Slobozia () is the capital city of

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 ...

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 rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

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 41,550 in 2021.

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 Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

word "slobod" which means "free". As it is located in the middle of flat land (

Bărăgan Plain The Bărăgan Plain ( ) 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 area. It is bounded on the s ...

), it was very vulnerable to

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

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, Romania * Ialomița (river) The Ialomița ( ) is a river of Southern Romania. It rises from the Bucegi Mountains in the Carpathians. It discharges into the Borcea branch of the Danube in Giurgeni.

, at about east of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

and west of

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 ...

, important port at 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 ...

. 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 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

circuit. The city is the headquarters of the

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

Diocese of Slobozia and Călărași, established in 1993.

Demographics

At the 2002 census, 97.6% of inhabitants were ethnic Romanians and 2.2%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. 98.6% were Romanian Orthodox, 0.4%

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

and 0.2%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Tourism

The main tourist attraction consists of the nearby

Lake Amara Lake Amara () is a saltwater fluvial liman lake located on the Slobozia - Buzău road near Amara in Ialomița County, Romania. The lake has a surface area of , a water volume of , a length of and a width between and while the maximum depth ...

, 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 ( ; ) 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 from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

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 * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing dynasty naval fleet bas ...

, China *

Razgrad Razgrad ( ) 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. Etymology The suffix "gra ...

, Bulgaria *

Silistra Silistra ( ; ; or ) 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. Silistra is the administrative center of the ...

, Bulgaria *

Veles Veles may refer to: *Veles (god), a Slavic god *Veles Municipality, in North Macedonia *Veles, North Macedonia, a city, seat of the municipality, formerly called Titov Veles *Veles Bastion, Stribog Mountains on Brabant Island, Antarctica *Veles, s ...

, North Macedonia

Notable people

Alin Badea Alin Badea (born 1 June 1988) is a Romanian sabre fencer, who won the team silver medal in the 2013 World championships. Biography Badea began fencing at age 10 at his local club, CS Slobozia, under coach Marin Mihăiță. In 2008 he transferr ...

(born 1988), sabre fencer *

Mihaela Bulică Mihaela Bulică (born 10 February 1990) is a Romanian sabre fencer. Career Bulică took up fencing when she was eight under the coaching of Marin Mihăiță at CSS Slobozia. She won the bronze medal at the 2008 U23 European Championships in Mon ...

(born 1990), sabre fencer *

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 Ștefan Dinescu, a metalworker, and Aurelia (born Badea). Dinescu studied at the Faculty ...

(born 1950), poet, journalist, and editor *

Petre Dumitru Petre Dumitru (born 11 November 1957) is a retired Romanian weightlifter. He competed at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1984. References 1957 births Living people Olympic weightlifters for Romania Weightlifters a ...

(born 1957), weightlifter *

Petru Filip Petru Filip (; born 23 January 1955 in Slobozia, Romania) is a Romanian politician and 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 (ju ...

(born 1955), politician * Cristina Gheorghe (born 1986), handballer *

Adrian Mihalcea Adrian Dumitru Mihalcea (born 24 May 1976) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga I club UTA Arad. Career Mihalcea spent many years playing with one of the top Romanian teams, Dinamo Bucureș ...

(born 1976), footballer *

Minelli Minnelli (also spelled Minelli) is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Minelli (born Luisa Ionela Luca, 1988), Romanian singer, songwriter and lyricist. * Alessandro Minelli, multiple people *Liza Minnelli (born 1946), Am ...

(born 1988), singer, songwriter, and lyricist *

Doina Spîrcu Doina Spîrcu ( Craciun, born 24 July 1970 in Slobozia) is a Romanian rower. She competed at the 1996 Olympics under her married name. References External links

* 1970 births Living people Romanian female rowers People fr ...

(born 1970), rower *

Iulian Teodosiu Iulian Teodosiu (born 30 September 1994) is a Romanian sabre fencer, winning a team silver medal in the 2013 World Fencing Championships. Career Teodosiu took up fencing at the age of 9 after coaches from his local club, CSS Slobozia, came at h ...

(born 1994), sabre fencer * Adrian Ursea (born 1967), football player and manager * Elena Voicu (born 1990), handballer

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