Comrat - also very common is the spelling Komrat. The Cyrillic script is used very often as well - as for example on buses and timetables etc.: Комрат (Komrat).
Comrat lies in the south of Moldova more than 80 km away from its capital - Chişinău city. The town sprawls along the tiny river Ialpug. The area around the town is rather hilly. The Moldavian-Ukrainian border is located in the East, less than 25 km away; the border with Romania is about 40 km to the West.
Comrat has around 25,600 inhabitants and is the largest town of the Autonomous Republic of Gagauzia. The population of the entire republic comprises 158,900 people.
The republic of Moldova has a wide ethnic diversity with Ukrainian, Russian, Gagauz, Bulgarian and other nationalities. At least three national minorities were not satisfied with the Declaration of Independence dated of 1991 and therefore demanded the dissolution of the new republic in order to gain their own independence. Russians and Ukrainians, backed by Russia, fought a short war against Moldova in 1992 and founded Transniestria), which is internationally not recognized.
Riots broke out in Gagauzia as well. Rumors say, that troublemakers from Transniestria played their own role in Gagauzia at that time. However, the central government in Chisinau and the Gagauzian leaders agreed on a sustainable solution, granting Gagauzians a high level of autonomy. The autonomy contract was signed in 1994. Ever since, it's quiet calm in the south. The Gagauzians have their own parliament, which is electing the Başkan (head) of the republic. Gagauzians enact their own laws, providing that the law is not inconsistent with Moldavian law. The republic has even its own constitutional law.
Gagauz Yeni, that's the official name of the republic, covers an area of 1,831 km² and has, as already mentioned above, about 158 900 inhabitants. Around 80% of the population are ethnic Gagauzians. Minorities include Bulgarians, Russians and Ukrainians, with all of them being equally strong. According to various estimations, there are some 250,000 Gagauzians worldwide. Most of the Gagauzians not settling in Moldova live in the Ukraine and in Bulgaria. The autonomous republic doesn't consist of a single area but of four territories not being connected with each other. All of them are in the South-East of Moldova. The region around and South of Comrat is the largest of the four territories.
The Gagauzians are a Turk tribe speaking a Turkic language - so much about the common point in most theories. The name might derive from the word Uz (also: Oguz), which gradually changed into Hagoguz and finally into Gagauz. The recent name first appeared in the 19th century. The Gagauz probably originally settled in the area between the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea. Later, they moved to the Dobrucha, which is the area around the city of Dobrich. The Gagauz converted from Islam to Orthodox Christianity sometime. This had an influence on the language. Gagauz belongs to the Turkish language group, but all the vocabulary deriving from the qur'ān is missing. In contradiction to that, there are many Christian and Slavic words. During the Ottoman occupation, the Gagauz enjoyed the same autonomous rights as they do today. During and after the Second World War, many Gagauz were deported and lost their lives. Today, the Gagauz language and culture is very much supported, esp. thanks to a strong relationship with Turkey. There is even a Gagauz university based in Comrat.