Margina
Margina | |
|---|---|
 The wooden church in Margina | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location in Timiș County | |
  Margina Location in Romania | |
| Coordinates: 45°51′N 22°16′E / 45.850°N 22.267°E | |
| Country | Romania |
| County | Timiș |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2024–) | Cosmin-Simion Popescu (PSD) |
Area | 132.81 km2 (51.28 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 402 m (1,319 ft) |
| Population (2021-12-01)[2] | 2,074 |
| • Density | 15.62/km2 (40.45/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 307260–307269 |
| Vehicle reg. | TM |
| Website | www |
Margina (Hungarian: Marzsina; German: Marschina; Serbian: Маржина, romanized: Maržina)[3] is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of nine villages: Breazova, Bulza, Coșevița, Coșteiu de Sus, Groși, Margina (commune seat), Nemeșești, Sintești and Zorani.
Geography
[edit]Margina is located in the eastern extremity of Timiș County, 8 km (5 mi) east of Făget, and is crossed by the Bega River. The commune has an area of 132.81 km2 (51.28 sq mi),[1] which represents about 1.5% of the area of Timiș County.
Flora
[edit]The vegetation consists of forests, secondary meadows, floodplain meadows, trees and agricultural crops. The forests cover an area of 77.74 square kilometres (30 sq mi) and are managed by Făget Forest District and Valea Mare Forest District in Arad County. The most important species of trees found in the forests of the commune are beech, sessile oak, pedunculate oak, Hungarian oak, Turkey oak, hornbeam, black locust, lime (especially in the forests of Coșteiu de Sus and Groși), elm, birch, wild pear, crab apple, wild cherry and pine plantations. At the edge of the forest grow hazel, cornels, dogwoods, dog roses and other shrubs.[4]
Fauna
[edit]The forest wildlife is very varied. Characteristic species include the lynx (Lynx lynx) and the squirrel (Sciurus spp.), which, although it lives in coniferous forests, descends into beech and sessile oak forests. Forests are also home to badgers (Meles meles), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and wolves (Canis lupus). The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is quite widespread in the forests of the commune, it descends for food to the vicinity of households and causes significant damage to wheat and corn fields. An increasing number of deer and stags are found in the forests, which also descend for food to people's homes. Brown rats, shrews, harvest mice and susliks inhabit the cornfields and hayfields.[4]
Birds are varied and widespread throughout the area; non-predatory birds of hunting interest (pheasants and partridges), birds of prey (hawks), crows and magpies, and migratory birds (storks, cuckoos, turtle doves, larks, nightingales, hoopoes, blackbirds and tits). In the forest and meadows woodpeckers, white wagtails, hazel grouse, little owls, eagle-owls, sparrows, etc., also live.[4]
Reptiles and batrachians are represented by green lizard, sand lizard, grass snake, dice snake, salamander, toad, marsh frog, tree frog and, rarely, a few turtle specimens.[4]
Along the Bega River there are different fish such as nases and chubs, and on the sandy bottom of the river there are barbels; sometimes trout also wander on the middle course of the river.[4]
History
[edit]
The first recorded mention of Margina dates from 1365,[5] but it is mentioned even before 1300 as the seat of a Vlach district belonging sometimes to Hunyad County and sometimes to Temes County.[6] In the Middle Ages it played an important role in the area; here there was a fortress, first mentioned in 1439 and disputed by the lords of the time.[7] In 1551 the fortress was demolished by John Török, but was rebuilt three years later. The Turks occupied Margina for a time, until it was liberated by Sigismund Báthory. In 1658, as a result of the political interests of Ákos Barcsay, Margina was ceded to the Turks, who ruled it for 30 years.
After the Treaty of Passarowitz, the old fortresses of Banat are demolished. The ruins of the fortress of Margina were still visible at the end of the 18th century. The settlement continued its existence under the Austrians, as a settlement located on the border of Banat with Transylvania. In 1734, the Romanian wooden church was built, which still exists today and is a national historical monument.
At the end of the 18th century, Germans and Hungarians settled here, brought as officials or workers in the vinegar factory, one of the largest in Europe at that time. Up until 1930 the factory produced acetone and then vinegar and canned cucumbers and pickles. Because of the transition to state socialism during 1945 and 1947 it was closed, before being nationalized in 1948.[8] During the 1960s–1970s it employed over 700 people. The factory closed permanently in 1998.[9]
Demographics
[edit]- Romanians (88.6%)
- Ukrainians (1.97%)
- Unknown (7.90%)
- Others (1.56%)
- Orthodox (66.5%)
- Pentecostals (18.8%)
- Baptists (3.42%)
- Roman Catholics (1.35%)
- Unknown (8.38%)
- Others (1.28%)
- Irreligious, atheists and agnostics (0.24%)
Margina had a population of 2,074 inhabitants at the 2021 census, down 5.12% from the 2011 census. Most inhabitants are Romanians (88.57%), with a minority of Ukrainians (1.97%). For 7.9% of the population, ethnicity is unknown.[10] By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (66.53%), but there are also minorities of Pentecostals (18.8%), Baptists (3.42%) and Roman Catholics (1.35%). For 8.38% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown.[11]
| Census[12] | Ethnic composition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Population | Romanians | Hungarians | Germans | Ukrainians | Slovaks |
| 1880 | 4,045 | 4,015 | 12 | 13 | – | – |
| 1890 | 4,180 | 4,118 | 1 | 18 | – | – |
| 1900 | 4,157 | 4,061 | 44 | 39 | – | – |
| 1910 | 4,305 | 4,115 | 102 | 57 | – | 3 |
| 1920 | 3,964 | 3,842 | 43 | 37 | – | – |
| 1930 | 4,240 | 3,936 | 132 | 75 | – | 6 |
| 1941 | 3,941 | 3,750 | 118 | 57 | – | – |
| 1956 | 3,637 | 3,508 | 67 | 32 | 1 | 6 |
| 1966 | 3,494 | 3,349 | 64 | 46 | 1 | 21 |
| 1977 | 2,987 | 2,904 | 44 | 27 | 2 | – |
| 1992 | 2,469 | 2,378 | 43 | 13 | 12 | 11 |
| 2002 | 2,356 | 2,188 | 35 | 7 | 104 | 10 |
| 2011 | 2,186 | 2,032 | 24 | 5 | 48 | 8 |
| 2021 | 2,074 | 1,837 | 20 | – | 41 | 8 |
Politics and administration
[edit]The commune of Margina is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 11 councilors. The mayor, Cosmin-Simion Popescu, from the Social Democratic Party, has been in office since 2021. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties:[13]
| Party | Seats | Composition | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party | 6 | |||||||
| National Liberal Party | 2 | |||||||
| Alliance for the Union of Romanians | 2 | |||||||
| Save Romania Union | 1 | |||||||
Gallery
[edit]
The wooden church in Coșevița (1776)
The school in Coșteiu de Sus
The wooden church in Groși (1741)
The wooden church in Nemeșești (1798)
References
[edit]
- 1 2 "Primăria Margina". Ghidul Primăriilor.
- ↑ "2021 Romanian census". National Institute of Statistics. 1 December 2021.
- ↑ Popov, Dejan (2018). Bugarski, Stevan (ed.). "Свештенство Епархије темишварске 1797. године" (PDF). Темишварски зборник. 10. Novi Sad: Матица српска: 177–197.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ceaușescu, Napoleon; Ceaușescu, Mărioara (2006). Monografia comunei Margina. Vol. I. Lugoj: Nagard. ISBN 973-7690-10-9.
- ↑ Szabó, M. Attila (2003). Erdély, Bánság és Partium történeti és közigazgatási helységnévtára. Miercurea Ciuc: Pro-Print Kiadó.
- ↑ Pesty, Frigyes (1884). Krassó vármegye története (PDF). Vol. II. Budapest: Athenaeum R. Társ. Könyvnyomdája.
- ↑ Moroz-Pop, Maria (1983). "Contribuții la repertoriul arheologic al localităților din județul Timiș din paleolitic și până în Evul Mediu". Banatica (7): 476.
- ↑ Jucu, Ioan Sebastian (2016). "From state-socialist ambitions of Romanian rural industrialisation to post-socialist rural deindustrialisation: two case studies from Romania". Eastern European Countryside. 22 (1): 165–195. doi:10.1515/eec-2016-0009. ISSN 1232-8855.
- ↑ Both, Ștefan (24 February 2021). "Povestea fabricii de oțet care dădea ora exactă într-o comună din Timiș. Cum a ajuns o ruină tristă". Adevărul.
- 1 2 "Populația rezidentă după etnie". RPL 2021. Institutul Național de Statistică.
- 1 2 "Populația rezidentă după religie". RPL 2021. Institutul Național de Statistică.
- ↑ Varga, E. Árpád. "Temes megye településeinek etnikai (anyanyelvi/nemzetiségi) adatai 1880-2002" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
- ↑ "Alegeri locale 2024". Rezultate Vot.
