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Minorities in Romania

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Ethnic map of Romania in 2011
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

Officially, 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 and Magyars; see Hungarians in Romania) (especially in Harghita, Covasna and Mureș counties) and Romani people, with a declining German population (in Timiș, Sibiu, Brașov) and smaller numbers of Poles in Bucovina (Austria-Hungary attracted Polish miners, who settled there from the Kraków region in Poland in the 19th century), Serbs, Croats, Slovaks and Banat Bulgarians (in Banat), Ukrainians (in Maramureș and Bukovina), Greeks (Brăila, Constanța), Jews (Bukovina, Bucharest), Turks and Tatars (in Constanța), Armenians, Russians (Lippovans, in Tulcea) and others. Minority populations are greatest in Transylvania and the Banat, areas in the north and west, which were possessions of Hungary (since 1867 the as part 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 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 voting law, all government-recognized ethnic minorities in Romania had been granted each a seat in the Chamber of Deputies since the fall of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime. This is a list with all ethnic groups from Romania with more than 1,000 persons:

Minority Population (2002) Percentage of the
total population (2002)		 Population (2011) Percentage of the
total population (2011)		 Area
Hungarians (incl. Szeklers) 1,431,807 6.60% 1,227,623 6.50% Transylvania
Roma 535,140 2.46% 621,573 3.29% Mures County, Călărași County
Ukrainians 61,091 0.28% 50,920 0.27% Maramureș, Timiș County, Bukovina
Transylvanian Saxons, Swabians 59,764 0.28% 36,042 0.19% Sibiu, Brașov, Bistrița, Timiș, Caraș Severin, Satu Mare
Russians/Lipovans 35,791 0.17% 23,487 0.12% Tulcea County
Turks 32,098 0.15% 27,698 0.15% Dobrogea
Crimean Tatars 23,935 0.11% 20,282 0.11% Dobrogea
Serbs 22,518 0.10% 18,076 0.10% Timiș, Arad, Caraș-Severin, Mehedinți
Slovaks 17,199 0.08% 13,654 0.07% Arad, Bihor
Bulgarians 8,025 0.04% 7,336 0.04% Banat
Croats/Krašovani 6,786 0.03% 5,408 0.03% Caraș-Severin
Greeks 6,472 0.03% 3,668 0.02% Dobrogea
Jews 5,785 0.03% 3,271 0.02% Bukovina, Bucharest
Czechs 3,938 0.02% 2,477 0.01% Caraș-Severin County
Poles 3,559 0.02% 2,543 0.01% Suceava County
Italians 3,288 0.02% 3,203 0.02% Bucharest, Timiș County
Chinese 2,243 0.01% 2,017 0.01% Bucharest
Armenians 1,780 0.01% 1,361 >0.01% Gherla
Csángó 1,266 0.01% 1,536 >0.01% Western Moldavia
Other: 13,653 0.06% 18,524 0.10%
Total: 2.276.138 10.49% 2,091,963 11.08% Romania

Hungarian minority in Romania

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

The Hungarian-speaking minority of Romania makes up 8.6 percent of the total population of Romania (1,431,807 citizens at the 2002 census), and is the second largest minority in Romania,[1] and one of the largest minorities in Europe.[citation needed]

Most ethnic Hungarians live in what is today known as Transylvania (where they make up about 20% of the population), an area that includes the historic regions of Banat, Crișana and Maramureș. They form a large majority of the population in Harghita and Covasna counties and a large percentage in the Mureș county. Hungarians migrated to Transylvania long after Romanians were established in the region and are as shown above a small percentage of the population.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Euromosaic study Hungarian in Romania - General information". European Commission. Retrieved 12-07-2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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