Czechs of Romania

Czechs of Romania (2002 census)

The Czechs (Czech: Češi, Pémové, Romanian: Cehi, Pemi, Hungarian: Bánáti csehek) are an ethnic minority in Romania,^[1] numbering 3,938 people according to the 2002 census. The majority of Romanian Czechs live in the south-west of the country, with around 60% of them living in Caraş-Severin County, where they make up 0.7% of the population.

As an officially recognised ethnic minority, Czechs, together with Slovaks, have one seat reserved in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies.

Communes with the largest Czech population percentage

1. Dubova, Mehedinți—40.70%
2. Gârnic, Caraș-Severin—33.46%
3. Coronini, Caraș-Severin—27.36%
4. Berzasca, Caraș-Severin—14.24%
5. Şopotu Nou, Caraș-Severin—10.92%
6. Lăpuşnicel, Caraș-Severin—10.75%
7. Socol, Caraș-Severin—4.60%
8. Peregu Mare, Arad—3.83%
9. Eșelnița, Mehedinți—2.31%
10. Orşova, Mehedinți—1.85%

There are six villages with a Czech majority. Five are in Caraș-Severin County: Bigăr, Berzasca Commune; Gârnic, Gârnic Commune; Ravensca, Şopotu Nou Commune; Sfânta Elena, Coronini Commune; and Șumița, Lăpuşnicel Commune. One is in Mehedinți County: Eibenthal, Dubova Commune.

Notable Czech-Romanians

• Ignat Bednarik, painter
• Anton Chladek, painter
• Matilda Cugler-Poni, poet
• Julius Podlipny, painter
• Anton Vorel, herbalist
• Lascăr Vorel, painter

Notes

1. (Romanian) Alena Gecse and Dezideriu Gecse, "Istoria și cultura cehilor din Banat", in Minorităţi în zonele de contact interetnic. Cehii şi slovacii în România şi Ungaria, p.45-60, ed. Jakab Albert Zsolt and Peti Lehel, Editura Institutului pentru Studierea Problemelor Minorităților Naționale and Editura Kriterion, Cluj-Napoca, 2010, ISBN 978-606-92512-2-5.

See also

• Slovak people in Romania