| Type: | municipality |
| County: | Covasna |
| Population Total: | auto |
| Official Name: | Târgu Secuiesc |
| Other Name: | Kézdivásárhely |
| Leader Name: | Tibor Bokor[1] |
| Leader Party: | UDMR |
| Term: | 2020 - 2024 |
| Coordinates: | 45.9969°N 26.1406°W |
Târgu Secuiesc (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /ˌtɨrɡu sekuˈjesk/; Hungarian: Kézdivásárhely, in Hungarian pronounced as /ˈkeːzdivaːʃaːrhɛj/; German: Szekler Neumarkt; Latin: Neoforum Siculorum) is a city in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania. It administers one village, Lunga (Nyujtód).
The town was first mentioned in 1407 as Torjawasara, meaning in Hungarian “Torja Market”. (Torja is the name of a stream nearby and is also the Hungarian name of the nearby village Turia.) Originally, the Hungarian name Kézdivásárhely was also used in Romanian in the form Chezdi-Oșorheiu, but this was altered to Tîrgu Secuiesc (now spelled Târgu Secuiesc) after the accession to Romania in 1920 under the Treaty of Trianon. The Hungarian native name means “Kézdi Market”, Kézdi being the name of a Székely “seat”, a historical administrative unit. Its status as a market town dates back to the Middle Ages. The city was taken over by Hungary during World War II, following the Second Vienna Award of August, 1940. A small Jewish community was set up in the 1880s; it numbered 66 in 1920. In May 1944, the Hungarian authorities sent its members to the Sfântu Gheorghe ghetto, and deported them to the Auschwitz concentration camp the following month.[2] Sovereignty was restored to Romania following the war.
At the 2021 census, Târgu Secuiesc had a population of 16,243.[3] At the census from 2011, the city had 18,491 residents, of whom 91.1% were Székely Hungarians, 7.2% Romanians, and 1.6% Roma.[4] The historical demographic evolution is as follows:
Demographic change according to census data:
ImageSize = width:360 height:260PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:25000TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
BarData=
bar:1912 text:1912 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1948 text:1948 bar:1956 text:1956 bar:1966 text:1966 bar:1977 text:1977 bar:1992 text:1992 bar:2002 text:2002 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2021 text:2021PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left
bar:1912 from:0 till: 6079 bar:1930 from:0 till: 5107 bar:1948 from:0 till: 5424 bar:1956 from:0 till: 7500 bar:1966 from:0 till: 9502 bar:1977 from:0 till: 16320 bar:1992 from:0 till: 22912 bar:2002 from:0 till: 20488 bar:2011 from:0 till: 18491 bar:2021 from:0 till: 16243PlotData=
bar:1912 at: 6079 fontsize:S text: 6,079 shift:(-7,5) bar:1930 at: 5107 fontsize:S text: 5,107 shift:(-11,5) bar:1948 at: 5424 fontsize:S text: 5,424 shift:(-13,5) bar:1956 at: 7500 fontsize:S text: 7,500 shift:(-13,5) bar:1966 at: 9502 fontsize:S text: 9,502 shift:(-13,5) bar:1977 at: 16320 fontsize:S text: 16,320 shift:(-15,5) bar:1992 at: 22912 fontsize:S text: 22,912 shift:(-15,5) bar:2002 at: 20488 fontsize:S text: 20,488 shift:(-15,5) bar:2011 at: 18491 fontsize:S text: 18,491 shift:(-15,5) bar:2021 at: 16243 fontsize:S text: 16,243 shift:(-15,5)TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Census data. Graphics made by Wikipedia.
Despite its relatively small size the town has a few notable high schools: Nagy Mózes, Bod Péter, Apor Péter and Gábor Áron, all bearing the names of important Székely historical personalities. Because of this, Târgu Secuiesc is considered the educational center of the north eastern part of the county.