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'Dobruja', or sometimes 'Dobrudja' (''Dobrogea'' in Romanian, Добруджа—transliterated ''Dobrudzha''—in Bulgarian, ''Dobruca'' in Turkish, and Δοβρουτσά—transliterated ''Dovroutsá''—in Greek), is an informal region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast.
The territory of Dobruja is comprised of Northern Dobruja, which is part of Romania, and Southern Dobruja, which belongs to Bulgaria.
The territory of the Romanian region 'Dobrogea' is now organized as the counties of Constanţa and Tulcea, with a combined area of 15,500 km² and a population of slightly less than a million. Main cities are Constanţa, Tulcea, Medgidia, and Mangalia. Dobrogea is represented by dolphins in the coat of arms of Romania.
The Bulgarian region of 'Dobrudzha', which is divided between the administrative regions of Dobrich and Silistra, has a total area of 7,565 km², and a combined population of some 350,000 people.

Contents

Geography

Etymology

History

Prehistory

Ancient history

Roman rule

Byzantine rule

First Bulgarian Empire rule

Return of the Byzantine, late migrations and Second Bulgarian Empire rule

Independent Dobruja. The wars against the Ottomans

Ottoman rule

Modern age

Demographic history

Northern Dobruja

Southern Dobruja

Area, population and cities

Notes

References

Geography

With the exception of the Danube Delta, a marshy region located in its north-eastern corner, Dobruja is hilly, with an average altitude of about 200-300 meters. The highest point is in the Ţuţuiatu/Greci Peak in the Măcin Mountains, having a height of 467 m. The Dobrogea Plateau covers most of the Romanian part of Dobruja, while in the Bulgarian part the Ludogorie Plateau is found. Lake Siutghiol is one of the most important lakes in Northern Dobruja.

Etymology

The origin of the name of Dobruja could be found in the Turkish rendition of the name of a 14th century ruler, despot Dobrotitsa (دوبرجه)._l^[1] It was common for the Turks to name countries after one of their early rulers (for example, nearby Moldavia was known as ''Bogdan Iflak'' by the Turks, named after Bogdan I).
An alternative etymology was given by Gheorghe I. Brătianu, according to whom, its name is a Slavic derivation from a Turkic word (''Bordjan'' or ''Brudjars'') which referred to the Turkic Proto-Bulgarians, term also used by Arabic writers.
Initially, the name meant just the steppe of the southern region, between the forests around Babadag in the north and the Silistra-Dobrich-Balchik line in the south,^[2] but eventually, the term was extended to include the northern part and the Danube Delta.^[3] In the 19th century, some authors used the name to refer just to the territory between the southernmost branch of the Danube (St. George) in the north and the Carasu Valley (nowadays the Danube-Black Sea Canal) in the south.^[4]

History

Prehistory

The territory of Dobruja has been inhabited since Middle and Upper Paleolithic,^[5] as the remains at Babadag, Slava Rusă and Enisala prove. In the Neolithic, it was part of the Hamangia culture (named after a village on the Dobrujan coast), Boian culture and Karanovo V culture. At the end of the 5th millennium BC, under the influence of some Aegeo-Mediterranean tribes and cultures, the Gumelniţa culture appeared in the region. In the Eneolithic, populations migrating from the north of the Black Sea, of the Kurgan culture, mixed with the previous population, creating the Cernavodă I culture. Under Kurgan II influence, the Cernavodă II culture emerged, and then, through the combination of the Cernavodă I and Ezero cultures, developed the Cernavodă III culture. The region had commercial contacts with the Mediterranean world since the 14th century BC, as a Mycenaean sword discovered at Medgidia proves.^[6]

Ancient history

During the early Iron Age, in the 8th–6th centuries BC the Geto-Dacians individualized from the large Thracian population. In the second part of the 8th century BC, the first signs of commercial relations between indigenous population and Greeks appeared on the shore of the Halmyris Gulf (now the Sinoe Lake). In 657/656 BC colonists from Miletus founded the first colony in the region - Histria.^[7] In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, more Greek colonies were founded on the Dobrujan coast (Callatis, Tomis, Mesembria, Dionysopolis, Parthenopolis, Aphrodisias, Eumenia etc). In the 5th century BC these colonies were under the influence of the Delian League, passing in this period from oligarchy to democracy.^[8] Furthermore, in the 6th century BC, the first Scythian groups began to enter the region. Two Getae tribes, the ''Crobyzi'' and ''Terizi'', and the town of Orgame (Argamum) were mentioned on the territory of present Dobruja by Hekataios of Miletus (540–470 BC).^[9]

In 514/512 BC King Darius I of Persia subdued the Getae living in the region during his expedition against Scythians living north of the Danube.^[10] At about 430 BC, the Odrysian kingdom under Sitalkes extended its rule to the mouths of the Danube.^[11] In 429 BC, Getae from the region participated in an Odrysian campaign in Macedonia.^[12] In the 4th century BC, the Scythians brought Dobruja under their sway. In 341–339 BC, one of their kings, Atheas fought against Histria, which was supported by a ''Histrianorum rex'' (probably a local Getic ruler). In 339 BC, King Atheas was defeated by the Macedonians under king Philip II, who afterwards extended his rule over Dobruja.^[13]
In 313 BC and again in 310–309 BC the Greek colonies led by Callatis, supported by Antigonus I Monophthalmus, revolted against Macedonian rule. The revolts were suppressed by Lysimachus, the diadochus of Thracia, who also began a military expedition against Dromichaetes, the rulers of the Getae north of the Danube, in 300 BC. In the 3rd century BC, colonies on the Dobrujan coast paid tribute to the basilei Zalmodegikos and Moskon, who probably ruled also northern Dobruja. In the same century, Celts settled in the north of the region. In 260 BC, Byzantion lost the war with Callatis and Histria for the control of Tomis. At the end of the 3rd century BC and the beginning of the 2nd century BC, the Bastarnae settled in the area of the Danube Delta. Around 200 BC, the Thracian king Zoltes invaded the province several times, but was defeated by Rhemaxos, who became the protector of the Greek colonies.
Around 100 BC King Mithridates VI of Pontus extended his authority over the Greek cities in Dobruja. However, in 72–71 BC, during the Third Mithridatic War, these cities were occupied by the Roman proconsul of Macedonia, Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus. A foedus was signed between the Greek colonies and the Roman Empire, but in 62–61 BC the colonies revolted. Gaius Antonius Hybrida intervened, but was defeated by Getae and Bastarnae near Histria. After 55 BC the Dacians under King Burebista conquered Dobruja and all the Greek colonies on the coast, but their rule ended in 44 BC.

Roman rule

In 28/29 BC Rholes, a Getic ruler from southern Dobruja, supported the proconsul of Macedonia, Marcus Licinius Crassus, in his action against the Bastarnae. Declared ''Socius et amicus Populi Romani'' by Octavianus,^[14] Rholes helped Crassus in conquering the states of Dapyx (in central Dobruja) and Zyraxes (in the north of the region).^[15] Dobruja became part of the client kingdom of the Odrysians, while the Greek cities on the coast came under direct rule of the governor of Macedonia. In 12 AD and 15 AD a Getic army succeeded in conquering the cities of Aegyssus and Troesmis for a short time, but it was defeated by Odrysian king Rhoemetalces with the help of a Roman army.

In 15 AD the Roman province of Moesia was created, but Dobruja, under the name ''Ripa Thraciae'' remained part of the Odrysian kingdom, while the Greek cities on the coast formed ''Praefectura orae maritimae''. In 46 AD Thracia became a Roman province and the territories of present Dobruja were absorbed into the province of Moesia. The Geto-Dacians invaded the region several times in the 1st century AD, especially between 62 and 70. In the same period the base of the Roman Danube fleet (''classis Flavia Moesica'') was moved to Noviodunum. The ''praefectura'' was annexed to Moesia in 86 AD. In the same year Domitianus divided Moesia, Dobruja being included in the eastern part, ''Moesia Inferior''.
In the winter of 101–102 the Dacian king Decebalus led a coalition of Dacians, Carpians, Sarmatians and Burs in an attack against Moesia Inferior. The invading army was defeated by the Roman legions under Emperor Trajan on the Yantra river (later Nicopolis ad Istrum was founded there to commemorate the victory), and again near modern village of Adamclisi, in the southern part of Dobruja. The latter victory was commemorated by a monument, built in 109 on the spot and the founding of the city of Tropaeum. After 105, Legio XI Claudia and Legio V Macedonica were moved to Dobruja, at Durostorum and Troesmis respectively.
In 118 Hadrian intervened in the region to calm a Sarmatian rebellion. In 170 Costoboci invaded Dobruja, attacking Libida, Ulmetum and Tropaeum. The province was generally stable and prosperous until the crisis of the Third Century, which led to the weakening of defenses and numerous barbarian invasions. In 248 a coalition of Goths, Carpians, Taifali, Bastarnae and Hasdingi, led by Argaithus and Guntheric devastated Dobruja.^[16] During the reign of Traianus Decius the province suffered greatly from the attack of Goths under King Cniva.^[17] Barbarian attacks followed in 258, 263 and 267. In 269 a fleet of allied Goths, Heruli, Bastarnae and Sarmatians attacked the cities on the coast, including Tomis.^[18] In 272 Aurelianus defeated the Carpians north of the Danube and settled a part of them near Carsium. The same emperor put an end to the crisis in the Roman Empire, thus helping the reconstruction of the province.
During the reign of Diocletianus Dobruja became a separate province, Scythia, part of the Diocese of Thracia. Its capital city was Tomis. Diocletianus also moved ''Legio II Herculia'' to Troesmis and ''Legio I Iovia'' to Noviodunum. In 331–332 Constantine the Great defeated the Goths who attacked the province. Dobruja was devastated again by Ostrogoths in 384–386. Under the emperors Licinius, Julian the Apostate and Valens the cities of the region were repaired or rebuilt.

Byzantine rule

After the division of the Roman Empire, Dobruja became part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Between 513 and 520, the region participated in a revolt against Anastasius I. Its leader, Vitalianus, native of Zaldapa, in Southern Dobruja, defeated the Byzantine general Hypatius near Kaliakra. During Justin I's rule, Antes and Slavs invaded the region, but they were defeated by Germanus. In 529, the Gepid commander Mundus repelled a new invasion by Bulgars and Antes. Kutrigurs and Avars invaded the region several times, until 561–562, when the Avars under Bayan were settled south of the Danube as foederati. During the rule of Mauricius Tiberius, the Slavs devastated Dobruja, destroying the cities of Dorostolon, Zaldapa and Tropaeum. In 591/593, Byzantine general Priscus tried to stop invasions, attacking and defeating the Slavs under Ardagast in the north of the province. In 602 during the mutiny of the Byzantine army in the Balkans, a large mass of Slavs crossed the Danube, settling south of the Danube. Dobruja remained under loose Byzantine control, and was reorganized during the reign of Constantine IV as ''Thema Scythia''.^[19]

First Bulgarian Empire rule

The results of the archaeological researches indicate that Byzantine presence in Dobruja's mainland and on the banks of Danube lost weight in the end of the 6th century under the pressure of the Migration Period. In the coastal fortifications on the southern bank of Danube latest Byzantine coin finds date from the time of the emperors Tiberius II Constantine (574-582) and Heraclius (610-641).^[20] After that period all inland Byzantine cities were demolished and abandoned.^[20] On the other hand, some of the earliest Slavic settlements to the south of Danube are discovered in Dobruja near the villages of Popina, Garvan, Nova Cherna, etc. and date from the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century.^[22] These lands became the main zone of compact Bulgar settlement in the end of 7th century.^[23]
According to the peace treaty of 681, signed after the Bulgarian victory over Byzantines in the Battle of Ongala, Dobruja became part of the First Bulgarian Empire.^[24] Shortly after, Bulgars founded near the southern border of Dobruja the city of Pliska, which became the first Bulgarian capital^[25] and rebuilt Madara as major Bulgarian pagan religious centre.^[26] According to the "Bulgarian apocryphal chronicle" from 11th century Bulgarian Tsar Ispor "accepted the Bulgarian tsardom", created "great cities, Drastar on the Danube", "great wall from Danube to the sea", "the city of Pliska" and "populated the lands of Karvuna".^[27] According to Bulgarian historians mainly on the grounds of archaeological researches the region was embraced by large net of earthen and wooden strongholds and ramparts, erected in 7-10 centuries.^[28] Around the end of the 8th century wide building of new stone fortresses and defensive walls began.^[29] This account is disputed by Romanian historians. Some of the ruined Byzantine fortresses were reconstructed as well (Kaliakra and Silistra in 8th, Madara and Varna in 9th centuries).^[30] According to some authors during the following three centuries of Bulgarian domination, Byzantines still controlled the Black Sea coast and the mouths of Danube, and for short periods, even some cities.^[31] However, according to Bulgarian archaeologists the last coins, which evidence about the Byzantine presence, date in Kaliakra from the time of Emperor Justin II (565-578)^[32], in Varna from the time of Emperor Heraclius (610-641)^[33] and in Tomi from Constantine IV (668–685)^[20]. At the beginning of the 8th century, Justinian II visited Dobruja to ask Bulgarian Khan Tervel for military help. Khan Omurtag (815-831) built a "glorious home on Danube" and erected a mound in the middle of the distance between Pliska and his new building according to his inscription kept in SS. Forty Martyrs Church in Veliko Tarnovo. The location of this edifice is unclear, there are theories about Silistra or Păcuiul lui Soare.^[35] Many of the early medieval Bulgar stone inscriptions were found in Dobruja, among them historical narratives, inventories of armament, building and commemorative texts.^[36] During this period Silistra became important Bulgarian ecclesiastical centre - episcopate after 865 and seat of the Bulgarian Patriarch in the end of 10th century.^[37] In 895, Magyar tribes from Budjak invaded Dobruja and northeastern Bulgaria. An old Slavic inscription, found at Mircea-Vodă, mentions Zhupan Dimitri (Дѣимитрѣ жѹпанѣ), a local feudal landlord in the south of the region in 943.^[38]
On Nicephoros II Phocas demand, Sviatoslav I of Kiev occupied Dobruja in 968. He also moved the capital of Kievan Rus' to Pereyaslavets, in the north of the region. However, Byzantines under John I Tzimisces reconquered it in 971^[39] and included it in the Thema ''Μεσοποταμια της Δυσεον'' (Mesopotamia of the West). In 986, the southern part of Dobruja was reconquered by the First Bulgarian Empire under Tsar Samuil, while the northern part remained under Byzantine rule, being reorganized in an autonomous ''klimata''.^[40][41] In 1000, a Byzantine army commanded by Theodorokanos reconquered it,^[42] organizing the region as Strategia of Dorostolon and, after 1020, as ''Thema Paristrion'' (Paradunavon). To prevent mounted attacks from the north, the Byzantines constructed three ramparts from the Black Sea down to the Danube, in the 10th–11th centuries.^[43][44] However, according to the Bulgarian archaeologists and historians these fortifications are earlier and were erected by the First Bulgarian Empire in connection with the threat of Khazars' raids^[45][46], which theory is supported by the "Bulgarian apocryphal chronicle", the old Slavic cyrilic inscription from Mircea-Vodă from 943 and from glagolithic and Bulgar runic inscriptions discovered there.^[47]

Return of the Byzantine, late migrations and Second Bulgarian Empire rule

Beginning with the 10th century, Byzantines accepted the settling of small groups of Pechenegs in Dobruja.^[48] In the spring of 1036, an invasion of the Pechenegs devastated large parts of the region,^[49] destroying the forts at Capidava and Dervent and burning the settlement in Dinogeţia. In 1046 the Byzantines accepted the settling of Pechenegs under Kegen in Paristrion as foederati.^[50] They established some form of domination until 1059, when Isaac I Comnenus reconquered Dobruja. In 1064, the great invasion of the Uzes affected the region. In 1072–1074, when Nestor, the new strategus of Paristrion, came to Dristra, he found a ruler in rebellion there, Tatrys. In 1091, three autonomous, probably Pecheneg,^[51] rulers were mentioned in the Alexiad: Tatos (''Τατοῦ'') or Chalis (''χαλῆ''), in the area of Dristra (probably the same as Tatrys)^[52], and Sesthlav (''Σεσθλάβου'') and Satza (''Σατζά'') in the area of Vicina.^[53]
Cumans came in Dobruja in 1094 and maintained an important role until the advent of the Ottoman Empire.^[54] In 1241 the first Tatar groups, under Kadan, invaded Dobruja starting a century long history of turmoil in the region.^[55] In 1263–1264, Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus gave permission to Sultan Kaykaus II to settle in the area with a group of Seljuk Turks from Anatolia.^[56] A missionary Turkish mystic, Sarı Saltuk, was the spiritual leader of this group;^[57] his tomb in Babadag (which was named after him)^[58] is still a place of pilgrimage for the Muslims. A part of these Turks returned to Anatolia in 1307, while those who remained became Christianized and adopted the name Gagauz.^[59][60] In the second part of the thirteenth century, the Turkic-Mongolian Golden Horde Empire extended its sway over Dobruja. Mongol elite quickly became Turkified and Islamized.
Dobruja was held by the Second Bulgarian Empire from the reign of Ivan Asen II to the reign of Theodore Svetoslav (i. e. from 1218 to 1322).

Independent Dobruja. The wars against the Ottomans

Main articles: Principality of Karvuna

In 1325, the Ecumenical Patriarch nominated a certain Methodius Metropolitan of Varna and Carvona.^[61] After this date, a local ruler, Balik/Balica,^[62] is mentioned in Southern Dobruja. In 1346, he supported John V Palaeologus in the dispute for the Byzantine throne with John VI Cantacuzenus by sending an army corps under his son Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici and his brother, Theodore, to help the mother of John Palaeologus, Anna of Savoy. For his bravery, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici received the title of ''strategus'' and married the daughter of megadux Apokaukos.^[63] After the reconciliation of the two pretenders, a territorial dispute broke out between the Dobrujan State and the Byzantine Empire for the port of Midia.^[64] In 1347, on John V Palaeologus' demand, Emir Bahud-din Umur, Bey of Aydin, led a naval expedition against Balik/Balica, destroying Dobruja's seaports. Balik/Balica and Theodore died during the confrontations, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici becoming the new ruler.^[65]

Principality of Dobrotici/Dobrotitsa during the 1370s

Between 1352 and 1359, with the fall of Golden Horde rule in Northern Dobruja, a new state appeared, under Tatar prince Demetrius, who claimed to be the protector of the mouths of the Danube.^[66]
In 1357 Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici was mentioned as a ''despot'' ruling over a large territory, including the fortresses of Varna, Kozeakos (near Obzor) and Emona.^[61] In the same year, with the help of John V Palaeologus, he took Anhialos and Mesembria from Ivan Alexander, Tsar of Tarnovo. In 1366, John V Palaeologus visited Rome and Buda, trying to gather support for a campaign in Dobruja, but on the way home was captured by Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici and was imprisoned at Varna. A crusade under Amadeus VI of Savoy, supported by Venice and Genoa, was initiated to free the Byzantine emperor.
After the crusaders conquered some Dobrujan forts, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici freed John and negotiated peace, his daughter marrying the son of John Palaeologus, Michael. In 1368, after the death of Demetrius, he was recognized as ruler by Pangalia and other cities on the right bank of the Danube. In 1369, together with Vladislav I of Wallachia, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici helped Prince Stratsimir to win back the throne of Vidin.
Between 1370 and 1375, allied with Venice, he challenged Genoese power in the Black Sea. In 1376, he tried to impose his son-in law, Michael, as Emperor of Trebizond, but achieved no success. Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici supported John V Palaeologus against his son Andronicus IV Palaeologus. In 1379, the Dobrujan fleet participated in the blockade of Constantinople, fighting with the Genoese fleet.
In 1386, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici died and was succeeded by Ivanko/Ioankos, who in the same year accepted a peace with Murad I and in 1387 signed a commercial treaty with Genoa. Ivanko/Ioankos was killed in 1388 during the expedition of Grand Vizier Çandarli Ali Pasha against Tarnovo and Dristra (old Durostorum). The expedition brought most of the Dobrujan forts under Turkish rule.
In 1388/1389 Dobruja (''Terrae Dobrodicii'' - as mentioned in a document from 1390) and Silistra (''Dârstor'' / ''Dristra'') came under the control of Mircea the Elder, ruler of Wallachia, who defeated the Grand Vizier.
Bayezid I conquered the southern part of the territory in 1393, attacking Mircea one year later, but without success. Moreover, in the spring of 1395 Mircea regained the lost Dobrujan territories, with the help of its Hungarian allies.
The third Ottoman occupation of Dobruja lasted from 1397 to 1404, although in 1401 an Ottoman army was heavily defeated by Mircea in Dobruja.
The defeat of Sultan Beyazid I by Timur Lenk (Tamerlane) at Ankara in 1402 opened a period of anarchy in the Ottoman Empire. Mircea took advantage of it to organize a new anti-Ottoman campaign: in 1403, he occupied the Genovese fort of Kilia at the mouths of the Danube, thus being able, in 1404, to impose his authority on Dobruja. In 1416, Mircea supported the revolt against Sultan Mehmed I, led by Sheik Bedreddin in the area of Deliorman, in Southern Dobrudja.^[68]
After his death in 1418, his son Mihail I fought against the amplified Ottoman attacks, eventually losing his life in a battle in 1420. That year, the Sultan Mehmed I personally conducted the definitive conquest of Dobruja by the Turks. Wallachia kept only the mouths of the Danube, and not for long time.
In the late 14th century, German traveller Johann Schiltberger described these lands as follows:^[69]
-

Ottoman rule

Occupied by the Turks in 1420, the region remained under Ottoman control until the late 19th century. Initially, it was organized as an ''udj'' (border province), included in the sanjak of Silistra, part of the Vilayet of Rumelia. Later, during Murad II or Suleyman I, the sanjak of Silistra and surrounding territories became a separate Vilayet.^[70] In 1555, a revolt led by a certain Mustafa broke out against Ottoman administration and spread all over the region, but was repressed by the beylerbey of Rumelia.^[71] In 1603 and 1612, the region suffered from the forays of Cossacks, who burnt down Isaccea and plundered Constanţa. The Russian empire occupied Dobruja several times during the Russo-Turkish Wars — in 1771–1774, 1790–1791, 1809–1810, 1829 and 1853. The most violent invasion was that of 1829, which depopulated numerous villages and towns. The Treaty of Adrianople of 1829 ceded the Danube Delta to the Russian Empire. However, Russians were forced to return it to the Ottomans in 1856, after The Crimean War. In 1864 Dobruja was included in the vilayet of Tuna.

The port of Kustendje in 1856. Drawing by Camille Allard

During Ottoman rule, groups of Turks, Arabs and Tatars settled in the region, the latter especially between 1512 and 1514. During the reign of Peter I of Russia and Catherine the Great, Lipovans immigrated in the region of the Danube Delta. After the destruction of Zaporozhian Sich in 1775, Cossacks (Danubian Sich) were settled in the area north of Lake Razim by the Turkish authorities, but they were forced to leave Dobruja in 1828. In the second part of the nineteenth century, Ruthenians from the Austrian Empire also settled in the Danube Delta. After the Crimean War, a large number of Tatars were forcibly driven away from Crimea, immigrating to then-Ottoman Dobruja and settling mainly in the Carasu Valley in the centre of the region and around Babadag. In 1864, Cherkess fleeing from the Russian invasion of the Caucasus were settled in the wooded region near Babadag. Germans from Bessarabia also founded colonies in Dobruja between 1840 and 1892.
According to Bulgarian historian Liubomir Miletich, most Bulgarians living in Dobruja in 1900 were nineteenth century settlers or their descendants.^[72][73] According to the statistics of the Bulgarian Exarchate before 1877 there were 9,324 Bulgarian families in the region.^[74]
The Christian religious organization of the region was put under the authority of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by a decree (firman) of the Sultan promulgated on February 28, 1870.^[75] After 1878 the Romanian church authorities took control over all local churches with the exception of two in the towns of Tulcea and Constanţa, which managed to keep their Bulgarian Slavonic liturgy.^[76]

Modern age

Nationalities in Northern Dobruja at the beginning of the 20th century

After the 1878 war, Russia received Northern Dobruja, but forced Romania to change Southern Bessarabia with it, as Russia wanted a direct access to the Mouths of the Danube. The newly established autonomous Bulgaria received the smaller Southern Dobruja. In Northern Dobruja, Romanians were the plurality, but the population included a Bulgarian ethnic enclave in the northwest (around Babadag), as well as an important Muslim community (mostly Turks and Tatars) scattered around the region. At the advice of the French envoy, the Treaty of Berlin awarded a strip of land around the port of Mangalia (the orange area on the map) to Romania as well, since it contained a compact area of ethnic Romanians in its southeastern corner. This area was a strip of land that extended inland from the port of Mangalia up to the town of Silistra, which remained in Bulgaria due to its large Bulgarian population. Subsequently, Romania attempted at taking over the town of Silistra. A new international commission in 1879 allowed Romania to occupy the fort looking over the city, ''Arab Tabia'', however not the city itself.
At the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, most of Dobruja's population was composed of Turks and Tatars, but during the war a large part of the Muslim population was evacuated to Bulgaria and Turkey.^[77] After 1878, the Romanian government encouraged Romanians from other regions to settle in Northern Dobruja and even accepted the return of some Muslim population displaced by the war.^[78] The Bulgarian authorities also encouraged the settling of ethnic Bulgarians on the territory of Southern Dobruja.^[79] After 1880, Italians from Friuli and Veneto settled in Greci, Cataloi and Măcin in Northern Dobruja. Most of them worked in the granite quarries in the Măcin Mountains, while some became farmers.^[58]

Dobruja after 1878

In May 1913, the Great Powers awarded Silistra and the area in a 3 km radius around it to Romania, at the Saint Petersburg Conference. In August 1913, after the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria lost Southern Dobruja (Cadrilater) to Romania (See Treaty of Bucharest, 1913). With Romania's entry in World War I on the side of France and Russia, the Central Powers occupied all of Dobruja and gave the Cadrilater as well as the southern portion of Northern Dobruja to Bulgaria in the Treaty of Bucharest of 1918. This situation lasted only for a short period, as the Allied Powers emerged victorious at the end of the war and Romania regained its previous territories in the Treaty of Neuilly of 1919. Between 1926 and 1938, about 30,000 Aromanians from Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece were settled in Southern Dobruja.
With the advent of World War II, Bulgaria regained Southern Dobruja in the September 1940 Axis-sponsored Treaty of Craiova despite Romanian negotiators' insistence that Balchik and other towns should remain in Romania. As part of the treaty, the Romanian inhabitants (Aromanian refugee-settlers, settlers from other regions of Romania and the Romanians indigenous to the region) were forced to leave the regained territory, while the Bulgarian minority in the north was in turn made to leave for Bulgaria in a population exchange. The post-war Paris Peace Treaties of 1947 reaffirmed the 1940 border.
In 1948 and again in 1961–1962, Bulgaria proposed a border rectification in the area of Silistra, consisting mainly in the transfer of a Romanian territory containing the water source of that city. Romania made an alternative proposal that did not involve a territorial change and, ultimately, no rectification took place.^[58]

Demographic history

Northern Dobruja

Ethnicity	1880[82]	1899	1913[83]	19301 [84]	1956[85]	1966	1977	1992
All	139,671	258,242	380,430	437,131	593,659	702,461	863,348	1,019,766
Romanian	43,671 (31%)	118,919 (46%)	216,425 (56.8%)	282,844 (64.7%)	514,331 (86.6%)	622,996 (88.7%)	784,934 (90.9%)	926,608 (90.8%)
Bulgarian	24,915 (17%)	38,439 (14%)	51,149 (13.4%)	42,070 (9.6%)	749 (0.13%)	524 (0.07%)	415 (0.05%)	311 (0.03%)
Turkish	18,624 (13%)	12,146 (4%)	20,092 (5.3%)	21,748 (5%)	11,994 (2%)	16,209 (2.3%)	21,666 (2.5%)	27,685 (2.7%)
Tatar	29,476 (21%)	28,670 (11%)	21,350 (5.6%)	15,546 (3.6%)	20,239 (3.4%)	21,939 (3.1%)	22,875 (2.65%)	24,185 (2.4%)
Lipovan Russian	8,250 (6%)	12,801 (5%)	35,859 (9.4%)	26,210 (6%)2	29,944 (5%)	30,509 (4.35%)	24,098 (2.8%)	26,154 (2.6%)
Ruthenian (Ukrainian from 1956)	455 (0.3%)	13,680 (5%)		33 (0.01%)	7,025 (1.18%)	5,154 (0.73%)	2,639 (0.3%)	4,101 (0.4%)
Dobrujan Germans	2,461 (1.7%)	8,566 (3%)	7,697 (2%)	12,023 (2.75%)	735 (0.12%)	599 (0.09%)	648 (0.08%)	677 (0.07%)
Greek	4,015 (2.8%)	8,445 (3%)	9,999 (2.6%)	7,743 (1.8%)	1,399 (0.24%)	908 (0.13%)	635 (0.07%)	1,230 (0.12%)
Gypsies	702 (0.5%)	2,252 (0.87%)	3,263 (0.9%)	n/a	1,176 (0.2%)	378 (0.05%)	2,565 (0.3%)	5,983 (0.59%)

Southern Dobruja

Ethnicity	1910	19301
All	282,007	378,344
Bulgarian	134,355 (47.6%)	143,209 (37.9%)
Romanian	6,348 (2.3%)	77,728 (20.5%)
Turkish	106,568 (37.8%)	129,025 (34.1%)
Tatar	11,718 (4.2%)	6,546 (1.7%)
Gypsies	12,192 (4.3%)	n/a (0.8%)

:¹According to the 1926–1938 Romanian administrative division
:²Only Russians. (Russians and Lipovans counted separately)

Area, population and cities

The entire Dobruja has an area of 23,100 km² and a population of rather more than 1.3 million, of which just over two-thirds of the former and nearly three-quarters of the latter lie in the Romanian part.

Ethnicity	Dobruja		Northern Dobruja[86]		Southern Dobruja[87]
	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
All	1,328,860	100.00%	971,643	100.00%	357,217	100.00%
Romanian	884,745	66.58%	883,620	90.94%	5911	0.17%1
Bulgarian	248,517	18.70%	135	0.01%	248,382	69.53%
Turkish	104,572	7.87%	27,580	2.84%	76,992	21.55%
Tatar	23,409	1.76%	23,409	2.41%	4,515	1.26%
Roma	33,422	2.52%	8,295	0.85%	25,127	7.03%
Russian	22,495	1.69%	21,623	2.23%	872	0.24%
Ukrainian	1,571	0.12%	1,465	0.15%	106	0.03%
Greek	2,326	0.18%	2,270	0.23%	56	0.02%

:¹ Including persons counted as Vlachs in Bulgarian 2001 Census
Major cities are Constanţa, Tulcea, Medgidia and Mangalia in Romania, and Dobrich and Silistra in Bulgaria.

Notes

1. Paul Wittek, ''Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja'', pp. 639,653
2. Mission médicale dans la Tatarie-Dobroutscha, , Camille, Allard, , 1857,
3. Dobrogea în Secolele VII–XIX. Evoluţie istorică, , Robert, Stănciugel, , 2005,
4. The Danube and the Black Sea: Memoir on Their Junction by a Railway between Tchernavoda and a Free Port at Kustendje, , Thomas, Forester, Edward Stanford, 1857,
5. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 13
6. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 30
7.
8. Aristotle's Politics, Aristotle, , , University of Adelaide, 2000,
9. ''Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum'', Paris, 1841, I, pp 170–173
10. Herodotus, Herodotus, , , Harvard University Press, 1920,
11. History of the Peloponnesian war, Thucydides, , , J.M. Dent, 1910,
12. Thucydides, ''The Peloponnesian war'', Book VII, Ch. 98
13. Justin, Cornelius Nepos, and Eutropius, Marcus Junianus Justinus, , , H.G. Bohn, 1853,
14. Dio's Roman History, Vol VI, Cassius Dio, , , Harvard University Press, 1917,
15. Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', Book LI, Ch. 26, Vol VI, pp. 75–77
16. The origin and deeds of the Goths in English version, Iordanes, , , Princeton University Press, 1908,
17. Iordanes, ''The origin and deeds of the Goths'', Ch. XVIII, sect. 101–102
18. The history of Count Zosimus, sometime advocate and chancellor of the Roman Empire, Zosimos, , , Printed for J. Davis by W. Green and T. Chaplin, 1814,
19. Του σοφωτάτου δεσπότου και αυτοκράτορος Κωνσταντίνου, του Πορφυρογεννήτου, τα ευρισκόμενα πάντα. Τομ. β, Constantine Porphyrogennetos, , , Apud Garnier Fratres, editores et J.-P. Migne, successores, 1864,
20. Станчо Ваклинов, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 65.
21. Станчо Ваклинов, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 65.
22. Станчо Ваклинов, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 48-50.
23. Станчо Ваклинов, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 64.
24. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', p.28
25. Petar Mutafchiev, ''Добруджа. Сборник от Студии'', Sofia, 1999
26. Веселин Бешевлиев, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 97-103.
27. Донка Петканова, "Стара българска литература. Апокрифи", София, 1982, retrieved on September 9, 2007.
28. "Български средновековни градове и крепости", Том I Градове и крепости но Дунава и Черно море, съставители Александър Кузев и Васил Гюзелев, Варна, 1981, стр. 16-44.
29. "Български средновековни градове и крепости", Том I Градове и крепости но Дунава и Черно море, съставители Александър Кузев и Васил Гюзелев, Варна, 1981, стр. 45-91.
30. "Български средновековни градове и крепости", Том I Градове и крепости но Дунава и Черно море, съставители Александър Кузев и Васил Гюзелев, Варна, 1981, стр. 179, 257, 294.
31. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', p. 11
32. "Български средновековни градове и крепости", Том I Градове и крепости но Дунава и Черно море, съставители Александър Кузев и Васил Гюзелев, Варна, 1981, стр. 257.
33. "Български средновековни градове и крепости", Том I Градове и крепости но Дунава и Черно море, съставители Александър Кузев и Васил Гюзелев, Варна, 1981, стр. 293.
34. Станчо Ваклинов, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 65.
35. Веселин Бешевлиев, "Първобългарски надписи", Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1979, стр. 192-200.
36. Веселин Бешевлиев, "Първобългарски надписи", Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1979.
37. "Български средновековни градове и крепости", Том I Градове и крепости но Дунава и Черно море, съставители Александър Кузев и Васил Гюзелев, Варна, 1981, стр. 186.
38. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', p. 71
39. Лев Диакон. История, Leo Diaconus, , , Наука, 1988,
40. V. Mărculeţ, ''Asupra organizării teritoriilor bizantine de la Dunărea de Jos în secolele X-XII''
41. Études byzantines et post-byzantines, IV, , Alexandru, Madgearu, Trinitas, 2001,
42. Γεωργίου του Κεδρηνού Σύνοψις ιστοριών. Τομ. Β, , Georgius, Cedrenus, Garnier, 1889,
43. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', pp. 112–115
44. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', pp. 184–185
45. Рашо Рашев, "Землените укрепителни строежи на Долния Дунав (VII-X в.)", София, 1977.
46. Станчо Ваклинов, "Формиране на старобългарската култура VI-XI век", София, 1977, стр. 79-81.
47. "История на България", Том 2, Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1981р стр. 184.
48. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', pp. 122-123
49. Cedrenus, ''Historiarum compendium'', II, s. 514–515
50. Cedrenus, ''Historiarum compendium'', II, s. 582–584
51. Tatos is mentioned as a Patzinak by a contemporaneous Byzantine source ( Ιωάννου του Ζωναρά τα ευρισκόμενα πάντα: ιστορικά, κανονικά, δογματικά (μέροςβ΄), Joannes Zonaras, , , , 1887, ). This opinion is supported by modern historians ( Dunărea în epoca bizantină (secolele X-XII): o frontieră permeabilă, , Alexandru, Madgearu, Revista istorică, 1999 ). They were considered to be Vlachs or Russians by some authors. For a survey of these opinions see I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', pp. 139–147
52. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', pp. 136, 141
53. The Alexiad, , Anna, Comnena, Routledge, Kegan, Paul, 1928,
54. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 192–193
55. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 194
56. P. Wittek, ''Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja'', pp. 640,648
57. P. Wittek, ''Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja'', pp. 648,658
58.
59. P. Wittek, ''Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja'', pp. 666–667
60. C. Rezachevici, ''Găgăuzii'' in ''Magazin Istoric'', No. 6, May 1997
61. Acta et diplomata Graeca medii aevi sacra et profana, vol. I, , , , Carolus Gerold, 1860,
62. Names of the rulers of the Principality of Karvuna are give here as spelled in modern Bulgarian and Romanian respectively.
63. Ιωάννου του Καντακουζηνού τα ευρισκόμενα πάντα: ιστορικά, θεολογικά, απολογητικά, μέρος 1ο, Ioannes Cantacuzenus, , , Apud J.-P. Migne, 1866,
64.
65. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 197
66. I. Barnea, Şt.Ştefănescu, ''Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos'', p. 351
67. Acta et diplomata Graeca medii aevi sacra et profana, vol. I, , , , Carolus Gerold, 1860,
68.
69. Istorija i civilizacija za 11. klas, , Petǎr, Delev, Trud, Sirma, 2006,
70. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 205
71. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 249
72. Liubomir Miletich, ''Старото българско население в северо-източна България''. Sofia, 1902, p.6
73. Liubomir Miletich, ''Südslavische Dialektstudien: das Ostbulgarische''. Wien, 1903,c. 19
74. История на България", Том 7, Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1991, стр. 412.
75. "История на България", Том 7, Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1991, стр. 460-461.
76. "История на България", Том 7, Издателство на Българската академия на науките, София, 1991, стр. 416.
77. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', p. 333
78. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', pp. 358-360
79. A. Rădulescu, I. Bitoleanu, ''Istoria Dobrogei'', pp 363-364, 381
80.
81.
82. G. Dănescu, ''Dobrogea (La Dobroudja). Étude de Géographie physique et ethnographique''
83. La Dobrogea Roumaine. Études et documents, , I. N., Roman, , 1919,
84. Calculated from results of the 1930 census per county, taken from La Population de la Dobroudja, , Sabin, Mănuilă, Institut Central de Statistique, 1939,
85. Calculated from statistics for the counties of Tulcea and Constanţa from Populaţia după etnie la recensămintele din perioada 1930–2002, pe judete
86. Calculated from the results of the 2002 Romanian census for the counties of Constanţa and Tulcea, from Structura Etno-demografică a României
87. Calculated from the results of the 2001 Bulgarian census for the administrative regions of Dobrich and Silistra, from Население към 01.03.2001 г. по области и етническа група

References

★ The Geography of Strabo, Strabo, , , George Bell & Sons, 1903,

★ Dobrogea (La Dobroudja). Étude de Géographie physique et ethnographique, , Grigore, Dănescu, Imprimerie de l'Indépendance Roumaine, 1903,

★ Yazijioghlu 'Ali on the Christian Turks of the Dobruja, , Paul, Wittek, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1952

★ Bizantini, romani şi bulgari la Dunărea de Jos, , Ion, Barnea, Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1971,

★ Istoria românilor dintre Dunăre şi Mare: Dobrogea, , Adrian, Rădulescu, Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, 1979,

★ Istoria Dobrogei, , Adrian, Rădulescu, Editura Ex Ponto, 1998,

★

★ Romania 1866–1947, , Keith, Hitchins, Humanitas, 2004,

★ Encyclopaedia Britannica article