Bihor County Jude?ul Bihor
County
Oradea, capital of Bihor County
Coat of arms
Location of Bihor County in Romania
Country	Romania
Historic region	Cri?ana
Capital city (Re?edin de jude?)	Oradea
Government
o Type	County Board
o President of the County Board	Sándor Pásztor (UDMR)
o Prefect2	Ioan Mihaiu
Area
o Total	7,544 km2 (2,913 sq mi)
Area rank	6th in Romania
Highest elevation	1,849 m (6,066 ft)
Lowest elevation	89 m (292 ft)
Population (2011 census[1])
o Total	575,398
o Rank	11th in Romania
o Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
o Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code	41wxyz3
Area code(s)	+40 x594
ISO 3166 code	RO-BH
Car Plates	BH5
GDP	US$4.048 billion (2015)
GDP/capita	US$7,037 (2015)
Website	County Board County Prefecture
1The developing regions of Romania have no administrative role. They were formed to attract funds from the European Union[] 2 as of 2007, the Prefect is not a politician, but a civil servant. He (or she) is not allowed to be a member of a political party, and is banned from any political activity in the first six months after the resignation (or firing) from the civil service 3w, x, y, and z are digits that indicate the city, the street, part of the street, or even the building of the address 4x is a digit indicating the operator: 2 for the former national operator, Romtelecom, and 3 for the other ground telephone networks 5used on both the plates of the vehicles that operate only in the county limits (like utility vehicles, ATVs, etc.), and the ones used outside the county

Bihor County (Romanian pronunciation: [bi'hor] ) is a county (jude?) of Romania, in Cri?ana. Its capital city is Oradea.

Toponymy

The origin of the name Bihor is uncertain, except that it likely takes its name from an ancient fortress in the current commune of Biharia. It possibly came from vihor, the Serbian and Ukrainian word for "whirlwind" (), or Slavic biela hora, meaning "white mountain".^[] Another theory is that Biharea is of Daco-Thracian etymology (bi meaning "two" and harati "take" or "lead"), possibly meaning two possessions of land in the Duchy of Menumorut. Another theory is that the name comes from bour, the Romanian term for aurochs (from the Latin word bubalus). The animal once inhabited the lands of northwestern Romania. Under this controversial theory, the name changed from buar to buhar and to Bihar and Bihor.^[2]

Demographics

In 2002, Bihor had a population of 600,246 and the population density was 79.56/km². 48.6% of its population lives in urban areas, lower than the Romanian average.^[3][4]

• Romanians - 67.38%
• Hungarians - 25.96%
• Roma - 5.01%
• Slovaks - 1.22%
• Germans (Sathmar Swabians) - 0.19%

On 31 October 2011, Bihor had a population of 575,398 and the population density was 72/km² (186/sq mi).^[5]

• Romanians - 66.96%
• Hungarians - 25.27%
• Roma - 6.33%
• Slovaks - 1.1%
• Germans (Sathmar Swabians) - 0.13%

By religion

99.4% of the county's population are Christian^[6] and of these:

• Romanian Orthodox - 59.7%
• Reformed - 18.1%;
• Catholic - 11.5% (Roman Catholic - 9.2%; Greek Catholic - 2.3%)
• Pentecostal - 5.7%;
• Baptists - 3.7%;
• Adventist - 0.3%;

Year	County population[7]
1948	536,323
1956	574,488
1966	586,460
1977	633,094
1992	634,093
2002	600,246
2011	575,398

Geography

This county has a total area of 7,544 km² (2,913 sq mi). In the East side of the County there are the Apuseni Mountains with heights up to 1,800 m (5,906 ft). The heights decrease westwards, passing through the hills an ending in the Romanian Western Plain - the eastern side of the Pannonian plain.

The county is mainly the Cri? hydrographic basine with the rivers Cri?ul Repede, Cri?ul Negru and Barc?u the main rivers.

Neighbours

AB

AR

AG

BC

BH

BN

BT

BV

BR

BZ

CS

CL

CJ

CT

CV

DB

DJ

GL

GR

GJ

HR

HD

IL

IS

IF

MM

MH

MS

NT

OT

PH

SM

SJ

SB

SV

TR

TM

TL

VS

VL

VN

B

• S?laj County, Cluj County and Alba County in the East.
• Hungary in the West - Hajdú-Bihar County and Békés County
• Satu Mare County in the North.
• Arad County in the South.

History

Prior to World War I, the territory of the county belonged to Austria-Hungary and mostly was contained in the Bihar County of the Kingdom of Hungary. The territory of Bihor County was transferred to Romania from Hungary as successor state to Austria-Hungary in 1920 under the Treaty of Trianon. After the administrative unification law in 1925, the name of the county remained as it was, but the territory was reorganized.^[]

In 1938, King Carol II promulgated a new Constitution, and subsequently he had the administrative division of the Romanian territory changed. 10 ?inuturi (approximate translation: "lands") were created (by merging the counties) to be ruled by reziden?i regali (approximate translation: "Royal Residents") - appointed directly by the King - instead of the prefects. Bihor County became part of ?inutul Cri?uri.^[]

In 1940, part of the county was transferred back to Hungary with the rest of Northern Transylvania under the Second Vienna Award. Beginning in 1944, Romanian forces with Soviet assistance recaptured the ceded territory and reintegrated it into Romania. Romanian jurisdiction over the entire county per the Treaty of Trianon was reaffirmed in the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947. The county was disestablished by the communist government of Romania in 1950, and re-established in 1968 when Romania restored the county administrative system.^[]

Economy

Bihor is one of the wealthiest counties in Romania, with a GDP per capita well above the national average. Recently, the economy has been driven by a number of construction projects. Bihor has the lowest unemployment rate in Romania and among the lowest in Europe, with only 2.4% unemployment, compared to Romania's average of 5.1%.

The predominant industries in the county are:

• Textile industry.
• Food and beverages industry.
• Mechanical components industry.
• Metallurgy.

In the west side of the county there are mines for extracting coal and bauxite. Crude oil is also extracted.

Tourism

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

• The city of Oradea.
• The Apuseni Mountains:
  • The Stâna de Vale Resort and the Iada valley.
  • The Caves around Padi? and on the Sighi?tel River Valley.
  • The Bear's Cave.
• B?ile Felix Resort.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Bihor County was adopted in 1998, and is a quarterly shield featuring a castle (for the Castle of Bihar), five wheat stalks with a ribbon, and a scroll with the text of De?teapt?-te, române!, covered with a fess featuring three fish. It was subject to redesign in 2013 after it was discovered by a local teacher that the text on the scroll was erroneously written in Greek, rather than Cyrillic (the original alphabet used to write the poem's text) or the Latin alphabet. The county has no significant history with Greece.^[8]

Politics

The Bihor County Council, renewed at the 2020 local elections, consists of 34 counsellors, with the following party composition:^[9]

Administrative divisions

Oradea

Marghita

Salonta

Beiu?

Bihor County has four municipalities, six towns, and 91 communes.

Municipalities

• Beiu?
• Marghita
• Oradea - capital city; 196,367 (as of 2011)
• Salonta

Towns

• Ale?d
• Nucet
• S?cueni
• ?tei
• Valea lui Mihai
• Va?c?u

Communes

Historical county

Jude?ul Bihor
County (Jude?)
The Bihor County Prefecture building from the interwar period used until 1920.
Coat of arms
Country	Romania
Historic region	Cri?ana
Capital city (Re?edin de jude?)	Oradea
Area
o Total	7,467 km2 (2,883 sq mi)
Population (1930)
o Total	510,318
o Density	68/km2 (180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
o Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Administration

The territory of the county was divided into eleven districts (pli)^[10]

1. Plasa Ale?d (comprising 41 villages, headquartered at Ale?d)
2. Plasa Beiu? (comprising 62 villages, headquartered at Beiu?)
3. Plasa Beliu (comprising 30 villages, headquartered at Beliu)
4. Plasa Ceica (comprising 47 villages, headquartered at Ceica)
5. Plasa Central? (comprising 40 villages, headquartered at Oradea)
6. Plasa Marghita (comprising 43 villages, headquartered at Marghita)
7. Plasa S?cueni (comprising 11 villages, headquartered at S?cueni)
8. Plasa S?lard (comprising 28 villages, headquartered at S?lard)
9. Plasa Tileagd (comprising 28 villages, headquartered at Tileagd)
10. Plasa Tinca (comprising 26 villages, headquartered at Tinca)
11. Plas? Va?c?u (comprising 44 villages, headquartered at Va?c?u)

Within Bihor County there were three urban localities: Oradea (also known as Oradea Mare, the county seat) and urban communes Salonta and Beiu?.

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 510,318, ethnically divided among Romanians (61.6%), Hungarians (30.0%), Jews (4.3%), Czechs and Slovaks (2.2%), as well as other minorities. By language the county was divided among Romanian (61.4%), Hungarian (33.8%), Czech (2.0%), Yiddish (1.5%), as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the population consisted of Eastern Orthodox (49.8%), Reformed (21.0%), Greek Catholics (10.7%), Roman Catholics (10.4%), Jews (5.4%), Baptists (2.2%), as well as other minorities.^[11]

Urban population

The county's urban population consisted of 102,277 inhabitants, 54.8% Hungarians, 26.4% Romanians, 15.4% Jews, 1% Germans, as well as other minorities. As a mother tongue in the urban population, Hungarian (67.9%) predominated, followed by Romanian (24.9%), Yiddish (4.3%), German (1.2%) as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population consisted of 31.5% Reformed, 20.6% Jewish, 19.3% Roman Catholic, 17.5% Eastern Orthodox, 9.1% Greek Catholic, 1.1% Lutheran, as well as other minorities.^[11]

Map of Bihor County as constituted in 1938.

References

Coordinates: 47°04?20?N 21°55?16?E / 47.0722°N 21.9211°E / 47.0722; 21.9211