Iași

Iaşi is a city in the northeastern part of Romania.  It is the second largest city in Romania as of the year 2007. Iaşi used to be the capital of Moldavia.

 History 

Alexandru Lăpuşneanu changed the capital of Moldavia from Suceava to Iaşi in 1564.  One of the first churches to be built in Moldavia was built by the Greek adventurer Prince Ioan Iacob Heraclid.

The Tatars burned the city down in 1513.  The Ottoman Empire also burned the city down in 1538 and people from the Imperial Russian army did so again in 1686. The plague spread throughout the city in 1734.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1787 was stopped when the Peace of Iaşi happened.  Alexander Ypsilanti and the Filiki Eteria came into the city and took it in 1822.

Iaşi was the capital of Moldavia from 1568 to 1859.  When World War I happened, Iaşi became the capital of Romania.  This happened when the Central Powers took Bucharest on 6 December 1916.  Bucharest became the capital again when Imperial Germany was defeated.

 Geography 
Iaşi can be found on the Bahlui River, which is a tributary of the Jijia.  Forests and uplands are very common.  These woods and hills include the monasteries of Cetăţuia, Frumoasa, and Galata.  People have thought that Iaşi was built on seven hills (Cetăţuia, Galata, Copou-Aurora, Bucium-Păun, Şorogari, Repedea and Breazu in Romanian).

 Population 
The population of Iaşi has changed a bit over the years:

 1859:  50,000
 1900:  78,000 
 1930: 102,872
 1948:  96,075
 1966: 161,023
 1977: 265,002
 1992: 344,425 
 2002: 320,888 
 2004: 317,812 (Since July 4, 2004, the second-biggest city)
 2006: 306,000 (the third-biggest city)http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/statistici/comunicate/alte/Comunicat%20ziua%20populatiei%202006%20doc.pdf
 2007 (July 1st): 315,214 (second biggest city)

 Sister cities 
The following are the sister cities of Iaşi:

  Chişinău, Moldova.
  Assiut, Egypt.
  Atlanta, United States.
  Filacciano, Italy.
  Forano, Italy.
  Ilioupoli, Greece.
   Isfahan, Iran.
  Jericho, Palestine.
  Ramleh, Israel.
  Kozani, Greece.
  Monterrey, Mexico.
  Morlupo, Italy.
  Nazzano, Italy.
  Padua, Italy.
  Peristeri, Greece.
  Poitiers, France.
  Rhodes, Greece.
  Quebec City, Canada.
  Sant'Oreste, Italy.
  Torrita Tiberina, Italy.
  Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
  Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
  Xi'an, China.

 References 

 Other websites 

 Iasi City Hall website
  Official site of the Iaşi police inspectorate 
 Events in Iaşi 
 Iasi Map 

Category:Cities in Romania
Category:Municipalities of Romania
Category:County capitals of Romania
Category:Iași County