Poienile de sub Munte, Maramureș County, Transylvania, Romania

🇷🇴 Poienile de sub Munte is a commune in Maramureș County, Maramureș, Romania. It is one of the oldest places in Maramureș, being mentioned for the first time in 1353. It is the biggest commune in the county and is composed of a single village, Poienile de sub Munte.

Geography The commune is located in the north-eastern part of Maramureș County, on the border with Ukraine, 60 km (37 mi) east of the city of Sighetu Marmației and 105 km (65 mi) north-east of the county seat, Baia Mare. It is situated at an altitude of 530 m (1,740 ft), nestled within the Maramureș Mountains , with an altitude of 1,957 m (6,421 ft) being reached at Farcău Peak  . The Maramureș Mountains Natural Park is partly located on the territory of the commune. The river Ruscova and its tributaries, the rivers Socolău and Cvașnița, flow through Poienile de sub Munte.

Obcina  is a Ruthenian hilltop settlement perched at about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) on a mountain pass without an access road, where farmers live without machines, electricity, or vehicles.

Etymology Etymology of the name of the locality: from Poiana (< subst. poiana "light in the forest", of Slavic origin) + de + sub + Munte (< appellative mountain < lat. mons, -tis). Literally, The Meadows under the Mountain.

Demographics At the 2021 census, the commune had a population of 9,291, of which 90.83% were Ukrainians and 1.54% ethnic Romanians.