Northern Dobruja


Northern Dobruja is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria.

History

Around 600 BC, the Greeks colonized the Black Sea shore and founded numerous fortresses: Tomis, Callatis, Histria, Argamum, Heracleea, Aegysus. The Greeks engaged in trade with the Dacians who lived on the main land. Dobruja became a Roman province after the conquest of the Dacian Tribes. One of the best preserved remnants of this period is the Capidava fortress.
Between the 7th and 14th century, Dobruja was part of the First Bulgarian Empire and the Second Bulgarian Empire.
For a long period in the 14–15th century, Dobruja became part of Wallachia. The territory fell under Ottoman rule from the mid-15th century until 1878, when it was awarded to Romania for its role in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War, and as compensation for the transfer of a region partly overlapping Southern Bessarabia. Under the treaties of San Stefano and Berlin, Romania received Northern Dobruja while the newly restored Principality of Bulgaria received the smaller southern part of the region. After the Second Balkan War in 1913, Romania also annexed the Bulgarian Southern Dobruja, which it ruled until the signing of the 1940 Treaty of Craiova. The treaty was approved by Britain, Vichy France, Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union and the United States. It included a population exchange which removed the Bulgarian minority from Northern Dobruja, which was evacuated to the southern part. At the same time, the Romanians from Southern Dobruja were brought north of the border. There also is a Csángó Hungarian village in Northern Dobruja, in the Constanța County, known as Oituz.

Geography

The territory of Northern Dobruja now forms the counties of Constanța and Tulcea, with a total area of 15,570 km2 and a current population of slightly under 900,000.

Cities

  • Constanța
  • Tulcea
  • Medgidia
  • Mangalia

    Rivers

  • Danube
  • Casimcea
  • Slava
  • Taița
  • Telița

    Lakes

  • Crapina Lake
  • Jijiei Lake
  • Traian Lake
  • Babadag Lake
  • Razim Lake
  • Zmeica Lake
  • Sinoe Lake
  • Tașaul Lake
  • Techirghiol Lake

    Danube Delta

The Danube Delta consists of numerous lakes. The most important ones are:
  • Roșu
  • Isac
  • Gorgova
  • Furtuna
  • Ledeanca
  • Tatanir
  • Merhel
  • Matița
  • Uzlina
  • Dranov
  • Lumina
  • Puiu
  • Puiuleț

    Demographics

Ethnic composition
The table below shows Romanian statistics throughout the years:
Ethnicity1878188018991913193011956196619771992200220112021
All225,692139,671258,242380,430437,131593,659702,461863,3481,019,766971,643897,165849,352
Romanian46,504 43,671 118,919 216,425 282,844 514,331 622,996 784,934 926,608 883,620 751,250 657,438
Bulgarian30,177 24,915 38,439 51,149 42,070 749 524 415 311 135 58 106
Turkish48,783 18,624 12,146 20,092 21,748 11,994 16,209 21,666 27,685 27,580 22,500 17,114
Tatar71,146 29,476 28,670 21,350 15,546 20,239 21,939 22,875 24,185 23,409 19,720 17,024
Russian-Lipovan12,748 8,250 12,801 35,859 26,210 ²29,944 30,509 24,098 26,154 21,623 13,910 12,094
Ruthenian
455 13,680 35,859 33 7,025 5,154 2,639 4,101 1,465 1,177 1,033
Germans1,134 2,461 8,566 7,697 12,023 735 599 648 677 398 166 187
Greek3,480 4,015 8,445 9,999 7,743 1,399 908 635 1,230 2,270 1,447 498
Roma702 2,252 3,263 3,831 1,176 378 2,565 5,983 8,295 11,977 10,556
Unknown----13432795-76772,488 130,231

Symbols

Starting with 2015, Romania observes Dobruja Day on November 14, marking the 1878 incorporation of Northern Dobruja into the Kingdom of Romania after the Treaty of Berlin.