Constanţa County

Constanţa (kon.'stan.ʦa) is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in Dobruja, with the capital city at Constanţa.

Demographics

In 2002, it had a population of 715,151 and the population density was 101/km². The degree of urbanization is much higher (about 75%) than the Romanian average. In recent years the population trend is:

Year	County population
1948	311,062
1956	369,940
1966	465,752
1977	608,817
1992	748,769
1996	747,122
2000	746,988
2002	715,151

The majority of the population are Romanians. There are important communities of Turks and Tatars, remnants of the time of the Ottoman rule. Currently the region is the centre of the Muslim minority in Romania. A great number of Aromanians have migrated to Dobruja in the last century and they consider themselves a cultural minority rather than an ethnic minority. There are also Romas.

Ethnicity	1880	2002
All	64,902	715,151
Romanian	14,884 (23%)	652,777 (91%)
Turkish	14,947 (23%)	24,246 (3.4%)
Tatar	22,854 (35%)	23,230 (3.2%)
Bulgarian	7,919 (12%)	74 (0.01%)
Greek	2,607 (4%)	590 (0.08%)
Roma/Gypsy	<100 (<0.1%)	6,023 (0.84%)

Geography

The

• Călăraşi County and Ialomiţa County to the west
• Tulcea County and Brăila County to the north
• Bulgaria (Dobrich Province and Silistra Province) to the south

Economy

The predominant industries in the county are:

• Chemical and petrochemical industry
• Food and beverages industry
• Textile industry
• Ship building industry
• Construction materials
• Mechanical components industry
• Paper industry

Agriculture is an important part in the county's economy, with Constanţa being the county with the largest irrigations systems in the country (more than 4,300 km² before 1989, now greatly reduced), cereals being the most important products. Also, the county is famous for its wines from the Murfatlar region.

At Cernavodă there is a nuclear power plant with two reactors - CANDU type of Canadian design. It covers over 15% of the country's power demand.

The Port of Constanţa is the largest port in Romania and one of the most important on the Black Sea. It is linked with the Danube by the Danube-Black Sea Canal - the widest and deepest navigable channel in Europe, although not used to its full potential.

Tourism

The Black Sea littoral is the preferred destination for the summer holidays in Romania. The resorts are:

• Năvodari
• Mamaia
• Eforie (North and South)
• Costineşti
• Olimp
• Neptun
• Jupiter
• Cap Aurora
• Venus
• Saturn
• Mangalia
• 2 Mai
• Vama Veche

Also worth visiting are:

• The city of Constanţa
• The mausoleum from Adamclisi
• The Portiţa area

Politics

The current president of Constanţa County Board is Nicuşor Constantinescu (Social Democratic Party).

The Constanţa County Board, elected in the 2008 local government elections, is made up of 36 councilors, with the following party composition:

	Party	Seats	Current County Council
	Social Democratic Party	20
	Democratic Liberal Party	9
	National Liberal Party	7

Administrative divisions

The county has 3 municipalities, 9 towns and 58 communes (2005).

Municipalities

• Constanţa
• Medgidia
• Mangalia

Towns

• Băneasa
• Cernavodă
• Eforie
• Hârşova
• Murfatlar
• Năvodari
• Negru Vodă
• Ovidiu
• Techirghiol

Communes

23 August Adamclisi Agigea Albeşti Aliman Amzacea Bărăganu Castelu Cerchezu Chirnogeni Ciobanu Ciocârlia

Cobadin Cogealac Comana Corbu Costineşti Crucea Cumpăna Cuza Vodă Deleni Dobromir Dumbrăveni Fântânele

Gârliciu Ghindăreşti Grădina Horia Independenţa Ion Corvin Istria Limanu Lipniţa Lumina Mereni Mihai Viteazu

Mihail Kogălniceanu Mircea Vodă Nicolae Bălcescu Oltina Ostrov Pantelimon Pecineaga Peştera Poarta Albă Rasova Saligny Saraiu

Săcele Seimeni Siliştea Târguşor Topalu Topraisar Tortoman Tuzla Valu lui Traian Vulturu

References