Romania Civil Registration

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Romania

Civil Registration

Introduction

Records of births, marriages and deaths created and maintained by civil government are called civil registration (starea civilă). Civil registration began as early as 1865 in some regions in Romania. These records are an extremely reliable and valuable source for studying and linking families and relationships; they are the most important genealogical source from 1865 to the present.

Coverage

National civil registration was introduced into Romania (Wallachia and Moldavia) by official decree in 1865. The Hungarian provinces of Transylvania and Banat began in 1895. In Bukovina, Bessarabia and Dobrogea civil registration was not introduced until 1919. Local civil registries were begun earlier on a city by city basis, the earliest dating back to 1607 in Sibiu. Records less than 100 years old can only be accessed by direct descendants in accordance with privacy laws of the European Union. Birth registration is available until 1930, marriage registration is available until 1950, and death registration is available to the present. 85-95% of the population can be found in these records.

Content

• Birth records – name of child, date of birth, names and ages of parents.
• Marriage records – Date and place of marriage, birth dates or ages and birthplaces of bride and groom, names of parents.
• Death records – place of death, date of death, age, birthplace, and parents' names.
• Divorce records – names of parties and date of final decrees.

Accessing the Records

Existing civil registration records of Romania are located in local offices of civil registration (Oficiile stării civile) in each city or town, who maintain records for the past one hundred years. Older records are sent to the Romanian National Archives (Arhivele Nationale ale Romanieie) or one of its regional archives. Records are kept under good storage conditions.

• Information on locations of records
• Historical Population database of Transylvania

No civil registration records are available through the Family History Library at this time.