Overview of Ialomita County

Member of European Union since 2007, Romania is a beautiful country blessed with various landforms. The Ialomita County is located in the south eastern Romania, in the center of Baragan Plain, on the lower Ialomita River. With a surface area of 4453 square kilometers and a population of approximately 289000 inhabitants (in 2009), Ialomita County has the advantage of being situated in a transitory zone that ties north and south Walachia with Dobrudja, but also the Romanian capital, Bucharest, with Moldavia and the Romanian coastline of the Black Sea. Being connected to the land roads (national and regional roads, the Highway Bucharest-Constanta), railways and fluvial corridors (the Danube and Borcea Branch) the Ialomita county is close to the European roads and has direct access to the most important Romanian markets. The county seat is Slobozia city with its two developing quarters: Slobozia Noua and Bora and a surface area of approximately 133 square kilometers. The territorial administrative units are: 3 municipalities (Slobozia, Urziceni and Fetesti), 4 towns (Amara, Cazanesti, Fierbinti and Tandarei), 59 communes and other 126 villages. The territory of the existent county has preserved vestiges from the Neolithic period (Boian Culture), Geto-Dacian culture (the citadel from Crasanii de Jos) and early Middle Ages (Dridu Culture in the 8th-10th centuries). With a temperate continental climate and average annual values favorable for the development of economic activities, this county has a mainly Chernozemic soil which is a very fertile land for agriculture. The vegetation is mainly steppe (60% of the total county area), but also meadow and pond; the fauna includes steppe and forest animals as well as fish (perch, carp, small fry, Black Sea sturgeon, isinglass fish) and numerous species of birds (rook, hen sparrow, starling, pheasant pout, moor hen, wild duck, Danube hawk). An important part of the Ialomita fauna is of interest for the hunters, which turns it into an important resource for the regional economic development. The richness of the soils and subsoil consists in: clay the raw material for the production of tile and brick, sand as constructions material, sapropelic mud in the lakes of Amara and Fundata, recommended in rheumatism treatment, sulfurous depth waters (over 100 meters) and depth springs (over 3000 meters). The Ialomita Countys industry is based on: - production of fertilizers; - food industry (sugar; edible oils; meat products; vegetable, fruit and meat preserves; dairy industry; bread and bakery products);

- textile industry, knitwear and construction materials; - production of electronic devices, furniture and woodworking, production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages; - paint and varnish; - typographic production. Being the main branch of industry in this area, agriculture is offering its benefits to the population by the important annually production of cereals (corn, barley, oats, wheat, rye, millet), cultivated meadows, technical plants (sunflower, soy, flax, hemp, tobacco), vegetables and fruits. Therefore, the trade is based on agricultural and animal products, but also the fish trade is very intense in the coastal cities of Danube River (Fetesti, Facaeni, Giurgeni, Bordusani, Stelnica, Vladeni). The tourism in Ialomita County has the following components: - spa tourism, - agro tourism, - cultural tourism, - fishing and hunting tourism. Ialomita has different tourist attractions related to lakes and forests encountered here, churches and museums and especially the spa of Amara, which is situated at 9 km from Slobozia, being the most important touristic objective of the county. At an altitude of 30 meters, the spa offers developed services of treatment based on qualities of Amara Lake whose salty water contains sulphates, bicarbonate, magnesium and bromides in small quantities. Very present here is the mud, whose therapeutically properties are used in the treatment of degenerative rheumatic diseases, joint and inflammatory of gynecological diseases, the associated disorders (endocrine and dermatological) and other post-traumatic effects. Amara Resort has facilities for warm baths, mud, internal cures with mineral waters, medical gymnastics, and beach on the lake. With an accommodation capacity of over 2400 seats, which over 1900 seats are in hotels (Hotel Select, Hotel Paradis, and Hotel Columbia in Slobozia; Compet and Miorita in Fetesti; Hotel Turist in Tandarei), 191 seats in villas and motels, and other seats in rural tourist hostels or campsites. The cultural institutions, which are activating under the authority of Ialomita County Council, are: 1. The Stefan Banulescu County Library is a cultural institution of county interest, which ensures equal access to necessary information and documents about the permanent education and spend free time and personality development of users without discrimination, 2. The National Museum of Agriculture in Ialomita County - presents the history of the Romanian agriculture. Through the collections of tools and agriculture machines, industrial archaeology, the museum offers an image concerning the

most important occupation from the Ialomita County and also from Romania the agriculture, 3. The Ialomita County Museum - possesses a valuable cultural archaeology, history, plastic art and ethnography patrimony capitalized in: temporary, permanent or itinerant exhibitions, 4. The Cultural UNESCO Ionel Perlea Centre - systematizes promotion activities of the culture values knowledge and the local national and worldwide art, development and affirmation of populations creative availabilities from every creation domain, 5. The County Centre for Preservation and Recovery of Popular Traditions and Creations in Ialomita. A great part of cultural and touristic objectives of the county is composed of: 1. The Poiana wooden church in Slobozia built in 1746, initially placed in the cemetery of the village Poiana de Jos and abandoned around 1900, is being restored and relocated in 1979 in the same village. After that it is moved in Slobozia, inside the exhibition park of the National Museum of Agriculture, 2. The Memorial House of Ionel Perlea in Ograda build at the end of the 19th century by his father, the house is now a permanent exhibition of objects that originally belonged to the great musician, 3. The Jilavele and Ratca natural lakes used for irrigation and fisheries, but also for sport fishing, 4. The archaeological reservation of Dridu which dates from the 8th 11th century and represents a settlement of huts with a rich ceramics culture, titled The Dridu Culture and spread all over the country, 5. The railway bridges of Anghel Saligny between Fetesti and Cernavoda were built by the project of the engineer, having a total length of 4087 meters and being at the time of the inauguration the longest railway bridges complex of continental Europe and the 4th in the world. 6. The Saint Voivods Monastery is dating since 1614, when the entire assembly had the aspect of a citadel, with strong walls, which were impossible to climb. The church is built of bricks similar to the surrounding wall, approximately 5 meters tall, provided with wooden belts. 7. Located in Balta Ialomitei, in the right side of the road to Fetesti, Popina Bordusani is an Eneolithic settlement proving early human habitation in that area, which is certified by the archaeological vestiges. In the current center of

the village were discovered human bones and pots that certifying the existence of a cemetery from the 4th century. 8. Orasul de Floci represents the archaeology sit of a gone town from Muntenia (Wallachia) and the first county seat of Ialomita. 1431 is the first documentary attestation, when it is mentioned among the boroughs and the customs of country. Ialomita County is certainly one of the most interesting regions of southern Romania by its culture, traditions, monuments, landscapes and history. Therefore, we proudly invite you to visit us.