Friday, November 10, 2006

See that hole in the middle?

While looking for some info on this Romanian Academy yesterday, I came across the following photo, which shows the regions where Romania is the first language and divides them up into dialect. I'm posting it here because it is one of the clearest maps I've seen which shows exactly where I live - that bit in the middle which is left uncoloured.



(It came from the Wikipedia page on Romanian Language).

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Székelyföld, that hole in the middle, is one of the few areas that are still solidly Hungarian majority. What the map leaves out, however, is that large swaths of the border region with Hungary are still Hungarian majority, as well as quite a few pockets between Székelyföld and the border.

If pockets of Romanians can be shown in Hungary, (which I don't dispute), then why not show pockets of Hungarians in Romania, other than the one they can't gloss over?

Andy said...

Because it's a Romanian map?

You are obviously right though. I went to Cluj/Koloszvar last weekend and drove through a number of villages after I'd left Székelyföld which were obviously Hungarian majority.

Here's the Hungari9an version

Anonymous said...

Interesting map. I crossed the Danube from Esztergom to Slovakia and found all the signs across the river were bilingual - and the church had far more magyar services.

Is Oradea mainly Hungarian speaking?

Anonymous said...

Maybe the makers of the Romanian map wanted to show areas with over 30% or so Romanian speakers, I don't know. The Hungarian map which Andy linked to above, is also questionable. For instance, Oradea falls into the green area although it has Romanian majority. These maps should be viewed together with their proper caption/explanation/legend (if they have one).

Anonymous said...

Oradea has a Romanian majority, even though it is officially-bilingual. In the border region, there are many communes and localities that are Hungarian-majority, but I think the reason why the Romanian map doesn't show them is because it gives a more "general" overview of the situation (i.e. it isn't that detailed). Minsztrel - your claim that "they can't gloss over" the Szekely Land implies some bad intent, which I don't think is the case :)

Anonymous said...

i think this is a good link for those interested in populations and languages distribution in eastern europe..is made by hungarians but honestly i think is very correct for romania...

http://sebok1.adatbank.transindex.ro/legbelso.php3?nev=KozEu