Mapping the core and periphery applied to a choronym (the case of Székely Land)

Abstract. A cultural region could be only a choronym in the common knowledge. This choronym is applied with different intensity to different geographic locations. In the core a lot of criterion is present, in periphery they may be missing. The cultural criteria can be transformed to Boolean indicators, so we can understand the phenomenon as a 3D statistical surface.

We analyze the case of Székely Land. The Székelys are a subgroup of Hungarians, who use the Hungarian language; they live in Romania. The Székely seats were administrative regions from approx. 1300 until 1876: in Hungary, later in Transylvania and in the Habsburg Empire. After the dissolution of the seats, the area of the former seats was part of Austria–Hungary and after 1918 (mostly) of Romania. Since 1876 several administrative reorganizations touched the region. The Székely population at censuses professes itself ethnically and linguistically as Hungarian. The choronym is applied to a cultural region, where a set of similar characteristics occurs all over this region, but the boundaries of these characteristics are different. The perception of Székely Land has adapted to these administrative or ethnographic– linguistic factors, its former historical borders became fading.

The author compiled 6 criteria (2 historic, 2 administrative and 2 linguistic one) to define the core and periphery of the area to which is applied this choronym. The paper summarizes the local intensity of these criteria on choropleth map, this thematic map shows the core and periphery of the area applied to the choronym of Székely Land.