Bessarabia Governorate
The city is part of the historical region of Bessarabia and of Bessarabia Governorate within the Russian Empire. During the Soviet period the city was known in the Moldavian SSR as "Bender" in Romanian, written Бендер with the Cyrillic alphabet, as "Bendery" () in Russian and "Bendery" (Бенде́ри) in Ukrainian. Today the city is officially named "Bender", but both "Bender" and "Tighina" are in use.