Caracal () is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Olt County Olt County () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (the regions are separated by the Olt River, Olt river). The capital city is Slatina, Roma ...

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 ...

, situated in the historic region of

Oltenia Oltenia (), also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions – with the alternative Latin names , , and between 1718 and 1739 – is a historical province and geographical region of Romania in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Da ...

, on the plains between the lower reaches of the Jiu and Olt rivers. The region's plains are well known for their agricultural specialty in cultivating grains and over the centuries, Caracal has been the trading center for the region's agricultural output. Caracal has a population of 27,403 and is the second largest city in the region.

Etymology

While 19th century historians thought that the name of Caracal is linked to Roman emperor

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

, the current accepted etymology is that city's name is derived from the

Cuman language Cuman or Kuman (also called Kipchak, Qypchaq or Polovtsian, self referred to as Tatar () in Codex Cumanicus) was a West Kipchak Turkic language spoken by the Cumans (Polovtsy, Folban, Vallany, Kun) and Kipchaks; the language was similar to t ...

''kara kale'' meaning "Black fortress" (''kara'', meaning "black", and ''kal'', either from the Turkish ''kale'', or the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''qal'at'', both meaning fortress).

History

The end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century saw Caracal experience significant growth and the region become one of the most important agricultural regions in Romania. Caracal was this region's capital and seat of Romanați County.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

brought changes to this region and to the city of Caracal. During

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

was located near the city. The communist government, which disestablished Romanați County, instituted

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

plans and Caracal experienced continued economic growth through the establishment of industrial plants in the textile industry sector. The town underwent major changes after the

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

regime was overthrown by the December 1989 Revolution, with many factories collapsing under the pressure of privatisation.

Demographics

{{Historical populations , align = left clear , source = Census data , 1859 , 5638 , 1899 , 12947 , 1912 , 15048 , 1930 , 14950 , 1948 , 17892 , 1956 , 19082 , 1966 , 22714 , 1977 , 30408 , 1992 , 39130 , 2002 , 34603 , 2011 , 30954 , 2021 , 27403

Twin town

*{{flagicon, DEN

Næstved Næstved () is a town in Næstved Municipality, the municipality of the same name, located in the southern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. Næstved has several adult education centers, five Primary education, elemen ...

, Denmark

Natives

* Gheorghe Argeșanu (1883–1940), cavalry general and politician who served as a Prime Minister of Romania in September 1939 *

Silviu Bălace Silviu Constantin Bălace (born 13 November 1978) is a Romanian football league system, Romanian retired professional footballer and currently a manager. Although primarily a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left back, Bălace has play ...

(born 1978), football player and manager * Marius Bunescu (1881–1971), painter, organizer of the National Museum of Art, and director of the Anastase Simu Museum * Virgil Carianopol (1908–1984), poet * Dan Diaconescu (born 1967), journalist, politician, and TV presenter * {{ill, Aurelian Titu Dumitrescu, ro (born 1956), poet, essayist, and journalist * {{ill, Doru Frunzulică, ro (born 1959), politician *

Iancu Jianu Iancu Jianu (; 1787 – 14 December 1842), also Ioniță Jianu, was a Wallachian Romanian hajduk. Biography Born in Caracal, Oltenia, Wallachia, in 1787, to the Jianu boyar family, as the youngest of four brothers. His father, Costache Jianu, w ...

(1787–1842), Wallachian hajduk * Haralamb Lecca (1873–1920), poet, playwright, and translator * {{ill, Nicolae Paul Mihail, ro (1923–2013), writer and screenwriter * {{ill, Radu Șerban (composer), lt=Radu Șerban, ro, Radu Șerban (compozitor) (1927–1984), composer of easy listening music * Marius Tucă (born 1966), journalist and TV host * Iulian Vladu (born 1982), footballer

References

{{reflist {{commons category, Caracal, Romania {{EB1911 poster, Caracal (Rumania) {{Olt County {{Authority control Cities in Romania Populated places in Olt County Localities in Oltenia Capitals of former Romanian counties