Slobozia () is the capital city of

Ialomița County Ialomița County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia. Demographics In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2. Romanians make up 95.6% of the popula ...

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 ...

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 ...

, with a population of 48,241 in 2011.

Etymology

Its name is from the

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

"slobozie", which meant a recently colonized village which was free of taxation. The word itself comes from the Slavic word "slobod" which means "free". As it is located in the middle of flat land (

Bărăgan Plain The Bărăgan Plain ( ro, Câmpia Bărăganului ) is a steppe plain in south-eastern Romania. It makes up much of the eastern part of the Wallachian Plain. The region is known for its black soil and a rich humus, and is mostly a cereal-growing are ...

), it was very vulnerable to

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

and Ottoman incursions. To encourage peasants to settle there, they were exempted from some taxes, hence the name.

Geography

Slobozia lies roughly in the middle of the county, on the banks of

Ialomița River Ialomița may refer to: * Ialomița County - a county of Romania * Ialomița River - a river of Southern Romania that rises from the Bucegi Mountains The Bucegi Mountains (Romanian: ''Munții Bucegi'' ) are located in central Romania, south of ...

, at about east of

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 ...

and west of

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 ...

, important port at the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. The city is within of the Bucharest-Constanța A2 Motorway (Autostrada Soarelui). The total area of the municipality is . In the present administrative form, Slobozia consists of Slobozia proper and the neighbourhoods of Bora and Slobozia Nouă.

Economy

The main activity in the area is agriculture, processing of the agricultural products and light industry.

Culture

In 1990 the Cultural Centre was inaugurated, bearing the name of the conductor and composer

Ionel Perlea Ionel Perlea (13 December 190029 July 1970) was a Romanian conductor particularly associated with the Italian and German opera repertories. Biography Born Ionel Perlea to a Romanian father, Victor Perlea, and a German mother, Margarethe Haberl ...

, a city native. The building houses exhibition and performance rooms, bookstores, cultural institutions. In 1999 the Cultural Centre ''Ionel Perlea'' entered the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

circuit. The city is the headquarters of the

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...

Diocese of Slobozia and Călărași The Diocese of Slobozia and Călărași ( ro, Episcopia Sloboziei și Călărașilor) is a diocese of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Its see is the Ascension Cathedral in Slobozia and its ecclesiastical territory covers Ialomița and Călărași co ...

, established in 1993.

Demographics

At the 2002 census, 97.6% of inhabitants were

ethnic 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 2.2%

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 ...

. 98.6% were Romanian Orthodox, 0.4%

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

and 0.2%

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Tourism

The main tourist attraction consists of the nearby

Lake Amara Lake Amara ( ro, Lacul Amara) is a Seawater, saltwater Liman (landform), fluvial liman lake located on the Slobozia - Buzău road near Amara, Romania, Amara in Ialomița County, Romania. The lake has a surface area of , a water volume of , a leng ...

, situated away. Amara Resort is also a balneoclimateric resort. Access to Amara is by minibuses that leave every 15 minutes from the Slobozia Train Station. As part of a private tourist complex, there is a small copy of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

high.

Twin towns – sister cities

Slobozia is twinned with: *

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

, China *

Razgrad Razgrad ( bg, Разград ) is a city in Northeastern Bulgaria in the valley of the Beli Lom river that falls within the historical and geographical region of Ludogorie (Deliorman). It is an administrative center of Razgrad Province. Etymolo ...

, Bulgaria *

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

, Bulgaria * Veles, North Macedonia

Notable people

Mircea Dinescu Mircea Dinescu (; born November 11, 1950) is a Romanian poet, journalist, and editor. Biography Early life and poetry He was born in Slobozia, the son of Ştefan Dinescu, a metalworker, and Aurelia (born Badea). Dinescu studied at the Faculty ...

, journalist and

political satirist Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where suc ...

Petru Filip Petru Filip (; born 23 January 1955 in Slobozia, Romania) is a Romanian politician, member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Since 2008, he has been a member of the Senate, representing Bihor County Bihor County () is a county (județ) ...

, politician *

Adrian Mihalcea Adrian Dumitru Mihalcea (born 24 May 1976 in Slobozia) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga II club Gloria Buzău. Career Mihalcea spent many years playing with one of the top Romanian tea ...

, footballer * Minelli, singer, songwriter and lyricist

References

External links

* * {{Ialomiţa County Populated places in Ialomița County Localities in Muntenia Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Place names of Slavic origin in Romania