Taraclia

Taraclia (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 Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. The great majority of its inhabitants are ethnic Bulgarians.

The Taraclia State University, co-funded by Bulgaria and Moldova, was established in 2004. The languages of education are Bulgarian and Romanian.

History
According to official figures, Taraclia was founded in 1813 by Bulgarian immigrants, although they have been settling there much earlier. The city is one of the oldest Bulgarian settlements of the nineteenth century in what was then the southern Bessarabia.

The first settlers arrived at Taraclia during the Russo-Turkish war of 1806–1812. In 1821 it has settled a large group, which was originally located in the nearby village Aluatu. After the Russo-Turkish war of 1828–1829 a large proportion of Bulgarian immigrants settled in Bessarabia and specially in Taraclia, about 49 families have settled in the city. The last wave of migration happened in 1854, when 241 people settled there. Having the rights of colonists, they built houses and churches and had children, taking advantage of several decades of privileges granted to them by the Tsarist Russian government.

In the middle of the 19th century, the famous explorer Apollon Skalkowski wrote about them: "Residents, good hosts, herds of large cattle, sheep, and a great deal to the success of horticulture and viticulture, and women bred mulberry trees, collect the cocoons and have silk in large quantities"

During the interwar period, the city was the seat of Plasa Traian, in Cahul County, Romania.

Demographics
According to the 2014 census, the population of Taraclia amounted to 12,355 inhabitants, a decrease compared to the previous census in 2004, when 13,756 inhabitants were registered. Of these, 6,126 were men and 6,229 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 in Moldova. In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name Romanian. ''

Media

 * Vocea Basarabiei, 101,9

Notable people

 * Timofei Silistaru

Twin towns – Sister cities
Taraclia is twinned with:


 * 🇧🇬 Aksakovo, Bulgaria
 * 🇧🇬 Nova Zagora, Bulgaria
 * 🇧🇬 Sliven, Bulgaria