Călărași (), the capital of

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 – 95% ...

in the

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 ...

region, is situated in south-east

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

, on the banks of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

's Borcea branch, at about from the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

n border and from

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 ...

. The city is an industrial centre for lumber and paper,

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...

, glass manufacturing, textiles, medical equipment production, and

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); ...

, the last one represented by the Călărași steel works. The city is known colloquially as "Capșa provinciei" (the Capșa from the provinces).

History

The site of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

village, called ''Lichirești'' from the time of

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( ro, Mihai Viteazul or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593 – 1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Transylvania (1599 – 1600). ...

. Călărași appeared for the first time in 1700 on a map drawn by Constantin Cantacuzino. It got its name after it was made by the Wallachian princes, in the 17th century, a station of "mounted couriers' service" on the route from

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. The service was operated by horseback riders (the călărași). It expanded into a small town, and in 1834 became the surrounding county's capital.

Transportation

Călărași is connected by

National Roads National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

DN3,

DN21 DN21 ( ro, Drumul Național 21) is a national road in Romania which that crosses the Bărăgan Plain, linking the Danube port of Brăila with Călărași. The road crosses the A2 motorway near Drajna, between the cities of Slobozia Slobozi ...

, DN31, and DN3B. Also A2 ("The Sun's Motorway") has 3 exits for Călărași, at

Lehliu Gară Lehliu Gară is a small town in the middle of the Bărăgan region in Călărași County, Muntenia, Romania, with a railway station and a national road linking the seaside Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенд� ...

(about NW), Dragalina (about N) and

Fetești Fetești () is a city in Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located in the Bărăgan plain, on the Borcea branch of the Danube. Fetești has the second largest population in Ialomița, after Slobozia. In 1895, the King Carol I rai ...

(about NE). The city lies on the seventh pan-European corridor of transport (the

river) and is next to the fourth pan-European transport corridor (

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

–

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

) at . The Călărași train station serves the CFR Line 802. The nearest major cities are:

, and Varna .

Education

The city features seven middle schools and several high schools, includingSchools
at the Călărași County Schools Inspectorate site * Barbu Știrbei National College * Mihai Eminescu Theoretical High School * Ștefan Bănulescu Technical High School * Danubius High School * Sandu Aldea Agricultural College * Călărași Economics College

Sports

The city is currently represented by Dunărea Călărași in the Romanian

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

football league.

Natives

Ștefan Bănică Sr. Ștefan Constantin Bănică (; November 11, 1933 – May 27, 1995) was a Romanian actor and singer from Călărași. Aside from starring in multiple films, he was also known for his interpretation of songs such as "Îmi acordați un dans", "Cum am ...

(1933–1995), actor, singer * Daniel Bogdan (b. 1971), footballer * Mircea Ciumara (1943–2012), politician *

Vladimir Constantinescu Vladimir Constantinescu (19 June 1895 – 1965) was a Romanian brigadier general during World War II. He was born in Călărași, the son of Captain Hristea Constantinescu and his wife, Eufrosina. After completing elementary school in his nativ ...

(1895–1965), general *

Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (February 10, 1857 – November 16, 1919) was the first female doctor in Romania. An active feminist supporter, she founded the Maternal Society in 1897, and in 1899 organised the first crèche in Romania. A native of ...

(1857–1919), first female doctor in Romania * Daniel Florea (b. 1972), politician *

Petre V. Haneș Petre V. Haneș (November 6, 1879–April 17, 1966) was a Romanian literary historian. Born in Călărași, his parents were Vasile Haneș and his wife Maria (''née'' Leca). He attended Matei Basarab High School in Bucharest, followed by the ...

(1879–1966), literary historian * (1911–2008), engineer, titular member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its by ...

Marius Mocanu Marius Mocanu (born 9 December 1986) is a Romanian handballer who plays for CSM Fagaras and the Romania national team Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It bo ...

(b. 1986), handballer * Barbu Nemțeanu (1887–1919), poet * Gabriel Popa (b. 1985), footballer * Dragoș Protopopescu (1892–1948), writer, poet *

Gabriel Simion Gabriel Bogdan Simion (born 22 May 1998) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Universitatea Cluj.twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with:

Climate

The climate is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (a ...

with a year average temperature of . The lowest temperature ever recorded in Călărași was on January 9, 1938, and the highest was on August 10, 1957.

Population

In 2011, Călărași had a population of 65,181, with 95.05% of them declaring themselves as being

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 Roman ...

and 3.59%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. The surrounding communes ( Modelu, Ostrov, Roseți, Grădiștea, Cuza-Vodă, and

Ștefan Vodă Ștefan Vodă is a city and the administrative centre of Ștefan Vodă District, Moldova. It was known as ''Suvorov'' (Суворов) during the Soviet period, until 22 May 1990. Media * Vocea Basarabiei Vocea Basarabiei ( en, Voice of Bess ...

) together with Călărași number almost 100,000 inhabitants.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calarasi Populated places on the Danube Port cities and towns in Romania Bulgaria–Romania border crossings Cities in Romania Capitals of Romanian counties Populated places in Călărași County Localities in Muntenia