POPULATION
- Cultural heritage of the population in DDBR
- Distribution of population in DDBR
- Traditional occupations
- The ethnical structure of population
Cultural
heritage of the population in DDBR
Owing to its mild climate, natural richness and geographic location,
people have long been attracted to the Danube Delta and it has
possessed economic, political and strategic importance since
ancient times.
All the elevated land within the delta contains evidence of
former human occupation dating back to the prehistoric period.
The earliest signs of occupation are found
on terraces and promontories, especially around lakes Razim
and Sinoie. The whole western shoreline supported Neolithic
people, with the main centre at Hamangia (now Baia), living
from 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. The characteristic features
of this culture were the production of adorned ceramic vases
with complex decorations of geometrical patterns and terracotta
human figurines that expressed a deep spiritual approach to
daily life. In particular, two figurines known as “The
Thinker” and “The Sitting woman” are considered
masterpieces of Neolithic art.
During the Iron Age, about 3,200 to 2,500
years ago, a series of fortified settlements were established
on hills at Sinoie, Enisala, Babadag, Bestepe, Balteni, Malcoci,
Tulcea and Somova. These represented the most eastern extension
of this civilization. At the same time, smaller sites were
occupied on higher ground throughout the delta, often used
for only short periods by migratory populations.
Proof that there were substantial permanent
settlements is provided by the discovery of treasure in a
tomb at Agighiol, as well as abundant artifacts in tombs at
Murighiol and Enisala. Moreover, the existence of a large
town-refuge at Bestepe as referred to in accounts by Greeks
(who called the inhabitants Getae) and Romans (who called
them Dacians)
In the succeeding Greek and Roman periods,
the town of Histria was built on an island in the former Gulf
of Halmyris, and the town of Argamum was built on the top
of Cape Dolosman. These were highly developed and important
trading centers which are frequently mentioned in contemporary
accounts. However, by the 7th Century, both towns had become
cut off from the sea by the formation of lakes Razim and Sinoie
from deposition of Danubian sediments. As a result, the towns
fell into economic decline and were finally abandoned.
The ruins of Histria have been extensively
excavated and the artifacts displayed in a museum at the site.
It now draws thousand of visitors every year.
Many other Roman towns were located along the southern branch
of the Danube, for example at Isaccea (Noviodunum), Nufaru
(Talamonium), Tulcea (Aegyssus) and Mahmudia (Salsovia). However,
only superficial archaeological studies have been conducted
at these sites and much further research is required to elucidate
their roles and importance, and indeed the whole period of
Dacian-Greek-Roman civilization.
During the turbulence of the post-Roman
and Byzantine period, mass movements of people took place
through the delta region and distinctive, organized society
ceased. The situation gradually improved such that by the
10th Century accounts began to appear of the fishing and commercial
activities at the ten ports of Sulina, Periprava and Vicina
(present location unknown, but it is regarded as the first
town of the future Romania). Of the 80 or so towns existing
between the 10th and 15th Centuries, only Enisala and Nufaru
remain standing on their original sites.
As a result of the wars with Russia and
Turkey during the 18th and 19th Centuries, which meant that
the delta region was under the Russian administration until
1856 and then after Turkish rule until 1878, almost all evidence
of preceding settlements was destroyed. After the Crimean
war (1854 - 1856), the major delta towns of Chilia and Sulina
were reconstructed. Sulina in particular enjoyed a revival
of economic and cultural importance between 1856 and 1949
that, despite its small size, gave it a unique character among
towns on the Danube, traces of which remain today in the form
of the old lighthouse, the church and some of the older grand
buildings.
Distribution
of the population in DDBR
At the end of 19th century the population
of the Danube Delta was 12,000 inhabitants and before second
war the population was about 14,000 inhabitants.
In DDBR the human communities are grouped
in 25 human settlements (a town – Sulina) with a total
population of 14,583 inhabitants in 2002, from which 68.5%
in rural settlements and 31.5% in Sulina.
Because of the small area of dry land (most of the Danube
Delta territory is flooded every year), the localities are
concentrated along the Danube arms and their surface is reduced.
The active population in the DDBR represents
35.3%, the occupation rate being 81.4%. The main activities
are:
- fishing and pisciculture (15.3%),
- agriculture, forestry (29%),
- industry, construction and commerce (15.7%),
- tourism, transport, communications (15.4%),
- health system (1.9%),
- education, culture (5.7%),
- public administration (13.5%)
- other activities (3.6%).
The unemployment rate is 18.6%, unevenly distributed.
Traditional
occupations
Since the ancient times, fishing has been the main occupation
of the inhabitants of Danube Delta. Although today the supply
of fish has diminished and changed in quality, this occupation
continues to be a basic one. The localities where fishing
is the main trade are Crisan, Mila 23, Gorgova, and Sfântu
Gheorghe (the last mentioned is also involved in sea fishing).
The second main occupation with great extension has been
(and still is) sheep and cattle breeding, which, from a temporary
condition (being practiced by the shepherds coming there with
their flocks in wintertime from the Eastern Carpathians and
the Moldavian Tableland), became a permanent occupation in
the last decades of the 19th century. The localities with
traditions in cattle breeding are Letea, Periprava, C.A.Rosetti,
Sfistofca and Caraorman.
Traditional agriculture has been practiced successfully
by the inhabitants of those localities which have good supplies
of arable land: Chilia, Pardina, Plaur, Salceni, Ceatalchioi
and Patlageanca, all working on alluvial soils of the riverside
levees with a low risk of inundation.
Owing to poor soils (sandy soils) agriculture has been practiced
to a lesser extend on the marine levees of Letea and Caraorman.
After 1960, these traditional occupations of fishing and
agriculture were drastically modified by extending reed exploitation
(abandoned later on), fish ponds and large agricultural and
forestry polders.
The
ethnical structure of population
The ethnic structure of population in DDBR in 2002
was as follows:
Romanians: 12,666 people (87%)
Russians, Lipovans: 1,438 people (10%)
Ukrainians: 299 people (2%)
Other nationalities: 1% .
- Romany: 69 people
- Greeks: 63 people
- Turks: 17 people
- Hungarians: 12 people
- Bulgarians: 3 people
- Germans: 2 people
- Armenians: 2 people
- Other nationalities: 12 .
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