Ialomița County

Climate

The climate of Ialomița County is temperate-continental, relatively homogeneous throughout its territory as a result of the accentuated uniformity of the relief, but with a pronounced degree of continentality, which causes great contrasts between summer and winter (the average annual thermal amplitude is 25.1°C, and the maximum amplitude has exceeded 70°C). The climate regime is characterized by very hot, sometimes drought-prone summers and cold winters, often marked by strong blizzards.

The multi-annual average values of air temperature record a slight differentiation between the northwestern part of Ialomița County (10.3°C, at Armăşeşti) and the southeastern part (11.1°C, at Feteşti), where a specific topoclimate of the Danube Floodplain is individualized (warmer summers and milder winters than in the rest of the plain). The absolute maximum temperature (44.0°C) was recorded at Amara (August 10, 1951), and the absolute minimum (–32.5°C) at Armăşeşti (January 25, 1942). The average annual amount of precipitation totals 550 mm in the western part of Ialomița County and 450 mm in the east, in the Danube Floodplain.

The territory of Ialomița County is under the influence of eastern (continental), western (oceanic), and southern (Mediterranean) air masses, which materialize through harsh winds from the northeast (the Crivăț), which cause blizzards in winter and drought in summer; dry winds from the southwest (the Austru), which often cause long periods of drought; and somewhat more humid winds from the southeast (the Băltăreţul), which blow mainly in the spring. The recorded average annual frequencies indicate a predominance of winds from the north and northeast (31.5%), followed by those from the southwest (17.8%), blowing at average annual speeds ranging between 2.0 and 5.4 m/s. The maximum speeds are recorded for winds blowing from the north and northeast, which reach 125 km/h during winter, being driven by the Siberian anticyclone.^[5]

Hydrography

The major (allochthonous) hydrographic network is represented by the lower course of the Ialomiţa River, which crosses the county medially from West to East over a distance of 212 km, and by the lower course of the Danube, which delimits Ialomiţa County to the East. Within the territory of Ialomiţa, the Danube flows through its two branches (Borcea to the West and the Danube to the East), which enclose the Balta Ialomiţei (Ialomiţa Pond/Marsh) between them, reuniting into a single course in the area of Giurgeni. The allochthonous network also includes several small sectors of the lower courses of the Prahova and Sărata rivers (left-bank tributaries of the Ialomiţa) and the upper course of the Mostiştea. The minor (autochthonous) hydrographic network is almost nonexistent, represented only by the Strachina and Fundata rivers. This results in a very low drainage density (0,1 km/km²) and a strong endorheic character (internal drainage) of the Ialomiţa territory. This endorheic character of the Romanian Plain within the county is mitigated by the Ialomiţa River – which could be nicknamed the "Nile of the Bărăgan" – whose average multi-annual discharge increases from 35,4 m³/s at Coşereni (in the west) to 40 m³/s at its mouth.

Vegetation

The natural vegetation belongs, for the most part, to the steppe and forest-steppe zones. The steppe zone, which occupies 2/3 of the territory and within which the natural vegetation has been almost entirely replaced by agricultural crops, is characterized by patches of secondary, steppe meadows, made up of fescue (Festuca valesiaca), bulbous bluegrass (Poa bulbosa), crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), yellow bluestem (Andropogon ischaemum), common knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare), wild amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus), nodding thistle (Carduus nutans) etc. The typical forest-steppe landscape, in which groves alternate with meadows, has diminished greatly, being replaced by the agricultural one. In isolation, a few clusters of forest have remained in which the grey oak (Quercus pedunculiflora) predominates. In some forests, alongside the grey oak, elements of southern origin develop, including the downy oak (Quercus pubescens), manna ash (Fraxinus ornus) and bushes of common privet (Ligustrum vulgare), Mahaleb cherry (Prunus mahaleb) etc. The azonal, floodplain vegetation includes, in most cases, groves of poplar and willow, and in places mixed broadleaf forests in which the oak (Quercus robur), Tatar maple (Acer tataricum), field elm (Ulmus campestre), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) etc., predominate. The intrazonal vegetation has a great extension, developing on consolidated sands – typical psammophilic vegetation, made up of puncture vine (Tribulus terrestris), bur grass (Tragus racemosus), stork's bill (Erodium neilreichi), dwarf everlast (Helichrysum arenarium) etc., and on salt-affected lands, common glasswort (Salicornia herbacea), sea lavender (Statice gmelini), sea wormwood (Artemisia maritima) etc. The aquatic and marsh vegetation includes the white and yellow water lily (Nymphaea alba and Nuphar luteum), water chestnut (Trapa natans), greater pond sedge (Carex riparia), arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia) etc.^[5]

Fauna

The fauna is characteristic of the steppe and forest-steppe zones, with typical elements adapted to agrobiocenoses, among which stand out the hare, the ground squirrel, the steppe polecat, the hamster, the field mouse, the field rat, the blind mole-rat, the large whip snake, the quail, the partridge, the lark, the fox, the wolf, the badger, the meadow lizard, the European green lizard, the little bustard (Ottis tetrax orientalis), the pallid harrier (Circus macrourus), the long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinis), the steppe owl, as well as numerous insects (crickets, bush-crickets, locusts, praying mantises, dragonflies, butterflies, etc.). The fauna of the floodplain areas and lakes is also rich and varied, being represented by the otter (Lutra lutra), the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procynoides), the muskrat (Ondatra zibethica), grebes, herons, swans, storks, coots, wild ducks and geese, woodcocks, sandpipers, rails, ospreys, griffon vultures, the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis), the dice snake (Natrix tessellata), frogs, etc. The ichthyofauna is represented by carp, sterlet, stellate sturgeon, pike, roach, common rudd, common nase, barbel, common bleak, Prussian carp, bream, Vimba bream, zander, etc. In many forests of Ialomiţa, pheasants and roe deer have been colonized, which are of great hunting interest.^[5]

Neighbours

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B

• Constanța County in the east.
• Ilfov County in the west.
• Brăila County, Buzău County, and Prahova County in the north.
• Călărași County in the south.

Administration

The county was originally divided administratively into five districts (plăși):^[7]

1. Plasa Călărași, headquartered at Călărași
2. Plasa Lehliu, headquartered at Lehliu
3. Plasa Slobozia, headquartered at Slobozia
4. Plasa Țăndărei, headquartered at Țăndărei
5. Plasa Urziceni, headquartered at Urziceni

Subsequently, three new districts were added:

6. Plasa Căzănești, headquartered at Căzănești
7. Plasa Dragoș Vodă, headquartered at Dragoș Vodă
8. Plasa Fetești, headquartered at Fetești

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 293,352 inhabitants, ethnically divided as follows: 96.6% Romanians, 2.5% Romanies, 0.2% Jews, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the population was 99.3% Eastern Orthodox, 0.2% Jewish, 0.1% Roman Catholic, as well as other minorities.