Slobozia () is the capital city of Ialomița County,

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, 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, traditional ...

"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 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, at about east of Bucharest 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 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, a city native. The building houses exhibition and performance rooms, bookstores, cultural institutions. In 1999 the Cultural Centre ''Ionel Perlea'' entered the UNESCO circuit. The city is the headquarters of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Slobozia and Călărași, 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 and 0.2% Roman Catholic.

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 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, 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, 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 discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

* Petru Filip, 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