Vatra, Moldova
Vatra | |
|---|---|
Health center and post office | |
Vatra | |
| Coordinates: 47°04′26″N 28°44′06″E / 47.07389°N 28.73500°E | |
| Country | Moldova |
| Municipality | Chișinău |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Denis Danila (MAN[1]) |
| Elevation | 70 m (230 ft) |
| Population | |
• Total | 3,391 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | MD-2055 |
| Website | Official website |
Vatra (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈvatrə]) is a town in Chișinău municipality, Moldova, located about 6 km north‑west of the capital and covering roughly 8 km². It gained city status in the early 1990s.
Economy and Infrastructure
Vatra has a kindergarten, a high school with Romanian and Russian instruction, a local clinic, and several enterprises including the Vatra stone quarry, marble processing, and alcoholic beverage production. The town is crossed by the national R1 (E58) road, which connects Chișinău to the country’s western districts. North of the Vatra railway station lies the protected 'Cazacu' Quarry area.
During the Soviet era, a bus line linked the town to the capital, and plans were made for a metro connecting Chișinău International Airport with Vatra. The town celebrates its patronal feast on October 14, like Chișinău, and offers recreational areas along the artificial Ghidighici Reservoir, created on the Bâc River floodplain in the 1960s–1970s.
Demographics
According to the 2024 census, 3,391 inhabitants lived in Vatra, a decrease compared to the previous census in 2014, when 3,457 inhabitants were registered.[3][4]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 2,238 | — |
| 1979 | 3,368 | +50.5% |
| 1989 | 3,676 | +9.1% |
| 2004 | 3,296 | −10.3% |
| 2014 | 3,457 | +4.9% |
| 2024 | 3,391 | −1.9% |
- ^ There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians.
- ^ In March 2023, the Parliament of Moldova passed a law updating all legislative texts and the constitution to refer to the national language as Romanian, effectively rendering the term "Moldovan" obsolete.[5][6]
References
- ^ "Lista primarilor aleși în cadrul Alegerilor Locale Generale din 14 iunie 2015" (in Romanian). Central Election Commission of Moldova. 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
- ^ Results of Population and Housing Census in the Republic of Moldova in 2014: "Characteristics - Population (population by communes, religion, citizenship)" (XLS). National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. 2017. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
- ^ "Rezultatele finale ale Recensământului Populației și Locuințelor 2024: Caracteristici etnoculturale ale populației". National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. (in Romanian)
- ^ "2014 Moldova Census of Population and Housing". National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova. (in Romanian, Russian, and English)
- ^ "Chisinau Recognizes Romanian As Official Language". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ^ "Moldovan parliament approves law on Romanian language". Reuters. 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
47°04′26″N 28°44′06″E / 47.0739°N 28.735°E