Călărași (Romanian pronunciation: [kələˈraʃʲ] ; Bulgarian: Кълъраш, romanized: Kŭlŭrash), the capital of Călărași County in the Muntenia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the banks of the Danube's Borcea branch, at about 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the Bulgarian border and 125 kilometres (78 miles) from Bucharest. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube.
The city is an industrial centre for lumber and paper, food processing, glass manufacturing, textiles, medical equipment production, and heavy industry, the last one represented by the Călărași steel works. The city is known colloquially as "Capșa provinciei" (the Capșa from the provinces).
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History
The site of a medieval village, called Lichirești 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 National Roads 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 Fetești (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 mi). The Călărași train station serves the CFR Line 802. The nearest major cities are: Bucharest 120 km (75 mi), Constanța 148 km (92 mi), and Varna 155 km (96 mi).
Education
The city features seven middle schools and several high schools, including:
Barbu Știrbei National College
Mihai Eminescu Theoretical High School
Ștefan Bănulescu Technical High School
Danubius High School
Sandu Aldea Agricultural College
Călărași Economics College
Sports
The city is currently represented by Dunărea Călărași in the Romanian Liga III football league.
Natives
Ștefan Bănică Sr. (1933–1995), actor, singer
Daniel Bogdan (b. 1971), footballer
Mircea Ciumara (1943–2012), politician
Vladimir Constantinescu (1895–1965), general
Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (1857–1919), first female doctor in Romania
Daniel Florea (b. 1972), politician
Petre V. Haneș (1879–1966), literary historian
Dan Mateescu (1911–2008), engineer, titular member of the Romanian Academy
Marius Mocanu (b. 1986), handballer
Barbu Nemțeanu (1887–1919), poet
Gabriel Popa (b. 1985), footballer
Dragoș Protopopescu (1892–1948), writer, poet
Gabriel Simion (b. 1998), footballer
Twin towns
Călărași is twinned with:
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 was 42.3 °C (108 °F) on July 5, 2000.
Population
At the 2021 census, Călărași had a population 58,211. In 2011, it 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, Grădiștea, Cuza-Vodă, and Ștefan Vodă) together with Călărași number almost 100,000 inhabitants.