Giurgiu
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Giurgiu | |
---|---|
Coat of arms | |
Coordinates: 43°54′03″N 25°58′26″E / 43.90083°N 25.97389°E | |
Country | Romania |
County | Giurgiu |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2024) | Adrian Anghelescu[1] (PNL) |
Area | 46.94 km2 (18.12 sq mi) |
Elevation | 25 m (82 ft) |
Population (2021-12-01)[2] | 54,551 |
• Density | 1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi) |
Time zone | EET/EEST (UTC+2/+3) |
Postal code | 080011–080882 |
Area code | (+40) 02 46 |
Vehicle reg. | GR |
Website | www |
Giurgiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈdʒjurdʒju] ⓘ; Bulgarian: Гюргево, romanized: Gyurgevo) is a city in southern Romania. The seat of Giurgiu County, it lies in the historical region of Muntenia. It is situated amongst mud-flats and marshes on the left bank of the Danube facing the Bulgarian city of Ruse on the opposite bank. Three small islands face the city, and a larger one shelters its port, Smarda. The rich grain-growing land to the north is traversed by a railway to Bucharest, the first line opened in Romania, which was built in 1869 and afterwards extended to Smarda. In the past, Giurgiu exported timber, grain, salt and petroleum, and imported coal, iron, and textiles.[3]
The Giurgiu-Ruse Friendship Bridge, in the shared Bulgarian-Romanian section of the Danube, crosses the river in the outskirts of the city.
History
The area around Giurgiu was densely populated at the time of the
The city of Giurgiu was probably established in the 14th century as a port on the Danube by the Genoese merchant adventurers, who established a bank and traded in silks and velvets.[3]
One theory is that they called the city after the patron saint of Genoa, San Giorgio (Saint George), however Nicolae Iorga disputes this theory, arguing that Giurgiu is just an old Romanian form of George.[4]
It was first mentioned in Codex Latinus Parisinus in 1395, during the reign of Mircea the Elder, and was conquered by the Ottomans in 1420 as a way to control the Danube traffic. The Ottomans named the city Yergöğü, as if from yer 'earth' + gök 'sky,' but the name was probably given because of the similarity between the pronunciations of "(San) Giorgio" and "Yergöğü".
As a fortified city, Giurgiu figured often in the wars for the conquest of the lower Danube. It was the site of the October 1595
In 1952–1954, during the
Jewish history
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1859 | 10,557 | — |
1900 | 13,977 | +32.4% |
1912 | 20,629 | +47.6% |
1930 | 31,016 | +50.4% |
1941 | 26,551 | −14.4% |
1948 | 30,197 | +13.7% |
1956 | 32,613 | +8.0% |
1966 | 39,199 | +20.2% |
1977 | 51,544 | +31.5% |
1992 | 74,191 | +43.9% |
2002 | 69,587 | −6.2% |
2011 | 54,655 | −21.5% |
2021 | 54,551 | −0.2% |
Source: Census data, 1930–1948.[7] |
According to the 2021 census, Giurgiu has a population of 54,551.
Notable natives
- Constantin Artachino (1870–1954), painter
- Ioan A. Bassarabescu (1870–1952), writer
- Nicolae Dărăscu (1883–1959), painter
- Toma Ghițulescu (1902–1983), engineer, politician, and Olympic bobsledder
- Emil Gulian (1907–1942), poet
- Gino Iorgulescu (b. 1956), former Romanian football international
- Dumitru Iuca (1882–1940), politician
- Theodor Anton Neagu (b. 1932), palaeontologist
- Miron Nicolescu (1903–1975), mathematician, President of the Romanian Academy
- Eugenia Popescu-Județ (1925–2011), dancer
- Paraskev Stoyanov (1876–1940), Bulgarian physicist and surgeon
- Constantin Teașcă (1922–1996), football coach and writer
- Alexandru Vianu (1903–1936), writer and translator
- Tudor Vianu (1898–1964), literary critic, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator
- Ion Vinea (1895–1964), poet, novel, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure
- Vasil Zlatarov (1869–1932), Bulgarian aviation pioneer
International relations
Twin towns – Sister cities
Giurgiu is
See also
- FC Astra Giurgiu, the city's professional football club
References
- ^ "Results of the 2020 local elections". Central Electoral Bureau. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Populaţia rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021" (XLS). National Institute of Statistics.
- ^ a b c public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Giurgevo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 54. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Iorga, Nicolae (1928). Istoria Românilor prin călători [History of Romanians through travellers] (in Romanian). Bucharest: Casa Școalelor. p. 18.
- ^ ISBN 0-8147-9376-2
- ^ Recensământul populației din 1930. Institutul Central de Statistică. p. 512.
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ignored (help) - ^ Populatia RPR la 25 ianuarie 1948, p. 14
- ^ "МЕЖДУНАРОДНО СЪТРУДНИЧЕСТВО НА ОБЩИНА РУСЕ - Побратимени градове". Община Русе [Municipality Ruse] (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
External links
Media related to Giurgiu at Wikimedia Commons