| Type: | commune |
| County: | Constanța |
| Population Total: | auto |
| Subdivisions: | Mihail Kogălniceanu, Palazu Mic, Piatra |
| Official Name: | Mihail Kogălniceanu |
| Leader Name: | Ancuța-Daniela Belu[1] |
| Leader Term: | 2020 - 2024 |
| Leader Party: | PNL |
| Area Total Km2: | 165.51 |
| Coordinates: | 44.3667°N 28.4583°W |
| Website: | http://www.mk-primaria.ro |
Mihail Kogălniceanu (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /mihaˈil koɡəlniˈtʃe̯anu/) is a commune in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania, located 25km (16miles) northwest of Constanța proper. The commune includes three villages:
The commune further includes two territorially distinct communities, Social Group Sibioara and Social Group Ceres, which are legally part of the village of Mihail Kogălniceanu. The Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport is located nearby.
The village is situated on the site of a Roman settlement called Vicus Clementianus, discovered by the archaeologist Vasile Pârvan in 1913.
In 1651, the place was mentioned by the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi as a Tatar settlement named Kara Murat ("Black Murat", after its founder).
In 1879-1880, after the incorporation of Northern Dobruja into Romania, the village started to be settled by Romanian shepherds from Transylvania (Mocani). In the 1930s it was renamed Ferdinand I, after King Ferdinand I of Romania. In 1948, with the advent of the communist regime, the commune was given its current name, after the Romanian politician Mihail Kogălniceanu.
Mihail Kogălniceanu is home to the Gheorghe Celea Museum, the first and only Aromanian museum in Romania, founded in 2006 by Willibard ("Willy") Wisoșenschi of the Mușata Armână Cultural Foundation.[2] [3]
At the 2011 census, Mihail Kogălniceanu had 8,273 Romanians (84.95%), 3 Hungarians (0.03%), 246 Roma (2.53%), 3 Germans (0.03%), 33 Turks (0.34%), 419 Tatars (4.30%), 108 Aromanians (1.11%), 642 others (6.59%), and 12 with undeclared ethnicity (0.12%).[4]