Brașov

Brașov (UKbræˈʃɒv, USbrɑːˈʃɔːv,_-ɔːf, braˈʃov; Kronstadt; Brassó; Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: Kruhnen) is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 census, with 237,589 inhabitants, Brașov is the 6th most populous city in Romania. The metropolitan area was home to 371,802 residents. Brașov is located in the central part of the country, about north of Bucharest and from the Black Sea. It is surrounded by the Southern Carpathians and is part of the historical region of Transylvania. Historically, the city was the center of the Burzenland (Țara Bârsei), once dominated by the Transylvanian Saxons (Siebenbürger Sachsen), and a significant commercial hub on the trade roads between Austria (then Archduchy of Austria, within the Habsburg monarchy, and subsequently Austrian Empire) and Turkey (then Ottoman Empire). It is also where the national anthem of Romania was first sung. According to Dragoș Moldovanu, the name of Brașov came from the name of local river named Bârsa (also pronounced as "Bărsa") that was adopted by Slavs and transformed to Barsa, and later to Barsov, finally to Brasov. According to Pál Binder, the current Romanian and the Hungarian name Brassó (ˈbrɒʃʃoː) are derived from the Turkic word barasu, meaning "white water" with a Slavic suffix -ov. Other linguists proposed various etymologies including an Old Slavic anthroponym Brasa. The first attested mention of this name is Terra Saxonum de Barasu ("Saxon Land of Baras") in a 1252 document issued by Béla IV of Hungary. According to some historians, Corona was name of the city-fortress while Brassó was referring to the county, while others consider both names may refer to the city and the county as well. According to Balázs Orbán, the name Corona – a Latin word meaning "crown" – is first mentioned in the Catalogus Ninivensis in 1235 AD, stating a monastic quarter existed in the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania (In Hungaria assignata est paternitas Dyocesis Cumanie: Corona).