Bihor County

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" (вихор), 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]

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

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 Criș hydrographic basine with the rivers Crișul Repede, Crișul Negru and Barcău 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

• Sălaj 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.

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 ținuturi (approximate translation: "lands") were created (by merging the counties) to be ruled by rezidenți regali (approximate translation: "Royal Residents") - appointed directly by the King - instead of the prefects. Bihor County became part of Ținutul Crișuri.

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.

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.

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 Padiș and on the Sighiștel River Valley.
  • The Bear's Cave.
• Băile Felix Resort.

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 Deșteaptă-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]

The Bihor County Council, elected at the 2016 local government elections, is made up of 35 counselors, with the following party composition:[9]

Oradea

Marghita

Salonta

Beiuș

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

Municipalities

• Beiuș
• Marghita
• Oradea – capital city; 196,367 (as of 2011)
• Salonta

Towns

• Aleșd
• Nucet
• Săcueni
• Ștei
• Valea lui Mihai
• Vașcău

Communes