Călăraşi

For other uses, see Călăraşi (disambiguation).

Călăraşi
—  County capital  —
Bucharest Road
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Capşa Provinciei
Location of Călăraşi
Coordinates: 44°12′N 27°20′E / 44.2°N 27.333°E / 44.2; 27.333Coordinates: 44°12′N 27°20′E / 44.2°N 27.333°E / 44.2; 27.333
Country	Romania
County	Călăraşi County
Status	County capital
Government
– Mayor	Nicolae Dragu (UNPR)
Population (2007)
– Total	73,823
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Twin Cities
– Naples	Italy
– Rivery	France
– Royal Palm Beach	United States
– Hengyang	China
Website	http://www.municipiu.ro

Călăraşi (Romanian pronunciation: [kələˈraʃʲ]), 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.

The city is an industrial center for lumber and paper, food processing, glass manufacturing, textiles, medical equipment production and heavy industry. The city is known colloquially as "Capşa provinciei" (the Capşa from the provinces).^[1]

Population

The 1900 census indicated 11,024 inhabitants.

In 2002, Călăraşi had a population of 70,039, with 95.86% of them declaring themselves as being Romanians and 3.45% Roma. Călăraşi, along with Silistra are making a conurbation that counts almost 170,000 inhabitants. The surrounding Romanian area of Călăraşi (Modelu; Ostrov; Roseti; Grădiştea; Cuza-Voda; Lipniţa and Ştefan-Vodă) is reaching a population of almost 110,000 inhabitants.

History

The site of a prehistoric village, Călăraşi was created by Wallachian princes as a station on the route to Istanbul, operated by horseback riders (the călăraşi). It expanded into a small town, and in 1834 became the surrounding country's capital.

Transportation

Călăraşi is connected by DN3, DN21, DN31 and DN3B. Also A2 ("The Sun's Motorway") has 3 exits for Călăraşi, at Lehliu Gară (about 50 km NW), Dragalina (about 30 km N) and Feteşti (about 40 km NE). The city lies on the seventh pan-European corridor of transport(the Danube river) and is next to the fourth pan-European transport corridor(Dresden–Constanța) at 26 km (16.16 mi).

Climate

The climate is continental with a year average temperature of 11.3 °C (52 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded in Călăraşi was −30 °C (−22 °F) on January 9, 1938 and the highest was 41.4 °C (107 °F) on August 10, 1957.

Climate data for Călăraşi
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	2 (36)	3 (37)	10 (50)	16 (61)	22 (72)	26 (79)	27 (81)	27 (81)	24 (75)	17 (63)	8 (46)	4 (39)	16
Average low °C (°F)	−3 (27)	−2 (28)	1 (34)	6 (43)	11 (52)	15 (59)	16 (61)	15 (59)	12 (54)	6 (43)	1 (34)	−1 (30)	6.5
Source: weatherbase.com[2]

Sports

The city is currently represented by FC Dunărea Călăraşi in the Romanian Liga III soccer league. Sala Sporturilor (Călăraşi)

Notable natives

• Ştefan Bănică, Sr. (actor, singer)

References

Notes

1. ^ (Romanian) Laura Toma, "Amatorii de Călăraşi", Jurnalul Naţional, July 27, 2005
2. ^ "Weatherbase data Călăraşi". http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=6451&refer=&units=metric. 

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania

Twin towns — Sister cities

Călăraşi is twinned with:

• Rivery
• Naples
• Royal Palm Beach
• Hengyang
• Zajecar
• Călăraşi
• Levy
• Silistra