Călărași (), the capital of

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 94.1% ...

in the

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

region, is situated in south-east

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, on the banks of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

's Borcea branch, at about from the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n border and from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. The city is an industrial centre for lumber and paper,

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

, glass manufacturing, textiles, medical equipment production, and

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

, the last one represented by the

Călărași steel works The Călărași steel works (), formally Donasid Călărași and formerly Siderca Călărași, is a steel mill in Călărași, Romania. History Origins and growth under communism The genesis of the project took place during the Socialist Republ ...

. The city is known colloquially as "Capșa provinciei" (the Capșa from the provinces).

History

The site of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

village, called ''Lichirești'' from the time of

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...

. Călărași appeared for the first time in 1700 on a map drawn by Constantin Cantacuzino. It got its name after it was made by the Wallachian princes, in the 17th century, a station of "mounted couriers' service" on the route from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. The service was operated by horseback riders (the călărași). It expanded into a small town, and in 1834 became the surrounding county's capital.

Transportation

Călărași is connected by National Roads DN3, DN21, DN31, and DN3B. Also A2 ("The Sun's Motorway") has 3 exits for Călărași, at Lehliu Gară (about NW), Dragalina (about N) and Fetești (about NE). The city lies on the seventh pan-European corridor of transport (the

river) and is next to the fourth pan-European transport corridor (

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

–

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

) at . The Călărași train station serves the CFR Line 802. The nearest major cities are:

, and Varna .

Education

The city features seven middle schools and several high schools, including:Schools
at the Călărași County Schools Inspectorate site * Barbu Știrbei National College * Mihai Eminescu Theoretical High School * Ștefan Bănulescu Technical High School * Danubius High School * Sandu Aldea Agricultural College * Călărași Economics College

Sports

The city is currently represented by Dunărea Călărași in the Romanian

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

football league.

Natives

* Ștefan Bănică Sr. (1933–1995), actor, singer * Daniel Bogdan (b. 1971), footballer * Mircea Ciumara (1943–2012), politician * Vladimir Constantinescu (1895–1965), general * Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (1857–1919), first female doctor in Romania * Daniel Florea (b. 1972), politician * Petre V. Haneș (1879–1966), literary historian * (1911–2008), engineer, titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

* Marius Mocanu (b. 1986), handballer * Barbu Nemțeanu (1887–1919), poet * Gabriel Popa (b. 1985), footballer * Dragoș Protopopescu (1892–1948), writer, poet * Gabriel Simion (b. 1998), footballer

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Călărași is twinned with:

Climate

The climate is continental with a year average temperature of . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Călărași was on January 9, 1938, and the highest was on August 10, 1957.

Population

At the 2021 census, Călărași had a population 58,211. In 2011, it had a population of 65,181, with 95.05% of them declaring themselves as being

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

and 3.59% Roma. The surrounding communes ( Modelu, Ostrov, Roseți, Grădiștea, Cuza-Vodă, and Ștefan Vodă) together with Călărași number almost 100,000 inhabitants.

References

External links

** *
Kalarash/Călărași
(pp. 358–361) at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation.