Babadag

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = ROU
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Babadag

|official_name=Babadag
image_shield=
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =left
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Babadag
pushpin_mapsize =


subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Tulcea County
subdivision_type2=Status
subdivision_name2=Autolink|Town
settlement_type=Town|
leader_title=Mayor
leader_name=Ioan Dardac
|leader_party=Social Democratic Party
area_total_km2=121
population_as_of=2002
population_total=10037|population_footnotes=
population_density_km2=82|latd=44|latm=53|lats=53|latNS=N|longd=28|longm=44|longs=31|longEW=E|
website=http://www.primaria-babadag.ro/

Babadag (historical name: _tr. Babadağ) is a town in Tulcea county, Romania, located on a small lake formed by the Taiţa river, in the densely wooded highlands of northern Dobruja. Its name means "the mountain of the father" in Turkish. One of the several tombs of Sari Saltik is found in town.

The Babadag Lake is divided only by a strip of marshland from Razim Lake, a broad landlocked sheet of water spilling into the Black Sea. Babadag used to be a market for wool and mutton. Fact|date=February 2007

Demographics

Babadag has a population of 10,038, according to the 2002 census. In 1900, its population was 3,500.

Population distribution:
*8,466 Romanians (84.3%)
*1,289 Turks (12.8%)
*168 Roma (1.7%)
*37 Lipovans (0.4%)
*77 Others85.5% spoke Romanian, 12.5% Turkish and 1.3% Romani as their first language. 84.8% were Orthodox and 14.2% Muslim.

History

The name of Babadag is connected with 13th century dervish Baba Sari Saltik, who is said to have led a number of Turcomans to Dobruja and to have settled them in this area. The town was first mentioned by Ibn Battuta under the name "Baba Saltuk", as the furthermost outpost of the "Turks"Fact|date=February 2007.

The town was conquered by Bayezid I, a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in his Danubian campaign of 1393. The construction of a fortress was begun here during the reign of Murad IV, but by 1650 only the fortress' foundation walls and towers were standing. In the 17th century, it occasionally served as the winter headquarters for the Grand Vizier of the Turks during their wars with Russia. The town was bombed by the Russians in 1854.Fact|date=February 2007

Military training facility

At Babadag, the Romanian Army operates a military training facility. With a total surface area of 270 km², this is one of the biggest and most modern training firing ranges in Europe.

US forces have started to train at Babadag as part of Romania's integration into NATO. [ [http://www.mediafaxfoto.ro/preview.php?id=3011141 MEDIAFAX Foto ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.babadag.ro Official site]