The Székely or Szeklers (Hungarian: Székely; Romanian; Secui; German: Szekler) are a Hungarian ethnic group living in Transylvania in Romania. Unlike most other ethnic minorities of Romania, Szeklers are tighly concentrated in an area known as Székelyföld (Szekler land). Based on the latest Romanian statistics, approximately 670,000 Székely live mostly in Harghita, Covasna and parts of Mureş counties, accounting for an important part of the Hungarian minority in Romania. There is a Szekely initiative to attain autonomy for a Székelyföld region, on the model of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. Transylvania (Romanian: Transilvania or Ardeal, Hungarian: Erdély, German: Siebenbürgen, Serbian: Transilvanija, Turkish: Erdel, Slovak: Sedmohradsko or Transylvánia, Polish: Siedmiogród) is a historic region that forms the western and central parts of Romania. ... Székelyföld (Szekler Land; Romanian: Ţinutul Secuiesc, Latin: Terra Siculorum) is used today in a cultural-ethnographical sense, i. ... Administrative map of Romania with Harghita county highlighted Harghita (Hungarian: Hargita) is a county (Judeţ) in Transylvania, Romania. ... Covasna (Hungarian: Kovászna, German: Kowasna) is a town in Covasna county, Transylvania, Romania, at an altitude of 550-600 m. ... Administrative map of Romania with Mureş county highlighted Mureş (Hungarian: Maros) is a Romanian county (Judeţ) in the Transylvania region, with the capital city at Târgu Mureş, known in Hungarian as Marosvásárhely (population: 165,835). ... This article or section should be merged with Hungarian Minority in Romania The Hungarian minority in Romania is one of the largest minorities in Europe, estimated at around one and a half million people. ... Székelyföld (Szekler Land; Romanian: Ţinutul Secuiesc, Latin: Terra Siculorum) is used today in a cultural-ethnographical sense, i. ... Capital Barcelona Official languages Spanish and Catalan In Val dAran, also Aranese. ...

This group has largely succeeded in preserving its traditions to an extent unusual even in Central and Eastern Europe. The most comprehensive description of the Szekely land and traditions was written between 1859-1868 by Balázs Orbán in his masterpiece, "Description of Székely land". Orbán Balázs (born 1829 in Lengyelfalva, Hungary, died 1890 in Budapest) was a hungarian writer, historian and politician. ...

The Szeklers are of uncertain origins, subject to much debate among themselves and among scholars. A widespread theory asserts that they descend from the warrior tribes settled by the Hungarians in the border mountains to defend against invasions from Tatars and other menacing people from the east. Székely people adhere proudly to a Hungarian identity. They have a slightly distinct Hungarian dialect, but most of the differences from modern Hungarian consist of archaic words and phrase constructions, as well as a particular intonation. Tatars or Tartars is a collective name applied to the Turkic-speaking people of Europe and Asia. ... The Hungarian language is a Finno-Ugric language spoken in Hungary and in adjacent areas of Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Austria, and Slovenia (all territories lost after World War I). ... Intonation is the variation of tone used when speaking. ...

In medieval times, the Szeklers were part of the Unio Trium Nationum ("Union of Three Nations") a coalition of the three Transylvanian Estates, the other two nations being the (predominantly Hungarian) nobility and the Saxon (ie ethnic German) burghers. These three nations ruled Transylvania, usually in harmony though sometimes in conflict with one another. The Romanian inhabitants, who largely belonged to the class of serfs (which also included many Hungarians), were Orthodox and were not allowed to political representation. The Szeklers were considered the best warriors of medieval Transylvania. Unio Trium Nationum (Latin for Union of the Three Nations; also known as Fraterna Unio - Brotherly Union) was a pact of mutual aid formed in 1438 by the Transylvanian Hungarian, the Saxon and Szekler nobility in order to keep the social status quo. ... In France under the ancien régime, the Estates of the realm were the three divisions of the Estates-General. ... The Transylvanian Saxons (German: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Romanian: Saşi) are a people of German origin who settled in the south and north-east of Transylvania from the 12th century onwards. ... Ethnic Germans (usually simply called Germans, in German Volksdeutsche) are those who are considered, by themselves or others, to be ethnically German rather than anything else but who do not live within the Federal Republic of Germany nor hold its citizenship. ... ...

Controversy about origins

Theories have been advanced suggesting Avar, Gepid, or Scythian ancestry, and some have dated their presence in the Eastern Carpathians as early as the fifth century. Some have also suggested the Székely, like the Hungarians, are simply descended from the Huns, and that cultural differences with other Hungarian groups stem from their relative isolation in the mountains. The word Avars can mean: The nomadic people that conquered the Hungarian Steppe in the early Middle Ages, the Eurasian Avars. ... The Gepids (Latin Gepidae) were a Germanic tribe most famous in history for defeating the Huns after the death of Attila. ... Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ... This is about the terrestrial mountain range. ... Many historians consider the Huns (meaning person in Mongolian language) the first Mongolian and Turkic people mentioned in European history. ...

Many scholars believe in a two-fold Hungarian migration of Transylvania and the Pannonian Plain, one prior to the main Magyar conquest of the Pannonian Plain in 896. According to this theory, the Székelys or Szeklers are a Hungarian group that settled in Transylvania during this first migration. The Pannonian plain is a large plain in central/south-eastern Europe that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea (see below) dried out. ... Events The Bulgarians, under Simeon I, defeat the Byzantine Empire at Bulgarophygon. ...

Another possible source of the Székely people is Hungary itself: they might be Hungarians who moved to Transylvania to protect the borders of the country.

Others believe that Szeklers had different origins, such as Turkic origins. A small number of scholars believe that the Székelys are related to the Scythians who may have joined the Magyars on their trek westward. This is the disambiguation page for the terms Turk, Turkey, Turkic, and Turkish. ... Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ... Árpád Feszty and assistants vast (over 8000 m2) canvas, painted to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest of Hungary, now displayed at Ópusztaszer National Memorial Site in Hungary Magyars are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. ... In South African history, the Great Trek was an eastward and north-eastward migration of the Boers, descendants primarily of immigrants from western mainland Europe. ...

However, the Székely themselves are proud of recognizing to be part of Attila's Huns, that settled in the Carpathian Mounts during Attila's reign. Their language and alphabet, the rovas, was the same one used by the Magyars that settled later in present-day Hungary.

By County

The Szeklers live mainly in Harghita, Covasna and Mureş counties

Administrative map of Romania with Harghita county highlighted Harghita (Hungarian: Hargita) is a county (Judeţ) in Transylvania, Romania. ... Covasna (Hungarian: Kovászna, German: Kowasna) is a town in Covasna county, Transylvania, Romania, at an altitude of 550-600 m. ... Administrative map of Romania with Mureş county highlighted Mureş (Hungarian: Maros) is a Romanian county (Judeţ) in the Transylvania region, with the capital city at Târgu Mureş, known in Hungarian as Marosvásárhely (population: 165,835). ...

See also

• Bertalan Székely
• Mózes Székely

External links

In Hungarian language

• Székely News (http://www.szekelyhirmondo.ro/)
• Székely links (http://szekely.lap.hu/)