Ialomita County - Geography and history
Located in the south-east of Romania, the county occupies an important part of the eastern subdivision of the Walachian Plain, the Baragan Plain. Ialomita county is one of the oldest administrative and territorial units of the country. The county's total area is 4 453 km2, representing 1.9% of the country's total area. As of 31 December 2000, the administrative organisation of this county's territory was the following: 1 town and 3 municipalities, 49 communes and 130 villages. The county's capital city is Slobozia.
The county is surrounded by the following counties: Prahova, Buzau, and Braila (in the north), Constanta (in the east), Calarasi (in the south) and Ilfov (in the west).
The county is located at the intersection of ancient commercial roads, which gives it the character of a transitory area between the east (by Constanta) and the west. Ialomita county is crossed by the inferior flow of the Ialomita river, and by the Danube river; between the Borcea and Dunarea Veche branches there is a large area with high agricultural potential.
The main geographical type is the plain, completed by the Danube meadow and the Ialomita meadow.
The county has a continental climate, characterised by a relatively high diurnal and annual thermal amplitude and by low rainfalls. In the last 3 years the phenomenon specific to this area was the long drought with negative effects on the plant vegetative cycle.
Another characteristic of Ialomita county's climate is the wind regime, with its predominant direction from the north-east and the north.
The hydrographical network of the county is represented by the Danube river with its Borcea and Dunarea Veche branches, the Ialomita and Prahova rivers, meadow lakes (Piersica, Bantu), bed lakes (Amara) and fluvial refuges (Ezer, Strachina, Fundata, etc.).
The archaeological discoveries attest that this territory was permanently populated since the Palaeolithic period, and the tools and items found at Cosereni, Bordusani, Saveni and Dridu demonstrate this fact. Specific material traces of the Neolithic culture were found in 15 localities of this county. The Bronze Age shows that the representatives of this culture, who lived on today's territory of Ialomita county, practiced agriculture, pottery, stone and bronze processing; they had significant cultural connections to the Hellenistic and Mycenaean world. Later, the presence of the Scyths was proven by the discoveries made at Hagieni and Ograda. The Getic population, superior in number and culture, assimilated them. The Getic tribes in this area had close connections to the Traces of the right side of the Danube, with the Greeks, but mainly with the citadels on the Black Sea border: Histria, Callatis, Tomis. The archaeological research performed in Ialomita underlined the existence of 48 Getic settlements, located on the main waterways: the Ialomita river, the Borcea Branch and the Prahova river, and around the Dridu, Fundata, Amara and Strachina lakes. The fortified citadel of Piscu Crasani is the most representative , between the villages of Copuzu and Crasani, the commune of Balaciu, on the right side of the Ialomita river. The historian Vasile Pârvan assessed that this was Helis, the famous ancient city. The Roman colonisation of Dacia has left several archeologically traces, in over 30 settlements. The most important is at Dridu, that become the princely residence temporarily in the 14th century.
The annals of Radu Popescu attest that Michael the Brave was born here in 1558.
The county's subsoil is poor in mineral resources, but geodesic tests led to the discovery of oil and natural gas deposits in the Urziceni - Colelia - Grindu area, which are already exploited.
Economy
Traditionally, Ialomita county is an agricultural area. The soil and climate conditions favourise cereal crops, industrial plants and sunflower. The productions obtained per ha for different crops in Ialomita county in 2000 occupied the following places at a national level: the 3rd position in the average wheat and rye production (with a production of 2 888 kg/ha), the 6th position in the average production of barley and two-raw barley (with an average production of 2 853kg/ha) and sunflower (1 171kg/ha), the 16th place in the average production of corn (3 078 kg/ha).
Having a cereal and forage base, Ialomita county has the appropriate conditions for farming. At the end of 2000 livestock was as follows: 46 thousand cattle, 111 thousand pigs, 141.5 thousand sheep and goats and 1 650 thousand poultry.
Of the total agricultural area (373 688 ha) Ialomita county has only 180 052 ha arranged for irrigations, and this potential could be exploited much better.
In 2000, there were 2 936 active companies, more than 99% with private capital. Of the total number of active companies, industry accounted for 8%, while services were accounted for 80%.
The industrial activities are performed in about 580 companies with private capital or majority private capital in the following fields: food industry, bricks and tiles, textiles and garments, chemical fertilisers, automatic and electronic equipment (iron products and magnetic brushes for electrical engines). The most famous products manufactured in this county are: food oil brands ULCOM and ULTEX, HORTICONS brand vegetable and fruit cans, urea 46%N, ammonium nitrate 34.5%N, liquid nutrients UAN 32%N. A part of the products manufactured in the county are intended for export.
The road transport network of Ialomita county at the end of 2000 included 1 136 km public roads, of which 373 km were modernised roads. Of the total public roads, 333 km were national roads and 803 km county and communal roads. The railway network was 276 km long, of which 101 km was electrified. The county is crossed from west to east by roads of an European importance (E60), an important sector of the railway circulation on the Bucharest - Constanta - Mangalia artery, and between Fetesti and Cernavoda there are 16 km of highway. In Ialomita county, the complex Danubian bridges at Fetesti - Cernavoda and the bridge of Giurgeni - Vadul Oii are important works in the field of ground communication networks.
The tourist basis of the county in 2000 had an accommodation capacity of 3 290 places, of which 2 002 in hotels, 416 places in villas, 172 in motels, 12 in tourist cottages, 83 in camping areas, 105 in tourist houses and 500 places in student camps.
The most important tourist objective of the county are the Amara Baths, situated 7 km awayfrom Slobozia and 126 km from Bucharest. The resort is famous for its sapropelic mud and its mineral sulphurous, chlorinate and brome waters used in the treatment of chronic rheumatism, the peripheral nervous system, in post-traumatic affections of the locomotive system and in gynaecological illnesses.
Other tourist objectives, which can be visited in the county are the barrage lake of Dridu, the Pitisteanu abbey, the famous Getic citadel of Piscul Crasanilor etc.
Population and social environment
As of 1 July 2000, the county's population was 304 327 inhabitants, a slight decrease compared to 1 July 1996. The population density in 2000 was 68.3 inhabitants per km2, the degree of urbanisation being 41.2%.
The average age of the population was 37.1 years, 0.1 years lower than the average age at a national level.
The population structure by groups of ages as of 1 July 2000 indicates that 14.2% of the population is 65 years and over.
The birth rate in 2000 was 11.2 per 1 000 inhabitants, an increase as compared to 1996 (10.9 per 1 000 inhabitants) and above the national average.
The overall mortality rate of 12 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2000 led to a negative natural growth of 0.8 persons per 1 000 inhabitants. The infant mortality rate was 28.2 deaths of children under 1 year per 1 000 live births, 9.6 per 1 000 higher than the national average.
In 2000, the marriage rate was 5;5 per 1 000 inhabitants (5;8 in 1996), and the divorce rate was 1;39 per 1 000 inhabitants (1;48 in 1996).
The life expectancy between 1998 and 2000 was 66.3 years for males and 73.9 years for females, under the national average, for both males and females.
At the end of 2000, the county's labour force counted 176.7 thousand persons. The activity rate of the labour force was 66.7%, and the employment rate was 58%, both under the national average (5.4 percentage points less and 6.6 percentage points less, respectively). The labour force, mainly agricultural, is made up of 52.3% males and 47.7% females. The employees had a share of only 38% of the county's employed civil population.
Of the total employed civil population (102.5 thousand persons) 62.6% work in the agricultural sector, 13.3% in industry and 24.1% in services.
The number of registered unemployed at the end of 2000 was 15.4 thousand persons, of which 40% were females and 60% were males; the unemployment rate was 13.1%, which is 2.6 percentage points higher than the national average.
The education in the 2000/2001 school year had an institutional infrastructure of 108 kindergartens, 139 primary and secondary schools, 17 high schools, 1 postgraduate school and 1 vocational school.
The county's healthcare system in 2000 included 262 healthcare units, of which 5 hospitals, 14 medical consultation centres, 2 clinics, 67 pharmacies, 116 public and private medical offices and other specialised units.
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