Braniștea () is a commune in

Bistrița-Năsăud County Bistrița-Năsăud () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Bistrița. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as ''Beszterce-Naszód megye'', and in German language, German as ''Kreis Bistritz-N ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is composed of three villages: Braniștea, Cireșoaia (''Magyardécse''; ) and Măluț (''Omlásalja'').

Geography

The commune lies on the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau (; ) is a plateau in central Romania. Description The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern Carpathians, Eastern, Southern ...

, on the left bank of the Someșul Mare River. It is located in the western part of the county, on the border with

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

, at a distance of from the town of

Beclean Beclean (; Hungarian language, Hungarian and German language, German: ''Bethlen'') is a town in Bistrița-Năsăud County, in north-eastern Transylvania, Romania. The town administers three villages: Coldău (''Goldau''; ''Várkudu''), Figa (''F� ...

and from the county seat,

Bistrița (; , archaic , Transylvanian Saxon: , ) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania. It is situated on the Bistrița River. The city has a population of 78,877 inhabitants as of 2021 and administers s ...

; the city of Dej is to the west, in Cluj County. Braniștea borders

Unguraș Unguraș () is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Batin (''Bátony''), Daroț (''Daróc''), Sicfa (''Székfa''), Unguraș, and Valea Ungurașului (''Csabaújfalu''). Geography The commune lies on t ...

village to the south, Sânmărghita village to the west, Reteag and

Uriu Uriu () is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hung ...

villages to the north,

Cristeștii Ciceului Uriu () is a commune in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Cristeștii Ciceului (''Csicsókeresztúr''), Hășmașu Ciceului (''Csicsóhagymás''), Ilișua (''Alsóilosva''), and Uriu. History ...

and Coldău villages to the northeast, the town of Beclean to the east, and Rusul de Jos and Malin villages to the southeast.

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Braniștea had a population of 2,780; of those, 55.94% were

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

and 37.55%

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

. At the 2011 census, the commune had 3,047 inhabitants, of which 62.7% were Hungarians and 37.1% Romanians.Romanian census data, 2011
; retrieved on April 18, 2012 At the 2002 census, 60.6% were

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

, 34.6%

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

, 2.4%

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

, and 1.1%

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

Natives

* (1881–1951), priest, delegate at the

Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia The Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia () was an assembly held on 1 December 1918 in the city of Alba Iulia in which a total of 1,228 delegates from several areas inhabited by ethnic Romanians declared the union of Transylvania with Romania. ...

of December 1, 1918 *

Valer Săsărman Valer Săsărman (25 August 1969 – 29 August 2021) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a defender. Săsărman started his career at Laminorul Beclean, but played for the rest of it for Gloria Bistrița, appearing in 329 Divi ...

(1969–2021), footballer

References

Communes in Bistrița-Năsăud County Localities in Transylvania {{BistriţaNăsăud-geo-stub