Sânandrei

Sânandrei
Commune
Location of Sânandrei within the county
Sânandrei Location of Sânandrei in Romania
Coordinates: 45°54′38″N 21°09′51″E / 45.91056°N 21.16417°E / 45.91056; 21.16417Coordinates: 45°54′38″N 21°09′51″E / 45.91056°N 21.16417°E / 45.91056; 21.16417
Country	Romania
County	Timiș
Status	Commune
Government
• Mayor	Claudiu Coman (PSD)
Area
• Total	92,40 km2 (3,570 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	5,279
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.primaria-sinandrei.ro/

Sânandrei (German: Sanktandreas, Hungarian: Szentandrás) is a commune in Timiș County, Banat, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Carani, Covaci and Sânandrei.

In 1930, Sânandrei was 79.6% German. By 2011, it was 94.62% Romanian, 1.81% Hungarian and 1.4% German.

In 2013 there was an 80% unemployment rate of younger residents. Der Spiegel wrote that "Sânandrei is a poor village in Romania with run-down houses and muddy paths" and that "a family can count itself lucky if it owns a garden to grow potatoes and vegetables."

Carani (German: Mercydorf, Hungarian: Merczyfalva, Mercifalva) is one of the commune's villages.

The village of Carani is located 18 km north of Timișoara, on the DJ692 county road. 3 km to the east lies the National Road DN69, to which Carani is linked by a local road. Additionally, it is accessible by rail, having its own station on the Timișoara - Arad line. 5 km to the north lies the village of Călacea; to the east the village of Corneşti; to the south the centre of Sânandrei commune; and to the west, Hodoni. The Caran River passes through.

Carani was built in 1735 by Italian colonists brought by the Habsburg Monarchy as part of a massive effort to populate the Banat with Western Europeans. It was one of the first villages for colonists, founded and inhabited exclusively by Italians, being the only majority-Italian settlement in the entire Banat. The inhabitants grew silkworms, having been brought there in order to start silkworm production in the Banat.

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Wikipedia