In Romania there are several spoken languages. Beside Romanian, the only
official language nationwide, other spoken languages include Hungarian,
Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, Slovak, Romani, Ukrainian, and German.
Official language According to the 2002 Romanian Census,
Romanian is spoken by 91% of the population as a primary language.
According to the Romanian Constitution and the law 1206 of 2006 the only
official language in Romania is the Romanian Language both at national and
local level. Minority languages
After the fall of Romania's communist government in 1989, the various minority
languages have received more rights, and Romania currently has extensive laws
relating to the rights of minorities to use their own language in local
administration and the judicial system. While Romanian is the only official
language at the national and local level, there are 14 other living
languages in Romania. The Romanian laws include linguistic rights for all
minority groups that form over 20% of a locality's population. This includes the
adoption of signage in minority languages, access to local
administration and justice systems, the right to receive education in that
language, and a series of other rights. = Hungarian =
Hungarian is the largest minority language in Romania: the 2002 census
listed 1,447,544 native Hungarian speakers in the country, or 6.7% of the
total population. This minority largely lives in Transylvania, which was part of
the Kingdom of Hungary until 1918 though there are Hungarian speaking minorities
in other parts of the country as well. = Romani =
Roma make up the second largest minority in Romania and 241,617 Romani speakers
were reported in the 2002 census, or 1.1% of the total population. Dialects
of Romani spoken include Balkan Romani, Vlax Romani, and Carpathian Romani.
Romani is used in local signage, administration, education and justice in
79 communes and one town. = Ukrainian =
There are 57,593 Ukrainian speakers in Romania, mostly concentrated in
Maramureș County, where they make up 6.67% of the population, but also in
Suceava and Timiș counties. Ukrainians make up the majority in four communes:
Bistra, Maramureș, Rona de Sus, Știuca and Copăcele.
= German = There are many different groups of
Germans in Romania, the largest of whom have historically been known as the
Transylvania Saxons and the Banat Swabians. Germans once constituted a
much larger portion of the Romanian population than they do today, though
they are still the fourth largest ethno-linguistic group. In 1938 there
were 780,000, and in 1992 there were 111,301, but the 2002 census reported
only 45,129 Germans. Since 1989 they have been represented by the Democratic
Forum of Germans in Romania, which functions in the German language.
= Russian = There are 29,890 Lipovans, ethnically
Russian emigrants from the Russian Empire who left because of religious
differences with the Russian Orthodox Church, in Romania. They mostly speak
the Russian language, and most live in Tulcea County.
= Turkic languages = Turkish
Turkish speakers make up 0.1% of the population, with a community of some
28,714 speakers. The Turkish speaking community is largely a legacy of the
Ottoman rule of a large part of Romania. They live in the southern parts of
Romania. Tatar
Tatars also make up roughly 0.1% of the Romanian population, with a community of
21,482 speakers. Most, Crimean Tatars, speak the Crimean Tatar language, and
the greater part of the community lives in Constanţa County.
= Other languages = Lesser spoken languages in Romania
include: Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Greek.
Notes http:ec.europa.euarchivesebs_243_en.pdf
^ Romanian Constitution, art 13 ^ H.G. 1206/2001
^ Ethnologue report for Romania References
Ethnologue report for Romania (Romanian) Romanian National Census
2002, POPULATIA DUPA LIMBA MATERNA section