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Ungheni (Romanian pronunciation:[uŋˈɡenʲ]ⓘ) is a municipality[2] in Moldova. With a population of 35,157, it is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District.
The first historical mention of Ungheni dates to 20 August 1462. A railway between Ungheni and Chișinău was built in 1875 by Russia in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). In the interwar period, the town formed part of Romania. During World War II, it was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940, then recaptured by Romania in 1941, and then re-occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944, within which it formed part of the Moldavian SSR. After the war, the rail route through Ungheni became the main connection between the USSR and Romania.
In 1876, after the spring flooding of the river Prut, the railway bridge that linked Moldova and Romania was almost destroyed.
The Railways Department invited Gustave Eiffel to Bessarabia (Moldova) to redesign and rebuild the bridge.
Today, it remains a strategic structure under the supervision of border guards.
Th EU proposed in 2023 to lay a new rail 1435mm standard gauge line from Ungheni to Chisinau, alongside the existing 1520mm track, to avoid disruption to existing services.[3]
Demographics
According to the 2014 census, the population of Ungheni amounted to 30,804 inhabitants (making it the sixth largest city in Moldova), a decrease compared to the previous census in 2004, when 32,530 inhabitants were registered. Of these, 14,647 were men and 16,157 were women.[4]
*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 In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence,[7] thus giving official status to the name Romanian.[8][9]
Brezianu, Andrei and Spânu, Vlad (eds.) (2007) "Ungheni" Historical Dictionary of Moldova (2nd ed.) Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, USA, p. 371, ISBN978-0-8108-5607-3
1 In Transnistria. 2 Controlled by the Transnistrian authorities. 3 Also a municipality. 4 The seat of Dubăsari District is the commune of Cocieri (not a city).