Abstracts - Year IX, no.1 / 2007

A DECADE OF “ROMANIAN REVIEW ON POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY”

Voicu BODOCAN, Alexandru ILIES

         Abstract: Ten years have passed since the Romanian geographical community enriched with a new scientific periodical, the Romanian Review on Political Geography. It was unusual and daring to have such an idea at that time when Political Geography was vaguely known in the community and confusions with Geopolitics were very often. But the desire to make known the results of their research was higher for those only few really interested in the field of political geography than the difficult conditions of the time. ( pdf.)

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DISSOLUTION PROCESSES OF THE MENTAL SPACES AFFERENT TO THE ROMANIAN “LANDS”

Pompei COCEAN

Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, 5-7 Clinicilor Street, 400006 Cluj Napoca, Romania, e-mail: pompei@geografie.ubbcluj.ro

Mental spaces, no matter of their typology (provincial, ethnographical, habitable or metropolitan), evolve historically, diversifying their structure and functions, expanding or reducing themselves territorially. But, in the same time, in some circumstances, some phenomena of dissolution may appear, of gradual loss as regards their load of symbols and structural elements. The dissolution, whose weight is considerable, generates important mutations in the architecture of the affected mental space, while the extreme one even leads to the disappearance of the respective space. Among the factors involved in the appearance and the affirmation of the dissolution processes of the mental spaces, allochthony, lack of borders, substitution and cosmopolitism can be mentioned.

Keywords : mental space, dissolution, allochthony, substitution, lack of borders

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SPATIAL MANIFETATIONS OF MENTALITY-RELATED ELEMENTS IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL REGION OF OAS LAND

Marin ILIEŞ

Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, Extension Sighetu Marma ţ iei, Romania, e-mail: iliesmarin@yahoo.com

Oas Land is one of the geographical regions of “Land” category in Romania where the statement “living cell” or “living body” can be demonstrated and represents a tangible reality. Such “vibrations” of the region, as to time and space, do not represent only a sequence of restraints end extensions related to ethnical or territorial aspects, or to the Oas Community but, rather, issues of way of life, family organization, building style, acting and reacting to internal and external stimuli of the region.

Keywords : Oas Land, oseni, regional identity, mental construction

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THE ROMANIAN “LANDS” AS PROJECT TERRITORY: CASE STUDY: BEIUª LAND

Luminiţa FILIMON

University of Oradea, Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, 1 University str, 410087 Oradea, Romania, e-mail: palelumi@yahoo.com

The present study tries to demonstrate the necessity of regional analyses to the true, functional geographic regions found by geographers and not artificially created by planning, which exist in the objective reality as level of space organisation, and subsequently, their implication in the planning as programme-regions or as territory project in order to optimize the exploration of their potential. Obviously, every territory can support such an approach, Beiuº Land being chooses as case study through purely subjective criteria. Also, defining for this approach is this area specificity as “land” area – so, not an artificial imposed territory, but one with a remarkable coherence, that that it can and must be used in a strategy of territorial durable development. By extrapolation, we try to adapt on Romania the idea of “project territory” as a new possibility of doing territorial cutting, depending on the intervention aim through planning, so, by “project” – susceptible to involve European funds. The legitimacy of this approach is helped by the implication in the rebirth of Beiuº Land (and any other Romanian area as “land” area) as a territory of deep originality, in its regional plenitude for durable development changing in a project territory.

Keywords: area as “land” area, project territory, endogenous development

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THE ETHNIC PARTICULARITIES OF THE LAPUŞULUI LAND POPULATION. TERRITORIAL REPARTITION AND SPECIFIC REGIONAL MANIFESTATIONS IN THE PERIOD 1850-2002

Ştefan DEZSI

„Babeş-Bolyai” University, Faculty of Geography, 5-7 Clinicilor St. 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, e-mail: stefan@geografie.ubbcluj.ro

Despite the fact that Ţ ara Lăpuşului constitutes an integral part of Transylvanian space, characterized by an ethnic structure relatively diverse, due to the historical and political conditions of evolution, analysis of statistical-demographic information for the interval between 1850-2002 reveals a remarkable ethnic homogeneity of the population, the autochthonous element having the absolute majority for all the registrations made and analyzed in his paper (1850, 1880, 1910, 1930, 1977 and 2002). The ponderosity of the main ethnic groups main ethnic groups oscillated during the last century and a half, the most significant mutations being registered in the second part of the XIX th century after the installing of the dualist Austrian-Hungarian monarchy and affected by the denationalization politics of the authorities, when the ponderosity of the Romanian population in Lăpuşan space did not decrease below 80,5 % (registered in 1880). Subsequently, ethnic groups ponderosities underwent different evolutions (numeric and spatial), without changing substantially the homogeneous ethnic landscape, the most consistent ponder evolutions charactering the Romanian population, that reached values of 90,43 % at region level in 1992, but the census in 2002 highlighted 18 localities with Romanian population of 100 % of the total of 38 localities of the region, in other 11 the number of the people of other ethnic being below 10, thus resulting an extremely reduced indices of ethnic differentiation. All these reveal a Lăpuşului Land predominantly Romanian, highlighting its role, as well as of all social-spatial unities of land type in preserving the Romanian element during the tumultuous history specific to the Transylvanian space.

Keywords : group ethnic, evolution, territorial repartition, regional, repartition, ethnic homogeneousness/homogeneity

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SILVANIA LAND – A REALITY WITHIN THE ROMANIAN HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE

Ioana JOSAN

University of Oradea, Department of Geography, Tourism and Territorial Planning, 1 University str, 410087 Oradea, Romania, e-mail : ioanajosan@yahoo.co.uk

The Land of Silvania appears like a large closed golf towards south-west and south-est of northern prolonging of Western Mountains represented by Plopiş Mountains and Meseş Mountains. Towards north-west, this “golf” opens widely; the limit is represented by the thick forest. We have approached three important aspects connected to the existence of Silvania Land as geographical region: the analysis as a social and political entity, the spatial and temporal dimension, and the scientific arguments of its very existence.

Keywords: Silvania Land, forest, functional geographic region, spatial and temporal dimension

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THE FEATURES OF INTRAREGIONAL MIGRATION BASED ON ONOMASTIC STUDIES IN MARAMURES LAND

Gabriela ILIEŞ

Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, Extension Sighetu Marma ţ iei, Romania, email: gabrielailies@yahoo.com

Migration is a specific phenomenon in Maramures Land. From historical point of view, it is caused by a large scale of factors, low productivity of the land, natural disasters, and ethnic groups' movement. Some actual characteristics can be drawn: seasonal migration is dominant; definitive migration is less representative; economic transition has intensified the flows. That is why a study concerning the features of intraregional migration can focus also on Onomastic Studies. The prognosis of intraregional migration caused by economic restructuring associated with the transition period towards a market economy in Maramures Land is based on a geographic model. This model combines the classical approach and some local characteristics of a “land” type region as Maramures Land. The conclusions revealed some trends strictly linked to a former administrative territorial organization (several centuries ago).

Keywords : Maramures Land, onomastic studies, migration, homonymy, anthroponomy

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REGIONAL IDENTITY IN THE LAND OF NÃSÃUD

Oana-Ramona ILOVAN

Faculty of Geography, “Babeş-Bolyai” University, Clinicilor Street, 400006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, e-mail: ilovanoana@yahoo.com

In this study we discussed the features of territorial identity in the Land of Nãsãud only for the third spatial hypostasis of this region, from both a chronological and a spatial perspective. History, geography, sociology, and psychology studies facilitated an interdisciplinary approach that was justified if we took into account what we wanted to verify and to demonstrate. Because the process of establishing the limits of the Land of Nãsãud was a difficult one from the beginning, having in view the varied situations brought up by numerous books and articles, as well as people's perceptions upon the space they considered as their own and that belonging to their neighbours, we decided to begin a more demanding approach, and this proved to be both efficient and relevant. We drew the conclusion that people's pride was a normal feeling of attaching value to the place and region where they were born. The N ăsăud Military Border District and their cultural tradition came to explain local and regional pride.

Keywords : Land of Nãsãud, regional identity, methodology

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ASPECTS OF HISTORICAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION AND APPLIED GEOGRAPHY EXAMINATIONS

Angelica PUŞCAŞ

Faculty of Geography, “Babeş-Bolyai” University, Clinicilor Street, 400006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

The Romanian notion of “ţară” ( word derived from the Latin “terra”) implies an ample understanding: geographical, historical and social ones. Of the geographical aspects Wee suggest the evolutive analysis:

I. The first one is the old folk meaning of the word that opposed the “land” (“ţară”) to the mountainous regions

II. The connotation of historical, geographical, political and administrative origin. In this case the concept of “ţară” implies the medieval structures anticipating the state, observed in a dynamic evolution.

III. The last coordinate is the continuity and unity thesis framed by the cultural diversity. This thesis invited the paradigm that involves another major geographical concept that of a mental region.

As the land were assimilated as early prestatal organizations states limited in size taking into consideration the political and administrative aspects, from a geographic angle they are regarded as typical natural regions specific above all to the Transylvanian space. They had along the entire medieval period a social-political and military organization derived from the institution of the rural communes

We start by proposing for analysis the institution of the rural commune. The relevant fact is that it has dating and the rigorous and efficient functioning pattern. What is essential is that on a space and time scale the commune organized as en embryonic structure being the matrix of a complex territorial organization schematically perceived like a pyramid with a hierarchy based on taxonomy and functionality of each level. The rule is that each level functions in the some time both as a self sufficient system and as a subsystem functionally integrated in the dynamics of the superior unit.

Keywords : country, land, pays; village community, communal society; joint property; voivodeship, woiwoideship, principality; fortress; military district; feudal domain, estate, landed property; holahic structure; military condition, military service; mental region; gographic field, geographic space; autonomous regional system