.02% 3,203 0.02% Bucharest, Constanța, Timiș
Chinese 2,243 0.01% 2,017 0.01% Bucharest
Armenians 1,780 0.01% 1,361 >0.01% Cluj (city of Gherla)
Csángós 1,266 0.01% 1,536 >0.01% Bacău
Other lesser minorities and/or recent immigrants: 13,653 0.06% 18,524 0.10% All counties of Romania
Total: 2,276,138 10.49% 2,091,963 10.39% Romania

Hungarian minority in Romania
Map of Romanian counties with the Hungarian population highlighted.

The Hungarian minority in Romania consists of 6.1% of the total population (1,227,623 citizens as per the 2011 census), being thus the largest ethnic minority of the country.[2]

Most ethnic Hungarians live in what is today known as Transylvania (where they make up about 16.79% of the population), an area that includes the historic regions of Banat, Crișana, and Maramureș. They form a large majority of the population only in Harghita and Covasna counties and a large percentage in the Mureș county.

Greek community
Eastern Orthodox Church Metamorphosis in Constanța, with service occasionally held in Greek

Among the towns and communes in Romania with the highest proportions of Greeks as of 2011 are Izvoarele (Greek: Ιζβοάρελε; 43.82%) and Sulina (Greek: Σουλινάς; 1.69%), both in Tulcea County.

According to the Romanian census of 2002, the Greek community numbered 6,472 persons, most of whom live in Bucharest and its surrounding area. Next in line come the Dobruja counties of Tulcea and Constanța, and the Danube-facing ones of Brăila and Galați. The 1992 census however found 19,594 Greeks;[3] this shows the tendency of assimilation. According to the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad (a dependency of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs) the Greek community in Romania numbers 14,000.[4]

The Hellenic Union of Romania, founded in 1990, represents the political and cultural preservation interests of the community, notably by providing its representatives in the Chamber of Deputies of Romania.

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See also

References
  1. Including Transylvanian Saxons, Transylvanian Landlers, Banat Swabians, Bukovina Germans, Sathmar Swabians, Regat Germans, Zipser Germans, and Dobrujan Germans.
  2. "The Euromosaic study Hungarian in Romania - General information". European Commission. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  3. Greeks in Romania Archived 2006-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, eurominority.org. Accessed 15 December 2006.
  4. (in Greek) ΓΕΝΙΚΑ ΣΤΟΙΧΕΙΑ ΔΙΑΣΠΟΡΑΣ Archived 2008-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, ggae.gr. Accessed 15 December 2006.
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