Urziceni () is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

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 ...

, located around north-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 ...

Geography

The city is situated at the western edge of the

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 ...

, on the banks of the

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.

and its tributary, the river Cotorca. It is located in the northwestern part of Ialomița County, from the county seat,

Slobozia Slobozia () is the capital city of Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania, with a population of 41,550 in 2021. Etymology Its name is from the Romanian "slobozie", which meant a recently colonized village which was free of taxation. The word its ...

. Urziceni is an important transportation hub in Romania. It is crossed by

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

DN2 (part of

European route E85 European route E85 is part of the International E-road network, which is a series of main roads in Europe. The E 85 starts from Klaipėda, Lithuania and ends at Alexandroupolis, Greece. The E 85 is long. The definition of its ro ...

), which runs from Bucharest towards

Buzău Buzău (; formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu'') is a city in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania, and the county seat of Buzău County. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

and on towards

Suceava Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...

and the border with Ukraine at

Siret Siret (; ; ; ; ) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is the 11th largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 6,708 ...

. Road connects Urziceni to

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

, 63 km to the northwest, while road runs eastward towards Slobozia and continues all the way to

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 ...

, on 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 ...

coast. The Urziceni train station serves the CFR Main Line 700, which connects Bucharest to

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

and the border with Moldova at

Giurgiulești Giurgiulești () is a commune in the Cahul District of Moldova. It is also a border crossing point to Romania, located from Galați. Geography The locality is in the southernmost point of Moldova, at the confluence of the river Prut with th ...

, as well as Line 701, which connects it to Ploiești.

History

Founded by

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 ...

shepherds, the name of the city is derived from the word "urzică" (

nettle Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" include: * ball nettle ...

). It was mentioned for the first time in a written document on 23 April 1596, during the reign of

Michael the Brave Michael the Brave ( 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 Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...

. It gained in 1831 the status of

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

and in 1895 the city status. For 117 years (between 1716 and 1833), it was the capital of Ialomița County.

Demographics

As the census of 2011 results showed, Urziceni was ranked in 3rd place in

, after

and

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

. It had a population of 14,053, of which 93.1% were 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, ...

, 4.6%

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 ...

, and 1.6%

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 ...

. Moreover, there were 6,765 males and 7,288 females. At the 2021 census, the city had 13,380 inhabitants; of those, 82.35% were Romanians and 4.4% Roma.

Natives

Marian Damaschin Marian Damaschin (born 1 May 1965) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Club career Damaschin was born on 1 May 1965 in Urziceni, Romania, starting to play j ...

(born 1965), footballer *

Roxana Dumitrescu Roxana Daniela Dumitrescu (later ''Toader'', born 27 June 1967) is a retired Romanian foil fencer who won a team bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics. References External links * 1967 births Living people Romanian female fencers Olympic ...

(born 1967), foil fencer * Răzvan Farmache (born 1978), footballer * Robert Neacșu (born 2000), footballer *

Constantin Niculescu Constantin Niculescu (born 26 May 1944) is a Romanian boxer. He competed in the men's welterweight event at the 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held ...

(born 1944), boxer * Marius Stan, scientist and actor *

Emil Străinu Emil Străinu (born 30 April 1957 in Bucharest, Romania) is a Romanian army general in reserve, writer, journalist, ufologist, and politician. He was the leader of the Greater Romania Party (PRM) between 2015 and 2016. He is a founding member of ...

(born 1957), general, writer, and politician *

Leontin Toader Leontin Toader (born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional footballer who serves as a goalkeeping coach for Romania national team. Honours Rapid București *Divizia B: 1989–90 *Cupa României runner-up: 1994–95 Jiul Petroșani * ...

(born 1964), footballer * Alexandru Toma (1875–1954), poet, journalist, and translator

Football record

A little town by any standards, Urziceni is perhaps best known for its

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 ...

team,

Unirea Urziceni Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (), was a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County. Unirea became Divizia A Final Tables, national champions ...

. Urziceni holds the record for the smallest town to have a team in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. The team wound up a year later.

Other

In Urziceni, there is at an underground storage for natural gas operated by

Romgaz Societatea Națională de Gaze Naturale Romgaz SA Mediaș (SNGN Romgaz SA) or simply Romgaz is the largest natural gas producer in Romania and one of the largest producers in Eastern Europe. The company is the country's main supplier and responsib ...

and at a

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

transmitter with a tall radio mast working on 531 kHz.

References

External links

* Populated places in Ialomița County Localities in Muntenia Cities in Romania {{Ialomiţa-geo-stub