Centru (''Centre'') is a development region in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. As other development regions, it does not have any administrative powers, its main function being to co-ordinate regional development projects and manage funds from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

Localization

Centru is situated in the center of Romania, within the greater curvature of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...

, on the upper and middle courses of Mureș and

Olt Olt or OLT may refer to: People: * Károly Olt (1904–1985), Hungarian politician * Mike Olt (born 1988), American baseball player Places: * Olt County, a county (județ) of Romania * Olt (river), a river in Romania ** Olt Defile, a defile t ...

, being crossed by the

25th meridian east The meridian 25° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 25th meridian east forms a great ...

and the

46th parallel north The 46th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 46 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 4 ...

. With an area of 34,082 km², accounting for 14.3% of the Romanian territory, Centru ranks 5th among the eight development regions. Due to its geographical position, it borders every other development region except

București - Ilfov The București – Ilfov development region () is a development region in Romania, encompassing the national capital, Bucharest, as well as the surrounding Ilfov County. As other development regions, it does not have any administrative powers, it ...

, registering approximately equal distances from its central zone to the border crossing points. The Centru region is made up of six counties:

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kin ...

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...

Covasna Covasna (, hu, Kovászna, , german: Kowasna) is a town in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania, at an altitude of . It is known for its natural mineral waters and mofettas. The town administers one village, Chiuruș ( hu, Csomakőrös). The v ...

Harghita Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county (județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a population ...

, Mureș and

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

Geography

Relief

Lacking proper plains, the relief of Centru Region includes significant parts of the three branches of the

Romanian Carpathians The Romanian Carpathians ( ro, Carpații românești) are a section of the Carpathian Mountains, within the borders of modern Romania. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of the Alps-Himalaya System and are further divided into "provinces" and " ...

(almost half the area of the region), hilly area of the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau ( ro, Podișul Transilvaniei; hu, Erdélyi-medence) is a plateau in central Romania. The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Easte ...

and depression area of contact between the hills and the mountains.

Hydrographic network

The hydrographic network is rich, consisting of upper and middle courses of Mureș and

and their tributaries. Natural lakes are diverse as genesis, the most notable being the glacial lakes in the

Făgăraș Mountains The Făgăraș Mountains ( ro, Munții Făgărașului ; hu, Fogarasi-havasok) are the highest mountains of the Southern Carpathians, in Romania. Geography The mountain range is situated in the heart of Romania, at . The range is bordered in the ...

, Sfânta Ana volcanic lake in

Harghita Mountains The Harghita Mountains (in Hungarian Hargita, in Romanian ''Munții Harghita'') is a volcanic mountain range of the Căliman-Harghita Mountains in Harghita County of Romania, part of the Inner Eastern Carpathians. The range is about long an ...

, Red Lake, lake formed by damming the natural course of the

Bicaz River The Bicaz ( hu, Békás-patak) is a right tributary of the river Bistrița in Romania. Its source is in the Hășmaș Mountains. Its uppermost course, upstream from Red Lake (Lacul Roșu), is also called ''Vereșchiu''. Other tributaries of Lacul ...

and Ursu Lake. The most important artificial lakes are the dam lakes on

and

Sebeș Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania. Geography The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the rive ...

rivers, salt lakes in former salt mines at

Ocna Sibiului Ocna Sibiului (; ) is a town in the centre of Sibiu County, in southern Transylvania, central Romania, 10 km to the north-west of the county capital Sibiu. The town administers a single village, Topârcea (''Tschapertsch''; ''Toporcsa''). A ...

and the

Transylvanian Plain The Transylvanian Plain ( ro, Câmpia Transilvaniei; hu, Mezőség, ) is an ethnogeographical area in Transylvania, Romania, located between the Someșul Mare and the Someșul Mic rivers to the north and west and the Mureș River to the south and ...

fishponds.

Climate

The climate of the region is temperate continental, and varies by altitude. In the intramontane depressions of the eastern region,

temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to an inversion of the air temperature lapse rate, in which case it is called a temperature inversion. No ...

s are frequent. In Bod,

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian, it is known ...

, the lowest temperature in Romania, −38.5 °C (−37.3 °F), was recorded on 25 January 1942.

Demographics

Centru has a total population of 2,251,268 :simple:Counties of Romania (2011 Census). Its population density is 73.99/km², somewhat lower than the national average of 91.3/km². The region is one of the most ethnically-diverse in Romania, with ethnic

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...

making up 65.4% of the population,

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

making up 29.9% and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

making up 4%. Most of the Hungarian population is concentrated in the counties of

Harghita Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county ( județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...

and

, where they make up a majority of a population.

References

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