Maramureş

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For other uses, see Maramureş (disambiguation).

Map of Romania with Maramureş region highlighted

Maramureş (in Romanian; Hungarian: Máramaros; Latin: Marmatia; Ukrainian: Мармарощина / Marmaroshchyna, Мараморщина / Maramorshchyna, Марамуреш / Maramuresh; Yiddish: מאַראַמאָראָש (maramurush)) is a geographical, historical and ethno-cultural region in northern Transylvania, along the upper Tisza River consisting in the Maramureş Depression and surrounding mountains, part of the north-eastern Carpathians.

The territory in its southern section is now part of Maramureş County in northern Romania; its northern section is part of Zakarpattia Oblast of western Ukraine.

Alternatively, the name Maramureş is used for the Maramureş County of Romania, which contains the southern section of the former historical region and also small parts of the interbellic Satu Mare County and Sălaj County (former pre-WWI Szatmar and Szolnok-Doboka comitata).

[edit] Geography

Maramureş is a valley totally enclosed by mountains, Oaş, Gutâi, Ţibleş and Rodnei to the west and south, Maramureş Mountains and Carpaţii Păduroşi to the east and north, with a thin opening at Khust, with several dozen small mountain rivers and creeks flowing into the river Tisza (Tisa). It is forested and not easily accessible.

The limits of the region is between the parallels of 47^o33' N and 40^o02' N and the meridians of 23^o15' E and 25^o03' E. Maramureş represents one of the largest depressions in the Carpathians, covering an area of about 10000 km²,

Its length from Khust to Prislop Pass is about 150 km and the width from North to South is up to 80 km.

The main mountain passes linking Maramureş with the neighboring regions are high and in the past were hardly accessible in the winter. Prislop Pass is 1414m high to the East towards Moldavia, Dealul Ştefăniţei, 1254m in the south towards Transylvania, Pintea Pass 987 m towards Baia Mare and Fărgău 587 in the west towards Oaş Country. In the north Frasini Pass (Yasinia) is 931 m high, linking the region to Galicia (Central Europe).

The mountains surrounding this region occupy more than a half of area, and reach 2000 m by several peaks like Pietrosul 2303m in Rodnei Mountains to the south and Hovîrla 2061 in Muntele Negru (Cernahora) to the north.

The main mountain passes linking Maramureş with the neighboring regions are high and in the past were hardly accessible in the winter. Prislop Pass is 1414m high to the East towards Moldavia, Dealul Ştefăniţei, 1254m in the south towards Transylvania, Pintea Pass 987 m towards Baia Mare and Fărgău 587 in the west towards Oaş Country. In the north Frasini Pass (Yasinia) is 931 m high, linking the region to Galicia (Central Europe).

The heavy forested mountains sustain many protected species of plants like yew (Taxus baccata), larch (Larix decidua), Swiss pine (Pinus cembra), edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) and animals: Lynx (Lynx lynx), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), , golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).

Here survived the last Romanian wisent, hunted in 1852. Lostriţa, a local variety of salmon still live in the mountain rivers.

On this ground protected areas have been created here, Rodnei Mountains National Park in 1930, Maramureş Mountains Natural Park in 2004. Many other caves, gorges, cliff formations and lakes are officially protected areas.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Maramureş

Maramureş was under loose Hungarian control from the 11th century, nominally a part of the comitatus of Borsova. However, it remained an autonomous region^{[citation needed]}, gradually losing its privileges, until it was fully included in the Hungarian Kingdom in the 14th century. It was allowed to preserve its political organization, the Voevodate, consisting of many small autonomous parts. The King long struggled^{[citation needed]}, to convince the Voivodes to accept the title of Count, with the implied dependency in political and financial matters, which to the locals meant losing their independence – a thing they could not bear. During the Middle Ages, the people in many mountain villages, where each family by definition had a considerable domain, were called nameşi, i.e. free peasants taking pride in their family (the term points to their belonging to a small clan, from Romanian neam = extended family). Another possible explanation to the term "nameşi" is that in the Hungarian Kingdom, free people possessing land were called "nemes" in Hungarian.

[edit] People

In the southern area, the majority of the population are Romanians. There are also some Hungarians, Rusyns (Ukrainians), and Roma. In the northern area, the majority are Rusyns (Ukrainians), with smaller Romanian and Hungarian communities.