Foreign correspondence: Transylvanians chuckle at Dracula' story

What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? This column, Foreign Correspondence, is an interview with someone who lives in a spot you may want to visit.

Marius Bentza, 38, is editor of www.seventimes.ro, the only English-language online newspaper in the Romanian province of Transylvania. He lives in Cluj, his hometown, in Transylvania.

Q. Why is your publication called "Seven Times"?

A. "Transylvania" is too long for a Web-site name, especially when you add "News" or "Times" after it. We chose "Seven" because seven is the number of ancient cities in Transylvania. That's why Transylvania's crest shows seven towers — one for each historic city.

Q. In the last century, Transylvania has variously been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary and Romania. What language do most people speak?

A. Basically there are two. The official language, in the sense of government administration, is Romanian. But in cities where the Hungarian population is larger than 20 percent, that language is widely used and is also used on signs in shops. Most who speak Hungarian as a first language live in cities where Romanians are a minority. But they also speak Romanian.

There's also a minority of Germans here — something like 10 percent, as opposed to the 32 percent Hungarian minority. Germans are becoming less numerous because many migrated to Germany. But German is also spoken.

Q. I read that Transylvania is one of the more prosperous parts of Romania. Is that the case?

A. Transylvania is the biggest region in the country, with approximately 60 percent of the territory. From all the statistics I've seen, all the counties within Transylvania are richer than those in the rest of Romania with the exception of Bucharest, the national capital.

There are different views on why this is the case. For one thing, Transylvania is more geographically diverse — it's mountains and plateaus. It may also be related to history: We were long related to Austria-Hungary, which led to our having a different approach to work and wealth. It's certainly wealthier than some parts of the country, such as Moldavia (along the Moldovan border).

Recently, some foreign investors have been interested in Transylvanian cities like Cluj and Timisoara. Nokia, the telephone manufacturer, has a plant here.

Q. What is the countryside like?