Botosani

The name Botosani probably goes back to the boyars' family Botas, which is mentioned as one of the most important Moldavian families of the reign of Stephen the Great (late 15th century), and has been featured in chronicles since the 11th century.

The city itself is first mentioned in the chronicle of the historian Grigore Ureke Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei , covering the history of the region from 1359 to 1594, in which a devastating invasion of the Tatar city on November 28, 1493 was noted.

Due to its geographical position at the junction of important trade routes, the city was originally the venue for fairs. Already in the 16th century, the fair in Botosani was considered the oldest and largest in all of Moldova. Large communities of Armenian and Jewish merchants emerged in the city in the 17th century.

After 1775 , when Bucovina was annexed to the Habsburg Empire , there was an increase in the Jewish community of the city, which in the next century constituted the majority of the population of the city. At the end of the 19th century, Botosani lost the former role of a large shopping center in connection with the construction of railways ^[3] . In the second half of the 20th century, the city grew significantly due to internal migrations of the rural population, who were attracted to work at large industrial enterprises created here during the Soviet era. Until now, the population of the city produces 70% of the county's GRP, although it makes up only 25% of its inhabitants.

In 2002, the population was 115.1 thousand inhabitants ^[6] :

• Romanians : 98.1%
• Roma : 1.0%
• lipovane : 0.6%
• Jews : 0.06%
• other nations: 0.24%

Botosani is the twin city of the following cities:

•   Brest , Belarus
•   Laval , Quebec , Canada

• Botoshan // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 t. (82 t. And 4 add.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.