Cârlibaba (; ) is a commune located in

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county (') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat and the ...

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

, northeastern

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 is composed of six villages, namely: Cârlibaba (Veche; also the commune seat), Cârlibaba Nouă, Iedu (), Șesuri (), Țibău (), and Valea Stânei ().

Other names

In standard

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

(i.e. Hochdeutsch), Cârlibaba Veche is known as ''Mariensee'' whereas Cârlibaba Nouă is known as ''Ludwigsdorf''.

Demographics

At the 2002 census, 85.3% of inhabitants were

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, ...

, 9%

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

(more specifically

Bukovina Germans The Bukovina Germans ( or ''Buchenlanddeutsche'', ), also known and referred to as Buchenland Germans, or Bukovinian Germans, are a German diaspora, German Ethnicity, ethnic group which settled in Bukovina, a historical region situated at the cro ...

and

Zipser Germans The Zipser Germans, Zipser Saxons, or, simply, just Zipsers (, , , ) are a German-speaking (more specifically Zipser German-speaking as native dialect) sub-ethnic group in Central- Eastern Europe and national minority in both Slovakia and Roma ...

), and 5.4%

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

. 85.8% were

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

and 13.1%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. At the 2011 census, 89.05% of inhabitants were

, 5.07%

(more specifically

and

) and 4.08

. For the rest of 1.81% inhabitants, their ethnicity was registered as unknown. 84.8% were

and 12.17%

. For the rest of 1.81% inhabitants, their religious confession was registered as unknown.

History

Along with the rest of

, Cârlibaba formed part of the

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially independent and later auto ...

until 1774, when it was occupied by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and soon handed over to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Under Austria and

Austria-Hungary 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#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, the commune was inhabited by a sizeable number of Zipser German mining colonists (part of the broader Bukovina German community of the historical region of Bukovina and Suceava County). During

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 ...

, on 18–23 January 1915, it was the site of a battle between the Polish Legions and Russian troops, won by the Poles. A memorial to the fallen Polish soldiers was erected in 1932 near the Saint Louis church.

Administration and local politics

Communal council

The commune's current local council has the following political composition, according to the results of the

2020 Romanian local elections Local elections were held in Romania on 27 September 2020. Initially planned for June 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led the Government of Romania to postpone the elections to a date no later than 31 December 2020, and extending al ...

Gallery

File:Kirlibaba-evang.jpg, Evangelical Lutheran church File:Kirlibaba-kath.jpg, Roman Catholic church File:Casa de pe stanca - panoramio.jpg, The house on the rock () File:Carlibaba01.jpg, Traditional Romanian houses File:Carlibaba02.jpg, Local horse-drawn cart File:RO SV Valea Stânei.JPG, Valea Stânei constituent village in August 2021 File:Lajosfalva und Kirlibaba (BildID 15716732).jpg, Cârlibaba during World War I File:Ort Kirlibaba (BildID 15665153).jpg, Cârlibaba in 1917 File:Cârlibaba grave1.JPG, Grave of Polish soldiers fallen in the Battle of Cârlibaba

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlibaba Communes in Suceava County Localities in Southern Bukovina Mining communities in Romania