Marghita

Marghita Margitta
Municipality
Aerial view
Seal
Location of Marghita
Coordinates:
Country	Romania
County	Bihor County
Status	Municipality
Government
• Mayor	Zoltán-Ladislau Pocsaly (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania)
Population (2011)
• Total	15,134
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.marghita.ro/

Marghita (Romanian pronunciation: [marˈɡita]; Hungarian: Margitta, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈmɒrɡitːɒ]) is a city in Bihor County, Romania. It administers two villages, Cheţ (Magyarkéc) and Ghenetea (Genyéte).

History

The name appears to be derived from the name "Margit" (Margaret), Saint Margaret the patron of a local church. The first time it was used in a document was in 1216. In the 14th century, it became a feudal holding of the Hungarian landlord.

In 1376 king Louis I of Hungary gave to Marghita the right of organizing a fair and it developed in the next centuries as a market town. There were several peasant revolts against the feudal system affecting Marghita in 1467 and 1514. At the beginning of the 14th century, it became, together with the whole of Bihor county and Hungary, an Ottoman province.

In 1823, a great fire destroyed half of the buildings of Marghita. After the 1848 revolution, the local peasants were no longer serfs and manufacturing and industry began to develop. In 1944, after German occupation about 2,100 Jews of Marghita were sent to death, concentration and labor camps as part of the Holocaust, and about 450 from them survived. After 1947 with the Soviets imposing a Communist government in Romania, factories and land were nationalized. Over the course of the next few years, Marghita took part in the Romanian industrialization process.

Politics

The Marghita Municipal Council, elected in the 2012 local government elections, is made up of 17 councillors, with the following party composition:

	Party	Seats	Current Council
41.18%	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	7
35.29%	National Liberal Party	6
17.65%	Social Democratic Party	3
5.88%	People's Party – Dan Diaconescu	1

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1977	14,589	—
1992	19,071	+30.7%
2002	18,650	−2.2%
2011	15,134	−18.9%
Source: Census data

At the 2011 census, Marghita had a population of 15,134. According to the census, 51.7% of inhabitants are Romanians, 44.1% Hungarians, 3.5% Roma and 0.5% Slovaks.

Sister cities

• Kiskőrös, Hungary

External links

• www.marghita.ro