omania until after World War I.

The great majority of the people are ethnic Romanians, although two
sizable minority groups, Hungarian and German, still resided within
Romania's borders in 1972. Other, much smaller, minority groups include
Jews, Ukrainians, Serbs, Russians, Bulgarians, Czechs and Slovaks,
Tatars, Turks, and Gypsies. Most of the lesser minorities have been
assimilated to some degree, particularly in the use of the Romanian
language in the conduct of their daily affairs. The Hungarians and the
Germans, however, have resisted assimilation, and their education,
business, and social lives are carried on in their native tongues. Their
cultural traditions also reflect their Hungarian or German background
rather than that of the country in which they live.

The religious affiliations of the people follow very closely their
ethnic differentiations. The vast majority of ethnic Romanians are
members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is one of the
autocephalous branches of the Eastern Orthodox church. The Romanian
Orthodox Church was traditionally considered the state or national
church, which, with its great size, gave it a favored position. Although
its near-monopoly position was contested by Roman Catholics, Uniates,
and several Protestant denominations, particularly after the post-World
War I inclusion of Transylvania within Romania's borders, it still
remained the predominant religion and was able to retain this position
even after the communist takeover.

The Hungarians of Romania are Roman Catholics, Calvinists, and
Unitarians; similarly, the Germans are divided between Roman Catholicism
and Lutheranism. These religions suffered a period of repression under
the Communists, some of their clergy being imprisoned and some of their
churches falling into disrepair because of lack of funds. Nevertheless,
their adherents still numbered in the hundreds of thousands in the early
1970s, and the former vigorous effort by the government to discourage
the practice of religion seems to have softened as the regime
concentrates on dissuading young people from the acceptance of religious
beliefs rather than trying to eliminate such beliefs in older
generations.

The post-World War II Romanian Jewish community has shrunk considerably
through emigration to Israel, which has been allowed by the government
and encouraged by Jewish leaders. There continue to be many Jewish
enclaves, particularly in urban areas, but beca