Constanţa

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Constanţa (pronunciation in Romanian: Template:IPA; German Konstanza; old names: Kustendji, Kustendja, Köstence, Constantza, Tomis) is a seaport on the Black Sea and the capital of Constanţa County, Romania.

1 Geography
2 Transport
3 History
4 Population
- 4.1 Historical population
5 Newspapers and Magazines
6 Television Stations
7 Born in Constanţa
8 Airport
9 Education
10 External links

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Geography

In the vicinity there are mineral springs, and the sea-bathing also attracts many visitors in summer. The chief local industries are tanning and the manufacture of petroleum drums. Mamaia is a beach resort immediately to the north.

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Transport

Image:Constanta waterfront 2.jpg

The opening, in 1895, of the railway to Bucharest, which crosses the Danube by a bridge at Cernavodă, brought Constanţa a considerable transit trade in grain and petroleum, which are largely exported; coal and coke head the list of imports, followed by machinery, iron goods, and cotton and woollen fabrics.

A2 freeway, linking Constanţa to Bucharest is almost completed. Currently, it runs from Bucharest to Drajna and is slated to open to Constanta by 2007.

The city is served by Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport.

The harbour, protected by breakwaters, with a lighthouse at the entrance, is well defended from the North winds, but those from the South, South-East, and South-West prove sometimes highly dangerous. The Black Sea squadron of the Romanian fleet is stationed here. A large canal connects the Black Sea, at Constanţa to the Danube River.

Image:Constanta sunset.jpg Image:Constanta april.jpg Image:Constanta-cazino.jpg Image:Constanta shipyard.jpg Image:Statuia Libertatii Constanta.jpg

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History

A number of inscriptions found in the town and its vicinity show that Constanţa lies where once Tomis stood.

Tomis (also called Tomi) was a Greek colony in the province of Scythia on the Black Sea's shore, founded around 500 BC for commercial exchanges with local Daco-Getic populations. Probably the name is derived from Greek Τόμη meaning cut, section.

According to the Bibliotheke it was founded by Aeetes:

"When Aeetes discovered the daring deeds done by Medea, he started off in pursuit of the ship; but when she saw him near, Medea murdered her brother and cutting him limb from limb threw the pieces into the deep. Gathering the child's limbs, Aeetes fell behind in the pursuit; wherefore he turned back, and, having buried the rescued limbs of his child, he called the place Tomi. "

( Bibliotheke I, ix, 24 )

According to Jordanes (after Cassiodorus), the founder of the city was a Getae queen (Jord. De origine actibusque Getarum, "The origin and deeds of the Goths"):

"After achieving this victory (against Cyrus the Great) and winning so much booty from her enemies, Queen Tomyris crossed over into that part of Moesia which is now called Lesser Scythia - a name borrowed from Great Scythia -, and built on the Moesian shore of the Black Sea the city of Tomi, named after herself."

In 29 BC the Romans captured the region from the Odryses, and annexed it as far as the Danube, under the name of Limes Scythicus.

In AD 8, the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC-17) was banished here by Augustus and died there eight years later, celebrating the town of Tomis in his poems. A statue of Ovid stands in the Ovid Square (Piaţa Ovidiu) of Constanţa, in front of the History Museum (the former City Hall).

The city was afterwards included in the Province of Moesia, and, from the time of Diocletian, in Scythia Minor, of which it was the metropolis.

Tomis was later renamed to Constantiana in honour of Constantia, sister of Constantine the Great (274-337). The earliest known usage of this name was "Κωνστάντια" ("Constantia") in 950. The city lay at the seaward end of the Great Wall of Trajan, and has evidently been surrounded by fortifications of its own.

In spite of damage done by railway contractors there are considerable remains of ancient masonry walls, pillars, etc. An impressive public building, thought to have originally been a port building, has been excavated, and contains the substantial remains of one of the longest mosaic pavements in the world.

A railroad linking Constanţa to Cernavodă was opened in 1860 and had an important role in the development of Constanţa after the independence of Romania, as Constanţa was a transit point for much of Romania's exports.

In October 1916, during the WW1, Constanţa was occupied by the Central Powers (German, Turkish and Bulgarian troops). According to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, article 10.b (treaty which has never been ratified by Romania), Constanţa remained under the joint control of Central Powers. The city was liberated by the Allied troops in 1918 after the successful offensive on the Thessaloniki front which knocked Bulgaria out of the war.

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Population

According to the 2002 census, the population of Constanţa city proper (the Municipality) was 310,471. The urban area around Constanţa, however, includes the town of Năvodari, with a population of 32,400, increasing the total population of the Constanţa urban area to 342,926.

92.2% of the city's population is ethnic Romanian, while Turks made up 2.9% and Tatars make up 2.8%. Other ethnic groups make up 2.1% of the population. [1]

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