Largest Ethnic Groups In Romania

Dancers perform traditional Romanian folk dances.
Dancers perform traditional Romanian folk dances.

Romania is a country situated in Southeast Europe bordering Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Moldova, and the Black Sea. It covers an area of 92,043 square miles with an estimated population of 19.5 square miles with its capital and the largest city being Bucharest. Romania came into existence in 1859 and was officially named Romania in 1866 and become the largest country in southeastern Europe and the twelfth-largest in Europe. It consists of over 33,000 animal species, large forest cover, and 3,700 plant species. The country has four seasons yearly with a temperate and continental climate. Below we look at the ethnic groups of Romania in detail.

Largest Ethnic Groups In Romania

Romanians

Romanians are the natives of Romania sharing a common culture, ancestry and the language of Romania. The origin of the Romanians have been accounted for in two theories; the first one states that the Romanians are the descendants of Romans, Romanized and live in Dacia, the Roman province. The second theory states that Romanians are descendants of Romans, Romanized indigenous populations of the former Roman provinces whose ancestors migrated to the area they inhabit today. Due to the election of the same ruler by both the Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 led to the unity which led to the formation of the Kingdom of Romania. The kingdom, therefore, led the war of independence against the Ottomans. Romanians form 88.9 % of the entire Romanian population where 90% consider themselves to be religious.

Hungarians

Hungarians, also known as the Magyar, are the largest minority ethnic group in Romania situated at the Szekely land in the Transylvania region. Hungarians originated from Asia and arrived Romania in the 9th century and settled in the Republic of Moldova, South Ukraine.At the end of the first world war, a treaty was signed that recognized Sovereignty over the Kingdom of Romania over its counterpart Transylvania, this led to the precise definition of the borders between Hungary and Romania and as a result of this, more Hungarians ended up in the region. They form 6.5% of the countries entire population.

Roma

The Roma, also known as the Romani people, originated from the northern side of India as their Languages have morphological characteristics of the Indians. There have been a recommendation by the prime minister of India to the Government of India to recognize them because they are children of their nation. The Romani people account for 3.3% of the entire country’s population with a higher percentage being Orthodox Christians, followed by the Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, and lastly the Seventh-Day Adventists.

​Other Ethnic Groups Inhabiting Romania

There are several other ethnicities in Romania which form 1.3% of the entire Romania’s population. Before the Second World War, they formed up to 28% of the whole population but this reduced at the end of the war mainly due to the loss of areas near the borders after the signing of the treaty. Some of these ethnic groups are Ukrainians, Transylvanians, Russians, Turks, Serbs, Slovaks, Greeks, among others. In the act of goodwill, the government, and the election law grants a seat to each recognized ethnic group in the Chamber of Deputies.

Largest Ethnic Groups In Romania

RankEthnic GroupShare of Population in Romania
1Romanian88.9%
2Hungarian6.5%
3Roma3.3%
Other Ethnicities1.3%
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