Mașloc (; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Alioș, Mașloc (commune seat) and Remetea Mică. It also included Fibiș until 2004, when it was split off to form a separate commune. Name The German name of the village, Blumenthal, means "village of flowers". The German colony was built in a wildflower meadow, hence the name. This is also illustrated by the old stamp of the village, depicting a valley and a flower vase with a lush bouquet of flowers. The Romanian population had great difficulties pronouncing the German name. Therefore they named the village Maslog, as shown in a map from 1864–1865. Maslog was written with "s" and not with the Romanian "ș" (s-comma). Maslog was changed to Mașloc, apparently taking over the ending "-loc" from the Hungarian "-lak" (Máslak). The Hungarian lak – just like the Romanian loc – means "place".
History Mașloc was first mentioned as Machalaka in 1326. Most of its inhabitants fled after the Turkish conquest of Banat (1552). From this time on, the houses were only temporarily inhabited by people of different nationalities. After the Austrians conquered Banat from the Turks, the village was called Maschlok and had 14 houses.
Mașloc was colonized by Germans from Schwarzwald between 1770–1771, who named it Blumenthal. By 1773, the colony had 93 houses, a school and a pub.
Demographics
Mașloc had a population of 2,236 inhabitants at the 2021 census, down 2.14% from the 2011 census. Most inhabitants are Romanians (73.56%), larger minorities being represented by Ukrainians (8.05%), Roma (5.76%) and Hungarians (1.38%). For 10.64% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (81.44%), but there are also minorities of Pentecostals (2.01%), Roman Catholics (2.01%) and Old Believers (1.65%). For 10.95% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown. Census Ethnic composition Year Population Romanians Hungarians Germans Roma Ukrainians 1880 3,871 1,766 147 1,951 – – 1890 4,175 1,781 162 2,195 – – 1900 4,340 1,911 188 2,224 – – 1910 4,007 1,575 127 2,303 – – 1920 3,878 1,479 89 2,294 – – 1930 3,714 1,467 63 2,157 13 – 1941 3,564 1,367 44 2,127 – – 1956 3,277 – – – – – 1966 3,064 1,638 38 1,386 – – 1977 2,899 1,593 31 1,066 14 190 1992 2,283 1,800 50 70 20 334 2002 2,307 1,886 38 21 83 271 2011 2,285 1,775 36 13 64 249 2021 2,236 1,645 31 10 129 180 Politics and administration The commune of Mașloc is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 11 councilors. The mayor, Ionel Lupu, from the National Liberal Party, has been in office since 2016. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties: Party Seats Composition National Liberal Party 4 Alliance for the Union of Romanians 4 Social Democratic Party 3
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