Bolhrad ( uk, Болгра́д, Bolhrad, ; bg, Болград, Bolgrad; ro, Bolgrad, Gagauz: ''Bolgrad''), is a small

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Odesa Oblast Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administ ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

) of southwestern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, in the historical region of

Budjak Budjak or Budzhak ( Bulgarian and Ukrainian: Буджак; ro, Bugeac; Gagauz and Turkish: ''Bucak''), historically part of Bessarabia until 1812, is a historical region in Ukraine and Moldova. Lying along the Black Sea between the Danu ...

. It is the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

Bolhrad Raion Bolhrad Raion ( uk, Болградський район; ro, Raionul Bolgrad) is a raion (district) in Odesa Oblast of Ukraine. It is part of the historical region of Bessarabia. Its administrative center is the town of Bolhrad. Population: On ...

(

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

) and hosts the administration of

Bolhrad urban hromada Bolhrad ( uk, Болгра́д, Bolhrad, ; bg, Болград, Bolgrad; ro, Bolgrad, Gagauz: ''Bolgrad''), is a small city in Odesa Oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Budjak. It is the administrative center o ...

, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

s of Ukraine. Population:

History

Bolhrad was founded in 1821 by Bulgarian settlers in

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds o ...

, under the direction of General Ivan Inzov who is "revered" by Bolhrad residents as the "Founder of Our City." Bolhrad became part of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

from 1856 to 1859,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

from 1859 to 1878, 1918 to 1940, and 1941 to 1944, before being incorporated into the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

(in the territory of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

), and later independent

. In 1921, there was a terrorist attack on a palace on the city. File:Bolgrad, Sveto Preobrazenie, katedrala, 1938.jpg, Transfiguration Cathedral File:Historical image of Bolhrad High School (Romania time).jpg, Bolhrad High School

Demographics

The surrounding Bolhradsky district is predominantly populated by ethnic Bulgarians (a majority of 61%). Bolhrad itself is inhabited by a large number of

Bessarabian Bulgarians The Bessarabian Bulgarians ( bg, бесарабски българи, ''besarabski bǎlgari'', ro, bulgari basarabeni, uk, бесарабські болгари, ''bessarabski bolháry'') are a Bulgarian minority group of the historical region ...

and is considered by locals to be the unofficial capital of the

n historic district of

Economy

As of 1920, Bolhrad had a

coal industry Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead ...

Education

The Georgi Sava Rakovski Bolhrad High School founded in 1858 is the oldest high school of the Bulgarian National Revival.

Notable residents

Dimitar Grekov Dimitar Panayotov Grekov () (14 September 1847 – 7 May 1901) was a leading Bulgarian liberal politician who also served as Prime Minister. A native of Bolgrad in Bessarabia (now Bolhrad, Ukraine), Grekov was educated at a French legal ...

(1847–1901), Bulgarian politician * Danail Nikolaev (1852–1942), Bulgarian general * Georgi Todorov (1858–1934), Bulgarian general * Mykola Shmatko (b. 1943), contemporary Ukrainian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, professor and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

''(not a native, but lived in Bolhrad)'' *

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

(b. 1965), fifth

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

business oligarch A business oligarch is generally a business magnate who controls sufficient resources to influence national politics. A business leader can be considered an oligarch if the following conditions are satisfied: # uses monopolistic tactics to dominat ...

References

External links

More about Bolhrad on the web-site of Bolhrad gymnasium
{{Authority control Cities in Odesa Oblast Populated places established in 1821 Cities of district significance in Ukraine Populated places established in the Russian Empire 1821 establishments in the Russian Empire Bulgarian communities in Ukraine Bessarabia Governorate Ismail County Bolhrad Raion