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 ...

in Odesa Oblast ( province) of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Budjak. It is the administrative center of Bolhrad Raion ( district) and hosts the administration of Bolhrad urban hromada, 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 of Be ...

, under the direction of General Ivan Inzov who is "revered" by Bolhrad residents as the "Founder of Our City." Bolhrad became part of Moldavia from 1856 to 1859, Romania from 1859 to 1878, 1918 to 1940, and 1941 to 1944, before being incorporated into the USSR (in the territory of the Ukrainian SSR), and later independent Ukraine. 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 and is considered by locals to be the unofficial capital of the

n historic district of Budjak.

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 whe ...

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 (1847–1901), Bulgarian politician *

Danail Nikolaev Danail Tsonev Nikolaev ( bg, Данаил Цонев Николаев; 30 December 1852 – 29 August 1942) was a Bulgarian officer and Minister of War on the eve of the Balkan wars. He was the first person to attain the highest rank in the Bu ...

(1852–1942), Bulgarian general * Georgi Todorov (1858–1934), Bulgarian general *

Mykola Shmatko Nikolay Havrylovych Shmatko ( uk, Микола Гаврилович Шматько; 17 August 1943 – 15 September 2020) was a Ukrainian sculptor and painter. He was born in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Biography Shmatko became a sculptor a ...

(b. 1943), contemporary Ukrainian sculptor, 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 ai ...

''(not a native, but lived in Bolhrad)'' * Petro Poroshenko (b. 1965), fifth President of Ukraine, entrepreneur,

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 domina ...

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