Comrat (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in

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. ...

and the capital of the autonomous region of

Gagauzia Gagauzia () or Gagauz-Yeri, officially the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (ATUG), is an Administrative divisions of Moldova, autonomous territorial unit of Moldova. Its autonomy is intended for the local Gagauz people, a Turkic languages ...

. It is located in the south of the country, on the Ialpug River. In 2014, Comrat's population was 20,113, of which the vast majority are Gagauzians.

History

Comrat was first settled as early as 1443, with other sources claiming it was founded in 1789. Nevertheless, the settlement was sparsely populated until the new Russian government issued a decree in 1819 to resettle the region with

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

and other nationalities from across the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

,http://aboutmoldova.md/ro/view_free.php?id=365 (in Romanian) after the territory was annexed by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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 ...

in 1812. In 1906, the village revolted against the Russian authorities and proclaimed the autonomous (but not independent) Comrat Republic. Following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it was part of

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 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, before it was recaptured by Romania in 1941. During the time when the town was part of

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 ...

, Comrat's industry was geared toward the production of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

, and rugs, the latter decorated with

n motifs. The Comrat State University was established in 2002.

Demographics

According to the 2014 census, the population of Comrat amounted to 20,113 inhabitants (making it the tenth largest city in Moldova), a decrease compared to the previous census in 2004, when 23,327 inhabitants were registered. Of these, 9,528 were men and 10,585 were women.

''Footnotes'': * ''There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians.'' * ''Moldovan language is one of the two local names for the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...

in Moldova. In 2013, the

Constitutional Court of Moldova The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova () represents the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, autonomous and independent from the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The task of the ...

interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name ''Romanian''.''

Economy

Comrat is situated in the southern wine zone of Moldova. It is known for production of red wine and muscat. In Comrat and its suburbs there are about 10 wineries. Food production is very developed in the city. Comrat is a home for food processing factories, alcohol production, and an oil processing plant (the first and only one in Moldova). There is also such economic agents as a ferro-concrete factory, furniture productions,

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

, production of plastic windows and doors, cattle butcheries, and transport companies.

Sport

Football clubs FC Olimp Comrat and Univer-Oguzsport are based in Comrat.

Geography

Climate

Comrat has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa''), characterized by warm summers and cool, drier winters with snow. Winter lows are often below . In summer, the average maximum temperature is approximately . The average annual

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

is relatively low.

Notable people

* Petar Draganov (1857 in Komrat - 1928) Russian philologist and

Slavist Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was ...

* Reuven Shari (1903 in Comrat – 1989) was a Russian-born Israeli politician * Alexandru Bârlădeanu (1911 in Comrat – 1997) a Romanian Marxian economist who was prominent during the Communist regime, sidelined in 1968 * Sorana Gurian (1913 in Comrat – 1956) a writer, journalist, and translator, emigrated to Israel and France * Anatoliy Blashku (born 1944 in Komrat) was the Minister of Industry of

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 ...

, a Moldovan who moved to

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 ...

as a teenager * Alexandr Stoianoglo (born 1967 in Comrat) a Moldovan politician and member of the

Parliament of Moldova The parliament of the Republic of Moldova () is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period or legislature o ...

since 2009. * Irina Vlah (born 1974 in Comrat) a Moldovan politician, Governor (Başkan) of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia * Igor Cobileanski (born 1974 in Comrat) a Moldovan film director * Mihai Cojusea (born 1978 in Comrat) a Moldavian football striker who plays for CF Gagauziya * Alexander Romanov (born 1990 in Comrat) a Moldavian UFC heavyweight fighter

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Comrat is twinned with: * Erzsébetváros,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

region,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. * Pendik,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

region,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

; * Hendek,

; * Sapanca,

; * Küçükkuyu,

; * Isparta,

; *

North Nicosia North Nicosia or Northern Nicosia ( ; ) refers to the largest settlement and the ''de facto'' capital of Northern Cyprus. It is the northern part of the divided city of Nicosia, and is governed by the Nicosia Turkish Municipality. , North Nicos ...

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

; * Tatlısu,

; *

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

region Sokolniki, Russia; *

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

; * Bavly,

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

; * Bolhrad,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

;

Gallery

Исполком Гагаузии.jpg, The Executive Committee of Gagauzia Центральная площадь Комрата.jpg, Central Square Центральный парк Комрата.jpg, Central Park Comrat State University.jpg, Comrat State University Altin_palas.jpg, Hotel "Altyn Palace" ТЦ "Комрат-Сити".jpg, Shopping center "Comrat-City" Lenin statue in Comrat.jpg, Lenin statue Street in Comrat4.jpg, Street in Comrat

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Gagauzia Municipalities of Moldova Bendersky Uyezd Tighina County (Romania) Ținutul Nistru 1789 establishments in Europe