Cozmeni (, Hungarian pronunciation:) is a commune in

Harghita County Harghita County (, and , ) is a county () 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 population density of ...

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

. It lies in the

Székely Land The Székely Land or Szeklerland (, , Old Hungarian script, Székely runes: 𐲥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗𐳌𐳞𐳖𐳇; and sometimes ; ; ) is a historic and ethnographic area in present-day Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hung ...

, an ethno-cultural region in eastern

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, and is composed of two villages, Cozmeni and Lăzărești (''Lázárfalva'').

Location

The commune is located in the Ciuc Depression, at the southern edge of Harghita County, on the border with

Covasna County Covasna County (, , ) is a county (județ) of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Sfântu Gheorghe. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 210,177, making it the second least populous of Romania's 41 counties and the ...

. It neighbors the following communes: to the east Plăieșii de Jos, to the west Tușnad, to the north Sânmartin, and to the south Malnaș and Turia. The county capital,

Miercurea Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc (; ; ) is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, a mainly Hungarian-speaking ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt River valley. The city administers three ...

, is to the north on

European route E578 European route E 578 is a European B class road in Romania, connecting the cities Șieu-Măgheruș, Sărăţel and Chichiș. Route and E-road junctions * (on shared signage DN15A then DN15 then DN12) ** Șieu-Măgheruș, Sărăţel: ...

. The

Olt River The Olt ( Romanian and Hungarian; ; or ', , ''Alytos'') is a river in Romania. It is long, and its basin area is . It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its average discharge at the mouth is . It originates in the Hă ...

flows from north to south at less than to the west of Cozmeni, while

Lake Sfânta Ana Lake Sfânta Ana (; ; ) is the only crater lake in Romania located in the volcanic crater of the Ciomad volcano of the Eastern Carpathians, near Tușnad in the Natural Reserve of Mohoș, Harghita County, Romania Romania is a country lo ...

(the only

volcanic crater lake A volcanic crater lake is a lake in a volcanic crater, crater that was formed by explosive eruption, explosive activity or a caldera, collapse during a types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruption. Formation Lakes in calderas fill large crate ...

in Romania) is about to the south-west.

History

The villages belonged to the

Csíkszék Csíkszék () was one of the Székely seats in the historical Székely Land. It administered two sub-seats ( Hungarian: ''fiúszék'', Latin: ''sedes filialis''), namely Gyergyószék and Kászonszék. It was divided on the natural borders of ...

district until the administrative reform of Transylvania in 1876, when they fell within

Udvarhely County Udvarhely () was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central Romania (eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was ''Székelyudvarhely'' (now Odorheiu Se ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. In the immediate aftermath of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, during the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War (; ) was fought between Hungary and Kingdom of Romania, Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. After the ...

(1918–1919), the area passed under Romanian administration. By the terms of the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

of 1920, it became part of the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, and the villages fell within

Ciuc County Ciuc County is a historical 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 th ...

during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. As a result of the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

of August 1940, the region became part of Hungary until the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

and the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

entered the area in September 1944. After Soviet occupation, the Romanian administration returned in March 1945, and the commune became again officially part of Romania in 1947. Between 1952 and 1960, the commune fell within the

Magyar Autonomous Region The Magyar Autonomous Region (1952–1960) (; ) and Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region (1960–1968) were autonomous Regions of the People's Republic of Romania, regions in the Romanian People's Republic (later the Socialist Republic of Romania). H ...

, and between 1960 and 1968 within the Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region. In 1968, the region was abolished, and since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County. Formerly part of Sânmartin (Csíkszentmárton) commune, the two villages broke off in 2004.

Demographics

The commune has an absolute Székely (Hungarian) majority. According to the 2011 census, the commune had a population of 2,089, of which 96.07% or 2,007 were

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. At the 2021 census, Cozmeni had 2,125 inhabitants; of those, 87.67% were Hungarians.

Twinning

Öttömös Daruszentmiklós

References

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