Constanţa

Constanţa (also Constantsa), city in south-east Romania, capital of Constanţa District on the Black Sea. It is Romania's principal seaport. The chief exports of the modern city are oil and cereals; imports include coal and coke, machinery, and textiles. Industries in Constanţa include fishing, shipbuilding, and the production of wine. The city has an archaeology museum, founded in 1879.

Constanţa is the ancient Tomi, the town where the Roman poet Ovid spent his years in exile, and where he died. In the 4th century ad it was renamed Constantiana in honour of the sister of the Roman Emperor Constantine I. Under Turkish domination (1413-1878) the city was called Küstenja. The name was changed to Constanţa in 1878, when Romania acquired the territory from Bulgaria. Population 310,471 (2002).