Caliacra County was a county (''

județ A (, plural ) is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used from 1940 to 1947 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1998 to 2003 in Moldova. There are 41 in Romania, divided into municipii (municipalities), ''ora ...

'') of

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 ...

in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, in

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja or South Dobruja ( or simply , ; or , ), also the Quadrilateral (), is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silistra provinces, part of the historical region of Dobruja. It has an area of 7,412 square km an ...

, with the seat at Bazargic (today

Dobrich Dobrich ( ; ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 9th most populated city in Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Dobrich Province and the capital of the region of Southern Dobrudzha. It is located in the northeastern part of the cou ...

, Bulgaria). The county was located in the south-eastern part of Romania, in the Southern Dobruja region, known as Cadrilater. Currently the territory of the former county is part of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, mostly forming

Dobrich Province Dobrich Province (, , former name Dobrich okrug) is a province in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Southern Dobruja geographical region. It is bounded on the east by the Black Sea, on the south by Varna Province, on the west by Shumen and Silist ...

, although several villages in the south are included in

Varna Province Varna Province (), formerly known as Varna okrug, is a province in eastern Bulgaria, one of the 28 Bulgarian provinces. It comprises 12 municipalities with a population of 494,216 as of April 2016.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 ...

, northwest with

Durostor County Durostor County was a county (''județ'') of the Kingdom of Romania, in Southern Dobruja, with the seat at Dârstor. The county was located in the south-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the southern Dobrogea region, known as Cadrilater. Current ...

, south with the

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria (), also known as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom (), usually known in English as the Kingdom of Bulgaria, or simply Bulgaria, was a constitutional monarchy in Southeastern Europe, which was established on , when the Bulgaria ...

, and on the east with 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 ...

Administration

The county consisted of 4 districts ('' plăși''):Portretul României Interbelice - Județul Caliacra
/ref> #Plasa Balcic, headquartered at

Balcic Balchik ( ; , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km no ...

#Plasa Casim, headquartered at Casim #Plasa Ezibei, headquartered at Bazargic #Plasa Stejarul, headquartered at Stejarul

Etymology

The county was named after the Cape of Caliacra (today

Kaliakra Kaliakra () is a cape in the Southern Dobruja region of the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, which ends with a long and narrow headland east of Kavarna, northeast of Varna, Bulgaria, Varna and southwest of Mangalia. The coast is steep with ...

, Bulgaria). Kalli Akra in Greek means "Good shelter." This promontory, at the foot of which the last endemic Monachus monachus albiventer (seal) lived until 1940, was a natural reserve.

History

The promontory of Caliacra was first strengthened by Tirizi, of the

Getae The Getae or Getai ( or , also Getans) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. The main source of informa ...

, and early hellenized by the nearby colonies Dionysopolis (Balchik) and Kallatis (

Mangalia Mangalia (, ), ancient Callatis (; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. The municipality of Mangalia als ...

) under the name of ''Tirizis''. In succession, a Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, and Byzantine fortress, it seems to have been the capital of the despotat of

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 ...

between 1346 and 1402 when

Mircea I of Wallachia Mircea the Elder (, ; 1355 – 31 January 1418) was the Voivode of Wallachia from 1386 until his death in 1418. He was the son of Radu I of Wallachia and brother of Dan I of Wallachia, after whose death he inherited the throne. After the dea ...

became master of the "Great Sea". It is known that the Genoese traded here. The Turks besieged the city several times, conquering it finally in 1444; at which time it was laid ruin. The Bulgarians made the defense of the city a patriotic legend, the tragic outcome of which is the suicide of the 40 virgins (a legend also found in the Serbian and Greek folklore). As a result of Romania's involvement in Bulgaria during the Second Balkan War,

(the part of Bulgaria north of the

Tutrakan Tutrakan ( , , ) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of the homonymous municipality, part of Silistra Province. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube opposite the Romanian town of Oltenița (to which it was l ...

Balchik Balchik ( ; , ) is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km no ...

line) was annexed by Romania in 1913, despite criticism from the political opposition (e.g. the socialist

Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea (born Solomon Katz; 21 May 1855 – 7 May 1920) was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and journalist. He was also an entrepreneur in the city of Ploiești. Constantin Dobroge ...

), who considered that this act would create for Romania a new and fierce enemy over a 600-km border on its southern flank, where, until then, it had a friendly neighbor whose independence had been obtained simultaneously in the same war.Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea - ''„Opere Complete”'' (Ed. Politică, 1976-1983, citat în Catherine Durandin: ''„Istoria Românilor”'', trad : L. Buruiană-Popovici, Ed. Institutului European, București, 1998) After the region was annexed by Romania as a result of the

Treaty of Bucharest (1913) The Treaty of Bucharest (; ; ; ) was concluded on 10 August 1913, by the delegates of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. The Treaty was concluded in the aftermath of the Second Balkan War and amended the previous Treaty of Londo ...

, Bulgaria managed to regain it between 1916 and 1918 (''see the

Romanian Campaign (1916) After a series of quick tactical victories on the numerically overpowered Austro-Hungarian forces in Transylvania, in the autumn of 1916, the Romanian Army suffered a series of devastating defeats, which forced the Romanian military and adminis ...

and

Treaty of Bucharest (1918) The Treaty of Bucharest (1918) was a peace treaty between Romania and the opposing Central Powers following the stalemate reached after the campaign of 1917. This left Romania isolated after Russia's unilateral exit from World War I (see the A ...

''), but then lost it again after the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(''see

Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (; ) was a treaty between the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand, and Bulgaria, one of the defeated Central Powers in World War I, on the other. The treaty required Bulgaria to cede various territor ...

''). After the 1938 ''Administrative and Constitutional Reform'', the county was merged with the counties of Constanța, Durostor and Ialomița 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 ...

''. On September 7, 1940, the former county with the whole Southern Dobruja was returned to Bulgaria (''see

Treaty of Craiova The Treaty of Craiova (; ) was signed on 7 September 1940 and ratified on 13 September 1940 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under its terms, Romania had to allow Bulgaria to retake Southern Dobruja, which Romania had gained ...

'').

Coat of arms

The Coat of Arms depicted a shining lighthouse.

Population

According to the Romanian census of 1930 the population of Caliacra County was 166,911, of which 42.4% were ethnic

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

, 23.0%

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

, 22.6%

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, ...

, 3.8% Gagauz, 2.7%

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

, 1.4%

Gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

and 4.1% other ethnic groups: Greeks, Jews, Armenians, Circassians. Classified by religion: 70.4% Orthodox Christian, 28.2% Islam.Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 574

Urban population

In 1930, the county's urban population was 41,588, of which 39.8% were Bulgarians, 24.1% Turkish, 15.4% Romanians and Aromanians, 6.9% Romanies, 3.6% Gagauz, 3.5% Tatars, 2.1% Greeks, 2.1% Armenians, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population consisted of 62.1% Eastern Orthodox, 34.1% Muslim, 1.7% Armenian-Gregorian, 1.0% Jewish, as well as other minorities.

References

External links

*
Caliacra County on memoria.ro
{{coord missing, Romania Dobruja Former counties of Romania Bulgaria–Romania border 1938 disestablishments in Romania 1913 establishments in Romania States and territories disestablished in 1938 States and territories established in 1913