Năvodari (, historical names: ''Carachioi''; ''Caracoium'', ) is a town in

Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...

, region of

Northern Dobruja Northern Dobruja ( or simply ; , ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube, Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria. ...

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 ...

, with a population of 34,398 as of 2021. The town formally includes a territorially distinct community, Social Group Peninsula, and administers the neighbouring village of Mamaia-Sat.

Etymology

The name of the town means "

trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, Fir ...

" in Romanian.

History

The settlement was mentioned for the first time in 1421 under the name ''Kara Koyun'' ("Black Sheep"), to be renamed later on ''Karaköy'' or ''Carachioi'' ("The Black Village"). In 1927, the locality was again renamed to ''Năvodari'' and after five years, on 15 August 1932, it was granted commune status. The town developed during the communist regime as part of the industrialization program. In 1957, the

superphosphate Superphosphate is a chemical fertiliser first synthesised in the 1840s by reacting bones with sulfuric acid. The process was subsequently improved by reacting phosphate coprolites with sulfuric acid. Subsequently, other phosphate-rich deposits suc ...

and

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

plant, also known as USAS (''Uzina de Superfosfat și Acid Sulfuric''), whose construction had started in 1954, was opened, paving the road towards the industrialization of the area and demographic growth. However, the factory polluted 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

Lake Tașaul Lake Tașaul () is a lake in Northern Dobruja, Romania. Formerly an open salt water coastal lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier penins ...

with toxic dumps. In the 1990s, the pollution was greatly reduced as the factory was modernized. In 1968 the population of Năvodari exceeded 6,500 inhabitants. A law adopted that year granted the commune of Năvodari town status and placed the ''Mamaia Sat'' village under its administration. The modernization of the town began in 1975 and was completed on 29 June 1979.

Current status

Today Năvodari is an important chemical and industrial town featuring a car repairs factory and the

Petromidia Refinery Petromidia Refinery is the largest Romanian oil refinery and one of the largest in Eastern Europe, located in Năvodari, Constanța County. It has an annual processing capacity of 4.8 million tonnes/year or . The refinery is supplied with oil th ...

, which is the largest Romanian oil refinery and one of the largest in Eastern Europe. Năvodari has also developed in the social and cultural fields; in the city center there is a children's town, built between 1969 and 1972, vacation accommodations, and sports facilities where up to 12,000 visitors can be accommodated. Some from the town itself there is a summer camp (the largest one in Romania), built under the communist regime for school children. Due to its interesting programmes, good accommodation and affordable prices, it was extremely popular among teachers and parents. In the early 2000s, it was opened for the public at large as a cheap seaside resort. CS Năvodari is an amateur

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in the town. Founded in 1993, the club currently plays in

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Năvodari had a population of 34,398. At the 2011 census, the town's population consisted of 29,873 ethnic

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, ...

(94.67%), 283

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

(0.90%), 309 Roma (0.98%), 10

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

(0.03%), 297 Turks (0.94%), 115

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

(0.36%), 545

Lipovans The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russians, Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of D ...

(1.73%), 27

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 ...

(0.09%), 77 others (0.24%), and 18 with undeclared ethnicity (0.06%).

Notable natives

*Laurențiu Duță (b. 1976), member of the 3rei Sud Est band * Adrian Lungu (b. 1960), Romania's most capped rugby union player

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Navodari Towns in Romania Monotowns in Romania Populated places in Constanța County Localities in Northern Dobruja Populated coastal places in Romania Port cities and towns in Romania Port cities of the Black Sea Socialist planned cities