Transylvania is a historical region in today's central Romania.

Bound on the east and south by

its natural borders, the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended westward to
the Apuseni Mountains. The term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also
the historical regions of Crișana and Maramureș, and occasionally the Romanian part of Banat.
The region of Transylvania is known for the scenery of its Carpathian landscape and its rich history.
It also contains major cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Sibiu and Târgu Mureș.
The Western world commonly associates Transylvania with vampires, due to the influence of Bram
Stoker's novel Dracula and its many film adaptations.[1][2][3]

Contents
[hide]

 1Names
 2Etymology
 3History
 4Geography and ethnography
 5Administrative divisions
 6Cities
 7Population
o 7.1Historical population
o 7.2Current population
 8Economy
 9Culture
 10Religion
 11Tourist attractions
o 11.1Festivals and events
 11.1.1Film festivals
 11.1.2Music festivals
 11.1.3Others
 12Historical coat of arms of Transylvania
 13In popular culture
 14See also
 15References
 16Further reading
 17External links

Names[edit]
Main article: Historical names of Transylvania
Historical names of Transylvania are:

 Latin: Ultrasilvania, Transsilvania

 Romanian: Ardeal, Transilvania
 Hungarian: Erdély
 Ukrainian: Семигород, Залісся, Трансільванія
 Serbian: Erdelj/Ердељ, Transilvanija/Трансилванија
 Bulgarian: Седмоградско, Трансилвания
 Slovak: Sedmohradsko
 German: Siebenbürgen, Transsilvanien
 Transylvanian Saxon: Siweberjen
 Polish: Siedmiogród, Transylwania
 Turkish: Erdel, Transilvanya
 Romani : Transilvaniya

Etymology[edit]
In Romanian, the region is known as Ardeal (pronounced [arˈde̯al])
or Transilvania (pronounced [transilˈvani.a]); in Hungarian as Erdély (pronounced [ɛrdeːj]); in German as
Siebenbürgen (pronounced [ˈziːbn̩ˌbʏʁɡn̩] ( listen)); and
in Turkish as Transilvanya (pronounced [tɾansilˈvanja]) but historically as Erdel or Erdelistan; see
also other denominations.

 The earliest known reference to Transylvania appears in a Medieval Latin document in 1075
as ultra silvam, meaning "beyond the forest" (ultra meaning "beyond" or "on the far side of" and
the accusative case of sylva (sylvam) "woods, forest"). Transylvania, with an alternative Latin
prepositional prefix, means "on the other side of the woods." Hungarian historians claim that the
Medieval Latin form Ultrasylvania, later Transylvania, was a direct translation from
the Hungarian form Erdő-elve.[4] That also was used as an alternative name
in German überwald (13-14th centuries) and Ukrainian Залісся (Zalissia).
 The German name Siebenbürgen means "seven fortresses," after the seven (ethnic
German) Transylvanian Saxons' cities in the region. This is also the origin of the region's name
in many other languages, such as the Croatian Sedmogradska, the Bulgarian Седмиградско
(Sedmigradsko), Polish Siedmiogród and the Ukrainian Семигород (Semyhorod).
 The Hungarian form Erdély was first mentioned in the 12th-century Gesta
Hungarorum as Erdeuleu (in modern script Erdőelü) or Erdő-elve. The word Erdő means forest
in Hungarian, and the word Elve denotes a region in connection with this, similarly to the
Hungarian name for Muntenia (Havas-elve, or land lying ahead of the snow-capped
mountains). Erdel, Erdil, Erdelistan, the Turkish equivalents, or the Romanian Ardeal were
borrowed from this form as well.
 The first known written occurrence of the Romanian name Ardeal appeared in a document in
1432 as Ardeliu.[5]

History[edit]
Main article: History of Transylvania

Ruins of Sarmizegetusa Regia

Roman city of Apulum

Transylvania has been dominated by several different peoples and countries throughout its history. It
was once the nucleus of the Kingdom of Dacia (82 BC–106 AD). In 106 AD the Roman
Empire conquered the territory, systematically exploiting its resources. After the Roman legions
withdrew in 271 AD, it was overrun by a succession of various tribes, bringing it under the control of
the Carpi, Visigoths, Huns, Gepids, Avars and Slavs. From 9th to 11th century Bulgarians ruled
Transylvania.[citation needed] It is a subject of dispute whether elements of the mixed Daco–Roman
population survived in Transylvania through the Dark Ages (becoming the ancestors of
modern Romanians) or the first Vlachs/Romanians appeared in the area in the 13th century after a
northward migration from the Balkan Peninsula.[6][7] There is an ongoing scholarly debate over the
ethnicity of Transylvania's population before the Hungarian conquest (see Origin of the Romanians).
The Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century. According to Gesta
Hungarorum, the Vlach voivode Gelouruled Transylvania before the Hungarians arrived.
The Kingdom of Hungary established partial control over Transylvania in 1003, when king Stephen I,
according to legend, defeated the prince named Gyula.[8][9][10][11] Some historians assert Transylvania
was settled by Hungarians in several stages between the 10th and 13th centuries,[12][13] while others
claim that it was already settled,[14] since the earliest Hungarian artifacts found in the region are dated
to the first half of the 10th century.[15]
Between 1003[dubious – discuss] and 1526, Transylvania was a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary, led
by a voivode appointed by the King of Hungary.[citation needed] After the Battle of Mohács in 1526,
Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of János Szapolyai. Later, in 1570, the kingdom
transformed into the Principality of Transylvania, which was ruled primarily by Calvinist Hungarian
princes. During that time, the ethnic composition of Transylvania transformed from an estimated
near equal number[16] of the ethnic groups to a Romanian majority. Vasile Lupu estimates their
number already more than one-third of the population of Transylvania in a letter to the sultan around
1650.[17] For most of this period, Transylvania, maintaining its internal autonomy, was under
the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire.

A market scene in Transylvania, 1818

The Habsburgs acquired the territory shortly after the Battle of Vienna in 1683. In 1687, the rulers of
Transylvania recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I, and the region was
officially attached to the Habsburg Empire. The Habsburgs acknowledged Principality of
Transylvania as one of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen,[18] but the territory of principality
was administratively separated[19][20] from Habsburg Hungary[21][22][23] and subjected to the direct rule of
the emperor's governors.[24] In 1699 the Turks legally acknowledged their loss of Transylvania in
the Treaty of Karlowitz; however, some anti-Habsburg elements within the principality submitted to
the emperor only in the 1711 Peace of Szatmár, and Habsburg control over Principality of
Transylvania was consolidated. The Grand Principality of Transylvania was reintroduced 54 years
later in 1765.
The Hungarian revolution against the Habsburgs started in 1848. The revolution in the Kingdom of
Hungary grew into a war for the total independence from the Habsburg dynasty. Julius Jacob von
Haynau, the leader of the Austrian army was appointed plenipotentiary to restore order in Hungary
after the conflict. He ordered the execution of The 13 Hungarian Martyrs of Arad and Prime
Minister Batthyány was executed the same day in Pest. After a series of serious Austrian defeats in
1849, the empire came close to the brink of collapse. Thus, the new young emperor Franz Joseph I
had to call for Russian help in the name of the Holy Alliance. Czar Nicholas I answered, and sent a
200,000 men strong army with 80,000 auxiliary forces. Finally, the joint army of Russian and
Austrian forces defeated the Hungarian forces. After the restoration of Habsburg power, Hungary
was placed under martial law. Following the Hungarian Army's surrender at Világos (now Șiria,
Romania) in 1849, their revolutionary banners were taken to Russia by the Tsarist troops, and were
kept there both under the Tsarist and Communist systems (in 1940 the Soviet Union offered the
banners to the Horthy government).
After the Ausgleich of 1867, the Principality of Transylvania was once again abolished. The territory
was then turned into Transleithania,[9][11] an addition to the newly established Austro-Hungarian
Empire. Romanian intellectuals issued the Blaj Pronouncement in protest.[25]
Following defeat in World War I, Austria-Hungary disintegrated. The ethnic Romanian majority in
Transylvania elected representatives, who then proclaimed Union with Romania on 1 December
1918. The Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia was adopted by the Deputies of the Romanians from
Transylvania, and supported one month later by the vote of the Deputies of the Saxons from
Transylvania.
In 1920, the Treaty of Trianon as a result of the war, established a new border between Romania
and Hungary, leaving the whole of Transylvania within the Romanian state. Hungary protested
against the new borders, as over 1,600,000 Hungarian people and representing 31.6% of the
Transylvanian population [26] were living on the Romanian side of the border, mainly in Székely
Land of Eastern Transylvania, and along the newly created border. After World War I, the multi-
ethnic Kingdom of Hungary was split apart by the Treaty of Trianon to form several new nation-
states, but Hungary claimed that the new state borders did not follow the real ethnic boundaries. The
new Magyar nation-state of Hungary was about a third the size of former Hungary, and millions of
ethnic Magyars were to be left outside the Hungarian borders.
In August 1940, Hungary gained about 40% of Transylvania - including parts
of Maramureș and Crișana - by the Second Vienna Award, with the arbitration of Germany and Italy.
The Second Vienna Award was voided on 12 September 1944 by the Allied Commission through the
Armistice Agreement with Romania (Article 19); and the 1947 Treaty of Parisreaffirmed the borders
between Romania and Hungary, as originally defined in Treaty of Trianon, 27 years earlier, thus
confirming the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania.[9]From 1947 to 1989, Transylvania, along
with the rest of Romania, was under a communist regime.

Stephen Catterson Smith: Peasants

of Hodod, Transylvania, 1860s
 German settlers known
as Transylvanian Saxons

The National Assembly in Alba

Iulia (December 1, 1918), which
called for the region's union with
Romania

Geography and ethnography[edit]

Turda Gorges seen from the west end, in Cluj county

Geogel, Romanian Orthodox wooden church

Geographical map of Romania

The Transylvanian Plateau, 300 to 500 metres (980–1,640 feet) high, is drained by
the Mureș, Someș, Criș, and Olt rivers, as well as other tributaries of the Danube. This core of
historical Transylvania roughly corresponds with nine counties of modern Romania. The plateau is
almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern, Southern and Romanian Western branches of
the Carpathian Mountains. The area includes the Transylvanian Plain. Other areas to the west and
north are widely considered part of Transylvania. In common reference, the Western border of
Transylvania has come to be identified with the present Romanian-Hungarian border, settled in the
1920 Treaty of Trianon, though geographically the two are not identical.
Ethnographic areas:

 Transylvania proper:
 Mărginimea Sibiului (Szeben-hegyalja)
 Transylvanian Plain (Câmpia Transilvaniei/Mezőség)
 Țara Bârsei (Burzenland/Barcaság)
 Țara Buzaielor (ro)
 Țara Călatei (Kalotaszeg)
 Țara Chioarului (ro) (Kővár)
 Țara Făgărașului (Fogaras)
 Țara Hațegului (Hátszeg)
 Țara Hălmagiului (ro)
 Țara Mocanilor (ro)
 Țara Moților
 Țara Năsăudului (Nösnerland/Naszód vidéke)
 Țara Silvaniei (ro)
 Ținutul Pădurenilor (ro)
  Ținutul Secuiesc (Székely Land)
 Banat
 Țara Almăjului (ro)
 Crișana
 Țara Zarandului (ro)
 Maramureș
 Țara Oașului (Avasság)
 Țara Lǎpușului (ro)

Administrative divisions[edit]

Bihor

Arad

Timiș

Caraș-Severin

Hunedoara

Satu Mare

Sălaj

Alba

Sibiu

Braşov

Covasna

Harghita

Mureș

Cluj
 Bistriţa-Năsăud

Maramureș

Light yellow – historical region of Transylvania

Dark yellow – historical regions of Banat, Crișana and Maramureș
Grey – historical regions of Wallachia, Moldavia and Dobruja
The area of the historical Voivodeship is 55,146 km2 (21,292 sq mi).[27][28]
The regions granted to Romania in 1920 covered 23 counties including nearly
102,200 km2 (39,460 sq mi) (102,787–103,093 km2 in Hungarian sources and 102,200 km2 in
contemporary Romanian documents). Nowadays, due to the several administrative reorganisations,
the territory covers 16 counties (Romanian: judeţ), with an area of 99,837 km2 (38,547 sq mi), in
central and northwest Romania.
The 16 counties are: Alba, Arad, Bihor, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Brașov, Caraș-
Severin, Cluj, Covasna, Harghita, Hunedoara, Maramureș, Mureș, Sălaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu,
and Timiș.
Transylvania contains both largely urban counties, such as Brașov and Hunedoara counties, as well
as largely rural ones, such as Bistriţa-Năsăud and Sălaj counties.[29]

Cities[edit]

The 17th century Canalul Morii in Cluj-Napoca

Sibiu

The most populous cities as of 2011 census[30] (metropolitan areas, as of 2014[31]):

 Transylvania proper:
 Cluj-Napoca - 324,576 (375,251 in metropolitan area)
 Brașov - 253,200 (398,462)
 Sibiu - 147,245 (208,894)
 Târgu Mureș - 134,290 (181,162)
 Alba Iulia - 63,536 (109,484)
 Banat:
 Timișoara - 319,279 (357,735)
 Reșița - 73,282
 Crișana:
 Oradea - 196,367 (239,329)
 Arad - 159,074 (205,049)
 Maramureș:
 Baia Mare - 123,738 (182,368)
 Satu Mare - 102,411 (150,104)
Cluj-Napoca, commonly known as Cluj, is the second most populous city in Romania, after the
national capital Bucharest, and the seat of Cluj County. From 1790 to 1848 and from 1861 to 1867, it
was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania. Brașov is an important tourist
destination, being the largest city in a mountain resorts area, and a central location, suitable for
exploring Romania, with the distances to several tourist destinations (including the Black
Sea resorts, the monasteries in northern Moldavia, and the wooden churches of Maramureș) being
similar. Sibiu is one of the most important cultural centres of Romania and was designated
the European Capital of Culture for the year 2007, along with the city of Luxembourg,[32] and it was
formerly the centre of the Transylvanian Saxon culture and between 1692 and 1791 and 1849–65
was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania. Alba Iulia is a city located on the Mureş River in
Alba County, and since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman
Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and
the latter Principality of Transylvania. Alba Iulia also has historical importance because at the end of
World War I, representatives of the Romanian population of Transylvania gathered in Alba Iulia on 1
December 1918 to proclaim the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania. In
Transylvania, there are many medieval smaller towns such
as Sighișoara, Mediaș, Sebeș and Bistrița.

Population[edit]
Historical population[edit]
See also: History of Transylvania § Historical population, Hungarian minority in
Romania, Székely, Transylvanian Saxons, and List of Transylvanians
Ethno-linguistic map of Austria–Hungary, 1910.

Official censuses with information on Transylvania's population have been conducted since the 18th
century. On May 1, 1784 the Emperor Joseph II called for the first official census of the Habsburg
Empire, including Transylvania. The data was published in 1787, and this census showed only the
overall population (1,440,986 inhabitants).[33] Fényes Elek, a 19th-century Hungarian statistician,
estimated in 1842 that in the population of Transylvania for the years 1830-1840 the majority were
62.3% Romanians and 23.3% Hungarians.[34]
In the last quarter of the 19th century, the Hungarian population of Transylvania increased from
24.9% in 1869 to 31.6%, as indicated in the 1910 Hungarian census. At the same time, the
percentage of Romanian population decreased from 59.0% to 53.8% and the percentage of German
population decreased from 11.9% to 10.7%, for a total population of
5,262,495. Magyarization policies greatly contributed to this shift.[35]
The percentage of Romanian majority has significantly increased since the declaration of the union
of Transylvania with Romania after World War I in 1918. The proportion of Hungarians in
Transylvania was in steep decline as more of the region's inhabitants moved into urban areas, where
the pressure to assimilate and Romanianize was greater.[36] The expropriation of the estates of
Magyar magnates, the distribution of the lands to the Romanian peasants, and the policy of
cultural Romanianization that followed the Treaty of Trianon were major causes of friction between
Hungary and Romania.[37]Other factors include the emigration of non-Romanian peoples, assimilation
and internal migration within Romania (estimates show that between 1945 and 1977, some 630,000
people moved from the Old Kingdom to Transylvania, and 280,000 from Transylvania to the Old
Kingdom, most notably to Bucharest).[38]

Current population[edit]
According to the results of the 2011 Population Census, the total population of Transylvania was
6,789,250 inhabitants and the ethnic groups were: Romanians - 70.62%, Hungarians - 17.92%,
Roma - 3.99%, Ukrainians - 0.63%, Germans - 0.49%, other - 0.77%. Some 378,298 inhabitants
(5.58%) have not declared their ethnicity. The presented data are
from http://www.recensamantromania.ro/rezultate-2, the Table no. 7. The ethnic Hungarian
population of Transylvania form a majority in the counties of Covasna (73.6%) and Harghita(84.8%).
The Hungarians are also numerous in the following counties: Mureș (37.8%), Satu Mare (34.5%),
Bihor (25.2%) and Sălaj (23.2%).

Economy[edit]
Farmers working in Transylvania

Transylvania is rich in mineral resources,

notably lignite, iron, lead, manganese, gold, copper, natural gas, salt, and sulfur.
There are large iron and steel, chemical, and textile industries. Stock
raising, agriculture, wine production and fruit growing are important occupations. Agriculture is
widespread in the Transylvanian Plateau, including growing cereals, vegetables, viticulture and
breeding cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry. Timber is another valuable resource.
IT, electronics and automotive industries are important in urban and university centers like Cluj-
Napoca (Robert Bosch GmbH, Emerson Electric), Timișoara (Alcatel-
Lucent, Flextronics and Continental AG), Brașov, Sibiu, Oradea and Arad. The cities of Cluj
Napoca and Târgu Mureș are connected with a strong medical tradition, and according to the same
classifications top performance hospitals exist there.[39]
Native brands include: Roman of Brașov (trucks and buses), Azomureș of Târgu
Mureș (fertilizers), Terapia of Cluj-Napoca(pharmaceuticals), Banca Transilvania of Cluj-
Napoca (finance), Romgaz and Transgaz of Mediaș (natural gas), Jidvei of Alba county(alcoholic
beverages), Timișoreana of Timișoara (alcoholic beverages) and others.
The Jiu Valley, located in the south of Hunedoara County, has been a major mining area throughout
the second half of the 19th century and the 20th century, but many mines were closed down in the
years following the collapse of the communist regime, forcing the region to diversify its economy.

Culture[edit]

George Coșbuc, Romanian poet, translator, teacher, and journalist, best known for his verses describing,
praising and eulogizing rural life
The culture of Transylvania is complex, due to its varied history. Its culture has been historically
linked to both Central Europe and Southeastern Europe; and it has significant Hungarian
(see Hungarians in Romania) and German (see Germans of Romania) influences.[40]
With regard to architecture, the Transylvanian Gothic style is preserved to this day in monuments
such as the Black Church in Braşov (14th and 15th centuries) and a number of other cathedrals, as
well as the Bran Castle in Braşov County (14th century), the Hunyad Castle in Hunedoara (15th
century).
Notable writers such as Emil Cioran, Lucian Blaga, George Coșbuc, Octavian Goga and Liviu
Rebreanu were born in Transylvania. The latter wrote the novel Ion, which introduces the reader to a
depiction of the life of the peasants and intellectuals of Transylvania at the turn of the 20th century.

Religion[edit]
Christianity is the largest religion in Transylvania. Transylvania has also been (and still is) a center
for Christian denominations other than Eastern Orthodoxy - the form of Christianity that most
Romanians follow. As such, there are significant numbers of inhabitants of Transylvania that
follow Roman Catholicism, Greek Catholicism and Protestantism.[41]

Denomination 1930 Percent Number 2011 Percent Number

Eastern Orthodoxy 34,85% 1.933.534 61,80% 4.463.058

Roman & Greek Catholicism 42,01% 2.330.439 10,74% 775.810

Mainline Protestant 18,72% 1.038.464 9,34% 675.107

Evangelical Protestant 0,66% 37.061 4,70% 339.472

There are also small denominations like adventism, Jehovah's Witnesses and more.
Other religions

 Atheists, agnostics and unaffiliated account for 0.27% of Transylvania's population.

 There is a very small number of Muslims (Islam) and Jews (Judaism).
Data refers to extended Transylvania (with Banat, Crișana and Maramureș).

Tourist attractions[edit]