The Székely Land or Szeklerland (, , Székely runes: 𐲥𐳋𐳓𐳉𐳗𐳌𐳖𐳞𐳇; and sometimes ; ; ) is a historic and ethnographic area in today Romania, inhabited mainly by Székelys, a subgroup of Hungarians. Its cultural centre is the city of Târgu Mureș (Marosvásárhely), the largest settlement in the region. Székelys (or Szeklers) live in the valleys and hills of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, corresponding mostly to the present-day Harghita, Covasna, and parts of Mureș counties in Romania. Originally, the name Székely Land denoted the territories of a number of autonomous Székely seats within Transylvania. The self-governing Székely seats had their own administrative system, and existed as legal entities from medieval times until the 1870s. The privileges of the Székely and Saxon seats were abolished and seats were replaced with counties in 1876. Along with Transylvania and eastern parts of Hungary proper, the Székely Land became a part of Romania in 1920, in accordance with the Treaty of Trianon. In August 1940, as a consequence of the Second Vienna Award, northern territories of Transylvania, including the Székely Land, were returned to Hungary. Northern Transylvania came under the control of Soviet and Romanian forces in 1944, and were confirmed as part of Romania by the Paris Peace Treaties signed after World War II. Under the name Magyar Autonomous Region, with Târgu-Mureș as capital, parts of the Székely Land enjoyed a certain level of autonomy between 8 September 1952 and 16 February 1968. There are territorial autonomy initiatives with the aim to obtain self-governance for this region within Romania. Geography The exact territory of the present-day Székely Land is not disputed. The boundaries of the historical Székely does not exist legally seats and the present-day administrative divisions of Romania are dissimilar. According to Minahan its territory is an estimated . The autonomy proposal of the Szekler National Council consists of about 13,000 km2. This size is close to the extent of the historical Székely Land. However, it does not contain the region of Aranyos Seat. The UDMR's autonomy project covers a slightly bigger territory. It includes the whole territories of Mureș, Harghita, and Covasna counties. History The ancient period Transylvania was populated by Thracian peoples in the First Iron Age. The area received a large influx of Scythians from the East in the first half of the first millennium BC. The Celts appeared in Transylvania in the La Tène period (c. 4th century BC).