View source for Fundulea

{{Infobox Romanian subdivision
|type               = town
|county             = Călărași
|image_flag         =
|image_shield       = 
|image_skyline      = RO CL Fundulea schoolhouse.jpg
|image_caption      = Fundulea schoolhouse
|image_location     = 
|image_map          = Fundulea jud Calarasi.png
|map_caption        = Location in Călărași County
|leader_name        = Dorel Dorobanțu<ref>{{cite web |url=https://prezenta.roaep.ro/locale27092020/romania-pv-final |title=Results of the 2020 local elections |publisher=Central Electoral Bureau |access-date=8 June 2021 |df=dmy-all |archivedate=9 October 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009164915/https://prezenta.roaep.ro/locale27092020/romania-pv-final |url-status=deviated }}</ref>
|leader_party       = PSD
|term               = 2020&ndash;2024
|coordinates        = {{coord|44|27|10|N|26|30|55|E|region:RO|display=inline,title}}
|elevation          = 70
|elevation_min      = 
|elevation_max      = 
|area_total         = 86.11
|area_footnotes     = 
|population_as_of   = 
|population_total   = auto
|population_footnotes = 
|postal_code        = 915200
|area_code          = (+40) 02 42
|website            = {{URL|https://www.primaria-fundulea.ro/}}
}}
'''Fundulea''' is an agricultural town in [[Călărași County]], [[Muntenia]], [[Romania]]. It is on the [[Bărăgan Plain]], approximately {{cvt|30|km}} east of the capital [[Bucharest]], in the historical region of [[Wallachia]]. It has a population of 6,714 (as of 2021). The [[A2 (Romania)|A2 freeway]] and [[Mostiștea River]] pass through its vicinity. Two villages are administered by the town: Alexandru Ioan Cuza and Gostilele. It officially became a town in 1989, as a result of the [[Romanian rural systematization program]].

Historically, Fundulea's outskirts housed a military base maintained by the [[Romanian Army]]. The town is home to an agricultural institute, the [[National Agricultural Research and Development Institute]] ({{langx|ro|Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare Agricolă}}, INCDA). A [[reservoir]] known as Lake Fundulea, fed by water from the Mostiștea, is a popular spot for [[sport fishing]].

==History==
{{Historical populations
|source = Census data
|1992 |6728
|2002 |6217
|2011 |6851
|2021 |6714
}}

During the 19th century, the village of Fundulea housed the ''Sionu'' estate of writer [[Gheorghe Sion]], which, through the 1923 marriage of his daughter Marica, became the property of eccentric novelist, poet, and [[Heraldry|heraldist]] [[Mateiu Caragiale]].<ref name="perpess">[[Perpessicius]], "Tabel cronologic", in Mateiu Caragiale, ''[[Craii de Curtea-Veche]]'', [[Editura pentru Literatură]], Bucharest, 1965, p.XIX, XXI. {{OCLC|18329822}}</ref> Caragiale intended to turn it into a private domain, and reportedly flew an ensign he had created for himself.<ref name="perpess"/>

The INCDA was created in 1962, during the [[Communist Romania|Communist period]], through the merger between the Research Institute for [[Maize]] Cultivation (''Institutul de Cercetări pentru Cultura Porumbului'') and the Field Cultivation Department (''Departamentul Culturilor de Câmp'') of the [[Romanian Agronomic Institute]].<ref>[http://www.ricic.ro/index_en.html Official site of INCDA Fundulea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410104012/http://www.ricic.ro/index_en.html |date=2016-04-10 }}; retrieved July 10, 2007</ref>

== Natives ==
Fundulea is the birthplace of the following notable people:
* [[Augustin Călin (football manager)|Augustin Călin]] (b. 1980), football manager
* [[Mircea Nedelciu]] (1950–1999), a novelist in whose honor a local primary school was named in 2002<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [[Ion Bogdan Lefter]], [http://www.observatorcultural.ro/Scoala-Mircea-Nedelciu*articleID_6151-articles_details.html "Școala 'Mircea Nedelciu' "], in ''[[Observator Cultural]]'', Nr. 143, November 2002</ref>
* [[Gabriel Oprea]] (b. 1961), general and politician, who was acting Prime Minister in 2015

==References==
{{Commons category|Fundulea}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Călăraşi County}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in Călărași County]]
[[Category:Localities in Muntenia]]
[[Category:Towns in Romania]]

{{Călăraşi-geo-stub}}