Bender (, ) or Bendery (, ; ), also known as Tighina ( mo-Cyrl, Тигина, links=no), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

under ''de facto'' control of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria) (PMR) since 1992. It is located on the western bank of the river

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

in the historical region of

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

. Together with its suburb Proteagailovca, the city forms a municipality, which is separate from Transnistria (as an administrative unit of Moldova) according to Moldovan law. Bender is located in the

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

established at the end of the 1992

War of Transnistria The Transnistria War (; ) was an armed conflict that broke out on 2 November 1990 in Dubăsari between pro-Transnistria (Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, PMR) forces, including the Transnistrian Republican Guard, militia and neo- Cossack un ...

. While the Joint Control Commission has overriding powers in the city, Transnistria has ''de facto'' administrative control. The fortress of Tighina was one of the important historic fortresses of the Principality of Moldova until 1812.

Name

First mentioned in 1408 as ''Tyagyanyakyacha'' () in a document in

Old Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...

(the term has

Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

origins), the town was known in the Middle Ages as Tighina in Romanian from

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

n sources and later as ''Bender'' in Ottoman sources. The fortress and the city were called ''Bender'' for most of the time they were a

rayah A raiyah or reaya (from , a plural of "countryman, animal, sheep pasturing, subjects, nationals, flock", also spelled ''raiya'', ''raja'', ''raiah'', ''re'aya''; , ; Modern Turkish ''râiya'' or ''reaya''; related to the Arabic word ''rā'ī ...

of the Ottomans (1538–1812), and during most of the time they belonged to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(1828–1917). They were known as ''Tighina'' (Тигина, ) in the

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially independent and later auto ...

, in the early part of the Russian Empire period (1812–1828), and during the time the city belonged to Romania (1918–1940; 1941–1944). Cetatea Tighina

The city is part of the historical region of

. During the Soviet period the city was known in the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

as ''Bender'' in Romanian, written with the

Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan region ...

, as ''Bendery'' () in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and ''Bendery'' (Бенде́ри) in Ukrainian. Today the city is officially named ''Bender'', but both ''Bender'' and ''Tighina'' are in use.

History

The town was first mentioned as an important customs post in a commerce grant issued by the

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Alexander the Good Alexander I, commonly known as Alexander the Good (; – 1 January 1432) was Voivode of Moldavia between 1400 and 1432. He was the son of Roman I and succeeded Iuga to the throne. As ruler he initiated a series of reforms while consolidating ...

to the merchants of

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

on 8 October 1408. The name "Tighina" is found in documents from the second half of the 15th century. Genoese merchants used to call the town ''Teghenaccio''. The town was the main Moldavian customs point on the commercial road linking the country to the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

. Ion Nistor, ''Istoria Basarabiei'', Cernăuți, 1923, reprint Chișinău, Cartea Moldovenească, 1991, p.76 During his reign of Moldavia, Stephen III had a small wooden

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

built in the town to defend the settlement from Tatar raids. In 1538, the Ottoman sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

conquered the town from Moldavia, and renamed it ''Bender''. Its fortifications were developed into a full fortress under the same name under the supervision of the Turkish architect Koji

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan (; , ; – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha (title), Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman Empire, Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician for sultans Suleiman ...

. The Ottomans used it to keep the pressure on Moldavia. At the end of the 16th century several unsuccessful attempts to retake the fortress were made: in the summer of 1574 Prince John III the Terrible led a siege on the fortress, as did

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...

in 1595 and 1600. About the same time the fortress was attacked by

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

. In the 18th century, the fort's area was expanded and modernized by the prince of Moldavia Antioh Cantemir, who carried out these works under Ottoman supervision. On 5 April 1710 the Bender Constitution (more commonly known as the

Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk The Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk () or the Bender Constitution, formally titled as The Treaties and Resolutions of the Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporozhian Host (, ), is a constitutional document written by the Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host, P ...

) was accepted in Bender. It established the principle of the separation of powers in government between the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches almost 40 years before the publication of

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...

's ''Spirit of the Laws''. Charlex XII at Bender crop

In 1713, the fortress, the town, and the neighboring village of Varnița were the site of skirmishes between

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...

, who had taken refuge there with the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

Hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

Ivan Mazepa Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...

after his defeat in the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava took place 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. The Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would l ...

in 1709, and the Turks who wished to enforce the departure of the Swedish king. During the second half of the 18th century, the fortress fell three times to the Russians during the

Russo-Turkish Wars The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

(in 1770, 1789, and in 1806 without a fight). Along with Bessarabia, the city was annexed to the Russian Empire in 1812, and remained part of the Russian Governorate of Bessarabia until 1917. Many Ukrainians, Russians and Jews settled in or around Bender, and the town quickly became predominantly Russian-speaking. By 1897, speakers of Romanian made up only around 7% of Bender's population, while 33.4% were Jews. Tighina was part of the

Moldavian Democratic Republic The Moldavian Democratic Republic (MDR; , ), also known as the Moldavian Republic or Moldavian People's Republic, was a state proclaimed on by the ''Sfatul Țării'' (National Council) of Bessarabia, elected in October–November 1917 foll ...

in 1917–1918, and after 1918, following the

Union of Bessarabia with Romania The union of Bessarabia with Romania was proclaimed on by Sfatul Țării, the legislative body of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. This state had the same borders of the region of Bessarabia, which was annexed by the Russian Empire following t ...

, the city belonged to the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, where it was the seat of Tighina County. In 1918, it was shortly controlled by the Odesa Soviet Republic which was driven out by the Romanian army. The local population was critical of Romanian authorities; pro-Soviet separatism remained popular. On Easter Day, 1919, the bridge over the Dniester River was blown up by the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

in order to block the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s from coming to the city. In the same year, there was a pro-Soviet uprising in Bender, attempting to attach the city to the newly founded

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Several hundred communist workers and Red Army members from Bessarabia, headed by , seized control in Bender on 27 May. However, the uprising was crushed on the same day by the Romanian army. Romania launched a policy of

Romanianization Romanianization is the series of policies aimed toward ethnic assimilation implemented by the Romanian authorities during the 20th and 21st century. The most noteworthy policies were those aimed at the Hungarian minority in Romania, Jews and as ...

and the use of Russian was now discouraged and in certain cases restricted. In Bender, however, Russian continued to be the city's most widely spoken language, being native to 53% of its residents in 1930. Although their share had doubled, Romanian-speakers made up only 15%. Interbelic Tighina CoA

Along with Bessarabia, the city was occupied by the Soviet Union on 28 June 1940, following an ultimatum. In the course of World War II, it was retaken by Romania in July 1941 (under which a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

regarding the occupation of Transnistria was signed a month later), and again by the USSR in August 1944. Most of the city's Jews were killed during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, although Bender continued to have a significant Jewish community until most emigrated after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Jews were deported to Transnistria by the Romanian authorities in 1941, where most of them died. In 1940–1941 and from 1944 to 1991 it was one of the four "republican cities", not subordinated to a district, of the

Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

, one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union. Since 1991, the city has been disputed between the Republic of Moldova and

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

. Due to the city's key strategic location on the right bank of the

river, from left-bank

Tiraspol Tiraspol (, ; also /; , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the third-largest city. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of cul ...

, Bender saw the heaviest fighting of the 1992

during the Battle of Bender. Since then, it is controlled by Transnistrian authorities, although it has been formally in the

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

established at the end of the conflict. Moldovan authorities control the commune of Varnița, a suburb on the fringe of the city to the north. Transnistrian authorities control the suburban communes of Proteagailovca, which borders the city to the west and Gîsca, which borders the city to the south-west. They also control Chițcani and Cremenciug, further to the south-east, while Moldovans are in control of Copanca, further to the south-east.

Administration

Nikolai Gliga is the head of the state administration of Bender .

List of Heads of the state administration of Bender

* Tom Zenovich (1995 ~ 30 October 2001) * Aleksandr Posudnevsky (30 October 2001 ~ 11 January 2007) * Vyacheslav Kogut (11 January 2007 ~ 5 January 2012) * Aleksandr Moskalyov, acting Head of Administration (5 January 2012 ~ 9 February 2012) * Valery Kernichuk (9 February 2012 ~ 15 November 2012) * Yuriy Gervazyuk (24 January 2013 ~ 18 March 2015) * Lada Delibalt (20 March 2015 ~ 7 April 2015) * Nikolai Gliga (7 April 2015 ~ )

Climate

People and culture

Demographics

In 1920, the population of Bender was approximately 26,000. At that time, one third of the population was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. One third of the population was Romanian.

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, Russians, and Bulgarians were also mixed into the population during that time. At the 2004 Census, the city had a population of 100,169, of which the city itself 97,027, and the commune of Proteagailovca, 3,142.The Transnistrian census of 2004 data by nationality at http://pop-stat.mashke.org/pmr-ethnic-loc2004.htm ''Note:'' ¹ Since the independence of Moldova, there has been ongoing controversy over whether Romanians and Moldovans should be counted officially as the same ethnic group or not. At the census, every citizen could only declare one nationality. Consequently, one could not declare oneself both Moldovan and Romanian. ''Note:'' ² The Ukrainian population of Bessarabia was counted in the past as "Ruthenians" Population dynamics by years: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:canvas value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:auto height:300 barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:20 right:5 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:133000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late BackgroundColors = canvas:canvas ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10000 start:0 BarData= bar:1897 text:1897 bar:1939 text:1939 bar:1959 text:1959 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1989 text:1989 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2004 text:2004 bar:2008 text:2008 bar:2009 text:2009 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2012 text:2012 bar:2013 text:2013 bar:2014 text:2014 bar:2015 text:2015 bar:2015-10 text:15/10 bar:2016 text:2016 bar:2017 text:2017 bar:2018 text:2018 bar:2019 text:2019 bar:2020 text:2020 PlotData= color:barra width:15 anchor:till align:center shift:(0,5) bar:1897 from:0 till:31797 text:31,7 bar:1939 from:0 till:30700 text:30,7 bar:1959 from:0 till:43109 text:43,1 bar:1970 from:0 till:72321 text:72,3 bar:1989 from:0 till:129969 text:129,9 bar:1991 from:0 till:133000 text:133 bar:2004 from:0 till:97027 text:97,0 bar:2008 from:0 till:94404 text:94,4 bar:2009 from:0 till:94056 text:94,0 bar:2010 from:0 till:93751 text:93,7 bar:2011 from:0 till:93327 text:93,3 bar:2012 from:0 till:92990 text:92,9 bar:2013 from:0 till:92383 text:92,3 bar:2014 from:0 till:91882 text:91,8 bar:2015 from:0 till:91044 text:91,0 bar:2015-10 from:0 till:90507 text:90,5 bar:2016 from:0 till:84600 text:84,6 bar:2017 from:0 till:83700 text:83,7 bar:2018 from:0 till:83200 text:83,2 bar:2019 from:0 till:83100 text:83,1 bar:2020 from:0 till:83200 text:83,2

Media

* Radio Chișinău 106.1 FM

Sport

FC Tighina is the city's professional football club, formerly playing in the top Moldovan football league, the Divizia Națională, before being relegated.

Notable people

* Liubov Abravitova (born 1980), Ukrainian diplomat * Mehmed Selim Pasha (1771–1831), Ottoman statesman *

Lev Berg Lev Semyonovich Berg, also known as Leo S. Berg (; 14 March 1876 – 24 December 1950) was a leading Russian geographer, biologist and ichthyologist who served as President of the Soviet Geographical Society between 1940 and 1950. He is known f ...

(1876–1950), leading Jewish Russian geographer, biologist and

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

* Boris Solotareff (1889–1966), Russian painter *

Jerzy Neyman Jerzy Spława-Neyman (April 16, 1894 – August 5, 1981; ) was a Polish mathematician and statistician who first introduced the modern concept of a confidence interval into statistical hypothesis testing and, with Egon Pearson, revised Ronald Fis ...

(1894–1981), Polish mathematician and statistician *

Baruch Agadati Baruch Agadati (, also Baruch Kaushansky-Agadati; January 8, 1895 – January 18, 1976) was a Russian-born Israeli classical ballet dancer, choreographer, painter, and film producer and director. Biography Baruch Kaushansky (later Agadati) was bo ...

(1895–), Russian-born Israeli classical ballet dancer, choreographer, painter, and film producer and director * Mozes Kahana (1897–1974), writer, poet, first chairman of the

Moldovan Writers' Union The Writers' Union of Moldova () is a professional association of writers in Moldova. Mihai Cimpoi had been the president of the Writers' Union of Moldova between 1991 and 2010. As of 2023, the president is Teo Chiriac, elected in 2021. Refere ...

* Sir Michael Postan FBA (1899–1981), British historian * Yosef Kushnir (1900–1983), Israeli politician who served in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

* Maurice Raizman (1905–1974), French chess master * Yevgeny Fyodorov (1910–1981), Soviet geophysicist, statesman, public figure and academician * Zrubavel Gilad (1912–1988), Hebrew poet, editor and translator * Tamara Buciuceanu (1929–2019), Romanian stage, screen and TV personality *

Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu (; born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution, Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member ...

(born 1939), Romanian professor and politician, who served as the third President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. * Viktor Sokolov (born 1962), admiral and commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet * Nicolai Lilin (born 1980), Italian-Moldovan writer famous for writing ''Siberian Education'', a fake memoir which narrated his youth in Bender * (1931–2022), Romanian opera singer * Ilie Cazac (born 1985), former Moldovan tax inspector and political prisoner * Liuba Chișinevschi (1911–1981), Romanian communist * (1929–2009), Russian writer

Sport

* Veaceslav Semionov (born 1956), Moldavian football manager and former footballer. Since November 2014 he is the head coach of Moldavian football club FC Dacia Chișinău * Fedosei Ciumacenco (born 1973), Olympian Moldovan race walker, competed in the 20 kilometres distance at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

* Serghei Stolearenco (born 1978), Moldovan former sprint freestyle swimmer, competed in the men's 50 m freestyle at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

* Alexandru Melenciuc (born 1979), Moldovan footballer. He currently plays for

Navbahor Namangan PFC. Navbahor Namangan () is an Uzbek professional association football, football club based in Namangan. The club's name literal translation, means ''New Spring''. They play in the Uzbekistan Super League. Name RAHIMOV origins from Persian lang ...

* Andrei Tcaciuc (born 1982), Moldavian football midfielder who plays for FC Speranța Crihana Veche *

Igor Bugaiov Igor Bugaiov (also romanized as Bugaev; born 26 June 1984) is a retired Moldovan professional association football, footballer. Career Bugaiov began playing with his home-town team FC Dinamo Bender in the Moldovan National Division. In 2004, he ...

(born 1984), footballer, who plays for FC Irtysh Pavlodar * Alexei Casian (born 1987), Moldavian football midfielder who represents Lane Xang Intra F.C. * Vadim Cemîrtan (born 1987), Moldovan football striker who plays for

FC Bunyodkor Football Club Bunyodkor () is an Uzbek professional football club based in Tashkent that competes in the Uzbekistan Super League. Bunyodkor, a relatively unknown club at the time, made international headlines when it claimed to be close to sig ...

* Artyom Khachaturov (born 1992), Armenian-Moldovan footballer who currently plays for Moldovan club

FC Zimbru Chișinău Fotbal Club Zimbru Chișinău, commonly known as Zimbru Chișinău or simply Zimbru, is a Moldovan professional Association football, football club based in Chișinău, which competes in the Moldovan Liga, Liga, the highest tier of Football in Mo ...

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Bender is twinned with: *

Beira, Mozambique Beira () is the capital and largest List of cities in Mozambique, city of Sofala Province, in the central region of Mozambique. Beira is where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean. It is the fourth-largest city by population in Mozambique, af ...

* Cavriago, Italy *

Dubăsari Dubăsari (; mo-Cyrl, Дубэсарь) or Dubossary (; ; ) is a city in Transnistria, with a population of 23,650. Claimed by both the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistria, Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the city is under the latter's ad ...

, Moldova *

Montesilvano Montesilvano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Abruzzo is often called Mare-Monti (Sea-Mountain) region. The name Montesilvano is apparently derived from the Latin which means "woody hill" (" ...

, Italy * Ochamchire, Georgia

Gallery

File:Bendery Zentrum.jpg, City centre File:Friedhof.jpg, Military cemetery File:Bendery Fortress - Bendery - Transnistria - 07 (36841451595).jpg, Bender Fortress File:Bender Fortress. Church 03.JPG, Fortress church File:Horse and Carriage - Bendery Fortress - Bendery - Transnistria (36032560843).jpg, Horse and carriage at Bender Fortress File:Soviet-Era Memorial with Flower Bed - Bendery - Transnistria (36032549573).jpg, Soviet-era memorial with flower bed, Bender File:Kids in Fountain with Facade Backdrop - Bendery - Transnistria (36445273450).jpg, Downtown fountain, Bender File:National Crest on Plinth - Bendery - Transnistria (36032553743).jpg, Transnistrian crest on plinth, Bender

Notes

References

External links

*
Bendery
(Bender) in the

Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries () is a monumental Polish gazetteer, published 1880–1902 in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns ...

(1880)
City portal
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Moldova Municipalities of Moldova Cities and towns in Transnistria Populated places under Transnistrian control Populated places on the Dniester Bendersky Uyezd Tighina County (Romania) Capitals of the counties of Bessarabia Ținutul Nistru Holocaust locations in Moldova

Name

History

Administration

List of Heads of the state administration of Bender

Climate

People and culture

Demographics

Media

Sport

Notable people

Sport

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links