Székely Land - Misplaced Pages

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The Székely Land or Szeklerland (pronounced [ˈseːkɛj], Template:Lang-hu. Old Hungarian alphabet: , Template:Lang-ro (also Secuimea), Template:Lang-de, Template:Lang-la) (Template:Lang-hu; Template:Lang-ro; Template:Lang-de; Template:Lang-la) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, where the majority of the population is represented by the Székelys, a subgroup of the Hungarian people in eastern Transylvania. Its territory is estimated by J. Minahan to be 16,943 square kilometres (6,542 sq mi), but there are no official data published. The territory of the counties Covasna, Harghita and Mures, where Minahan locates the Székely Land, fairly equals his estimation, being of 17,063 square kilometres (6,588 sq mi).

The Székelys live in the valleys and hills of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, corresponding to the present-day Harghita, Covasna, and parts of Mureş Counties in Romania. In 2002 the estimated ethnic composition of Székely Land consisted of Hungarians (61%), Romanians (33%), Germans (3%) and Roma (3%). However, at the 2002 official census only 532 persons declared to be Székelys. Acording to the 2011 official census, in the counties Covasna, Harghita și Mureș were living 609,033 Hungarians (56,8%), out of a total population of 1,071,890 inhabitants. In the Mureș county the Romanians had the majority, while in the counties Covasna and Harghita, the Hungarian ethnics had a majority of 71,6% and respectively 82,9%. The cultural center is the city of Târgu Mureș, the largest settlement in the region. Târgu Mureș is home for the largest community of Hungarians in Romania (57,532 in 2011), but the majority of its population is represented by Romanians, 66,943 out of 127,849 inhabitants.

Originally, the name Székely Land denoted an autonomous region within Transylvania. It existed as a legal entity from medieval times until the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, when the Székely and Saxon Seats were dissolved and replaced by the county system.

Along with Transylvania, Székely Land became a part of Romania in 1920, in accordance with the Treaty of Trianon signed on 4 June 1920 at the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles, France. In August 1940, as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award, the Székely Land was ceded back to Hungary, under Third Reich auspices. It was returned to Romania by the peace treaties signed after World War II at Paris, in 1947.

Under the name Magyar Autonomous Region, with Târgu-Mureş as capital, parts of Székely Land enjoyed a certain level of autonomy between 8 September 1952 and 16 February 1968. There are territorial autonomy initiatives with the aim to obtain self-governance for this region within Romania.

History

File:Székely village.jpg

A Székely village in Covasna County, with the Southern Carpathians in the background

Ancient Hungarian legends suggest a connection between the Székely people and Attila's Huns, but the origins of the Székely people are widely debated. The Székely Seats were the traditional self-governing territorial units of the Transylvanian Székelys during medieval times. (Saxons were also organised in Seats.) The Seats were not part of the traditional Hungarian county system, and their inhabitants enjoyed a higher level of freedom (especially until the 18th century) than those living in the counties.

From the 12th and 13th centuries until 1876, the Székely Land enjoyed a considerable but varying amount of autonomy, first as a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, then inside the Principality of Transylvania, and finally as a part of the Habsburg Empire. The autonomy was largely due to the military service the Székely provided until the beginning of the 18th century. The medieval Székely Land was an alliance of the seven autonomous Székely Seats of Udvarhely, Csík, Maros, Sepsi, Kézdi, Orbai and Aranyos. The number of seats later decreased to five, when Sepsi, Kézdi and Orbai Seats were united into one territorial unit called Háromszék (literally Three Seats).

The main seat was Udvarhely Seat, which was also called the Principal Seat (Template:Lang-la) At Szekelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc) were held many national assemblies of the Székelys A known exception is the 1554 assembly, which took place at Marosvásáhrely (Târgu Mureș)

As a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Transylvania became again part of the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary and ceased to exist as a separate legal or administrative entity. In 1876, a general administrative reform abolished all the autonomous areas in the Kingdom of Hungary and created a unified system of counties. As a result, the autonomy of the Székely Land came to an end as well. Four counties were created in its place: Udvarhely, Háromszék, Csík, and Maros-Torda. (Only half of the territory of Maros-Torda originally belonged to Székely Land.) The isolated Aranyosszék became a district of Torda-Aranyos county.

In December 1918, in the wake of the First World War, Romanian delegates from throughout Transylvania voted to join the Kingdom of Romania; this move was internationally recognized in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The Romanian language officially replaced Hungarian in the Székely Land, but Székely county boundaries were preserved, and Székely districts were able to elect their own officials at local level and to preserve Hungarian-language education.

In 1940, Romania was forced to cede Northern Transylvania to Hungary in the Second Vienna Award; this territory included most of the historical Székely areas. Hungarian authorities subsequently restored the pre-Trianon structure with slight modifications.

Traditional Székely Land (19th century)
Earlier Hungarian autonomous provinces
Present-day counties of Harghita, Covasna, and Mureș within Romania

Population

Main article: Székelys

The population of the Székely Land (according to the 2002 census) is 809,000, 612,043 of them Hungarians, accounting for 75.65% of the total. The Hungarians represent 59% of the populations of Harghita, Covasna and Mureș counties. The percentage of Hungarians is higher in Harghita and Covasna (84.8% and 73.58% respectively), and lower in Mureș County, not all of which falls inside the traditional region (37.82%).

Autonomy

Following the territory's return to Romania after World War II, a Magyar Autonomous Region was created in 1952, which encompassed most of the land inhabited by the Székely. This region lasted until 1968 when the administrative reform divided Romania into the current counties. Roughly speaking, present-day Harghita County encompasses the former Udvarhely and Csík, the latter including Gyergyószék; Covasna County covers more or less the territory of the former Háromszék; and what was once Maros-Torda is mostly part of present-day Mureş County. The former Aranyosszék is today divided between Cluj and Alba counties.

After the fall of communism, many hoped that the former Magyar Autonomous Region, abolished by Nicolae Ceauşescu's regime, would soon be restored again. This has not happened; however, there are Székely autonomy initiatives and further efforts from Székely organisations to reach a higher level of self-governance for the Székely Land within Romania.

On 2 February 2009, Romanian President Traian Băsescu met the Hungarian President László Sólyom in Budapest and discussed the issues of minority rights and regional autonomy. Băsescu affirmed "The Hungarian minority will never be given territorial autonomy."

Currently, the UDMR and the Hungarian Civic Party have a joint autonomy proposal for Szeklerland but the Szekler National Council also possesses its own suggestion.

Territory

Constitutional issues

Article 1 of the Romanian Constitution defines the country as a "sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible national state." It has often been argued that, as a result of this provision, any ethnic-based territorial autonomy, including that of the Székely Land, would be unconstitutional.

Tourist attractions

Székely fortified churches - more than 20 Székely villages count fortified churches
Baroque church at Şumuleu Ciuc (Csíksomlyó), a major Roman Catholic pilgrimage site
Rural tourism
Hiking in the Carpathians
Mofette, spas
Mineral springs, thermal baths
Salt mines (treatment against allergy and asthma)
Traditional Székely handicrafts (pottery, wood carving)
Mikó Castle
Kálnoky Castle
Teleki Library
Székely National Museum (Muzeul Național Secuiesc/Székely Nemzeti Múzeum), Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy
Szekler Museum of Ciuc (Muzeul Secuiesc al Ciucului/Csíki Székely Múzeum), Miercurea-Ciuc/Csíkszereda