Urziceni ( hu, Csanálos, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Schinal or ) is a commune in

Satu Mare County Satu Mare County ( ro, Județul Satu Mare, ) is a county (Counties of Romania, județ) of Romania, on the border with Hungary and Ukraine. The capital city is Satu Mare. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as ''Szatmár megye'', i ...

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 ...

, right on the Hungarian border. It is composed of two villages, Urziceni and Urziceni-Pădure (''Csanáloserdő'').

Geography

The commune is located in the western part of the county, at a distance of from

Carei Carei (; , ; /, yi, , ) is a city in Satu Mare County, northwestern Romania, near the border with Hungary. The city administers one village, Ianculești ( hu, Szentjánosmajor). History The first mention of the city under the name of "Karul ...

and from the county seat,

Satu Mare Satu Mare (; hu, Szatmárnémeti ; german: Sathmar; yi, סאטמאר or ) is a city with a population of 102,400 (2011). It is the capital of Satu Mare County, Romania, as well as the centre of the Satu Mare metropolitan area. It lies in the ...

. The Urziceni Forest (''Pădurea Urziceni'') is a nature reserve located on the territory of the commune.

Demographics

The population was 1,509 in 2002; 68.1% of inhabitants were Hungarian, 22.5% were German, and 9.3% were ethnic Romanian. 86.8% were

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, 5.6% were

Greek-Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

, 4.2% were

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

and 3.0% were

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform 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 *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

History

Historically, the commune was mainly inhabited by Roman Catholic German ethnics (''Donauschwaben'' or

Danube Swabians The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...

) who were brought in by the Hungarian ruler of the land, count Alexander Károlyi, to populate the area that had been deserted as a result of a series of wars and epidemics. The process began in 1711 when the first wave of settlers arrived from present-day

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, just north of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

. During the 20th century they gave up the usage of the German language in favour of Hungarian. Since the 1980s, the population has dwindled significantly due to emigration to West Germany, especially before the fall of the communist regime of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

, but also in the 1990s, mainly for economic reasons.

Natives

György Nonn György Nonn (9 January 1918 – 17 November 2007) was a Hungarian jurist, who served as Chief Prosecutor of Hungary The Prosecutor General ( hu, Legfőbb ügyész) is the official charged with prosecuting cases at a national level in Hungary ...

József Tempfli József Tempfli (April 9, 1931 – May 25, 2016) was a Romanian Roman Catholic bishop. He was born into an ethnic Hungarian family. Ordained to the priesthood in 1962, Tempfli served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oradea Mare T ...

References

Communes in Satu Mare County Hungarian German communities Hungary–Romania border crossings {{SatuMare-geo-stub