Czechs of Romania
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
- Dubova, Mehedinți—40.70%
- Gârnic, Caraș-Severin—33.46%
- Coronini, Caraș-Severin—27.36%
- Berzasca, Caraș-Severin—14.24%
- Şopotu Nou, Caraș-Severin—10.92%
- Lăpuşnicel, Caraș-Severin—10.75%
- Socol, Caraș-Severin—4.60%
- Peregu Mare, Arad—3.83%
- Eșelnița, Mehedinți—2.31%
- 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
- ↑ (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.