Fundulea

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = ROU
timezone=EET
utc_offset=+2
timezone_DST=EEST
utc_offset_DST=+3
map_caption = Location of Fundulea

|official_name=Fundulea
image_shield=

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subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Călăraşi County
subdivision_type2=Status
subdivision_name2=Autolink|Town
settlement_type=Town|
leader_title=Mayor
leader_name=Dorel Dorobanţu
|leader_party=Social Democratic Party
area_total_km2=
population_as_of=2002
population_total=6217|latd=44|latm=27|lats=10|latNS=N|longd=26|longm=30|longs=55|longEW=E|
website=

Fundulea is an agricultural town located in the Călăraşi County, Romania. It is located on the Bărăgan Plain, approximately 30 km east of the capital Bucharest, in the historical region of Wallachia. It has a population of 6,217. The A2 freeway and Mostiştea River pass through its vicinity.

Historically, Fundulea's outskirts housed a military base maintained by the Romanian Army. The town is home to an agricultural institute, the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Romanian: "Institutul Naţional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare Agricolă", INCDA). A reservoir known as Lake Fundulea, fed by water from the Mostiştea, is a popular spot for sport fishing.

History

During the 19th century, the village of Fundulea housed the "Sionu" estate of writer Gheorghe Sion, which, through the 1923 marriage of his daughter Marica, became the property of eccentric novelist, poet, and heraldist Mateiu Caragiale.Perpessicius, "Tabel cronologic", in Mateiu Caragiale, "Craii de Curtea-Veche", Editura pentru Literatură, Bucharest, 1965, p.XIX, XXI. OCLC|18329822] Caragiale intended to turn it into a private domain, and reportedly flew an ensign he had created for himself.

The INCDA was created in 1962, during the Communist period, through the merger between the Research Institute for Maize Cultivation ("Institutul de Cercetări pentru Cultura Porumbului") and the Field Cultivation Department ("Departamentul Culturilor de Câmp") of the Romanian Agronomic Institute. [ [http://www.ricic.ro/index_en.html Official site of INCDA Fundulea] ; retrieved July 10, 2007]

Fundulea is also the birthplace of novelist Mircea Nedelciu (1950-1999), in whose honor a local primary school was named in 2002. [ro icon Ion Bogdan Lefter, [http://www.observatorcultural.ro/informatiiarticol.phtml?xid=6267 "Şcoala 'Mircea Nedelciu' "] , in "Observator Cultural"; retrieved July 10, 2007]

References