Currently, Romanians in Hungary constitute a small minority. According to the most recent Hungarian census of 2011, the population of Romanians was 35,641 or 0.3%, a significant increase from 8,482 or 0.1% of 2001. The community is concentrated in towns and villages close to the Romanian border, such as Battonya, Elek, Kétegyháza, Pusztaottlaka and Méhkerék, and in the city of Gyula. Romanians also live in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
History
Historically, a significant part of the modern Romanian lands belonged to Hungarian states. The oldest extant documents from Transylvania make reference to Vlachs too. Regardless of the subject of Romanian presence/non-presence in Transylvania prior to the Hungarian conquest, the first written sources about Romanian settlements derive from the 13th century, record was written about Olahteluk village in Bihar county from 1283. The 'land of Romanians', Terram Blacorum showed up in Fogaras and this area was mentioned under different name in 1285. The first appearance of a supposed Romanian name 'Ola' in Hungary derives from a charter. They were significant population in Transylvania, Banat, Máramaros and Partium. There is a strip in modern Hungary, near Romanian border with villages and towns dwelled by Romanians. A lot of Romanians fled from Serbia and Croatia to Hungary in medieval times. Tököl town near Budapest is known for Romanian/Vlach population known as "Bunjevici" from Croatia. In 1881, Romanian-majority settlements projected to the present-day territory of Hungary were: Bedő, Csengerújfalu, Kétegyháza, Körösszakál, Magyarcsanád, Méhkerék, Mezőpeterd, Pusztaottlaka and Vekerd. Important communities lived in Battonya, Elek, Körösszegapáti, Létavértes, Nyíradony, Pocsaj, Sarkadkeresztúr, and Zsáka. After the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary has become close to homogeneous ethnically, with only 10.4% minorities, of which 6.9% were Germans, and Romanians constituted about 0.3%. The numbers of Romanians in Hungary increased briefly with the onset of World War II when Hungary annexed parts of Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. These annexations were affirmed under the Munich Agreement, two Vienna Awards. In particular, the population of Northern Transylvania, according to the Hungarian census from 1941 counted 53.5% Hungarians and 39.1% Romanians. After World War II the ethnic homogeneity of Hungary became even higher than during the interbellum, reaching over 99% by 1980.
