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The German minority in Romania between demographic decline and adaptation. As most of the other national minorities in Romania, the German population declined by 40% between 2002 and 2011. The highest decreasing levels were registered in the counties and settlements where Germans had been colonized throughout the centuries, especially in Transylvania. Growth was only registered in Ilfov County due to the economic attractiveness. In 2011 there were still 11 towns with more than 500 German inhabitants and 14 rural municipalities with more than 100 Germans. The demographic setback determined adaptation measures, especially within the Democratic Forum of the Germans in Romania and the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

German Toponymy in Bârsa Land. Abstract. Starting with the 12th century, Germans were colonized in Bârsa Land, the western part of Braşov Basin. Their toponymy is partly their own and partly taken over and adapted from the other national groups (Romanians and Hungarians). In this paper, we analysed the place names of settlements, streams and landforms of Bârsa Land, mainly from a semantic point of view, drawing a parallel between the Romanian and German toponyms. Based on these toponyms, one can infer the areas of settlement of the national groups throughout the centuries.

Identification of Someşean Plateau rural settlements to evaluate their vulnerability. In the identification process of the rural settlements, from the Someşan Plateau, we used those criteria which mostly highlight the degree of their vulnerability towards natural and anthropologic hazards (position, morphometry, morphology, demography). According to the mentioned criteria we analyzed the rural settlements distribution on the Someşan Plateau’s geographical subunits. This approach will allow us to assess the rural settlements vulnerability degree towards natural and anthropologic hazards and how they are spatially differenced in the studied area.

Peisajele culturale istorice ale României şi posibilităţile lor de valorificare. În România cercetarea sistematică a peisajelor se află abia la început. Peisajele culturale istorice şi elementele lor se găsesc peste tot, dar în prezent ele sunt supuse unor modificări rapide şi necontrolate. Cu toate că România a aderat în 2002 la Convenţia Europeană a Peisajelor, rezultatele unei valorificări în cadrul planurilor de dezvoltare durabilă se lasă aşteptate. România se află la intersecţia unor mari regiuni ale Europei (Centrale, de Sud est şi de Est), ceea ce îi conferă un amestec caracteristic de peisaje culturale, create de majoritatea română, dar şi de numeroasele minorităţi. Aceste peisaje culturale istorice în prezent sunt periclitate, din cauza depopulării, a emigrării unor minorităţi şi din cauza reînnoirilor accelerate şi necontrolate, mai cu seamă după 1990. Se impune o strategie prin care să se asigure o colaborare a factorilor de decizie locale şi regionale cu organizaţiile localnicilor, asociaţii, ONG-uri etc.) în vederea protejării şi valorificării peisajelor culturale.