Sovata

The town is part of the Székely Land region of the historical Transylvania province. It is located in the eastern part of Mureș County, on the border with Harghita County; the county capital, Târgu Mureș, is {{cvt|60|km}} to the west.

Sovata lies at the foot of the Gurghiu Mountains, at an altitude between {{cvt|475|and|530|m}}. It is situated between the river Corund and the valley of the Târnava Mică. The river Sovata discharges into the Târnava Mică in the town.

Sovata can be reached from Târgu Mureș, Miercurea-Ciuc, and Odorheiu Secuiesc on the {{ill|DN13A|ro}} national road and from Reghin on a connection road.

Image:Székely gate in Szováta (Sovata).jpg

The first data about Sovata are from 1578. By 1583 it was already a village. For 42 years, from 1876 until 1918, the village belonged to the Maros-Torda County of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

Due to its salty lakes and warm water it became an increasingly popular health resort during the end of the 19th and the 20th century. It gained the status of town in 1952.

According to the 2011 census, the town had a population of 10,385, of which 87.7% were Hungarians, 8.2% Romanians, and 1.9% Roma.[http://www.mures.insse.ro/phpfiles/COMUNICAT_DATE_PROVIZORII_RPL_2011_judetul_MURES.pdf 2011 census data] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126095021/http://www.mures.insse.ro/phpfiles/COMUNICAT_DATE_PROVIZORII_RPL_2011_judetul_MURES.pdf |date=2013-11-26 }} At the 2021 census, Sovata had a population of 9,703, of which 82.81% were Hungarians, 8.51% Romanians, and 2.12% Roma.{{cite web|url=https://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tabel-1.03_1.3.1-si-1.03.2.xls|title=Populația rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021|publisher=INSSE|language=ro|date=31 May 2023}}

Demographic movement according to census data:

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The geological events in 1875 gave birth to the Bear Lake, which is unique in Europe, its water being helio-thermal{{Definition needed|date=April 2024}} and salty, with purported therapeutic effects for chronic gynaecological symptoms, severe rheumatic pains, peripheral nervous system, and post-accidental motor diseases.{{Citation needed|reason=no evidence of notoriety for treatment of these is provided|date=February 2018}}

There are four more salty lakes: Nut Lake, Black Lake, Red Lake, and Green Lake. In the interwar period, Sovata became one of the most fashionable spas in the country, visited several times even by the Romanian Royal Family.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Image:Sudika Szováta Medve-tó.jpg

• Nahum (Nachum) Gantz Ostolish (1926–2005), a Knesset (parliamentary) candidate, local head of Mapai party and moshav (type of farm) movement and co-founder of Kfar Ahim moshav , Israel, father of Benny Gantz, leading Israeli politician{{cite web |title=Nachum Gantz |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Nachum-Gantz/6000000012570238386 |website=Geni |access-date=31 January 2024 |date=29 July 1926}}{{cite web |last1=Greenbaum |first1=Avraham Dov |title=A Member of a Generation of Believers - Hamodia.com |url=https://hamodia.com/2019/01/01/member-generation-believers/ |website=Hamodia |access-date=31 January 2024 |date=1 January 2019}}

• List of Hungarian exonyms (Mureș County)

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Sovata}}

• [http://www.sovata.ro/ Resort Sovata]

{{Mureș County}}

{{Spa towns in Romania}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Towns in Romania

Category:Populated places in Mureș County

Category:Spa towns in Romania

Category:Localities in Transylvania