Csango people are living at the eastern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains and at the plain east of this area, in the valleys of rivers Prut, Szeret and Tatros. This area has never belonged to the territory of the Hungarian state or kingdom. According to ancient chronicles from the 13th century onwards Hungarian speaking people has been living here constantly and until the 18th century other Hungarian speaking group of people arrived in several waves. Yet these people have always been in minority status.
Csango people in Moldva speak a former version of Hungarian language, and they have archaic traditions and culture that should be preserved, because it has special importance for Europe - as it is claimed in the report of Tytti Isohookana Asunmaa, in 2001.
Due to the melting pot feature of this region (as besides Romanians and Hungarians here are living Polish, Russian, German, Serbian, Bulgarian, Jew and Gypsy people as well), the present condition of the traditions has been influenced by many different nations and nationalities.
The clue for Csango people to keep their identity is their religion as they are Roman Catholics among the Orthodox, Romanian majority. Today there are approximately 240 000 Roman Catholic people of whom 95% might have been Hungarian by origin (also some German and Polish Roman Catholics live here). Only around 60 000 of them can speak Hungarian language.
The dances of Csango people express the strength of community, as approximately half of these dances are danced either in circle(-s) or in chain, but from the late Middle Age some couple dances has also been recognised. The number of the latter has been highly increased due to the development of commonage.
The vocal culture can be considered the purest Hungarian part (besides ritual songs we can find ballads and tales as well – the latter is not sung, but told).
It is likely that Csango music was played by the flute and the drum at first – the latter might have had ritual role as well. With the appearance of professional musicians and the development and spread of the stringed instruments their role decreased and the most important prime instrument became the violin that was/is usually used together either with the kobsa or the dulcimer.