- Dudeştii Vechi
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Dudeştii Vechi
Stár Bišnov— Commune — 
Coat of armsLocation of Dudeştii Vechi
Coordinates: 46°03′N 20°29′E / 46.05°N 20.483°ECoordinates: 46°03′N 20°29′E / 46.05°N 20.483°E Country 
RomaniaCounty Timiş County Status Commune Government – Mayor Georgi Nakov (Bulgarian Union of the Banat) Area – Total 95.64 km2 (36.9 sq mi) Population (2005) – Total 5,789 Time zone EET (UTC+2) – Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3) Website http://www.e-primarii.ro/~dudestiivechi/index.php 
Banat Bulgarian Roman Catholic church in Dudeştii Vechi (Stár Bišnov)
Dudeştii Vechi (until 1968 Beşenova Veche; Bulgarian: Стар Бешенов / Star Beshenov; Banat Bulgarian: Stár Bišnov; German: Altbeschenowa; Hungarian: Óbesenyő) is a commune in Timiş County, Romania. Dudeştii Vechi is mostly populated by Banat Bulgarians (Palćene), a regional minority group of ethnic Bulgarians that profess Roman Catholicism, who came from northern Bulgaria, and who are descendants of Paulicians that settled in the area around 1738. At the 2002 census, the total population of the commune numbered 5,789 people.
Contents
Languages
The commune is officially bilingual, with both Romanian and Bulgarian being used as working languages on public signage and in administration, education and justice.
Religion
The majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic.
Villages
The commune is composed of three villages: Cheglevici (German: Keglewitschhausen, Hungarian: Keglevichháza, Serbian: Кеглевић), Colonia Bulgară and Dudeştii Vechi. It also included Vălcani village until 2005, when it was split off to form a separate commune.
Colonia Bulgară (Banat Bulgarian: Telepa, German: Bulgarische Kolonie, Hungarian: Bolgartelep) was founded as Telepa by Roman Catholic Banat Bulgarian colonists in 1846. In 1910, it had a population of 714 Bulgarians. In 1930, the population was 830, of which 353 Bulgarians, 338 Hungarians, 123 Germans, 13 Romanians and 3 Roma. In the 1940 census, the Bulgarians were not recognized as a separate ethnic group by Ion Antonescu's regime, and the population was 729, of which 314 "others", 295 Hungarians, 107 Germans and 13 Romanians.
Culture
The school in Dudeştii Vechi was founded in 1745 by the Bulgarian settlers with the help of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the oldest school of the Bulgarian diaspora and the only school in Romania where Bulgarian language is taught to all grades. As of 2004[update], education in Bulgarian was optional, but efforts were made to transform the school into a bilingual one. [1]
The village also has an imposing Roman Catholic church.
Population
Location of Dudeştii Vechi commune2002
According to the 2002 Romanian census, the commune (also including three other villages) had a population of 5,807, a slight majority of which were Banat Bulgarians:
- Banat Bulgarians = 2,987 (51.44%)
- Romanians = 2,368 (40.78%)
- Magyars = 330 (5.68%)
- Roma = 62
- Germans = 44
- Serbs = 16
2005
According to official 2005 calculations, the population of the municipality had dropped to 4,486.
Historical population
Table
Census Ethnic distribution Year Population Romanians Banat Bulgarians Germans Magyars Roma Serbs Jews Slovaks Rest 1880 11,690 2,754 n.d 1,295 1,101 n.d n.d n.d n.d 6,366 1910 12,638 3,121 n.d 1,403 2,152 n.d n.d n.d n.d 5,962 1941 11,334 2,661 n.d 1,206 1,187 n.d n.d n.d n.d 6,280 1948 11,620 2,754 5,771 1,327 1,415 232 53 34 20 - 1956 9,653 2,340 5,610 478 995 210 6 5 7 - 1977 8,030 2,221 4,669 319 694 109 6 2 5 9 1992 6,409 1,996 3,633 57 379 305 11 1 9 17 2002 5,807 2,368 2,987 44 330 62 16 − − − Chart and Table
Population trend (Growth/Downtrend) 
See also
References
External links
- 2002 census data
- Star Bisnov, Dudeştii Vechi website
Categories:- Banat Bulgarian people
- Communes in Timiş County
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