Serbs of Romania

Serbs in Romania
Sârbii din România
Срби у Румунији / Srbi u Rumuniji
Total population
(18,076 (2011) [1])
Regions with significant populations
Banat
Languages
Serbian, Romanian
Religion
Serbian Orthodox Church
Related ethnic groups
Croats of Romania

The Serbs (Sârbii) are recognized as an ethnic minority in Romania.[2] According to the 2011 census, there were 18,076 Serbs in Romania or 0.1% of the population. Serbs mostly live in western Romania, in the Romanian part of the Banat region, where they constitute absolute majority in two communes and relative majority in one other.

History

Ottoman pressure traditionally forced members of several South Slavic communities to seek refuge in Wallachia - although under Ottoman rule as well, the latter was always subject to less requirements than regions to south of the Danube.

These groups are, however, hard to distinguish one from another in early Wallachian references, as the term "Serbs" is regularly applied to all Southern Slavs, no matter where they might have originated. This only changed in the 19th century, through a transition made clear by an official statistic of 1830, which reads "census of how many Serbs are resident here in the town of Ploiești, all of them Bulgarians" (Giurescu, p. 269).

Serbs-proper probably constituted the vast majority of mercenary troops known as seimeni, given that their nucleus is attested to have been formed by "Serb seimeni" (as it was during their revolt in 1655), and that the rule of Prince Matei Basarab had witnessed the arrival of a large group of Serb refugees.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, there was 18,076 people of the Serb minority, down from 22,561 people in 2002.

In Caraș-Severin County, the Serbs constitute an absolute majority in the commune of Pojejena (52.09%)[3] and a plurality in the commune of Socol (49.54%).[4] Serbs also constitute absolute majority in the municipality of Svinița (87.27%) in the Mehedinți County.[5] The region where these three municipalities are located is known as Clisura Dunării in Romanian or Banatska Klisura (Банатска Клисура) in Serbian.

According to the 2011 census, the following localities had a Serb population greater than 1%:

Culture

Most of the Serbs in Romania are Orthodox Christians; the vast majority belong to Serbian Orthodox Church Eparchy of Timișoara.

List of Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Romania:

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.recensamantromania.ro/rezultate-2/
  2. ↑ http://www.recensamantromania.ro/rezultate-2/
  3. ↑ http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909&localitate_id=1965
  4. ↑ http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1832&judet_id=1909&localitate_id=1974
  5. ↑ http://www.edrc.ro/recensamant.jsp?regiune_id=1407&judet_id=1579&localitate_id=1638
  6. ↑ "Romanian Coach Keeps Up the Fight" Jane Perlez, New York Times, July 13, 1995

Sources

Further reading

External links

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