Slobozia
Encyclopedia
Slobozia is the capital city of Ialomiţa County
Ialomita County
Ialomița is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 296,572 and the population density was 67/km²....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, with a population of 52,710 in 2002.
Geography
Slobozia lies roughly in the middle of the county, on the banks of Ialomita River, at ca. 120 km (74.6 mi) east of BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
and 150 km (93.2 mi) west of Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, important port at the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. The City is within 17 km of the Bucharest-Constanta A2 Motorway (Autostrada Soarelui).
The total area of the municipality is 132.87 km² (32,832.9 acre), of which 119.87 km² (29,620.5 acre) outside city limits and 13 km² (3,212.4 acre) in the city. In the present administrative form, Slobozia consists of Slobozia proper and the neighbourhoods of Bora and Slobozia Nouǎ.
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 UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
circuit.
The city is the headquarters of the Romanian Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
Diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Slobozia and Călăraşi
Calarasi
Călăraşi , the capital of Călăraşi County and Sud-Muntenia Region in the Wallachia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the bank of Danube's Borcea branch, at about 12 kilometers from the Bulgarian border and 125 kilometers from Bucharest....
, established in 1993.
At the 2002 census, 97.6% of inhabitants were ethnic Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
and 2.2% Roma. 98.6% were Romanian Orthodox, 0.4% Seventh-day Adventist
Romanian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The Romanian Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is Romania's eighth-largest religious body. At the 2002 census, 97,041 Romanians declared themselves to be Seventh-Day Adventists; they have over 500 church buildings...
and 0.2% Roman Catholic.
Etymology
Its name is from Romanian "slobozie", which meant a recently colonized village which was free of taxation. The word itself comes from the Slavic word "slobod" which means "free". As it is located in the middle of flat land (Bărăgan PlainBaragan 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 was very vulnerable to Tatar
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
and Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
incursions. To encourage peasants to settle there, they were exempted from some taxes, hence the name.
Tourism
The main tourist attraction consists of the nearby Lake AmaraLake Amara (Ialomiţa County)
Lake Amara is a saltwater fluvial liman lake located on the Slobozia - Buzău road near Amara in Ialomiţa 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 reaches . The lake is situated in a depression having no...
- 5 km 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
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
(54m).
Twin towns — Sister cities
Slobozia is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
- Veles
Veles (city)Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600... - Silistra
SilistraSilistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
Nanyang, HenanNanyang, HenanNanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, People's Republic of China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the north, Sanmenxia to the...
People
- Mihai Ungheanu (1939 - 2009) Journalist and national politician.
- Cornel CerneaCornel CerneaCornel Cernea is a Romanian football goalkeeper. He is currently under contract with the Romanian club Victoria Brăneşti.-Club career:...
Goalkeeper with FC Victoria BrăneştiFC Victoria BranestiVictoria Brăneşti is a Romanian professional football club from Brăneşti, Ilfov County, Romania, playing in Liga II.-History:The football team was founded in 1968 by football-loving people from the Brăneşti commune and played its entire history in the lower leagues of the Romanian football... - Mircea DinescuMircea DinescuMircea Dinescu is a Romanian poet, journalist and editor.He was born in Slobozia, the son of Ştefan Dinescu, a metalworker and Aurelia . Dinescu studied at the Faculty of Journalism of the Ştefan Gheorghiu Academy, and was considered a gifted young poet during his youth, with several poetry...
Journalist and political satirist - Petru FilipPetru FilipPetru Filip is a Romanian politician, member of the Liberal Democratic Party currently holding the uninominal seat for College 3 Oradea Sud-Holod-Salonta in the Senate of Romania....
Member of the Senate of RomaniaSenate of RomaniaThe Senate of Romania is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats , to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts , to serve four-year terms.-Former location:After the Romanian... - Adrian MihalceaAdrian MihalceaAdrian Mihalcea is a Romanian football striker who currently plays for Liga I team Concordia Chiajna.-Career:Mihalcea spent many years playing with one of the top Romanian teams, Dinamo Bucharest, where he won the Romanian First Division championship in 2000 and the Romanian Cup in 2000 and again...
National football player