Racu ( hu, Csíkrákos, , meaning "Place with the Crabs of Csík") is a commune in

Harghita County Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county ( județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

. It lies in the

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland ( hu, Székelyföld, ; ro, Ținutul Secuiesc and sometimes ; german: Szeklerland; la, Terra Siculorum) is a historic and ethnographic area in Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. I ...

, an ethno-cultural region in eastern

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

Component villages

The commune is composed of two villages: Gârciu village was called ''Satu Nou'' from 1964 until 2011.

History

The villages were part of the

region of the historical

province. They belonged to Csíkszék district. After the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, they fell within the

Csík County Csík (Hungarian, in Romanian: ''Ciuc'') was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central Romania (eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Csíkszereda (now Miercurea Ciuc). Geograp ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephe ...

. After the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It formal ...

of 1920, they became part of

and fell within

Ciuc County Ciuc County was a county (Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania. Its capital was Miercurea Ciuc. Its name was derived from the former county of the Kingdom of Hungary, Csík. History Prior to World War I, the territory of the county bel ...

during the interwar period. In 1940, the

second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all o ...

granted

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

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 The Magyar Autonomous Region (1952–1960) (Romanian: ''Regiunea Autonomă Maghiară'', Hungarian: ''Magyar Autonóm Tartomány'') and Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region (1960–1968) were autonomous regions in the Romanian People's Republic (later ...

, between 1960 and 1968 the Mureș-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 2011 census it has a population of 1,587 which 99,5% or 1,579 are Hungarian. Formerly part of Siculeni commune, the two villages broke off in 2004.

Twinnings

* Boda,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

Maps

File:Csikrakos_village_hall.jpg, The village hall File:Josephinische Landaufnahme pg179.jpg, As ''Rákos'' on Josephinische Landaufnahme, 1769-73 File:Göröcsfalva.JPG, House in Gârciu

References

Communes in Harghita County Localities in Transylvania Székely communities {{Harghita-geo-stub