Variaș (; ; ) is a
commune in
Timiș County
Timiș () is a county (''județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical regions of Romania, historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Ro ...
,
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: Gelu, Sânpetru Mic and Variaș (commune seat).
Etymology
The name of the locality comes from ''varjú'', which in
Hungarian means "crow". The name ''Varjas'' is probably related to the heraldic element of a departed noble family.
After the repopulation of Variaș with German settlers, the Germanization of the name in ''Krähendorf'' was unsuccessfully attempted. The name ''Varias'' appears on
Count Mercy's map of 1723 and is repeated on the maps of 1753, 1777 and 1783, respectively (in the form of ''Wariosch'').
Immediately after the union of Banat with Romania in 1918, the commune bore the official name ''Dănciulești'', a name that was given up on the occasion of the administrative-territorial reform of 1925.
Geography
Variaș is located in the northwest of
Timiș County
Timiș () is a county (''județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical regions of Romania, historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Ro ...
, on the border with
Arad County
Arad County () is an administrative division ( județ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative cente ...
, about northwest of
Timișoara
Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
. It borders
Secusigiu (Arad County) to the north,
Vinga (Arad County) to the northeast,
Satchinez to the east and southeast,
Biled
Biled (; ) is a communes of Romania, commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Biled. It also included two other villages until 2004, when they were split off to form the commune of Șandra.
Administration
The curre ...
to the southwest and
Periam to the west and northwest. With a total area of , Variaș commune covers 1.19% of the territory of Timiș County.
Relief
The territory of Variaș commune is part of the Banat Plain and is located on the first terrace 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, the capital of Mureș County
* Ocna Mureș, a town in Alba Cou ...
. The relief appears as a wide plain with small depressions and slight undulations without downhills exceeding 2–3°. The altitude varies between .
Hydrography
The land belonging to Variaș commune is not crossed by running waters with permanent flow, but it has two narrow valleys that lead the water in the rainy years. One is in the east of Variaș, and the other in the west; both join in the south of the commune in a single canal that goes south and flows into the Ier Canal near
Biled
Biled (; ) is a communes of Romania, commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Biled. It also included two other villages until 2004, when they were split off to form the commune of Șandra.
Administration
The curre ...
commune.
The village of Gelu is crossed by the Beghei stream, which divides it into two parts.
Climate
Variaș commune is located in a region where several climatic types intertwine:
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
,
temperate continental and
oceanic. The average annual temperature ranges between in winter and in summer. Annual rainfall totals are between . Precipitation occurs in late spring, in May and June, as well as in late autumn and early winter, in October, November and December.
Natural resources
The natural resources in the subsoil of Variaș commune include
crude oil
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
,
natural gas
Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
and
geothermal waters. The soil offers favorable conditions for agricultural crops (
corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
,
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
two-rowed barley,
oat
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...
,
sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...
,
sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the pr ...
,
soybeans
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed.
Soy is a key source of f ...
, etc.) and forage cultivation.
History

Variaș is first mentioned in a papal tithe document from 1333–1335 of the Catholic Diocese of
Cenad
Cenad (, during the Dark Ages ''Marosvár''; , archaically ''Maroschburg''; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Cenad. The village serves as a customs point on the border with Hungary. Today's village ...
, which states that ''Worias'' is a Hungarian village with a regulated Catholic parish. Variaș was a royal estate (of the Hungarian crown) until 1381, when it became the property of Petrus and Nicolaus Maczedoniay. Ioannes Maczedoniay donated Variaș in 1454 to his sister Anna, a widow of Fargacs. In 1464 Variaș is attested in the property of Felix Fargacs. In 1466 Variaș was bought for 500
guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...
s by the famous officer Ladislaus Dóczy, who stood out in the victory at
Smederevo
Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...
over the Ottoman Empire. Dóczy's residence was in
Periam.
During the Ottoman rule between 1552–1716, most of the Hungarian inhabitants left Variaș, leaving only a few Vlach inhabitants. Later, the first Serb inhabitants will settle in the area. After the conquest of Banat by the Habsburg Empire, Variaș was populated by Serbian settlers who came as members of the Rural Militia and especially by German settlers. The latter settled starting with 1786 and came from other localities in Banat:
Periam,
Gottlob,
Iecea Mare, etc.
Until the completion of the land drainage works, the first generations of settlers faced poverty and epidemics, due to the swampy terrain and the unhealthy climate. In 1793 the existence of a Serbian school and a German school is attested. Variaș was inhabited mainly by three nationalities. Each nationality had its "own" street. Here there was a "Vlach street" (of the Romanians) and a "Serbian street". The German one was called the "central street".
During the interwar period, Variaș was part of Plasa Periam,
Timiș-Torontal County
Timiș-Torontal was a county () in the Kingdom of Romania. Its capital was Timișoara. The territory of the county had been transferred to Romania in 1920 from the Kingdom of Hungary under the Treaty of Trianon.
Geography
Timiș-Torontal County ...
. In the immediate aftermath of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, many residents were dispossessed of their property by the ''Expropriation Act''
and deported to both
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Bărăgan (June 1951). The deportees carried out forced labor until January 1956. Moldavian families were installed in the houses left vacant in Variaș. The return of the deportees to Variaș led to conflicts with Moldavian families settled in the locality, conflicts that lasted until the 1960s, when the blocks of flats were built on the site of the former headquarters of German volunteer firefighters in Variaș,
simultaneously with the decision of the first German families to emigrate to the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...
.
Demographics
Variaș had a population of 5,682 inhabitants at the 2011 census, down 7% from the 2002 census. Most inhabitants are
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, ...
(68.74%), larger minorities being represented by
Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
(9.61%),
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 ...
(8.36%),
Roma (3.85%) and
Ukrainians
Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
(3.12%). For 5.17% of the population, ethnicity is unknown.
By religion, most inhabitants are
Orthodox (66.86%), but there are also minorities of
Serbian Orthodox
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the populat ...
(10.4%),
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
s (9.17%),
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 ...
s (5.32%) and
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
s (1.37%). For 5.17% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.
Notable people
* (1828–1885), composer, violinist and conductor
* (b. 1943), writer, poet and publicist
*
Vasile Șirli (b. 1948), composer and music producer
*
Srdjan Luchin (b. 1986), footballer
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varias
Communes in Timiș County
Localities in Romanian Banat