Treaty of Craiova

Southern Dobrudja in bright yellow

The Treaty of Craiova (Bulgarian: Крайовска спогодба; Romanian: Tratatul de la Craiova) was signed on 7 September 1940 between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under the terms of this treaty, Romania returned the southern part of Dobruja (the Cadrilater or "Quadrilateral" in Romanian) to Bulgaria and agreed to participate in organizing a population exchange. The treaty was approved by Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union and the United States. Southern Dobruja had a population of mostly Bulgarians and Turks, with only about a 20% minority of Romanians.

Terms of the Treaty provide for the mandatory resettlement of Romanian citizens of Bulgarian ethnicity living in Northern Dobruja to Bulgaria, and the resettlement of ethnic Romanians living in Southern Dobruja to Romania. 110,000 Romanians (80,000 of them from South Dobruja) left their homes in Southern Dobruja and other parts of Bulgaria. Most of these Romanians were colonists who had settled there after the Second Balkan War in 1913, when the territory was annexed by Romania (see Treaty of Bucharest (1913)). 65,000 Bulgarians left their homes in Northern Dobrudja and resettled in Bulgaria.

See also

• Vienna Awards
• Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
• Northern Transylvania
• Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina