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Csángó Land

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Flag and coat of arms of the Csángós, adopted by the Csángó Council on 20 July 2019
Map of the areas where Csángós are present, whether as a minority or a majority.
Black: Csángós of Western Moldavia.
Green: Csángós around the Ghimeș-Palanca Pass.
Red: Csángós of the Seven Villages.
The Csángós of Northern Dobruja are not shown in this map.

Csángó Land (Hungarian: Csángóföld; Romanian: Țara Ceangăilor, Ținutul Ceangăiesc or Ceangăimea) is the name given to the region in Western Moldavia, in turn a region of Romania, where most of the Csángós, a small subgroup of the Hungarians, live. Csángó Land is located close to the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, in the valley of the Siret River, near the town of Roman[1] and Bacău. It may also be defined as the part of Bacău County where ethnic Hungarians reside as a minority.[2]

The Csángós, although mostly living in Moldavia, also live in Transylvania (part of Romania as well), precisely in two zones. These are the area around the Ghimeș-Palanca Pass and the so-called Seven Villages.[2] Additionally, there is a Csángó village in Northern Dobruja, a region also in Romania, known as Oituz (in Constanța County).[3] The Csángós speak a Hungarian dialect known as Csángó. The Council of Europe claimed the number of speakers of this dialect to be of 60,000 to 70,000 people in 2001.[4] However, in the 2011 Romanian census, only 4,208 (0.68%) and 829 (0.13%) of the inhabitants of Bacău County declared themselves Hungarian and Csángó, respectively.[5]

The Csángós live near a much larger subgroup of Hungarians, the Székelys, who also live in the eastern Carpathian Mountains, in Transylvania. They also have a region named after them, Székely Land, divided mostly between the Covasna, Harghita, and Mureș counties of Romania.[2] The Székelys have strived for making Székely Land an autonomous region in Romania.[6] This is not the case of the Csángós, who have not made any request for autonomy.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Davis, R. Chris (2007). "Restocking the ethnic homeland: ideological and strategic motives behind Hungary's "Hazatelepítés" schemes during WWII (and the unintended consequences)". Regio-Minorities, Politics, Society-English Edition. 10 (1): 155–174.
  2. ^ a b c Antal, Aubert; János, Csapó (2006). "A Kárpát-medence magyar vonatkozású etnikai-történeti tájegységei" (PDF) (in Hungarian). Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences of the University of Pécs: 1–28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2023. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Iancu, Mariana (25 April 2018). "Fascinanta poveste a ceangăilor care au ridicat un sat în pustiul dobrogean stăpânit de șerpi: "Veneau coloniști și ne furau tot, până și lanțul de la fântână"". Adevărul (in Romanian).
  4. ^ a b Isohookana-Asunmaa, Tytti (4 May 2001). "Csángó minority culture in Romania". Council of Europe.
  5. ^ Harja, Eugenia; Măgirescu, Daniela; Stângaciu, Oana Ancuța; Ciomârtan, Lăcrămioara Vasilica; Lazăr, Cornel-Constantin; Puiu, Tatiana (2015). "Structura demografică, etnică și confesională a populației stabile din județul Bacău" (PDF) (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics – County Statistical Directorate of Bacău. pp. 1–280.
  6. ^ Luca, Ana Maria (9 January 2018). "Hungarians in Romania renew call for autonomy". Balkan Insight.