Romania Genealogy

Romania consists of five historical regions, each represented on the coat of arms. These are the three Romanian principalities:

Moldavia (upper right)

Transylvania (lower right), and

Wallachia (upper left), as well as two other regions;

Dobrogea (lower center), and

The Banat (lower left).

The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine were for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. They secured their autonomy in 1856 and united in 1859 and a few years later adopted the new name of Romania. The Kingdom of Romania gained official recognition as an independent country at the Congress of Berlin in 1878.

Dobrogea was incorporated into Romania in 1878. Transylvania and the Banat entered Romania in 1918, following World War I.

FamilySearch Wiki is a community website dedicated to helping people throughout the world learn how to find their ancestors. Through the Romania Portal page you can learn how to find, use, and analyze Romanian records of genealogical value. The content is variously targeted to beginners, intermediate, and expert researchers. Please visit the help page to learn more about using the site. The Romania Portal Page is a work in progress, your contributions and feedback are essential!

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Bukovina (Bukowina) is an historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains. It is currently split between Romania and Ukraine. The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became Austrian Empire in 1804, and Austria-Hungary in 1867. Nowadays in Ukraine the name is unofficial, but is common when referring to the Chernivtsi Oblast as over 2/3 of the oblast is the northern part of Bukovina. In Romania the term Northern Bucovina is sometimes synonymous to the entire Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine, and (Southern) Bucovina to Suceava County of Romania.


 * Northern Bukovina Parish Registers
 * Czernowitz City Directories

Jurisdictions
Romania has 41 counties (judet - singular, judete - plural) and 1 municipality* (municipiu). The word judet is usually seen in the form judeţul, which means "the district."

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The area of Romania has long been a land of ethnic diversity. Although the primary ethnic group is the Romanians, there have long been Hungarians, Ukrainians, Germans, Serbs, Gypsies, and Jews along with many others. For more specific information on the Population and Ethnic groups of Romania click on the Topic Population in the box to the right.

Research Tools

 * Beginning Romanian Research
 * Letter Writing Guide
 * Research Outline for Romania by BYU
 * Romanian Genealogical Research
 * Websites

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