Galați

Galați
Galați; Galatz
	County Seat
	; ; ; From left: Collections house,Navigation Palace, History Museum, Greek Church, Administrative Palace of Galati,Old Town, the Danube Seen from Galati
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	Nickname(s): The city of the linden trees , Little Odessa
	Galați Location of Galați within Romania
	Coordinates: 45°25′24″N 28°2′33″E / 45°25′24″N 28°2′33″E / 45.42333; 28.04250

Galați (Romanian pronunciation: [ɡaˈlat͡sʲ] ( listen); also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County, in the historical region of Moldavia, eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River.^[4]^[5] In 2011, the Romanian census recorded 249,432 residents,^[2] making it the 8th most populous city in Romania. Galați is an economic centre based around the port of Galați and the naval shipyard.

Etymology and names

The name "Galați" is derived from the Cuman word galat. This word is borrowed from the Arabic word قَلْعَةٌ qalʿat, "fortress". Other etymologies have been suggested, such as the Serbian galac. However, the galat root appears in nearby toponyms, some of which show clearly a Cuman origin, for example Gălățui Lake, which has the typical Cuman -ui suffix for "water". Another toponym in the region is Galicia, with its town of Halych, locally associated with the jackdaw (Kawka, Halka). Before the Mongol invasion of Rus, Galați was known as Malyi Halych (Little Halych) as part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.^[6]^[7] Other similar place names are Galich, Russia and Galatia in Turkey. Galați has several exonyms: Greek: Γαλάτσι (Galatsi); German: Galatz; Hungarian: Galac; Polish: Gałacz; Turkish: Kalas; Bulgarian: Галац (Galats); Ukrainian: Галац (Halats) and Russian: Галац (Galats).