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 – 95% ...

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 seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...

region, is situated in south-east

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, on the banks of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

Borcea Borcea is a commune situated in the eastern part of Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania. It is one of the most populous communes in the county and it is situated on the west bank of the Borcea branch (a section of the Danube). The commune was f ...

branch, at about from the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n border and from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. 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 includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...

, 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 ( ro, Combinatul Siderurgic Călărași), 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 t ...

. 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 late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

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

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul 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 Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...

. 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 la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. 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 DN3 ( ro, Drumul Național 3) is a national road in Romania, originally linking Bucharest and Constanța via Călărași, but no longer serving this purpose for more than four decades. The road is not complete, in the sense of having a gap across ...

DN21 DN21 ( ro, Drumul Național 21) is a national road in Romania which that crosses the Bărăgan Plain, linking the Danube port of Brăila with Călărași. The road crosses the A2 motorway near Drajna, between the cities of Slobozia Slobozia ...

, DN31, and DN3B. Also A2 ("The Sun's Motorway") has 3 exits for Călărași, at

Lehliu Gară Lehliu Gară is a small town in the middle of the Bărăgan region in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania, with a railway station and a national road linking the seaside Constanța and the county capital, Călărași. Also, the new A2 free- ...

(about NW), Dragalina (about N) and

Fetești Fetești () is a city in Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located in the Bărăgan plain, on the Borcea branch of the Danube. Fetești has the second largest population in Ialomița, after Slobozia. In 1895, the King Carol I railway ...

(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: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

–

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

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

, and

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

Education

The city features seven middle schools and several high schools, includingSchools
at the Călărași County Schools Inspectorate site *

Barbu Știrbei National College Barbu Știrbei National College ( ro, Colegiul Național Barbu Știrbei) is a high school located at 159 București Street, Călărași, Romania. In 1864, the sum of 20 thousand lei was allocated for the building of a new school in Călărași. T ...

* 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 Dunărea may refer to: * Dunărea, the Romanian name for the river Danube in Central Europe * Dunărea (river), a tributary of the Danube in Constanța County, Romania * Dunărea, a village in the commune Seimeni, Constanța County, Romania See ...

in the Romanian

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

football league.

Natives

* Ștefan Bănică Sr. (1933–1995), actor, singer *

Daniel Bogdan Daniel Jean Bogdan (born 3 August 1971) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for teams such as FCM Bacău, FC U Craiova or UTA Arad, among others. After retirement, Bogdan was the goalkeeping coach of FCM Bac� ...

(b. 1971), footballer *

Mircea Ciumara Mircea Ciumara (13 September 1943, Călărași, Călărași County, Kingdom of Romania–14 January 2012, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian politician and former cabinet minister in two governments led by the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR), ...

(1943–2012), politician * Vladimir Constantinescu (1895–1965), general *

Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (February 10, 1857 – November 16, 1919) was the first female doctor in Romania. An active feminist supporter, she founded the Maternal Society in 1897, and in 1899 organised the first crèche in Romania. A native of ...

(1857–1919), first female doctor in Romania *

Daniel Florea Daniel Florea may refer to: * Daniel Florea (politician) *Daniel Florea (footballer, born 1975) Daniel Florea (born 18 December 1975 in Vaslui) is a Romanian football coach and former player. International career Daniel Florea played 3 match ...

(b. 1972), politician *

Petre V. Haneș Petre V. Haneș (November 6, 1879–April 17, 1966) was a Romanian literary historian. Born in Călărași, his parents were Vasile Haneș and his wife Maria (''née'' Leca). He attended Matei Basarab High School in Bucharest, followed by the ...

(1879–1966), literary historian * (1911–2008), engineer, titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) 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 byl ...

* Marius Mocanu (b. 1986), handballer *

Barbu Nemțeanu Barbu Nemțeanu (pen name of Benjamin Deutsch; October 1, 1887Ionescu (2013, I), p. 31 – May 30, 1919) was a Romanian poet, humorist and translator, active on the modernist wing of the Symbolist movement in Romania, Romanian Symbolist movement. ...

(1887–1919), poet * Gabriel Popa (b. 1985), footballer *

Dragoș Protopopescu Dragoș Protopopescu (17 October 1892 – 11 April 1948) was a Romanian writer, poet, critic and philosopher. He was born in Călărași, the son of Constantin Popescu and Octavia Blebea. After going to school in his native city, he pursued his ...

(1892–1948), writer, poet *

Gabriel Simion Gabriel Bogdan Simion (born 22 May 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Universitatea Cluj.twinned with:

Climate

The climate is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (al ...

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

In 2011, Călărași had a population of 65,181, with 95.05% of them declaring themselves as being

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...

and 3.59%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. The surrounding communes (

Modelu Modelu is a commune in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulga ...

, Ostrov,

Roseți Roseți is a commune in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary ...

, Grădiștea, Cuza-Vodă, and

Ștefan Vodă Ștefan Vodă is a city and the administrative centre of Ștefan Vodă District, Moldova. It was known as ''Suvorov'' (Суворов) during the Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was ...

) together with Călărași number almost 100,000 inhabitants.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calarasi Populated places on the Danube Port cities and towns in Romania Bulgaria–Romania border crossings Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Populated places in Călărași County Localities in Muntenia