Ungheni, Moldova

🇲🇩 Ungheni is a municipality in Moldova. It is the seventh largest town in Moldova and the seat of Ungheni District. There is a bridge across the Prut and a border checkpoint to Romania. There is another border town with the same name in Romania, on the other side of the Prut River.

History The first historical mention of Ungheni dates to 20 August 1462. A railway between Ungheni and Chișinău was built in 1875 by Russia in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). After World War II, the rail route through Ungheni became the main connection between the USSR and Romania.

Gustave Eiffel bridge In 1876, after the spring flooding of the river Prut, the railway bridge that linked Moldova and Romania was almost destroyed. The Railways Department invited Gustave Eiffel to Bessarabia (Moldova) to redesign and rebuild the bridge. Today, it remains a strategic structure under the supervision of border guards.

Th EU proposed in 2023 to lay a new rail 1435mm standard gauge line from Ungheni to Chisinau, alongside the existing 1520mm track, to avoid disruption to existing services.

Demographics According to the 2014 census, the population of Ungheni amounted to 30,804 inhabitants (making it the sixth largest city in Moldova), a decrease compared to the previous census in 2004, when 32,530 inhabitants were registered. Of these, 14,647 were men and 16,157 were women.

Ethnic composition of Ungheni (2014)

  Moldovans* (84.47%)

  Romanians (5.80%)

  Ukrainians (5.20%)

  Russians (3.85%)

  Others (0.68%)

Linguistic composition of Ungheni (2014)

  Moldovan* (58.61%)

  Romanian (29.49%)

  Russian (9.78%)

  Ukrainian (1.86%)

  Other (0.25%)

Footnotes: *There is an ongoing controversy regarding the ethnic identification of Moldovans and Romanians.

*Moldovan language is one of the two local names for the Romanian language in Moldova. In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Moldova interpreted that Article 13 of the constitution is superseded by the Declaration of Independence, thus giving official status to the name Romanian.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±%

1959 11,129 —    

1970 17,228 +54.8%

1979 25,792 +49.7%

1989

37,788 +46.5%

2004

32,530 −13.9%

2014

30,804 −5.3%

Media • Unghiul • Expresul de Ungheni • Euronova TV • UNGHENI.TV • Radio Chişinău 93.8 FM • Vocea Basarabiei 100.1 FM