Călărași

For other uses, see Călărași (disambiguation).

Călărași
County capital
Palace of the Prefecture
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Capșa Provinciei
Location of Călărași
Coordinates:
Country	Romania
County	Călărași County
Status	County capital
Government
• Mayor	Daniel Ștefan Drăgulin (UNPR, elected from PNL)
Population (2011)
• Total	65,181
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.municipiu.ro

Călărași (Romanian pronunciation: [kələˈraʃʲ]), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the bank of Danube's Borcea branch, at about 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the Bulgarian border and 125 kilometres (78 miles)from Bucharest.

The city is an industrial centre for lumber and paper, food processing, glass manufacturing, textiles, medical equipment production and heavy industry, the last represented by the Călărași steel works. The city is known colloquially as "Capșa provinciei" (the Capşa from the provinces).

History

The site of a prehistoric village, called Lichiresti from the time of Michael the Brave. 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 Bucharest to Constantinople. 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 DN3, DN21, DN31 and DN3B. Also A2 ("The Sun's Motorway") has 3 exits for Călărași, at Lehliu Gară (about 50 km (31 mi) NW), Dragalina (about 30 km (19 mi) N) and Feteşti (about 40 km (25 mi) 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). The town is connected by rail (table 802 CFR). The nearest major cities are: Bucharest 120 km (75 mi), Constanța 148 km (92 mi) and Varna 155 km (96 mi).

Sports

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

Notable natives

• Ştefan Bănică, Sr. (actor, singer)
• Dan Mateescu (member of Romanian Academy)

International relations

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

Twin towns — Sister cities

Călărași is twinned with:

Rivery, France Naples, Italy Royal Palm Beach, Florida, USA Hengyang, China

Zajecar, Serbia Călăraşi, Moldova Levy, Canada Silistra, Bulgaria

Climate

The climate is continental with a year average temperature of 11.3 °C (52 °F). The lowest temperature ever recorded in Călărași was −30.0 °C (−22 °F) on January 9, 1938 and the highest was41.4 °C (107 °F) on August 10, 1957.

Climate data for Călărași
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 (61)
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 (43.7)
Source: weatherbase.com

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1900	11,024	—
1912	12,995	+17.9%
1930	18,053	+38.9%
1948	24,448	+35.4%
1956	25,555	+4.5%
1966	35,684	+39.6%
1977	49,727	+39.4%
1992	76,952	+54.7%
2002	70,039	−9.0%
2011	65,181	−6.9%
Source: Census data

In 2011, Călărași had a population of 65,181, with 95.05% of them declaring themselves as being Romanians and 3.59% Roma. The surrounding communes (Modelu, Ostrov, Roseți, Grădiştea, Cuza-Vodă, and Ştefan Vodă) with Călărași number almost 100,000 inhabitants.