Sovata (Romanian pronunciation:[soˈvata]; Hungarian: Szováta; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsovaːtɒ]) is a town in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. Three villages are administered by the town: Căpeți (Kopac), Ilieși (Illyésmező), and Săcădat (Szakadát). In 2004, the village of Sărățeni broke away to form an independent commune.
The town is part of the Székely Land region of the historical Transylvania province. It is located in the eastern part of Mureș County, on the border with Harghita County; the county capital, Târgu Mureș, is 60 km (37 mi) to the west.
Sovata lies at the foot of the Gurghiu Mountains, at an altitude between 475 and 530 m (1,558 and 1,739 ft). It is situated between the river Corund and the valley of the Târnava Mică. The river Sovata discharges into the Târnava Mică in the town.
The first data about Sovata are from 1578. By 1583 it was already a village. For 42 years, from 1876 until 1918, the village belonged to the Maros-Torda County of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
Due to its salty lakes and warm water it became an increasingly popular health resort during the end of the 19th and the 20th century. It gained the status of town in 1952.
According to the 2011 census, the town had a population of 10,385, of which 87.7% were Hungarians, 8.2% Romanians, and 1.9% Roma.[4] At the 2021 census, Sovata had a population of 9,703, of which 82.81% were Hungarians, 8.51% Romanians, and 2.12% Roma.[5]
The geological events in 1875 gave birth to the Bear Lake, which is unique in Europe, its water being helio-thermal[definition needed] and salty, with purported therapeutic effects for chronic gynaecological symptoms, severe rheumatic pains, peripheral nervous system, and post-accidental motor diseases.[citation needed]
There are four more salty lakes: Nut Lake, Black Lake, Red Lake, and Green Lake. In the interwar period, Sovata became one of the most fashionable spas in the country, visited several times even by the Romanian Royal Family.[citation needed]
Nahum (Nachum) Gantz Ostolish (1926–2005), a Knesset (parliamentary) candidate, local head of Mapai party and moshav (type of farm) movement and co-founder of Kfar Ahim settlement, Israel, father of Benny Gantz, leading Israeli politician[6][7]
