Artsyz

Artsyz (Арциз, ; Арциз Artsiz; Arciz; Artsız or Arsız; Artzis or Arzis) is a city in Bolhrad Raion of Odesa Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Artsyz urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: In 2001, population was 16,370. In 2001, the city of Artsyz was 66.51% Russian-speaking, 22.57% Ukrainian-speaking, 7.9% Bulgarian-speaking, and 1.49% Romanian-speaking. The city had 16,268 inhabitants in 2001, of which 6,495 identified themselves as ethnic Ukrainians (39.92%), 5,258 as ethnic Russians (32.32%), 3,075 as Bulgarians (18.90%), 695 as Moldovans (4.27%) and 204 (1.25%),as Gagauz.

Geography
In the northern part of the town of Balka Artyzka, it flows into the Chagu River.

Etymology
Artsyz got its name from the French town of Arcis-sur-Aube, in Champagne, where a local military clash took place on March 20–21, 1814.

The town had various name options such as Arsis, Alt-Arsis, Artsyz or Ars-on-Chaga.

History
The city was founded in 1816 by German colonists from Swabia and the just dissolved Duchy of Warsaw and was named after the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. Steppe towns, founded by German settlers in the Odesa region in the 1810s-1830s, were named in memory of "victories of the Russian army" in the Napoleonic Wars. Such towns include Tarutyne, Wittensburg, Borodino, Leipzig, Verchampenoise, Paris, Teplice, and others. As of 1886, the German colony, the center of the Artsyz Volost of the Akkerman County of the Bessarabia Governorate, had a population of 1,503, with 122 households. There was a prayer house, a post station, a shop, 2 inns, 2 restaurants, 2 taverns, and 2 wineries, and bazaars were held every two weeks on Tuesdays. The first inhabitants of Artsyz were German colonists from the Warsaw Duchy. They were granted significant privileges: each family received 60 desyatins of land, exemption from taxes for 50 years, and exemption from conscription forever. Agriculture and livestock farming developed rapidly.

Since August 24, 1991, Artsyz has been a part of Independent Ukraine. On February 23, 2016, by the decision of the Artsyz City Council, in accordance with the law of Ukraine "On condemnation of the communist and national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols," some streets in the city of Arciz were renamed. Since then, the streets of Arciz have received new names.

Until 18 July 2020, Artsyz was the administrative center of Artsyz Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odesa Oblast to seven. The area of Artsyz Raion was merged into Bolhrad Raion.

Artsyz was bombed on 3 May 2022 by Russian forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.