Tulcea

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Infobox City in Romania| website=http://www.primaria-tulcea.ro/| }}

Tulcea (Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian: Тулча, Tulcha; Turkish: Hora-Tepé or Tolçu) is a city in Dobruja, Romania. It is the capital city of Tulcea county, and has a population of 91,875 as of 2002.

It was founded in the 8th century BC under the name of Aegyssos, mentioned in the documents of Diodorus. Ovid referred to it in Ex Ponto, saying that its name would have originated with that of its founder, a Dacian named Carpyus Aegyssus. In the 1st century, Aegyssos/Aegyssus was conquered by the Romans, which were to establish a base for the Roman fleet defending the Empire's northeastern border, strengthening it with tall defence walls and towers (ruins of which are still visible).

Image:Tulcea-19thcentury-BGRod.png

It was then ruled by the Byzantine Empire (8th - 9th century), the Genoese (10th - 13th century), it was part of the local Dobrujan polities of Balica, Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici, and, for a brief while after 1390, ruled by the Wallachian Prince Mircea cel Bătrân.

In 1416 it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, and awarded to Romania, together with the rest of Dobruja, in 1878. Around 1848, Tulcea was still a small shipyard city, being awarded city status in 1860, when it became a province capital.

[edit]

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, Tulcea has a population of 91,875 inhabitants, 92.3% of which are ethnic Romanian. Significant minority groups include Lippovan Russians (making up 3.4% of the total population), and Turks (1.4%).

[edit]