Salonta (; , colloquially , ; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Bihor County Bihor County (, ) is a county (județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea (Nagyvárad). Toponymy ...

, in the geographical region of

Crișana Crișana (, , ) is a geographical and historical region of Romania named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Romania, the term is sometimes extended to include areas ...

, north-western

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, near the Hungarian border.

Population

According to the 2021 census, Salonta has a population of 15,792. At the census from 2011, the city had a population of 17,042, made up of

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

(58.1%),

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

(38.83%),

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

(2.4%),

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

(0.4%), and others (0.5%). In terms of religion, at the 2002 census, 51.12% were

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

(Calvinist), 36.46%

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

, 6.56%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and 5.86% was split between

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Romanian Greek-Catholic The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome is a ''sui iuris'' Eastern Catholic Church, in full union with the Catholic Church. It has the rank of a Major Archbishop, Major Archiepiscopal Church and it uses the Byzanti ...

Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...

, and other faiths.

History

The city, a part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, was first documented in 1214 under the name of ''Zolonta'' and in 1332 a Papal document used the name ''Zalanta''. The Hungarian spelling ''Szalonta'' was used since 1587. Etymologically, the name is probably related with those of other Romanian localities (slavic names) like Slatina, Zlatna, or Slănic, whose Romanian meaning is "Sărata" ("Saline"). It can also be derived from Hungarian "szalona" ("bacon"), a term having the same etymological meaning, and in regional context – the name of two contiguous villages are probably related with the types of stock growth in the area: Mădăras, from Hungarian "madar" ("bird"), and Tulca from Hungarian "tulok" ("bullock") – it may refer to the numerous pig growers in its perimeter. Until the 16th century, it was only a small village of about 300 inhabitants and was on the land of the Toldi family. A bigger city was the fort of Culișer, which was however destroyed by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

in 1598. Culiser was never rebuilt and Salonta began to have a more important role in the region after 1606, when the prince of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, Stephan Bocskai settled 300 soldiers here and appropriated land for them. They built their own farms, but had to keep their arms ready to repel an attack by the Turks. 3 June, the day in which the soldiers were settled, is nowadays declared "the day of the city". However, Ottoman Turks captured the town in 1660 and as , it became the sanjak center of Varat vilayet until 1692. The 19th century Hungarian poet

János Arany János Arany (; archaic English: John Arany; 2 March 1817 – 22 October 1882) was a Hungarian poet, writer, translator and journalist. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 102 ballads that have been transl ...

was born and lived in Salonta for most of his life.

Lajos Zilahy Lajos Zilahy (27 March 1891 − 1 December 1974) was a Hungarian novelist and playwright. Born in Salonta, Nagyszalonta, Austria-Hungary (now Salonta, Romania), he studied law at the University of Budapest before serving in the Austro-Hungarian ...

, another noted Hungarian author, was also born in Salonta in 1891. Violist and musicologist

Egon Kenton Egon Francis Kenton (born Egon Ferenc Kornstein; May 22, 1891 – December 3, 1987) was a Hungarian and American musicologist, violist, music librarian, and educator born in the Transylvanian village of Nagyszalonta, Austro-Hungarian Empire ...

was born there the same year. After the collapse of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

at the end of

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 ...

, and the declaration of the

Union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...

, the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

took control of Salonta in April 1919, during the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War (; ) was fought between Hungary and Kingdom of Romania, Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. After the ...

. The city officially became part of the territory ceded to the

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 ...

in June 1920 under the terms of the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

. During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, it became the seat of plasa Salonta, in

. In August 1940, under the auspices of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, which imposed the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

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 ...

retook the territory of

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania (, ) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946), Kingdom ...

(which included Salonta) from Romania. Towards the end of

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 ...

, however, the city was taken back from Hungarian and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

troops by Romanian and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

forces in October 1944, during the initial stages of the

Battle of Debrecen The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the ''Debrecen Offensive Operation'', was a battle taking place from 6 to 29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II. The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainia ...

. The territory of Northern Transylvania remained under Soviet military administration until 9 March 1945, after which it became again part of Romania. The Paris Peace Treaties of 1947 reaffirmed the Trianon border. Following the administrative reform of 1950, the town became the seat of Salonta

Raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

within

Bihor Region Bihor Region (Regiunea Bihor) was one of the newly established (in 1950) administrative divisions of the People's Republic of Romania, copied after the Soviet style of territorial organisation. History The capital of the region was Oradea, and ...

(renamed Oradea Region in 1952 and Crișana Region in 1960). In 1968, the old territorial division into ''

județ A (, plural ) is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used from 1940 to 1947 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1998 to 2003 in Moldova. There are 41 in Romania, divided into municipii (municipalities), ''ora ...

e'' was reinstituted, and the city reverted to being part of Bihor County.

Natives

(1817–1882), Hungarian poet, writer, translator, and journalist *

Iosif Ardeleanu Iosif Ardeleanu (born Adler Döme, September 25, 1909 – July 26, 1988) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian communist activist and bureaucrat. He was born into a Hungarian-Jewish family in Salonta. After World War I, he moved with his family to ...

(1909–1988), communist activist and bureaucrat *

Miklós Bonczos Miklós Bonczos ( Nagyszalonta, Hungary 16 September 1897 – Buenos Aires, Argentina 1 August 1971) was a Hungarian politician. * 1915: Graduated Ludovika military academy in 1915. * 1919: Awarded the Order of Vitéz for distinguished ser ...

(1897–1971), Hungarian politician * Gabriel Buta (born 2002), footballer * Yasin Hamed (born 1999), footballer *

(1891–1987), Hungarian and American musicologist *

Elemér Kocsis Elemér Kocsis (; 26 February 1910 – 6 October 1981, in Romania) was a Hungarian Romanian football forward and coach. Career During his career he has made twelve appearances and five goal for the Romania national team. His career in club f ...

(1910–1981), footballer *

Dorin Mihuț Dorin Adrian Mihuț (born 26 June 1982) is a Romanian former football player who played as a right back. In his career Mihuț played for teams such as: Olimpia Salonta, FC Bihor, Dinamo București and UTA Arad, among others. Honours Player ...

(born 1982), footballer *

Alexandru Moghioroș Alexandru Moghioroș (; 23 October 1911 – 1 October 1969) was a Romanian communism, communist activist and politician. Moghioroș was born in 1911 into an Hungarians in Romania, ethnic Hungarian family, in Nagyszalonta, Austria-Hungary, no ...

(1911–1969), communist activist and politician * Sergiu Oltean (born 1987), footballer * Mircea Pavlov (born 1937), chess International Master *

Eugen Rozvan Eugen Rozvan (; Russian: Евгений Георгиевич Розвань, ''Evgeny Georgiyevich Rozvan''; December 28, 1878 — June 16, 1938) was a Hungarian-born Romanian communist activist, lawyer, and Marxist historian, who settled in the S ...

(1878–1938), communist activist, lawyer, and Marxist historian * Enikő A. Sajti (born 1944), Hungarian historian *

Lajos Sătmăreanu Lajos Sătmăreanu (also known as Ludovic Sătmăreanu, , born 21 February 1944) is a Romanian former football player of Hungarian ethnicity. Club career Lajos Sătmăreanu, nicknamed '' Facchetti of the Carpathians'' was born on 21 February 19 ...

(born 1944), footballer * Andra Ursuța (born 1979), Romanian-American sculptor *

(1891−1974), Hungarian novelist and playwright

Climate and geography

Salonta has a continental humid climate, with warm to hot summers and cold to very cold winters, but relatively little snow. The average annual precipitation is . The average January temperature is and in July it is (averages for low and high). It is located in the plains west of the

Apuseni The Apuseni Mountains (, "Western Mountains"; , "Transylvanian Mountains") are a mountain range in Transylvania, Romania, which belongs to the Western Romanian Carpathians. The highest peak is the Bihor Peak at . The Apuseni Mountains have ab ...

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

at an elevation between .

Economy

Salonta is famous nationwide for its ''Salam de Salonta'' sausage products that have been produced since the 1970s. Most of the state-owned factories built during the communist period went into bankruptcy since 1989. During the 2000s however, there has been a considerable foreign direct investment in small factories and assembly plants – particularly in the clothing industry. In 2008, Inteva Products LLC – a large multinational – started production at its Salonta facility, the only one the company has in Romania and one in only five throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Inteva produces cables and latches and other car parts at the Salonta facility. The Salonta gas field (which started production in 2010) is located near the city.

Trivia

The city of Salonta hosted the 2006 Romanian National Gliders Championship (''Campionat naţional de aeromodelism'') and its team, ''Metalul Salonta'', has won the championship several times.

Politics

The Salonta Municipal Council, elected in the 2012 local government elections, is made up of 17 councillors, with the following party composition:

Sports

Basketball: C.S.S. "Teodor Neș" Salonta Tengo Salonta is Salonta's

football tennis Football tennis, also known as futnet and soccer tennis (Czech and Slovak: ''nohejbal''), is a sport played with a football. The sport is played indoors or outdoors on a court divided by a low net with two opposing teams made up of one, two or t ...

team, a very successful club at national level and also the current Football Tennis Club World Cup champions, title won in 2017 after a 3–1 in the final against

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

club from

Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...

, the host of the tournament.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

is also a sport with a long tradition in the town situated near the Hungarian border. Olimpia Salonta is the team of Salonta, being founded in 1911, the club played mostly at

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

and

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...

, with 31 seasons played in the third league of the Romanian football league system. For 10 years, between 2003 and 2013, in Salonta existed another football club, Liberty Salonta, a club with a strong academy at national level that promoted many interesting players over time, even managing a promotion to

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

in 2006, but the club sold its place to

UTA Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County that competes in the Liga I. The team was founded in 1945 ...

and never played at the highest level of the Romanian football.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Salonta is twinned with: *

Csepel Csepel (), officially known as the 21st District of Budapest ( Hungarian: ''Budapest XXI. kerülete'') is a district and a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. Csepel officially became part of Budapest on 1 January 1950. Name The village and ...

Hajdúböszörmény Hajdúböszörmény is a town in northeastern Hungary with a population of approximately 30,000 people. History It is also home to one of the faculties of the University of Debrecen. It has a unique circular plan (like Paris) to the streets that ...

, Hungary *

Nagykőrös Nagykőrös is a town in Pest County, Hungary. János Arany taught there from about 1851, and a local museum is named for him. Notable people *Szabolcs Czira (b. 1951), politician *Frigyes Hegedűs (1920–2008), pentathlete *István Kecskés (b ...

, Hungary *

Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; , ) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishont County (from 1850 to 1922). Geography ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

* Sarkad, Hungary (since 2001) *

Túrkeve Túrkeve is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of Hungary. Geography It covers an area of . Demographics According to the 2011 census, the total population of Túrkeve was 9,008, of whom there were 87.8% H ...

, Hungary (since 1994) *

Derecske Derecske is a town in Hajdú-Bihar county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. History The town was first mentioned in 1291. Geography It covers an area of and has a population Population is a set of humans or other org ...

, Hungary *

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; ; see also #Name, other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. Highway 44, 47 ...

, Hungary

Image gallery

File:Primăria Salonta.JPG, The front of the Salonta City Hall File:Primăria din Salonta.JPG, City Hall (Városháza/Primăria) File:Csonka Torony.jpg, Ciunt Tower (Csonka Torony/Turnul Ciunt) File:Róth Ház.jpg, Róth House File:Casa de cultura Salonta.JPG, House of Culture (Kultúr Ház/Casa de Cultură) File:RO BH Salonta Consulat.JPG, Consulate of Slovakia (Szlovák Konzulátus/Consulatul Slovac) File:RO BH Salonta Judecatoria.JPG, The Court File: ScoalaSalonta.JPG,

Teodor Neș National College Teodor Neș National College () is a high school located at 90 Republicii Street, Salonta, Romania. In 1903–1904, at a time when the area belonged to Austria-Hungary, the city council, followed by the Bihar County council, requested the establis ...

(Teodor Neș Kollégium/Colegiul Națtional Teodor Neș) RO BH Salonta Muzeul Taranului si troita.JPG, The Peasantry Museum panorama File:Muzeul taranului.JPG, The Peasantry Museum File:RO BH Salonta Alee parc.JPG, Central Park (Központi Park/Parcul Central) File:Calvinist Cathedral.JPG, Reformed Cathedral (Református Templom/Templul Reformat) File:RO BH Salonta Parcul din centru.JPG, Orthodox Church File:Katolische Kirche.jpg, Catholic Church File:RO BH Salonta Locomotiva cu abur.JPG, Train monument and the railway station File:Hotel Slavia.JPG, Slavia Hotel File:Hotel Central. Fortepan 30106.jpg, Central Hotel in 1932 File:Vasútállomás. Fortepan 30166.jpg, The railway station in 1921 File:Magyar Királyi Főgimnázium (ma Arany János Főgimnázium). Fortepan 86679.jpg, The high school in 1907 File:Főtér, szemben a Csonkatorony. Fortepan 30165.jpg, Ciunt Tower and the center of the town in 1917 File:Főtér, szemben a református templom. Fortepan 30164.jpg, Reformed Cathedral and the center of the town in 1917

References

* *

External links

Salonta General Information Site
{{Authority control Populated places in Bihor County Localities in Crișana Cities in Romania Hungary–Romania border crossings