Urziceni () is a city in IalomiÃÂa County, Muntenia, Romania, located around north-east of Bucharest.
The city is situated at the western edge of the BÃÂrÃÂgan Plain, on the banks of the IalomiÃÂa River and its tributary, the river Cotorca. It is located in the northwestern part of IalomiÃÂa County, from the county seat, Slobozia.
Urziceni is an important transportation hub in Romania. It is crossed by national road DN2 (part of European route E85), which runs from Bucharest towards BuzÃÂu and on towards Suceava and the border with Ukraine at Siret. Road connects Urziceni to PloieÃÂti, 63 km to the northwest, while road runs eastward towards Slobozia and continues all the way to ConstanÃÂa, on the Black Sea coast.
The Urziceni train station serves the CFR Main Line 700, which connects Bucharest to BrÃÂila, GalaÃÂi and the border with Moldova at GiurgiuleÃÂti, as well as Line 701, which connects it to PloieÃÂti.
Founded by Romanian shepherds, the name of the city is derived from the word "urzicÃÂ" (nettle). It was mentioned for the first time in a written document on 23 April 1596, during the reign of Michael the Brave. It gained in 1831 the status of market town and in 1895 the city status. For 117 years (between 1716 and 1833), it was the capital of IalomiÃÂa County.
As the census of 2011 results showed, Urziceni was ranked in 3rd place in IalomiÃÂa County, after Slobozia and FeteÃÂti. It had a population of 14,053, of which 93.1% were ethnic Romanians, 4.6% Roma, and 1.6% Hungarians. Moreover, there were 6,765 males and 7,288 females. At the 2021 census, the city had 13,380 inhabitants; of those, 82.35% were Romanians and 4.4% Roma.
A little town by any standards, Urziceni is perhaps best known for its football team, Unirea Urziceni. Urziceni holds the record for the smallest town to have a team in the UEFA Champions League. The team wound up a year later.
In Urziceni, there is at an underground storage for natural gas operated by Romgaz and at a medium wave transmitter with a tall radio mast working on 531 kHz.