Gornești (formerly ''Ghernesig''; hu, Gernyeszeg, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in

Mureș County Mureș County (, ro, Județul Mures, hu, Maros megye) is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

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

composed of nine villages: * Gornești * Iara de Mureș / Marosjára * Ilioara / Kisillye * Mura Mare / Nagyszederjes * Mura Mică / Kisszederjes * Pădureni / Erdőcsinád * Periș / Körtvélyfája * Petrilaca de Mureș / Magyarpéterlaka * Teleac / Marostelek

Geography

Gornești lies on 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 East ...

, on the left bank of the

Mureș River Mureș may refer to: * Mureș County, Romania * Mureș (river) in Romania and Hungary (''Maros'') * Mureș culture, a Bronze Age culture from Romania See also * Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș C ...

. Located in the central part of the county, it is crossed by

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

, which connects it to the county seat,

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, th ...

, to the south, and to

Reghin Reghin (; hu, Szászrégen, or ; german: (Sächsisch) Regen) is a Municipalities of Romania, city in Mureș County, Transylvania, central Romania, on the Mureș (river), Mureș River. As of 2011 Romanian census, 2011, it had a population of 33 ...

, to the north.

History

The commune formed part of the

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. I ...

region of the historical

province. Until 1918, it belonged to the

Maros-Torda County Maros-Torda was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central Romania (eastern Transylvania) and has been administratively succeeded by county Mureș which consist of about half the territory of ...

of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

. After the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War was fought between Hungary and Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. The Allies of World War I intended ...

of 1919 and the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It formal ...

of 1920, it became part of

Demographics

Gornești has an absolute Hungarian majority. According to the 2011

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, it has a population of 5,577, of which 71.9% are Hungarian; 18.5% are Romanian, and 9.5% Roma.Populația stabilă după etnie – județe, municipii, orașe, comune
, National Institute of Statistics; accessed August 26, 2015

Natives

* István Bethlen (1874–1946), aristocrat and statesman,

Prime Minister of Hungary The prime minister of Hungary ( hu, Magyarország miniszterelnöke) is the head of government of Hungary. The prime minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political part ...

from 1921 to 1931 * Sámuel Teleki (1739–1822), Chancellor of Transylvania, famous book collector * Alexandru Todea (1912–2002), Greek-Catholic bishop of the Alba Iulia Diocese and later

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, ...

Economy

The Teleac gas field is located on the territory of the commune; it was discovered in 1915 and began production in 1930.

References

Communes in Mureș County Localities in Transylvania Székely communities {{Mureş-geo-stub