Folk costumes of Transylvanian Hungarians

The Hungarian minority of Romania is the largest ethnic minority in Romania, consisting of 1,434,377 people and making up 6.6% of the total population, according to the 2002 census. Subgroups: The Székely people (Szeklers) are Hungarians who mainly live in an area known as Székely Land (Ţinutul Secuiesc in Romanian), and who maintain a different set of traditions and different identity from that of other Hungarians in Romania. Based on the latest Romanian statistics, there are approximately 670,000 Székely. The Csángó (Romanian: Ceangău, pl. Ceangăi) are people of Roman Catholic faith, some speaking a Hungarian dialect and some Romanian. They live mainly in the Bacău County, Moldavia region. The Csángó settled there between the 13th and 15th centuries and today, they are the only Hungarian-speaking ethnic group living to the east of the Carpathians.

In Romania, Hungarians live in Banat, Transylvania, and Moldova. There are seven groups:
1. Kalotaszeg / Koroslo (in Cluj & Sălaj Counties)


2. Torocko (in Cluj, and Alba Counties)


3. Mezoseg (in Mureş, and Cluj Counties)


4. Maros (Mureş County)


5. Székely (Haromszek or Trei Scaune: Covasna, Harghita, and Bukovina)


6. Csángó (Bacău, Gyimes, and Hatfalus in Braşov County)


7. West Plains Region (Banat, Szatmar, Bihor or Fekete Korosvolgyiek or Crişu Negru).


Until about 100 years ago, some historic documents also mentioned Csangos in Deva (Devai Csangok / Hunedoara County) and Aldunai Csangok or Csangos in Lower Danube region (around the town of Moldova Veche / Caraş-Severin County).

Images from Romanian Museum

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