Name in Other Languages: Maramureș and Marmaroshchyna (
Name in Other Languages: Maramureș and Marmaroshchyna (
Name in Other Languages: Maramureș and Marmaroshchyna (
Contents
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Geography[edit]
Maramureș is a valley enclosed by mountains Oaș, Gutâi, Țibleș and Rodnei to the west and
south, Maramureș Mountains and Ukrainian Carpathians (Wooded Carpathians) to the east and
north, with a thin opening at Khust. Several dozen small mountain rivers and creeks flow into the
river Tisa. It is forested and not easily accessible.
The limits of the region are between the parallels of 47°33' N and 40°02' N and the meridians of
23°15' E and 25°03' E. Maramureș represents one of the largest depressions in the Carpathians,
covering an area of about 10,000 km².
Its length from Khust to Prislop Pass is about 150 km and width from North to South is up to 80 km.
The main mountain passes linking Maramureș with the neighboring regions are high and in the past
were hardly accessible in the winter. Prislop Pass (1,414 m high) links the region in the east towards
Moldavia, Dealul Ștefăniței (1,254 m) in the south towards Transylvania, Pintea Pass (987 m)
towards Baia Mare, and Fărgău (587 m) in the west towards Oaș Country, while Frasini Pass
(Yasinia; 931 m) links the region in the north to Galicia.
The mountains surrounding this region occupy more than half of the area. A few peaks reach above
2,000 m, such as Pietrosul (2,303 m) in the Rodnei Mountains to the south and Hovârla (2,061 m) in
Muntele Negru (Cernahora) to the north.
The heavy forested mountains sustain many protected species of plants, such as yew (Taxus
baccata), larch (Larix decidua), Swiss pine (Pinus cembra), edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum); and
animals, such as lynx (Lynx lynx), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), alpine marmot (Marmota
marmota), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).
The last wisent from present-day Romania territory, a symbol of Maramureş, was hunted to
extinction in 1852. Lostriţa, a local variety of salmon, still live in the mountain rivers.
Several protected areas have been created in Maramureș. Rodnei Mountains National Park was
designated in 1930, Maramureș Mountains Natural Park in 2004, and there are many other caves,
gorges, cliff formations, and lakes which are officially-protected areas.
History[edit]
Maramuresch county on the map of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary, 1780-84. The present-day borders of
Romania are projected to the historical map.
Máramaros County (Hungarian: Máramaros vármegye; Romanian: Comitatul Maramureş; Ukrainian: Комітат
Марамарош), 1905
People[edit]
In the southern area, the majority of the population are Romanians. There are also
some Hungarians, Rusyns (Ukrainians), Zipser Germans, Jews, and Roma. In the northern area, the
majority are Ukrainians[citation needed], with smaller Romanian, Hungarian and German communities.
In the northern area most people speak the Ukrainian language[citation needed], while in the southern area
most speak Romanian, which is why the region was split into two parts.[2][citation needed] Since the 1940s
there have been villages cut in two by the state border. There are some villages in the north (within
Ukraine) that have a sizeable Romanian population, as well as some villages in Romania that have a
sizeable Ukrainian population.