Southern Dobruja

From Freepedia

Southern Dobruja (Добруджа in Bulgarian, Dobrogea de sud or Cadrilater in Romanian) is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising the administrative districts named for its two principal cities of Dobrich and Silistra. It has an area of 7565 km² and a population of 358,000.

History

At the beginning of the modern era, Southern Dobruja had a mixed population of Bulgarians and Turks with several smaller minorities, including Gagauz, Crimean Tatars and Romanians.

Southern Dobruja was part of the autonomous Bulgarian principality from the time of the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in 1878 until the Balkan Wars. After the defeat of Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War, the region was transferred to Romania under the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest. Romania ruled Southern Dobruja until 1940 settling tens of thousands of Aromanians from Macedonia and Northern Greece, as well as Romanians from Wallachia in the region.

In 1940 Southern Dobruja was restored to Bulgaria under the Treaty of Craiova. The treaty was accompanied with a population exchange: the Romanian minority was forced to leave Southern Dobruja, whereas the Bulgarian minority had to leave northern Dobruja.