| Type: | town |
| County: | Satu Mare |
| Leader Name: | Ovidiu-Marius Duma[1] |
| Leader Party: | PNL |
| Term: | 2020 - 2024 |
| Coordinates: | 47.6333°N 75°W |
| Elevation: | 148 |
| Area Total: | 142.63 |
| Population Total: | auto |
| Postal Code: | 447020 |
| Area Code: | (+40) 02 61 |
Ardud (Hungarian: Erdőd, Hungarian pronunciation: NaNe; German: Erdeed) is a town situated in Satu Mare County, Transylvania, Romania. It administers five villages: Ardud-Vii (Hungarian: Erdődhegy), Baba Novac (Hungarian: Lajosmajor), Gerăușa (Hungarian: Oláhgyűrűs), Mădăras (Hungarian: Nagymadarász), and Sărătura (Hungarian: Sóspuszta).
The town has a complex history, having in different periods been part the Kingdom of Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Habsburg monarchy, and the Kingdom of Romania.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, and the declaration of the Union of Transylvania with Romania, the Romanian Army took control of Ardud in April 1919, during the Hungarian–Romanian War. The city officially became part of the territory ceded to the Kingdom of Romania in June 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. In August 1940, under the auspices of Nazi Germany, which imposed the Second Vienna Award, Hungary retook the territory of Northern Transylvania (which included Ardud) from Romania. Towards the end of World War II, however, the city was taken back from Hungarian and German troops by Romanian and Soviet forces in October 1944.
At the 2021 census, Ardud had a population of 6,124.[2] The 2011 census recorded a total population of 5,889; of these, 59.2% were Romanians, 18.6% Hungarians, 16.1% Roma, and 4.8% Germans.[3] In 2002, 41.7% were Romanian Orthodox, 32.7% Roman Catholic, 13.9% Greek-Catholic, 5.1% Pentecostal, 4.2% Reformed and 2.3% Baptist.[4]
The 2022 drama film Sparta was filmed in Germany, Austria, and Romania. Filming in Romania took place in the winter of 2018–2019 and the summer of 2019, the primary location being the village of Baba Novac in Ardud.[5]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania.
Ardud is twinned with: