Sânmartin, Harghita

Sânmartin Csíkszentmárton
—  Commune  —
Coat of arms
Country	Romania
County	Harghita County
Status	Commune
Government
– Mayor	András Gergely (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania)
Area
– Total	41.64 km2 (16.1 sq mi)
Population (2002)
– Total	4,334
– Density	56.46/km2 (146.2/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	537280
Area code(s)	+40 266
Website	www.csíkszentmarton.ro

Sânmartin (Hungarian: Csíkszentmárton, Hungarian pronunciation: [’tʃiːksɛntmaːrton], meaning "St. Martin of Csík") is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania.

Component villages

The commune is composed of three villages:

In Romanian	In Hungarian
Ciucani	Csíkcsekefalva
Sânmartin	Csíkszentmárton
Valea Uzului	Uzvölgye

Cozmeni (Csíkkozmás) along with the village of Lăzăreşti (Lázárfalva) have formed an independent commune since 2002.

History

Székely runic script

The villages belonged to the Székely seat of Csíkszék until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when they fell within Csík County in the Kingdom of Hungary. After the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, they became part of Romania and fell within Ciuc County during the interwar period. In 1940, the second Vienna Award granted the Northern Transylvania to Hungary and the villages were held by Hungary until 1944. After Soviet occupation, the Romanian administration returned and the commune became officially part of Romania in 1947. Between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the Magyar Autonomous Region, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureş-Magyar Autonomous Region. In 1968, the province was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County.

Demographics

The commune has an absolute Hungarian Székely majority. According to the 2002 census it has a population of 4,334 of which 97% or 4,204 are Hungarian. Since 2002 the smaller commune itself has a population of 2,351.^[1]

Economy

The size of the arable land is 1,109 ha, of which 526 ha are cultivated by the agricultural company Burgabotek MT. Pasture of an area of 474 ha belong to the commonages 'Csekefalva' and 'Aklós'. 1295 ha of reaper is owned by individual farmers. The area of forest is 1162 ha, of which 8 ha belong to individuals while the remaining parts belong to commonages.

Potato, grain - wheat, barley, rye - and sugar beet is grown by individual farmers and an agricultural association. Fodder is produced in private businesses, likewise, stock breeding is dealt with by individual farmsers, cattle, swine, sheep, goats being kept in the village.

The most important branch of indstrial activity is timber-industry, including logging and processing. Currently, four sawmills operate in the village and the production is exported to several European countries. The sawmills provide more than 100 jobs for locals.

Twinnings

The commune is twinned with:

• Kenderes, Hungary
• Mórahalom, Hungary
• Zalahaláp, Hungary

External links

• Touristic website (Hungarian)

Coordinates: 46°25′N 21°21′E / 46.417°N 21.35°E / 46.417; 21.35

References

1. ^ "Etnikai statisztikák" (in Hungarian). Árpád E. Varga. http://varga.adatbank.transindex.ro/?pg=3&action=etnik&id=381. Retrieved 2010-06-01.