Cetatea Albă County


Cetatea-Albă County was a county of Romania, in Bessarabia, with the capital city at Cetatea-Albă. It had an area of and a population of 340,459 as of the 1930 census.

Geography

The county was located in the eastern part of Greater Romania, in the south of the historical region of Bessarabia. Currently, the territory of the former county is partly administered by Odessa Oblast of Ukraine. It was bordered to the west by Cahul County, to the north by Tighina County, and to the south by Ismail County, to the east by the Odessa Oblast of USSR, and to the southeast the county bordered the Black Sea.

Administration

The county originally consisted of six districts :
  1. Plasa Cazaci, headquartered at Cazaci
  2. Plasa Tarutino, headquartered at Tarutina
  3. Plasa Tașlâc, headquartered at Arciz
  4. Plasa Tatar-Bunar, headquartered at Tatar-Bunar
  5. Plasa Tuzla, headquartered at Cetatea-Albă
  6. Plasa Volintiri, headquartered at Volințiri
Subsequently, the territory of the county was reorganized into eight districts:
  1. Plasa Arciz, headquartered at Arciz
  2. Plasa Cazaci, headquartered at Cazaci
  3. Plasa Ivăneștii-Noi, headquartered at Ivăneștii Noi
  4. Plasa Liman, headquartered at Cetatea-Albă
  5. Plasa Sărata, headquartered at Bairamcea
  6. Plasa Tarutino, headquartered at Tarutina
  7. Plasa Tuzla, headquartered at Tuzla
  8. Plasa Volintiri, headquartered at Volințiri
On the territory of Cetatea Albă County there were two urban localities: Cetatea Albă, a city and the county seat, and Tuzla, an urban commune.

Coat of arms

The Coat of Arms featured a tree on the sinister and the fortress of Cetatea-Albă on the dexter.

Population

According to the Romanian census of 1930 the population of Cetatea Albă County was 340,459, of which 20.9% were ethnic Bulgarians, 20.5% ethnic Ukrainians, 18.5% Romanians, 17.3% Russians 16.3% ethnic Germans, 3.3% Jews, 3.3% Gagauz and 0.1% Armenians. Classified by religion: 79.0% were Orthodox Christian, 16.3% Lutheran, 4.7% Jews.
Nr.City, town, or districtPopulation
1city of Cetatea Albă '34,485
asuburb Păpușoi4,167
bsuburb Șaba787
csuburb Turlachi8,624
2town of Tuzla '3,146
asuburb Bazareanca477
Total urban37,631
1Plasa Cazaci49,144
2Plasa Tarutino46,162
3Plasa Tașlâc61,042
4Plasa Tatar-Bunar58,502
5Plasa Tuzla44,605
6Plasa Volintiri44,090
Total rural303,545
Total county341,176

History

After the Union of Bessarabia with Romania in 1918, the county belonged to Romania, which set up the county formally in 1925.
After the 1938 Administrative and Constitutional Reform, this county merged with the counties of Lăpușna, Orhei and Tighina to form Ținutul Nistru.
The area county of the county was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 and became part of the Ukrainian SSR. The area returned to Romanian administration following the Axis Powers' invasion of the Soviet Union in July 1941. A military administration was established and the region's Jewish population was either executed on the spot or deported to Transnistria, where further numbers were killed. As the Soviet Union's offensive pushed the Axis powers back, the area again was under Soviet control. On September 12, 1944, Romania signed the Moscow Armistice with the Allies. The Armistice, as well as the subsequent peace treaty of 1947, confirmed the Soviet-Romanian border as it was on January 1, 1941. The area of the county, along with the rest of the Ukrainian SSR, became part of the independent country of Ukraine.