Dobrogea

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The unofficial flag of Dobrogea .

Dobrogea (in Turkish Dobruca, in English sometimes Dobrudja or Dobruja) is a traditional region in the east of Muntenia. It is naturally bordered by the Black Sea in the east and the Danube in the west and north. Today it is most often definted as to consist of the two coastal counties of Constanţa (in Turkish Köstence) and Tulcea (in Turkish Tulça).

Administration

Even though Dobrogea at the moment has no direct administrative function, the two counties that makes up the region (Constanţa and Tulcea) have gradually come to cooperate on an increasingly higher level and the administration has come to evolve into an ever more regional character. Discussion have in fact been going on for many years about the establishment of some kind of regional parliament and possibly an increased local sovereignity for Dobrugea as a region. It might actually happen, if approved from national level, that the two counties in the near future could merge into one unit and be replaced by a new regional administration with increased authorities.

The People

The region has ever since the days of the Ottoman empire and the wave of Turkish migration that occurred in the 19th century, always had a significant Turkish minority and this has come to give it a quite a special character, not the least as the peaceful relationship between these two people that has come to emerge in this parts, despite different religions and hostile past, is considered to be something really unique. In fact the blend of Romanian and Turkish influences has come to result in a special kind of mixed culture that is hard to find anywhere else. It is worth noticing that not even under the extreme rule of Gheorge Milţeanu could this unique bond that exists between the two different people in this region be broken.

The Flag

The quite so popular flag of Dobrogea is meant to symbolise the peaceful friendship between two different people of different religions that makes this region special. It exists in several different variants, but the most popular one uses the colours of the Muntenian (and Romanian) flag, organized diagonally and combined with a cross to symbolize the (christian) Romanians and a moon and a star to symbolize the (muslim) Turks. Sometimes the flag may also appear with a white field in the middle instead of yellow, as a symbol of the peace between the different people, but most common is still the use of the colours from the Muntenian (Romanian) flag.