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Transylvania is a west-central region of Romania. Also called 'Ardeal' in Romanian, 'Erdély' in Hungarian, and 'Siebenbürgen' in German, Transylvania is inhabited by a mixed-ethnic population: Romanians, Magyars (Hungarians), Roma (Gypsies), Saxons, Ucraineans, and Serbians, to only mention the largest communities.
The area covers 12 of all Romania's counties, and is sometimes considered as comprising itself four smaller regions: Banat, Crisana, Maramures, and (eastern) Transylvania.
Transylvania is an integral part of Romania, therefore Romanian laws apply, and the official currency is the 'leu' (international code ROL, plural name 'lei'). As of October 2008, the official rate exchanges € 0.27 for lei 1.0 (for the up-to-date exchange rate visit BNR.ro or convertor.ro).
The official language in Transylvania is Romanian. Hungarian is used unofficially in the areas where significant numbers of Hungarians live, and is employed on street and commercial signs in the cities with more 20% Hungarians of the total population.
Romanian and Hungarian are used as languages of instruction throughout all the levels of education, from the primary to the academic level. The largest university that offers education in both Romanian and Hungarian is Babes-Bolyai University from Cluj city.
To learn more about this part of Central Europe, visit these links.
The movie Katalin Varga (2009, directed by Peter Strickland) tells a troubling story of love, crime, forgiveness, and revenge. Read our news about it here.
For Sale: Dracula's Transylvanian castle
You already know the myth. Now find out the facts about Bran Castle from this short Al Jazeera film. At present, a large number of old Transylvanian castles are waiting for investors pepared to buy them and restore their condition. Read more here.
Too much Krivach won't kill you
A fresh and untypical interpretation of Queen's 'Too much love will kill you' convinced the members of the jury that Razvan Krivach deservs the big trophy at Brasov's 2008 Golden Stag music festival. Read more here, or listen and watch the song below:
Afrim's Attic
They are gross and at the same time funny; they are genuine, but also bold: The characters pictured up by young director Radu Afrim tell something about our own fears, our hopes, and maybe our madness.
Mr Afrim's work has been recently acclaimed at Avignon Off 2008 festival. Find out more here, and watch this short scene from his 'Mansarde à Paris/ Les détours Cioran' recorded by an amateur:
Drama experiments in Transylvania
A walk to the fringes of the possibilities of modern theatre. It's called Man.In.Fest, and it's an international festival of the experimental, the unexplored, and the unimagined theatre.
Read more about the 2008 edition here, and watch a short film about the 2007 edition of Man.In.Fest below:
About Transylvania 
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