Gîsca

Gîsca (meaning "goose" in Romanian; ) is a commune near in Căuşeni district, Moldova, composed of a single village with the same name, population 4,841 at the 2004 Census. The locality, although situated on the right (western) bank of the river Dniester, immediately to the south-west of the city of Tighina , in the Bessarabian, not Transnistrian part of Moldova, is under the control of the breakaway Transnistrian authorities.

The village is historically located around a creek named Gârla, which flows into the Dniester. The creek is small and not navigable, but apparently is used extensively by local ducks and geese, which gave the name to the locality. The road south-west from the city of Tighina (Bender) follows into the Moldovan-controlled area immediately as the village of Gîsca ends, and the next village of Fîrlădeni starts.

At the census organized by the Transnistrian authorities in 2004, there were 4,841 inhabitants in Gîsca, including 819 to 824 (16.98%) ethnic Moldovans (Romanians), 2,956 (61.06%) ethnic Russians, 719 (14.85%) ethnic Ukrainians, 168 (3.47%) ethnic Bulgarians, 91 (1.88%) ethnic Gagauzians, 22 (0.45%) ethnic Germans, 8 (0.17%) ethnic Belorussians, 7 (0.14%) ethnic Jews, 0 to 16 (0.17%) Armenians, 0 to 12 (0.12%) Poles, 0 to 5 (0.04%) Gypsies, and 13 to 44 (0.60%) others and non-declared.

During the 1992 War of Transnistria the village was the scene of alleged human rights abuses by Moldovans. According to a report of the Russian human...
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