Taraclia (, ) is a district () in the south of

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, with the administrative center at

Taraclia Taraclia (, russian: Тараклия, bg, Тараклия) is a city located in the south of Moldova. It is the capital of Taraclia District, bordered by the autonomous region of Gagauzia, by the Cahul District and the Odessa Oblast of Ukrain ...

. As of 1 January 2012, its population was 44,100, 65.6% of whom were ethnic

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

. The district covers an area of and has the lowest population density of all

districts of Moldova Countries' first-level (top-level) administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are gene ...

History

The district was formed on November 11, 1940, with its center in the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of Taraclia, in the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...

. Until October 16, 1949 it was part of the Cahul uyezd, after the abolition of the uyezd it passed to direct republican subordination. Between January 31, 1952 and June 15, 1953 the area was part of Cahul county, after the abolition of the county division it returned to direct republican subordination. On January 9, 1956 the

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

of Taraclia district was almost doubled due to the annexation of parts of the territory of the abolished Kangazi district. On December 25, 1962 a new division of the territory of the Republic was established. The Taraclia region was abolished and its territory was divided between the neighboring

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of Kagul, Komrat and Chadarlung. On November 10, 1980, the district was restored with almost the same boundaries as in 1956, adding part of the territories of Vulkanesti and Chadarlung districts. In the mid-1990s, after the creation of the autonomous territorial entity of Gagauzia, there was a mutual transfer of villages between Gagauzia and the Taraclia region. As a result of the transfer, the region was territorially divided into two unrelated parts. In 1999, as part of the ongoing administrative reform, the region became part of the Kagul uyezd, but on October 22, 1999, at the request of the majority of ethnic Bulgarians in the region, a separate Taraclia uyezd was created. The Taraclia rajon has existed since 2003. Until February 2003, the area belonged to the now dissolved Cahul District (Județul Cahul) together with today's Rajon Cahul and Cantemir. As the center of the Bulgarian minority in Moldova, which accounts for about 66% of the population, today there are numerous Bulgarian cultural institutions and schools in Taraclia District. The Bulgarian language is also one of the languages of instruction at the Taraclia State University. The regional authorities in Taraclia have long been demanding more autonomy rights for their region. In early 2014, a union with the autonomous region of Gagauzia was also discussed. According to the regional

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of Taraclia, numerous other localities, mostly inhabited by Bulgarians, from other parts of Moldova applied to join the Taraclia district. Semi-independent of Moldova's central government, the rayon regional administration maintains separate relations with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Taraclia is considered a stronghold of pro-Russian political parties in Moldova. Due to dissatisfaction with the

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

government, separatist tendencies have intensified in the region in recent years.

Demographics

Births Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the ...

(2010): 464 (10.5 per 1000) *

Deaths Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

(2010): 562 (12.7 per 1000) *Growth Rate (2010): –98 (–2.2 per 1000)

Ethnic groups

''Footnote'': * There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians.

Religion

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

– 96.6% **

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

- 94.3% **

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

– 2.3% ***

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

– 1.3% ***

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

– 0.5% ***

Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

– 0.3% ***

Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

– 0.2% *Other – 1.7% *No Religion – 1.3% *

Atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

– 0.4%

Politics

Traditionally in Taraclia district, political and electoral support for the PCRM is higher than the rest of the southern part of

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

have the largest percentage of the

votes in this district. But the last three elections communists saw a continuous decline in percentage. During the last three elections AEI had an increase of 147.1%

Elections

, - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=center colspan="2" valign=center, Parties and coalitions !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=Votes !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=% !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=+/− , - , , align=left,

Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Партидул Комуништилор дин Република Молдова, italic=no, Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova; russian: Партия коммунистов Р ...

, align="right", 13,561 , align="right", 69.61 , align="right", −11.09 , - , , align=left,

Democratic Party of Moldova The European Social Democratic Party ( ro, Partidul Social Democrat European, PSDE) is a centre-left, populist social-democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997, the party holds pro-European views, and is an associate member of th ...

, align="right", 2,180 , align="right", 11,19 , align="right", +1.14 , - , , align=left,

Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova ( ro, Partidul Liberal Democrat din Moldova, PLDM) is a conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Moldova, political party in Moldova. The party is led by Tudor Deliu. Until 2016, PLDM was led ...

, align="right", 1,217 , align="right", 6.25 , align="right", +3.28 , - , bgcolor="grey", , align=left,

United Moldova The United Moldova Party ( ro, Partidul Moldova Unită) is a political party in Moldova. History The party was formed on May 21, 2005 in Chişinău. The "Moldova Unită" Party of Spiritual Development won 0.22% at April 2009 Moldovan parliamen ...

, align="right", 621 , align="right", 3.19 , align="right", +3.19 , - , bgcolor="grey", , align=left, Humanist Party of Moldova , align="right", 483 , align="right", 2.48 , align="right", +2.48 , - , , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, align="right", 425 , align="right", 2.18 , align="right", +0.22 , - , , align=left,

Party Alliance Our Moldova The Our Moldova Alliance ( ro, Partidul Alianță Moldova Noastră, en, Party Alliance Our Moldova, AMN) was a social-liberal political party in Moldova led by Serafim Urechean, former mayor of Chișinău. It merged into the Liberal Democratic P ...

, align="right", 256 , align="right", 1.31 , align="right", −0.62 , - , , align=left,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, align="right", 192 , align="right", 1.00 , align="right", −0.20 , - , bgcolor="grey", , align=left, Other Party , align="right", 548 , align="right", 2.79 , align="right", +1.60 , - , align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="2", Total (turnout 60.80%) , width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 19,656 , width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="30" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9",

References

Rezultatele alegerilor din 28 noiembrie 2010 în raionul Taraclia
{{Coord, 45, 55, N, 28, 35, E, region:MD_type:adm1st, display=title Districts of Moldova Bulgarian communities in Moldova Bulgarian-speaking countries and territories