View source for Northern Dobruja

{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Northern Dobrogea
| native_name        = {{native name|ro|Dobrogea de Nord / Dobrogea}}<br/>{{native name|bg|Северна Добруджа}}
| other_name         = 
| settlement_type    = [[Historical regions of Romania|Historical region of Romania]]
|image_skyline = {{Photomontage
|color = 
|photo1a = Constanta shipyard.JPG{{!}}[[Port of Constanța]]
|photo1b = Geamia „Esmahan Sultan” 2021 01.jpg{{!}}[[Esmahan Sultan Mosque]]
|photo2a = Muzeul de Artă din Medgidia.jpg{{!}}[[Medgidia]] Art Museum
|photo2b = East side of Tulcea from the harbor 01.jpg{{!}}[[Tulcea]]
|spacing = 2
|border = 0
|size = 260
}}
|image_caption = {{hlist|From top, left to right: [[Port of Constanța]]|[[Esmahan Sultan Mosque]]|[[Medgidia]] Art Museum|[[Tulcea]]}}
| flag_alt           =
| image_seal         = 
| seal_alt           = 
| image_shield       = Dobrogea COA.svg
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| motto              = 
| image_map          = Dobrogea.svg
| map_alt            = 
| map_caption        = {{legend|#FF9955|Northern Dobruja}}
| pushpin_map        = Romania
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| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Romania}}
| subdivision_type1  = Largest city
| subdivision_name1  = [[Constanța]]
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'''Northern Dobruja''' ({{langx|ro|Dobrogea de Nord}} or simply {{lang|ro|Dobrogea}}; {{langx|bg|Северна Добруджа}}, ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of [[Dobruja]] within the borders of [[Romania]]. It lies between the lower [[Danube|Danube River]] and the [[Black Sea]], bordered in the south by [[Southern Dobruja]], which is a part of [[Bulgaria]].

==History==
{{Further|Dobruja#History}}
[[File:Arii protejate din Dobrogea.jpg|thumb|right|Protected archaeological and natural areas in Romanian Dobruja.]]
[[File:Dobrogea-cadrilater.png|thumb|Map of Romania and Bulgaria with Northern Dobruja highlighted in orange and [[Southern Dobruja]] highlighted in yellow.]]
Around 600 BC, the Greeks colonized the Black Sea shore and founded numerous fortresses: Tomis (today's Constanța), Callatis, Histria, Argamum, Heracleea, Aegysus. The Greeks engaged in trade with the Dacians who lived  on the main land. Dobruja became a Roman province after the conquest of the Dacian Tribes. One of the best preserved remnants of this period is the [[Capidava|Capidava fortress]].<ref>[https://danubelimes-robg.eu/index.php/en/45en]</ref>

Between the 7th and 14th century, Dobruja was part of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] and the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]].

For a long period in the 14–15th century, Dobruja became part of [[Wallachia]]. The territory fell under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule from the mid-15th century until 1878, when it was awarded to Romania for its role in the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878|1877-78 Russo-Turkish War]], and as compensation for the transfer of a region partly overlapping [[Southern Bessarabia]].<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Woolf
  | first = Stuart Joseph
  | title = Nationalism in Europe, 1815 to the present: a reader
  | publisher = Routledge
  | date = December 21, 1995
  | pages = 115
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1IiB04cBLuMC&q=%22Northern+Dobruja%22&pg=PA115
  | isbn = 978-0-415-12563-5}}
</ref> Under the treaties of [[Treaty of San Stefano|San Stefano]] and [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|Berlin]], Romania received Northern Dobruja while the newly restored Principality of Bulgaria received the smaller southern part of the region. After the [[Second Balkan War]] in 1913, Romania also annexed the Bulgarian Southern Dobruja, which it ruled until the signing of the 1940 [[Treaty of Craiova]]. The treaty was approved by [[United Kingdom|Britain]],<ref>''The New York Times'', July 26, 1940, ''[https://www.nytimes.com/1940/07/26/archives/bulgarian-claims-backed-by-british-fundamental-justice-is-seen-in.html "Britain recognizes the "fundamental justice" of Bulgaria's claim against Rumania for return of the wheat-growing section of Southern Dobruja"]''</ref> [[Vichy France]], [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]].<ref>Кузманова, Антонина. От Ньой до Крайова. Въпросът за Южна Добруджа в международните отношения /1919-1940/, София 1989, с. 287-288.</ref> It included a [[population exchange between Bulgaria and Romania|population exchange]] which removed the Bulgarian minority from Northern Dobruja, which was evacuated to the southern part. At the same time, the Romanians (including [[Aromanians]] and [[Megleno-Romanians]]) from Southern Dobruja were brought north of the border.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8taGDAAAQBAJ|title=Hitler's forgotten ally: Ion Antonescu and his regime, Romania 1940-1944|first=Dennis|last=Deletant|author-link=Dennis Deletant|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|pages=1–376|year=2006|isbn=9781403993410}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=257706|title=Aplicarea tratatului româno-bulgar de la Craiova (1940)|first=Maria|last=Costea|journal=Anuarul Institutului de Cercetări Socio-Umane "Gheorghe Șincai" al Academiei Române|issue=12|pages=267–275|year=2009|language=ro}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.memoria-ethnologica.ro/wp-content/uploads/me_vol_52_53/pdf/me_52_53_p_012_029_emil_tircomnicu.pdf|title=Historical aspects regarding the Megleno-Romanian groups in Greece, the FY Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Romania|first=Emil|last=Țîrcomnicu|journal=Memoria Ethnologica|volume=14|issue=52–53|pages=12–29|year=2014}}</ref> There also is a [[Csángós|Csángó]] [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] village in Northern Dobruja, in the Constanța County, known as [[Lumina, Constanța|Oituz]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/constanta/fascinanta-poveste-ceangailor-ridicat-sat-pustiul-dobrogean-stapanit-serpi-veneau-colonisti-furau-tot-lantul-fantana-1_5adf10b9df52022f752e07de/index.html|title=Fascinanta poveste a ceangăilor care au ridicat un sat în pustiul dobrogean stăpânit de șerpi: "Veneau coloniști și ne furau tot, până și lanțul de la fântână"|first=Mariana|last=Iancu|newspaper=[[Adevărul]]|date=25 April 2018|language=ro}}</ref>

==Geography==
The territory of Northern Dobruja now forms the [[Counties of Romania|counties]] of [[Constanța County|Constanța]] and [[Tulcea County|Tulcea]], with a total area of 15,570&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and a current population of slightly under 900,000.<ref name="ins2011">2011 census results per county, cities and towns {{cite web|title=Populația stabilă pe sexe, după etnie – categorii de localități, macroregiuni, regiuni de dezvoltare și județe|publisher=Institutul Național de Statistică|url=http://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/sR_TAB_7.xls|access-date=2015-11-20|format=XLS|language=ro}}</ref>

===Cities===
*[[Constanța]]
*[[Tulcea]]
*[[Medgidia]]
*[[Mangalia]]

===Rivers===
*[[Danube]]
*[[Casimcea River|Casimcea]]
*[[Slava River|Slava]]
*[[Taița River|Taița]]
*[[Telița River|Telița]]

===Lakes===
*Crapina Lake
*Jijiei Lake
*Traian Lake
*Babadag Lake
*[[Razim Lake]]
*Zmeica Lake
*[[Sinoe Lake]]
*[[Tașaul Lake]]
*[[Techirghiol Lake]]

===Danube Delta===
{{main article|Danube Delta}}
The [[Danube Delta]] consists of numerous lakes. The most important ones are:
*Roșu
*Isac
*Gorgova
*Furtuna
*Ledeanca
*Tatanir
*Merhel
*Matița
*Uzlina
*Dranov
*Lumina
*Puiu
*Puiuleț

==Demographics==

'''Ethnic composition'''

The table below shows Romanian statistics throughout the years:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Ethnicity
! 1878<ref name="Karpat">K. Karpat, '': Correspondance Politique des Consuls. Turguie (Tulqa). 1 (1878) 280-82''</ref>
! 1880<ref name="dane">G. Dănescu, ''Dobrogea (La Dobroudja). Étude de Géographie physique et ethnographique''</ref>
! 1899<ref name="dane"/>
! 1913<ref>{{cite book |first=I. N.|last=Roman|chapter=La population de la Dobrogea. D'apres le recensement du 1<sup>er</sup> janvier 1913|title=La Dobrogea Roumaine. Études et documents|editor=Demetrescu, A|location=Bucarest|year=1919|oclc=80634772|language=fr}}</ref>
! 1930<sup>1</sup><ref name="sabin">Calculated from results of the 1930 census per county, taken from {{cite book|first=Sabin|last= Mănuilă|title=La Population de la Dobroudja|publisher=Institut Central de Statistique|location=Bucarest|year=1939|oclc=1983592|language=fr}}</ref>
! 1956<ref name="anri">Calculated from statistics for the counties of Tulcea and Constanța from {{cite web|title=Populația după etnie la recensămintele din perioada 1930–2002, pe judete|publisher=Guvernul României — Agenția Națională pentru Romi| url=http://www.anr.gov.ro/docs/statistici/statistici/t1.pdf|access-date=2007-05-02|pages=5–6, 13–14|language=ro}}</ref>
! 1966<ref name="anri"/>
! 1977<ref name="anri"/>
! 1992<ref name="anri"/>
! 2002<ref name="anri"/>
! 2011<ref name="ins2011"/>
! 2021<ref name="ins2021">{{cite web|url=https://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Tabel-2.01.xls|title=Ethnic population at the censuses in the period 1930–2021|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=[[National Institute of Statistics (Romania)|INSSE]]|language=ro}}</ref> 
|-
| All
| 225,692
| 139,671
| 258,242
| 380,430
| 437,131
| 593,659
| 702,461
| 863,348
| 1,019,766
| 971,643
| 897,165
| 849,352
|-
| Romanian
| 46,504 (21%)
| 43,671 (31%)
| 118,919 (46%)
| 216,425 (56.8%)
| 282,844 (64.7%)
| 514,331 (86.6%)
| 622,996 (88.7%)
| 784,934 (90.9%)
| 926,608 (90.8%)
| 883,620 (90.9%)
| 751,250 (83.7%)
| 657,438 (77.4%)
|-
| Bulgarian
| 30,177 (13,3%)
| 24,915 (17%)
| 38,439 (14%)
| 51,149 (13.4%)
| 42,070 (9.6%)
| 749 (0.13%)
| 524 (0.07%)
| 415 (0.05%)
| 311 (0.03%)
| 135 (0.01%)
| 58 (0.01%)
| 106 (0.01%)
|-
| Turkish
| 48,783 (21,6%)
| 18,624 (13%)
| 12,146 (4%)
| 20,092 (5.3%)
| 21,748 (5%)
| 11,994 (2%)
| 16,209 (2.3%)
| 21,666 (2.5%)
| 27,685 (2.7%)
| 27,580 (2.8%)
| 22,500 (2.5%)
| 17,114 (2%)
|-
| Tatar
| 71,146 (31,5%)
| 29,476 (21%)
| 28,670 (11%)
| 21,350 (5.6%)
| 15,546 (3.6%)
| 20,239 (3.4%)
| 21,939 (3.1%)
| 22,875 (2.65%)
| 24,185 (2.4%)
| 23,409 (2.4%)
| 19,720 (2.2%)
| 17,024 (2%)
|-
| Russian-Lipovan
| 12,748 (5,6%)
| 8,250 (6%)
| 12,801 (5%)
| rowspan="2" | 35,859 (9.4%)
| 26,210 (6%)²
| 29,944 (5%)
| 30,509 (4.35%)
| 24,098 (2.8%)
| 26,154 (2.6%)
| 21,623 (2.2%)
| 13,910 (1.6%)
| 12,094 (1.4%)
|-
| Ruthenian <br />(Ukrainian from 1956)
|
| 455 (0.3%)
| 13,680 (5%)
| 33 (0.01%)
| 7,025 (1.18%)
| 5,154 (0.73%)
| 2,639 (0.3%)
| 4,101 (0.4%)
| 1,465 (0.1%)
| 1,177 (0.1%)
| 1,033 (0.1%)
|-
| [[Dobrujan Germans|Germans]]
| 1,134 (0,5%)
| 2,461 (1.7%)
| 8,566 (3%)
| 7,697 (2%)
| 12,023 (2.75%)
| 735 (0.12%)
| 599 (0.09%)
| 648 (0.08%)
| 677 (0.07%)
| 398 (0.04%)
| 166 (0.02%)
| 187 (0.02%)
|-
| Greek
| 3,480 (1,6%)
| 4,015 (2.8%)
| 8,445 (3%)
| 9,999 (2.6%)
| 7,743 (1.8%)
| 1,399 (0.24%)
| 908 (0.13%)
| 635 (0.07%)
| 1,230 (0.12%)
| 2,270 (0.23%)
| 1,447 (0.16%)
| 498 (0.06%)
|-
| Roma
|
| 702 (0.5%)
| 2,252 (0.87%)
| 3,263 (0.9%)
| 3,831 (0.88%)
| 1,176 (0.2%)
| 378 (0.05%)
| 2,565 (0.3%)
| 5,983 (0.59%)
| 8,295 (0.85%)
| 11,977 (1.3%)
| 10,556 (1.2%)
|-
| Unknown
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 134
| 327
| 95
| -
| 7
| 67
| 72,488 (8%)
| 130,231 (15.3%)
|}
:<sup>1</sup>According to the 1926–1938 Romanian administrative division (counties of [[Constanța County#Historical county|Constanța]] and [[Tulcea County|Tulcea]]), which excluded a part of today's Romania (chiefly the communes of [[Ostrov, Constanța|Ostrov]] and [[Lipnița]], now part of [[Constanța County]]) and included a part of today's Bulgaria (parts of [[General Toshevo Municipality|General Toshevo]] and [[Krushari Municipality|Krushari]] municipalities)
:<sup>2</sup>Only Russians. (Russians and Lipovans counted separately)

==Symbols==
[[File:Stema_Dobrogei.png|thumb|100px| Coat of arms of the Romanian Dobruja]]
Northern Dobruja is represented by two [[dolphin]]s in the [[coat of arms of Romania]].

Starting with 2015, Romania observes [[Dobruja Day]] on [[November 14]], marking the 1878 incorporation of Northern Dobruja into the [[Kingdom of Romania]] after the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Treaty of Berlin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lege5.ro/Gratuit/g44tmmzrge/legea-nr-230-2015-privind-instituirea-zilei-de-14-noiembrie-ziua-dobrogei|title=Legea nr. 230/2015 privind instituirea zilei de 14 noiembrie - Ziua Dobrogei|publisher=[[Monitorul Oficial]]|date=7 October 2015|access-date=25 October 2020|language=ro}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Romanian historical regions}}

{{coord missing|Romania}}

[[Category:Dobruja|*]]
[[Category:Historical regions in Romania]]