Cluj-Napoca (pronunciation in Romanian: /'kluʒ na'poka/; Medieval Latin: Castrum Clus / Claudiopolis; German: Klausenburg; Hungarian: Kolozsvár) is a city in northwestern Romania and the seat of Cluj County. The city, one of the most important academic, cultural and industrial centers in the country, is located in the historic province of Transylvania and is approximately 330 km northwest of Bucharest, in the Someşul Mic Valley.

[edit] Etymology

The name Cluj derives from Castrum Clus, first used in the 12th century to designate the city's medieval citadel. The word Clus means "closed" in Latin, and is related to the hills that surround the city. Another probable theory derives the name from German, either from the name Klaus, or from the archaic Klus (meaning mountain pass, or weir).

The city is also known by its Hungarian name Kolozsvár, as well as by its German name Klausenburg. Cluj is one of the seven medieval foritfied Saxon cities of Transylvania. The city became known by the Romanian name Cluj after becoming part of the Kingdom of Romania in 1918. The city's name was changed to Cluj-Napoca in 1974 by the Romanian authorities.

[edit] History

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After the Roman Empire conquered Dacia in the beginning of the 2nd century, Trajan established a legion base known as Napoca. Hadrian raised Napoca to the status of a municipium, naming it Municipium Aelium Hadrianum Napoca. The locality was later raised to the status of a colonia, probably during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Napoca became a provincial capital of Provincia Porolissensis and the seat of a procurator. However, during the Migrations Period Napoca was overrun and destroyed.

In the 10th century, the region was settled the Magyars (Hungarians) and became part of the Kingdom of Hungary. King Stephen V of Hungary encouraged the Transylvanian Saxons to colonize near the Roman ruins of Napoca in 1272. Their settlement received the German name Klausenburg, from the old word Klause meaning "mountain pass."

In 1270 Cluj was given town privileges by Stephen V and began to grow quickly. The Saint Michael Church was built during the reign of King Sigismund. Cluj became a free city in 1405. By this time the number of Saxon and Hungarian inhabitants was equal, and King Matthias Corvinus (born in Cluj in 1440) ordered that the office of the chief judge should be alternating between Hungarians and Saxons.

In 1541 Cluj became part of the independent Principality of Transylvania after the Ottoman Turks occupied most of the Kingdom of Hungary. Although Alba Iulia was the political capital for the princes of Transylvania, Cluj was the main cultural and religious center for the principality. Prince Istvan Batory founded a Jesuit academy in Cluj in 1581. Between 1545 and 1570 large numbers of Saxons left the city due to the introduction of Unitarian doctrines,^{[citation needed]}. The remaining were assimilated to Hungarians, and the city became a center for Hungarian nobility and intellectuals. With the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, Cluj became part of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria.

The first Hungarian-language newspaper was published in Cluj in 1791, and the first Hungarian theatrical company was established in 1792. In 1798 the city was heavily damaged by a fire.

From 1790-1848 and 1861-1867, Cluj was the capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania within the Austrian Empire; the city was also the seat of the Transylvanian diets. Beginning in 1830, the city became the centre of the Hungarian national movement within the principality. During the Revolutions of 1848, Cluj was taken and garrisoned in December by Hungarians under the command of the Polish general Józef Bem.

After the Ausgleich (compromise) which created Austria-Hungary in 1867, Cluj and Transylvania were again integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary. During this time Cluj was the second most important city in the kingdom after Budapest, and was the seat of Kolozs County.

After World War I, Cluj became part of the Kingdom of Romania, along with the rest of Transylvania. In 1940 Cluj was returned to Hungary through the Second Vienna Award, but Hungarian forces in the city were defeated by the Soviet and Romanian armies in October 1944. Cluj was restored to Romania by the Treaty of Paris in 1947.

Cluj had 16,763 Jews in 1941. While under the Hungarian administration, the city's Jews were forced into ghettos in 1944 under conditions of intense overcrowding and practically no facilities. Liquidation of the ghetto occurred through six deportations to Auschwitz between May and June 1944. Despite facing severe sanctions from the Horthy government, many Jews escaped across the border to Romania with the assistance of Romanian peasants of neighboring villages. They were then able to flee Europe from the Black Sea port of Constanţa.

Hungarians remained the majority of the city's population until the 1960s, when for the first time in its long history, Romanians outnumbered Hungarians. According to the 1966 census, the city's population of 185,663 was composed of 56% Romanians and 41% Hungarians. Until 1974 the official Romanian name of the city was Cluj. It was renamed to Cluj-Napoca by the Communist government to recognize it as the site of the Roman colony Napoca. Some believe this was done to slight the Hungarian community by affirming that the ethnic Romanian community is descended from the Dacians colonized by the Romans–a fact disputed by some theories (see Origin of Romanians).

Following the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the ex-communist and ultra-nationalist politician Gheorghe Funar became mayor for 12 years. His tenure was marked by strong Romanian nationalistic and anti-Hungarian ideas. A number of public art projects were undertaken by the city with the aim of highlighting Romanian symbols of the city, most of them regarded by Hungarian ethnics as a way of obscuring the city's Hungarian ancestry. In June 2004 Gheorghe Funar was voted out of office, coming in third in the first round of voting. He was replaced by Emil Boc of the Democratic Party, who began working with Hungarians to restore good ethnic relations within the city. However, new laws on municipal bilingualism have not been applied as the 2002 city census showed less than 20% Hungarians.

In 1994 and 2000, Cluj-Napoca hosted the Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI). It thus made Romania not only the first country to have hosted the CEOI, but also the first country to have hosted it a second time.

The city is known in Hasidic Jewish history for the founding of the Sanz-Klausenburg dynasty.

[edit] Politics

Main article: Politics of Cluj-Napoca

The mayor of Cluj-Napoca is Emil Boc, the leader of the Democratic Party, ex-FSN.

The Cluj-Napoca Municipal Council, elected in the 2004 local government elections, is made up of 27 councillors, with the following party composition:

	Party	Seats	Current Council
	Justice and Truth Alliance	12
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	6
	Social Democratic Party	5
	Greater Romania Party	3
	Independents	1

The most important parties at Cluj are Partidul Naţional Liberal, Partidul Democrat (ex-FSN), Partidul Social Democrat, Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin-Democrat (PNŢCD), Partidul România Mare, Uniunea Democratǎ a Maghiarilor din România, Partidul Conservator

[edit] Population

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From the Middle Ages onwards, the city of Cluj has been a multicultural city with a diverse cultural and religious life. As of 2002 the city's population was 318,027 (ranked third in Romania after the capital Bucharest and Iaşi).

The ethnic composition, according to the 2002 census, is:

252,433 Romanians (79.4%)
60,287 Hungarians (18.9%)
1% Roma, 0.23% Germans and 0.06% Jews.

[edit] Population dynamics

Official Censuses show the following population dynamics:

60,808 in 19 December 1910; (of which 81.6% Hungarian)

After Transylvania was given to Romania in 1918-1920, a massive exile of the Hungarian inhabitants occurred.

100,844 in 29 December 1930; (of which 53.3% Hungarian)

In August 1940, as the second Vienna Award returned the northern half of Transylvania to Hungary, an exile of Romanian inhabitants occurred.

114,984 in 1941, (of which 87.1% Hungarian)

In 1941, Cluj had 16,763 Jews. The Cluj Jews were ghettoized in 1944 by Hungarian occupying forces and deported to Auschwitz between May and June 1944.

117,915 in 25 January 1948;
154,723 in 21 February 1956; (of which 50.3% Hungarian)

In the sixties a very strong policy of Romanianization started. Numerous ethnic Romanians were moved into the city from the surrounding countryside and from outside Transylvania of Romania. As a consequence, for the first time in its long history, Cluj lost its Hungarian majority.

185,663 in 15 March 1966; (of which 42.2% Hungarian)
262,858 in 5 January 1977; (of which 32.7% Hungarian)
328,602 in 7 January 1992; (of which 22.7% Hungarian)
318,027 in 18 March 2002; (of which 18.9% Hungarian)

[edit] Famous natives/inhabitants of Cluj

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Ion Agârbiceanu - novelist
Dezső Bánffy - prime minister of Hungary
Miklós Bánffy - politician and novelist
Lucian Blaga - philosopher
Stephen Bocskay - prince of Transylvania
János Bolyai - mathematician
Alexandru Borza - scientist, founder of the Botanical Garden
Corneliu Coposu - politician (National Peasants' Party)
Doina Cornea - anti-communist dissident, human rights activist and politician (National Peasants' Party)
Mathias Corvinus - King of Hungary
Ferenc Dávid - reformer, founder of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania
Gheorghe Funar - ultra-nationalist politician (Greater Romania Party)
Iuliu Haţieganu - scientist, doctor, politician (National Peasants' Party)
Iuliu Hossu - Greek-Catholic cardinal, participant at the Alba Iulia gathering on December 1, 1918
Iuliu Maniu - politician (National Peasants' Party)
Andrei Marga - politician and philosopher
Iuliu Merca - artist
Dorinel Munteanu - football player
Gheorghe Mureşan - basketball player
Ioan Gyuri Pascu - artist
Florin Piersic - actor
Emil Racoviţă - biologist, speleologist and explorer
Ion Raţiu - politician (National Peasants' Party)
Sándor Reményik - poet
D.D. Roşca - philosopher
István Szamosközy - historian
Ioan Ovidiu Sabău - football player

[edit] Areas of Cluj

Centru
Mănăştur
Grigorescu
Gheorgheni
Mărăşti
Plopilor
Zorilor
Someşeni
Andrei Mureşanu
Iris
Dâmbul-Rotund
Bulgaria
Becaş
Borhanci
Lombului
Tineretului
Gruia
Aurel Vlaicu
Bună-Ziua
Făget
Sopor
Cetatea Fetei

[edit] Arts and Culture

One of the main cultural events that takes place in Cluj-Napoca is the Transilvania International Film Festival (official site). The Gay Film Nights festival, showcasing LGBT culture and cinema, is also organised annually in Cluj-Napoca by Be An Angel, the city's largest LGBT rights organisation.

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

[edit] Economy

Image:Cluj-Napoca Irisbus 2.jpg

Ursus beer is brewed here. The city is served by the Cluj-Napoca International Airport.

The IT sector is well-represented, with over 100 software companies and two universities that provide quality graduate engineers.

Here you can find shopping centers like: Metro, Cora, Selgros, Profi, Kaufland, Billa, Praktiker, Sora, Sigma Center, Central, Plus.

Soon Polus Center Mall and Julius Mall will open their gates.

[edit] Education

Cluj-Napoca is one of the most important academic centres in Romania.

Universities:

Babeş-Bolyai University (the largest in the country with more than 43,000 students) offering 105 concentrations in Romanian, 52 in Hungarian, 13 in German and 4 in English

official site

University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine

official site

Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (with more than 12,000 students)

official site

Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy (with more than 6,000 students)

official site

Art and Design University

official site

Gheorghe Dima Music Academy

official site

Some private universities:

Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University (more than 1,500 students)

official site

Bogdan Vodă University

official site

Avram Iancu University

official site

Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (in Romanian: Universitatea Fundaţiei Maghiare Sapientia din Transilvania, in Hungarian: Sapientia Erdélyi Magyar Tudományegyetem)

official site

Some important public schools: Liceul Teoretic Avram Iancu,Liceul de Informatică Tiberiu Popoviciu, Colegiul National George Baritiu, Liceul Teoretic Lucian Blaga, Liceul Emil Racoviţă, Liceul Gheorghe Şincai, Liceul Nicolae Bălcescu, Liceul George Coşbuc, Liceul Mihai Eminescu, Liceul Onisifor Ghibu, Báthory István Elméleti Liceum, János Zsigmond Unitárius Kollégium, Brassai Sámuel Gimnázium, Apáczai Csere János Elméleti Liceum

[edit] Modern Architecture

Main article: Modern architecture in Cluj-Napoca

Cluj is one of the most important cities in Transylvania, so many firms and banks have headquarters there, some building modern tall skyscrapers and glass buildings throughout the city.

[edit] Sports Teams

[edit] Football (soccer)

Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
CFR Ecomax Cluj- 2005 Intertoto Cup finalists

[edit] Rugby

Universitatea BT Agressione Cluj-Napoca

[edit] Volleyball

Universitatea Cluj Men
Universitatea Cluj Women

[edit] Basketball

Universitatea BT ACSA Terapia Cluj-Napoca (women)
BU Poli Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (men)

[edit] Handball

U Jolidon Cluj-Napoca (women)
U Agronomia Cluj-Napoca (men)

[edit] Waterpolo

Poli CSM Cluj-Napoca

[edit] Women's Soccer

Clujeana Cluj-Napoca

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] Some tourist attractions

Main article: Cluj-Napoca tourist attractions

Image:CJROCluj-Napoca 19.jpg

Any tourist's must-see list should definitely include the following:

the Avram Iancu Square with the Orthodox Cathedral, the National Theatre and the Avram Iancu Statue
the Unirii Square with the St. Michael's Church and the Matthias Corvinus (Matei Corvin in Romanian, Hunyadi Mátyás in Hungarian)
the Universităţii Street with the Babeş-Bolyai University and the Reformed Church
the Mihai Viteazul Square with the Mihai Viteazul Statue
the Lucian Blaga Square with the University Library
the Botanical Garden
the George Baritiu Street with the Technical University
the Cetăţuia with its wonderful panorama of the city
the Central Park
several museums: the Transylvanian Ethnographic Museum (including its open air section), the History Museum, the Art Museum, the Zoology Museum and the Pharmacy Museum
the Central Cemetery (also known as Házsongárd, or Hajongard)(16th century)
the house where Matthias Corvinus (later king of Hungary) was born
Michael the Brave Statue

[edit] Gallery

Orthodox Cathedral	Catholic Cathedral	National Theatre & Opera	River Someş
Avram Iancu Square, aerial view	Matthias Corvinus Statue	Capitoline Wolf Statue on Eroilor Avenue	Saint George Statue
Iuliu Maniu Street	The Cetăţuie Hill	Matei Corvin Alley	Babeş-Bolyai University
Etnographic Park	Cluj-Napoca's tallest skyscraper	Panoramic view at night	Panoramic view