Voluntari () is a town in

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of Communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs ...

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 Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is located at a distance of 1 km from the northern border of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

(on the DN2 road towards Urziceni) and is thus frequently viewed as a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

of Bucharest. The population is 42,944 inhabitants according to the 2011 census, with an ethnic composition, among those for whom data are available, of 94.8%

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Romania ...

, 1.3%

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, 0.9% Chinese, 0.5% Turks and 2.5% of other ethnic groups. The low price of land, the proximity to Bucharest, and the easy and reliable access to both the railway network and the road network have allowed a steady development of industrial and commercial facilities, especially in the

light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

and import/export commerce. The town's output estimate increased by over 25% between 2001 and 2005. Even with such high development rates, many residents

commute Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...

to Bucharest. Voluntari is the site of a shopping centre known as Jolie Ville Galleria, as well as the headquarters of the

Vodafone Romania Vodafone Romania S.A. is a Romanian mobile phone network operator. It launched in April 1997 as the first GSM network in Romania. Before acquisition by Vodafone, it was known as Connex, after which it was rebranded Connex-Vodafone and in Apr ...

company. Voluntari literally means "Volunteers", in

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, traditiona ...

, having been founded by the volunteer soldiers who fought for Romania in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and were given plots to build their homes there after the war. The settlement received city status in 2004.

Local government

The Voluntari Local Council (''Consiliul Local Voluntari'') has 19 councillors. It currently has the following party composition:

Transport

Voluntari has its own bus network, operated by the local council, consisting of five bus routes: 1, 2, 153, 155 and 167. Additionally, the city is connected to Bucharest by bus routes run by STB, Bucharest's public transport operator.

Sport

FC Voluntari Fotbal Club Voluntari (), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga I. Founded in 2010, it has been playing since the 2015–16 seas ...

– football club

Education

Voluntari is the site of the

American International School of Bucharest The American International School of Bucharest (AISB) is a multicultural and international school located in the town of Voluntari, 5 km outside central Bucharest, Romania, set on a 10 hectare campus. English is the primary instructional lan ...

, the

British School of Bucharest British School of Bucharest (BSB) is a British international school in Voluntari, Ilfov County, Romania, in the Bucharest metropolitan area. Established in 2000, the school welcomes more than 600 students each year, aged 2–18. The school serves ...

, the Mark Twain International School, and the

Japanese School in Bucharest The is a Japanese international school in Voluntari, Ilfov County, Romania, near Bucharest. Previously it was located in Bucharest proper. The school is affiliated with the Embassy of Japan in Bucharest. History In December 1975 the Japanese co ...

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Natives

Andrew Tate Emory Andrew Tate III (born December 1, 1986) is an American-British social media personality, businessman and a former professional kickboxer. Following his kickboxing career, he began offering paid courses and memberships through his websit ...

Anișoara Matei Anișoara Matei (born 16 August 1951) is a Romanian sports shooter. She competed in two events at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 19 ...

Iuliana Munteanu Iuliana Munteanu (born 14 November 1955) is a Romanian rower. She competed in the women's eight event at the 1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enter ...

References