Pădureni (until 1965 Lighed; ; ; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Pădureni. It was part of Jebel commune before being split off in 2004.
Geography Pădureni is located about south of Timișoara, at the angle formed by the "dead" Timiș and the "flowing" Timiș. It borders Șag to the north, Liebling to the east, Jebel to the south, and Parța to the northwest.
History
The first recorded mention of Pădureni dates from 1332, under the name of Legvid. At the same time, there is a village called Mira (1310), now disappeared, which legend has it was destroyed in a Turkish raid. In an Ottoman defter, around 1590, the name of Ligit is also mentioned. After this moment no other data are known until 1761, when it appears again mentioned with the name Lighed or Temeslighed and a number of 312 houses.
University professor Remus Crețan claims that today's locality was formed towards the end of the Turkish era, "on account of the Romanian and Turkish elements from Timiș meadow". According to historian , after the conquest of Banat by the Austrians, the locality was systematized by Count Mercy, from where until then the village was a "clog" on Trajan's Wall in the area called Iarc. It has been mostly Romanian ever since; the Romanian majority was preserved even during the periods of intense colonization of Banat.
Demographics
Pădureni had a population of 2,052 inhabitants at the 2021 census, up 5.89% from the 2011 census. Most inhabitants are Romanians (87.03%), with a minority of Roma (3.89%). For 7.84% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (83.47%), but there are also minorities of Pentecostals (3.75%) and Roman Catholics (1.55%). For 8.23% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown. Census Ethnic composition Year Population Romanians Hungarians Germans Roma 1880 1,568 1,441 20 49 – 1890 1,668 1,538 32 66 – 1900 1,873 1,696 70 86 – 1910 1,822 1,611 62 66 73 1920 1,782 1,641 60 70 – 1930 1,698 1,574 29 13 70 1941 1,976 1,773 50 28 – 1956 1,641 – – – – 1966 2,235 2,070 46 16 96 1977 2,185 2,086 23 5 67 1992 1,566 1,479 15 8 60 2002 1,623 1,439 11 4 164 2011 1,938 1,804 17 – 22 2021 2,052 1,786 14 3 80
Politics and administration The commune of Pădureni is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 11 councilors. The mayor, Dorin Ignuța, from the National Liberal Party, has been in office since 2008. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties: Party Seats Composition National Liberal Party 7 Social Democratic Party 4
Notable people Anișoara Odeanu (1912–1972), journalist, poet, and prose writer; the Anișoara Odeanu Memorial House was built in Pădureni in 2020.
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