The Krashovani (, ) are a

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

community inhabiting Carașova and Lupac in the

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

within

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 ...

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

. They are Catholic by faith and speak a Torlakian dialect.

Names

In Romanian, they are commonly known as ''Carașoveni''; other variants include ''Carșoveni'', ''Cârșoveni'', ''Cotcoreți'' or ''Cocoși''. In Croatian, they are commonly known as ''Krašovani''; other variants include ''Karašovani'', ''Krašovanje'', ''Karaševci'' and ''Koroševci''.

Settlements

Krashovani, declared as Croats, form a majority in two communes of Caraș-Severin County: Carașova and Lupac. *Carașova commune **Carașova (Karaševo) **Nermed (Neremić) **Iabalcea (Jabalče) *Lupac commune **Clocotici (Klokotič) **Rafnic (Ravnik) **Vodnic (Vodnik) **Lupac (Lupak)

Identity

The Krashovani are adhere to the Catholic Church and identify their language as Croatian. Their dialect is regarded a sub-dialect of the Torlak dialect, a transitional dialect spoken in southeastern Serbia, westernmost Bulgaria and northeastern Macedonia. According to the 2002 census in Romania, the population of the Carașova commune comprised 84.60% Croats, 4.96% others, 4.47% Roma, 4.41%

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

and others. 93.12% of the population in that commune declared their mother tongue as Croatian. Only 207 persons declared Krashovani ethnicity in the 2002 census.

History

Their ancestors first settled Carașova in the 13th and 14th centuries from northwestern

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. They formed a community in the northern plateau of the Caraș river, in seven villages, the oldest, Carașova, being mentioned in the 13th and 14th centuries while the rest are first mentioned in the 17th century. Serbian ethnographer Jovan Cvijić concluded that the community was "very old settlers with origin in Crna Reka who were Catholicised"; Stanko Žuljić claims that their origin is in Turopolje, in Croatia. The Carașoveni were considered

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

by some Bulgarian scientists in the first half of the 20th century (such as G. Cibrus, M. Mladenov, K. Telbizov, and T. Balkanski), partially based on their view that Torlakian-speakers are ethnically Bulgarians. According to the Austrian population census there were over 10,000 Carașoveni in Banat. In the 1847 census over 10,000 people declared as Carașoveni. In 1896 the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

census around 7,500 Carașoveni were listed. The same was stated by the authorities 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 ...

in 1940. Their number dropped to 2,775 in 1992.''Spațiul istoric și etnic românesc'', Vol.I, Editura Militară, Bucharest, 1992 The Union of Croats of Romania (, ZHR; , UCR) is an ethnic minority political party in

representing the Croatian community.

References

External links

{{Bulgarian diaspora Slavic ethnic groups Banat Croatian diaspora Caraș-Severin County Ethnic groups in Romania South Slavs *

Names

Settlements

Identity

History

See also

References

Further reading

Dialectology

External links