Transylvania

(source: www.wikipedia.org)

Transylvania (Romanian: Ardeal or Transilvania; Hungarian: Erdély; German: De-Siebenbürgen.ogg Siebenbürgen (help·info), see also other denominations) is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical regions of Crişana, Maramureş, and (Romanian) Banat.
The Transylvanian plateau, 300 to 500 metres (1,000-1,600 feet) high, is drained by the Mureş, Someş, Criş, and Olt rivers, as well as other tributaries of the Danube. This core of historical Transylvania roughly corresponds with nine counties of modern Romania. Other areas to the west and north, which also united with Romania in 1918 (inside the border established by peace treaties in 1919-20), are since that time widely considered part of Transylvania.
The historical region granted to Romania in 1920 covered 23 counties including nearly 102,200 km² (102,787 - 103,093 in Hungarian sources and 102,200 in contemporary Romanian documents) now due to the several administrative reorganisations Transylvania covers 16 present-day counties (Romanian: judeţ) which include nearly 99,837 km² of central and northwest Romania.
Historical definitions of Transylvania vary geographically. The 2002 Romanian census classified Transylvania as the entire region of Romania west of the Carpathians. This region has a population of 7,221,733, with a large Romanian majority (75.9%). There are also sizeable Hungarian (20%), Roma (3.3%), German (0.7%) and Serb (0.1%) communities.[80][81] The ethnic Hungarian population of Transylvania, largely composed of Székely, form a majority in the counties of Covasna and Harghita. The percentage of Romanian majority has increased since the union of Transylvania with Romania after World War I in 1918 (the 1910 Census indicates a total population of 5,262,495, Romanians 53.8%; Hungarians 31.6%; Germans 10.7%), it should be noted however that the number of Hungarians grew at twice the rate of the overall population, mostly due to pre-WWI policies of Magyarization.[82]

The expropriation of the estates of Magyar magnates, the distribution of the lands to the Romanian peasants, and the policy of cultural Romanianization that followed the Treaty of Trianon were major causes of friction between Hungary and Romania.[83] Other factors include the emigration of non-Romanian peoples, assimilation and internal migration within Romania (estimates show that between 1945 and 1977, some 630,000 people moved from the Old Kingdom to Transylvania, and 280,000 from Transylvania to the Old Kingdom, most notably to Bucharest).

Tourist attractions
Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF)

* Bran Castle, also known as Dracula's Castle
* The medieval cities of Alba Iulia, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu (European Capital Of Culture-2007) , Târgu Mureş and Sighişoara (the supposed birthplace of Vlad Dracula)
* The city of Braşov and the nearby Poiana Braşov ski resort
* The city of Hunedoara with the 14th century Hunyadi Castle
* The citadel and the Art Nouveau city centre of Oradea
* The Densus Church, the oldest church in Romania in which services are still officiated[85]
* The Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains, including Sarmizegetusa
* The Maramureş region including:
o The Merry Cemetery of Săpânţa (the only of that kind in the world)
o The Wooden Churches
o The cities of Baia Mare and Sighetu Marmaţiei.
o The villages on the Iza, Mara, and Viseu Valleys.
* The Saxon fortified churches
* Romanian traditions and folk culture, ASTRA National Museum Complex, Sibiu
* Hungarian traditions and folk culture
* The cafe culture,[86] street theatre and cosmopolitan society of Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca
* The Apuseni Mountains:
o Ţara Moţilor
o The Bears Cave, one of the most beautiful caves in Europe[87]
o Scarisoara Ice Cave, that has a gigantic and astonishing underground glacier, actually the third largest glacier cave in the world[87]
* The Rodna Mountains.

Songs and albums

* Trip To Trancesylvania [sic], an album by X-Dream
* "Transylvania" by Iron Maiden. An Instrumental.
* "Transylvania 90210" is an album and song by Wednesday 13.
* "Transylvanian Concubine" by Rasputina, remixed by Marilyn Manson, and can be found on the soundtrack from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
* "Transilvanian Hunger" by the Norwegian Black metal band Darkthrone
* "Shadows over Transylvania" by Swedish Black metal band Dark Funeral
* "Transylvania Transmission Pt1" by Rob Zombie
* "Transylvania" by McFly on their third album Motion In The Ocean
* "Transylvania" is the name of a song by Iron Maiden and covered by Iced Earth on the Iced Earth concept album Horror Show
* "Transylvania" is a song by The Coffinshakers, a Swedish psychobilly band whose lyrics focus almost exclusively on vampires and the undead.
* "Transylvania Mania" is a song in the Mel Brooks Broadway Musical Young Frankenst