Oaș Country

Oaş Country Ţara Oaşului (Romanian)
Ethnographic and historical region of Romania
Map of Oaş Country Map of Oaş Country
Country	Romania
Capital of Oaş Country	Negrești-Oaș
Area
• Total	755,30 km2 (29,160 sq mi)
Population	55,299
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Oaş Country (Romanian: Ţara Oaşului, Hungarian: Avasság) is an ethnographic region of Romania located in the North-East part of Satu Mare County, 50 km from the city of Satu Mare. The total area is about 755,30  km². The capital of Oaş Country is Negrești-Oaș city.

Boundaries

The Oaş Country extends from Turţ - Gherţa Mare - Gherţa Mică (on the Western side) all the way to Huta pass situated at an altitude of 604 m (in the East), from Cămărzana (in the North) to the mountains that surround Oraşu Nou, Racşa and Vama (in the South).

Communes

The Oaş Country comprises the following communes:

• Orașu Nou
• Certeze
• Vama
• Călinești-Oaș
• Târșolț
• Bixad
• Cămărzana

Geography

The Oaş Depression has maximum altitudes of 400–500 m. Most of the human dwellings are situated alongside the river valleys that cross the Oaş Depression. In the Northern part of the depression there is the Lechincioara Basin which includes the Mare, Semănaturii and Lechincioarei valleys. In the Southern part of Oaş Country there are the Tur, Alb and Rău rivers.

History

The first document that mentioned the Oaş Country dates from 1270, when the King of Hungary donated to a nobleman several villages from the South-Western boundary of the "country".

In that document the Oaş Country is mentioned as Terra Awas. Some historians claim that the origin of the word "Oaş" is the "Awas", which means a kind of deforestation or a clearing in the woods.

The Oaş Country was mentioned in the Chronicles of Grigore Ureche.

Gallery

• Maria Tripon.jpg

  Local folk singer Maria Tripon in traditional costume

• Ionuț Silaghi de Oaș.jpg

  Local folk singer Ionuț Silaghi de Oaș in traditional costume

• Biserica Lechinta.jpg

  Wooden Church from Lechinţa, Open Air Museum of Oaş Country in Negrești-Oaș town, 2008

• Ansamblul folcloric Oașul.jpg

  Oaș folk ensemble in the Museum of Oaș Country

• SatDinOas.jpg

  Open Air Museum of Oaş Country in Negrești-Oaș town

• Pasul Huta3.jpg

  Huta pass

External links

• Presentation
• Pictures of Oas Country
• http://www.oas.ro/
• http://www.incogniterra.org/pages/events/sambra.html