Marghita : Romania

Marghita (Hungarian: Margitta) is a town in the Bihor county, Romania.
History
The name appears to be derived from the name “Margit� (Margaret), Saint Margaret the patron of a local church. The first time used in a document was in 1216. In the 14th century, it became a feudal land of the Hungarian landlord.
In 1376 king Ludovic of Hungary gave to Marghita the right of organizing a fair and as a market town it developed in the next centuries. Several revolts of the peasants against the feudal system affect Marghita too, in 1467 and 1514. At the beginning of the 14th century, it became, together with the whole Bihor county and Hungary, a Turkish provice.
In 1823, a great fire destroys half of the buildings of Marghita. After the 1848 revolution, the local peasants were no longer serfs and manufactures and industry began to develop.
Between 1940 and 1944, under the fascist government of Hungary, about 1,700 Jews of Marghita were sent to concentration camps. On 20 October 1944, the Romanian Army liberates Marghita. After 1947 with the Soviets imposing a Communist government in Romania, the factories and land was nationalized, but in the next years, Marghita takes part in the industrialization process which was made all over Romania.
Population
Currently, Marghita has a about 19,000 people of which 17.000 in Marghita town, 1,200 in the Chet village and 800 in the Ghenetea village.
Ethnically, it is comprised from:
Romanians – 50 %
Hungarians – 46 %
Others (Slovaks and Rroma) – 4%