Ilfov County

[ Short History | Geographical Outline | Economy Profile ]

Traces of human existence going as far back as the Paleolithic and Neolithic have been unearthed within the radius of Ilfov county, especially in the area of Caldarusani, Glina and Chiajna nearby Bucharest. Worth noting are also the Dacian vestiges dug out in the area of Pantelimon, Snagov, Magurele and Bragadiru. The wealth of archaeological finds – relics, inscriptions, etc. bearing proof of uninterrupted Daco-Roman habitation of the territory that would later become the Romanian principality of Wallachia extend to the 12th-14th centuries where the first bodies-politic – knezates and voivodeships – emerged in that fertile flatland. Since the birth of Wallachia under the reign of Basarab I in the latter half of the 14th century, a lot of boroughs and small settlements came into being through the 16th century. Localities within the premises of Ilfov county like Snagov, Chitila, Afumati and Tancabesti had since survived through this day. The name Ilfov was first attested in a donation writ, dated 1482, of Wallachian Prince Vlad Calugarul to Snagov monastery.

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Geographical Outline

“Ilfov, one of Romania’s largest counties, lies in the fertile Romanian Plain, in the south. The land is rich and the people are remarkably industrious. Bordering on Ialomita county to the east, Buzau, Prahova and Dambovita counties to the north, Teleorman county on the west and the Danube to the south, Ilfov stretches over an 8,225 sq.km area, being the country’s fifth largest county>. The description was mentioned in a Romanian monograph of 1972. Nine years later, the country’s fifth largest county, had its surface narrowed and the territorial-administrative unit as such was turned into an outlying zone of the capital city with the name the Ilfov agricultural sector. In 1997 law no 50/1997 returned the Ilfov agricultural sector to its erstwhile county status. Ilfov county encompasses 38 rural settlements and a town extending over 1,593 sq.km. Ilfov county lies in the south-east region, in the middle of the Romanian Plain, close to Bucharest. Its geographical co-ordinates: 44°17’ – 44°46’ N lat and 25°52’ – 26°27’ W long. Neighbouring counties – Prahova to the north, Dambovita to the west, Giurgiu south-west and Ialomita and Calarasi east. Climate is temperate continental with average annual rainfalls of 460-500 mm. Waterways and lakes: Dambovita (west-eastwards) and Colentina (north-westwards) which waters the town of Buftea; the lakes – Cernica, Snagov and Caldarusani – are in the northern part of the county; it is also crossed by the Ialomita and its tributary Gruiu.

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Economy Profile

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