Changing ethnic patterns in Transylvania since 1989

Kocsis, Károly (2007) Changing ethnic patterns in Transylvania since 1989. Hungarian Studies, 21 (1-2). pp. 181-203. ISSN 0236-6568

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of changing ethnic patterns in Transylvania since the fall of Communism in Romania in 1989. The ethnic structure of this multicultural province was dominated by Hungarians, Romanians and Germans from the early 13th century until the middle of 20th century and by Romanians, Hungarians and Roma since 1989. The natural decrease and the increasing (e)migration of the population associated with the economic, social and political changes of the epoch has led to considerable changes in the ethnic structure of Transylvania. The most striking ethnic changes are the accelerated decrease of the population of the national minorities (mostly of Germans and Hungarians) and the dynamic demographic growth of the Roma population. Nearly half of the Hungarians live in municipalities where they represent an absolute majority of the local population (e.g., the Székely land and parts of Bihor-Satu Mare-Sǎlaj counties). As a result of their dynamic increase (25% between 1992 and 2002), the Roma community might outnumber the Hungarians in the decade to come, becoming the second largest ethnic group (to the Romanians) of Transylvania (according to estimates and not census data).

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