Sovata (; hu, Szováta;
Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a town in
Mureș County
Mureș County (, ro, Județul Mures, hu, Maros megye) is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative ...
,
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
. Three villages are administered by the town: Căpeți (''Kopac''), Ilieși (''Illyésmező''), and Săcădat (''Szakadát''). In 2004, the village of
Sărățeni broke away to form an independent commune.
Geography
The town is part of the
Székely Land region of the historical
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...
province. It is located in the eastern part of Mureș County, on the border with
Harghita County
Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county ( județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc.
Demographics 2002 census
In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...
; the county capital,
Târgu Mureș
Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, th ...
, is to the west.
Sovata lies at the foot of the
Gurghiu Mountains, at an altitude between . It is situated between the river
Corund
Corund ( hu, Korond, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, in the "Salt Region" (''Ținutul Sării'' or ''Sóvidék''). Corund i ...
and the valley of the
Târnava Mică. The river
Sovata discharges into the Târnava Mică in the town.
Sovata can be reached from Târgu Mureș,
Miercurea-Ciuc, and
Odorheiu Secuiesc on the
national road
The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...
and from
Reghin on a connection road.
History
The first data about Sovata are from 1578. By 1583 it was already a village. For 42 years, from 1876 until 1918, the village belonged to the
Maros-Torda County of the
Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
Due to its salty lakes and warm water it became an increasingly popular health resort during the end of the 19th and the 20th century. It gained the status of town in 1952.
Demographics
According to the 2011
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
, the town had a population of 10,385 of which 87.7% were
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Ural ...
, 8.2%
Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...
, and 1.9%
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
* Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
.
2011 census data
''Demographic movement according to census data:''
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Spa
The geological events in 1875 gave birth to the Bear Lake, which is unique in Europe, its water being helio-thermal and salty, with purported therapeutic effects for chronic gynecological symptoms, severe rheumatic pains, peripheral nervous system, and post-accidental motor diseases.
There are four more salty lakes: Nut Lake, Black Lake, Red Lake, and Green Lake. In the interwar period, Sovata became one of the most fashionable spas in the country, visited several times even by the Romanian Royal Family
The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...
.
See also
* List of Hungarian exonyms (Mureș County)
References
External links
Resort Sovata
Sovata
Sovata accommodation and guide map
{{Authority control
Towns in Romania
Populated places in Mureș County
Spa towns in Romania
Localities in Transylvania