Constanța () is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

( județ) of Romania on the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with Bulgaria, in the

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

region. Its capital city is also named

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 ...

Demographics

In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 and the population density was 92/km². The degree of urbanization is much higher (about 75%) than the Romanian average. In recent years the population trend is: The majority of the population are Orthodox

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, ...

. There are important communities of Muslim Turks and

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

, remnants of the time of Ottoman rule. Currently the region is the centre of the Muslim minority in Romania. A great number of

Aromanians The Aromanians () are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgari ...

have migrated to Dobruja in the last century, and they consider themselves a cultural minority rather than an ethnic minority. There are also Romani.

Geography

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% ...

and

Ialomița County Ialomița County () is a county () 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 population, t ...

are to the west. *

Tulcea County Tulcea County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube. Demographics In 2021, Tulcea Coun ...

and

Brăila County Brăila County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, Brăila County had a population of 281,452 (172,533 people in urban areas and 108,919 people in rural ...

are to the north. *Bulgaria ( Dobrich Province and Silistra Province) are to the south.

Economy

The predominant industries in the county are: * Tourism * Chemicals and petrochemicals * Food and beverages * Textiles * Shipbuilding * Construction materials * Mechanical components * Paper Agriculture is an important part in the county's economy, with Constanța being the county with the largest irrigation systems in the country (more than 4,300 km² before 1989, now greatly reduced), cereals being the most important products. Also, the county is famous for its

wines Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

from the Murfatlar region. At

Cernavodă Cernavodă () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania with a population of 15,088 as of 2021. The town's name is derived from the Bulgarian ''černa voda'' ( in Cyrillic), meaning 'black water'. This name is regarded by some s ...

there is a

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

with two reactors, each of the

CANDU The CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) neutron moderator, moderator and its use of (originally, natural ...

type of Canadian design. The plant covers over 15% of the country's power demand. The Port of Constanța is the largest port in Romania, the most important of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

and the 4th in Europe. It is linked with 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 ...

by the Danube-Black Sea Canal – the widest and deepest navigable channel in Europe, although it is not used to its full potential.

Tourism

The Romanian Riviera along the coast of the

is the preferred destination for the summer holidays in Romania. The resorts are, from North to South: * Năvodari *

Mamaia Mamaia () is a resort on the Romanian Black Sea shore and a district of Constanța. Considered to be Romania's most popular resort, Mamaia is situated immediately north-east of Constanța's city center. It has almost no full-time residents, being ...

* Eforie (North and South) * Costinești * Olimp * Neptun *

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

* Cap Aurora *

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

* Mangalia * 2 Mai * Vama Veche Also worth visiting are: * The city of

* The mausoleum at Adamclisi * The Portița area

Politics

As of 27 September 2020, the elected President of the County Council is Mihai Lupu from PNL. In addition, in the wake of the

2020 Romanian local elections Local elections were held in Romania on 27 September 2020. Initially planned for June 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led the Government of Romania to postpone the elections to a date no later than 31 December 2020, and extending al ...

, the current Constanța County Council consists of 36 counsellors, with the following party composition:

Administrative divisions

Constanța County has 3 municipalities, 9 towns and 58 communes: *Municipalities **

– capital city; population: 283,872 (as of 2011) ** Mangalia ** Medgidia *Towns **

** Eforie ** Hârșova ** Murfatlar ** Năvodari ** Negru Vodă ** Ovidiu ** Techirghiol *Communes ** 23 August ** Adamclisi ** Agigea ** Albești ** Aliman ** Amzacea **

Băneasa Băneasa () is a borough () on the north side of Bucharest, in Sector 1, near the Băneasa Lake (). Like every north-side district of Bucharest, it is relatively sparsely populated, with large areas of parkland. Bordering on Băneasa Fores ...

(town between 2004 and 2019) ** Bărăganu ** Castelu **

Cerchezu Cerchezu is a commune in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The commune includes four villages: * Cerchezu (historical name: ''Cerchezchioi'', , ), named after the Circassian minority that settled the region. * Căscioarele (historica ...

** Chirnogeni ** Ciobanu ** Ciocârlia ** Cobadin ** Cogealac ** Comana ** Corbu ** Costinești ** Crucea ** Cumpăna ** Cuza Vodă ** Deleni ** Dobromir ** Dumbrăveni ** Fântânele ** Gârliciu ** Ghindărești ** Grădina ** Horia ** Independența ** Ion Corvin **

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

** Limanu ** Lipnița ** Lumina ** Mereni ** Mihai Viteazu **

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mihail Kogălniceanu (; also known as Mihail Cogâlniceanu, Michel de Kogalnitchan; September 6, 1817 – July 1, 1891) was a Romanian Liberalism, liberal statesman, lawyer, historian and publicist; he became Prime Minister of Romania on Octo ...

** Mircea Vodă ** Nicolae Bălcescu ** Oltina ** Ostrov ** Pantelimon ** Pecineaga ** Peștera ** Poarta Albă ** Rasova ** Saligny ** Saraiu ** Săcele ** Seimeni ** Siliștea ** Târguşor ** Topalu ** Topraisar ** Tortoman **

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

** Valu lui Traian ** Vulturu

Historical county

Following the 1926 administrative reform, the borders of the historical county are identical to the ones of the current Constanța County, with the exception of the Ostrov and Lipnița communes, which were then administered by the Durostor County, the

Baia Baia (; ; ) is a commune in Suceava County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, northeastern Romania with a population of 7,261 as of 2021. It is composed of two villages, namely Baia and Bogata. Located on the Moldova (river), Moldova ...

commune, now part of

, and the villages of Tereskondu, Pârâul Caprei, Fundeni, Pădureni, Saldu Alde and Enigea-Haidar, now in Bulgaria.

Geography

The county neighboured the

to the east, the counties of

Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by #Names, alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 65,624 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. It is one ...

and

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

to the north, Ialomița to the west, Durostor to the south-west and Caliacra to the south.

Administration

The county originally consisted of four districts ('' plăși''):Portretul României Interbelice - Județul Constanța
/ref> #Plasa Dunărea #Plasa Mangalia #Plasa Ovidiu #Plasa Traian Subsequently, the territory of the county was reorganized into seven districts: #Plasa Cernavodă, headquartered in

#Plasa Dunărea, headquartered in Hârșova #Plasa Ferdinand, headquartered in

#Plasa Mangalia, headquartered in Mangalia #Plasa Negru-Vodă, headquartered in Negru Vodă #Plasa Traian, headquartered in Ion Corvin #Plasa Medgidia, headquartered in Medgidia On the territory of Constanta County there were seven urban localities: Constanţa (with city status) and the urban communes of Carmen-Sylva, Techirghiol, Mangalia, Medgidia,

and Hârșova.

After 1938

After the 1938 Administrative and Constitutional Reform, this county merged with the counties of Ialomița, Durostor and Caliacra to form

Ținutul Mării Ținutul Mării (alternatively spelled as ''Marea'' or ''Mărei'') was one of the ten ''ținuturi'' ("lands") of Romania, founded in 1938 after King Carol II initiated an institutional reform by modifying the 1923 Constitution and the law of terri ...

. It was re-established in 1940 after the fall of

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...

's regime. Ten years later, it was abolished by the Communist regime.

Population

According to the census data of 1930, the county's population was 253,093 inhabitants, of which 66.2% were Romanians, 8.9% Bulgarians, 6.8% Turks, 6.0% Tatars, 3.8% Germans, 1.8% Greeks, 1.5% Russians, 1.3% Armenians, as well as other minorities.Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 142-143 In religion, the population consisted of 78.9% Eastern Orthodox, 13.1% Islam, 2.5% Lutheran, 1.8% Roman Catholics, as well as other minorities.Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 592-595

Urban population

In 1930, the urban population of the county was 81,631 inhabitants, 68.7% Romanians, 7.3% Turks, 5.2% Greeks, 3.9% Armenians, 2.5% Germans, 2.2% Jews, 2.0% Tatars, 2.0% Bulgarians, 1.7% Russians, 1.7% Hungarians, as well as other minorities. Among the urban population, mother tongues were reported to be Romanian (72.0%), Turkish (9.7%), Greek (4.5%), Armenian (3.6%), German (2.4%), as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population was composed mostly of Eastern Orthodox (78.4%), followed by Muslim (9.6%), Armenian Apostolic (3.3%), Roman Catholic (2.7%), Jewish (2.3%), Lutheran (1.6%), as well as other minorities.

References

External links

* memoria.ro
Interwar Constanța County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constanta County Counties of Romania 1879 establishments in Romania 1938 disestablishments in Romania 1940 establishments in Romania 1950 disestablishments in Romania 1968 establishments in Romania States and territories established in 1879 States and territories disestablished in 1938 States and territories established in 1940 States and territories disestablished in 1950 States and territories established in 1968