Târnova, Arad

Târnova (Hungarian: Tornova) is a commune in Arad County, Romania, is situated in the contact zone of the Cigherului Hills and Zărandului Mountains, it occupies approximately 19,000 hectares. The commune is composed of six villages: Agrișu Mare (Almásegres), Arăneag (Székesaranyág), Chier (Kurtakér), Drauț (Doroszlófalva), Dud (Dúd) and Târnova (situated at 44 km from Arad).

Population

According to the last census the population of the commune counts 6240 inhabitants. From an ethnical point of view it has the following structure: 86,0% are Romanians, 0,6% Hungarians, 2,2% Roma, 10,7% Ukrainians and 0,5% are of other or undeclared nationalities.

History

The first documentary record of the locality Târnova dates back to 1406, Agrişu Mare was first mentioned in 1214, Arăneag in 1390, Chier in 1325, Drauţ in 1406 and Dud in 1169.

Economy

The commune's economy is prevalently agrarian, Târnova being a well-known fructiferous area. Small industry and the tertiary sector are also well-developed.

Drava

The Drava (German: Drau; Hungarian: Dráva) or Drave is a river in southern Central Europe, which is an important tributary of the Danube. Its source is in Italian South Tyrol, at the drainage divide of Toblach (Dobbiaco) in the Puster Valley. It flows eastwards through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria into Slovenia for 142 kilometres (88 mi) and then southeast, passing through Croatia and forming most of the border between Croatia and Hungary, before it joins the Danube near Osijek.

Overview

In ancient times the river was known as Dravus. The name is most likely of Celtic or Illyrian origin (see Old European hydronymy). The river gives its name to the dravite species of tourmaline.

The Drava (along with one of its tributaries the Slizza) and the Spöl are the only two rivers originating in Italy that belong to the Danube drainage basin. It is the fourth longest Danube tributary. The Gail in Austria, the Meža and Dravinja in Slovenia, and the Bednja in Croatia from the south, as well as the Gurk and the Lavant in Austria, and the Mur (near Legrad) in Croatia from the north are its main tributaries.