Suceava County

Suceava County (Romanian pronunciation: [suˈtʃe̯ava]) is a county (județ) of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern portion of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat is the historical city of Suceava, formerly the capital of the Principality of Moldavia during the late Middle Ages.

Suceava County

Județul Suceava
County
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 47.58°N 25.76°E / 47.58; 25.76
CountryRomania
Development regionNord-Est
Historical regionSouthern Bukovina
CapitalSuceava
Area
 • Total8,553 km2 (3,302 sq mi)
Area rank2nd
Population
 (2011)
 • Total634,810
 • Estimate 
(2018)[1]
757,679
 • Rank8th
 • Density74/km2 (190/sq mi)
Telephone code(+40) 230 or (+40) 330[2]
ISO 3166 codeRO-SV
GDP (nominal)US$ 3.188 billion (2015)
GDP per capitaUS$ 5,022 (2015)
WebsiteCounty Council
Prefecture

Demographics

In 2011, Suceava County had a population of 634,810, with a population density of 74/km2. The proportion of each ethnic group is displayed as follows:[3]

Year County population[4][5]
1948 439,751
1956 507,674
1966 572,781
1977 633,899
1992 700,799
2002 688,435
2011 634,810
2016 (estimate) 743,645

Geography
Most of Suceava County is in southern Bukovina, which is represented by the darker area on this map.

The county lies within the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, but also incorporates territories from Western Moldavia proper.

In terms of total area, it covers a surface of 8,553 square kilometres (3,302 sq mi), making it thus the second in Romania in this particular regard, just after Timiș County in Banat.

The western side of the county consists of mountains from the Eastern Carpathians group: the Rodna Mountains, the Rarău Mountains, the Giumalău Mountains, and the Ridges of Bukovina, the latter with lower heights.

The county's elevation decreases towards the east, with the lowest height in the Siret River valley. The rivers crossing the county are the Siret River with its tributaries: the Moldova, Suceava, and Bistrița rivers.

Neighbours

The county of Suceava is bordered by the following other territorial units:

Historical county
Județul Suceava
County (Județ)
The Suceava County Prefecture building from the interwar period (now the History Museum in Suceava)
Coat of arms
Country Romania
Historic regionBukovina
Capital city (Reședință de județ)Suceava
Established1925
Area
 • Total1,309 km2 (505 sq mi)
Population
 (1930)
 • Total121,327
 • Density93/km2 (240/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

In the Kingdom of Romania, between the early 20th century up to the end of the 1940s, the county had a smaller size and population. The contemporary Suceava county is the result of the merger of other smaller former Romanian counties from the historical province of Bukovina that were functional mostly throughout the interwar period (e.g. Rădăuți County or Câmpulung County).

The present-day Suceava County also incorporates part of Baia County. As per the administrative reform of 1938 under King Carol II, the whole counties which divided Bukovina in the Kingdom of Romania were united into a bigger land called Ținutul Suceava.

As for the historical interwar Suceava County, this administrative unit was located in the northern part of Greater Romania and in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina respectively. Its territory is situated entirely within the borders of the current Suceava County, constituting thus the central-eastern part of the contemporary namesake county. During the interwar period, it was the smallest county of Greater Romania by area, covering 1,309 square kilometres (505 sq mi).

It is bordered on the east by the counties of Dorohoi and Botoșani, to the north by Rădăuți County, to the west by Câmpulung County, and to the south by Baia County.

Administrative organization
Map of Suceava County as constituted in 1938.

As of 1930, the county was administratively subdivided into three districts (plăṣi):[6]

  1. Plasa Arbore, headquartered at Arbore
  2. Plasa Dragomirna, headquartered at Dragomirna
  3. Plasa Ilișești, headquartered at Ilișești

In 1938, the county was administratively reorganized into the following districts:

  1. Plasa Arbore, headquartered at Solca (containing 15 villages)
  2. Plasa Bosancea, headquartered at Bosancea (including 36 villages)
  3. Plasa Ilișești, headquartered at Ilișești (including 17 villages)

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 121,327, ethnically divided among Romanians (79.5%), Germans (primarily Bukovina Germans but also Zipsers) (8.2%), Jews (5.5%), Poles (2.7%), Ukrainians (1.7%), as well as other minor ethnic minorities.[7]

By language the county was divided among Romanian (76.5%), German (9.4%), Ukrainian (5.5%), Yiddish (4.3%), Polish (2.5%), as well as other languages. From the religious point of view, the population consisted of Eastern Orthodox (80.1%), Roman Catholic (8.4%), Jewish (5.5%), Evangelical Lutheran (3.3%), Greek Catholic (1.4%), as well as other minor religions.[8]

Urban population

The county's urban population consisted of 19,850 inhabitants (17,028 in Suceava and 2,822 in Solca), ethnically divided among Romanians (61.5%), Jews (18.7%), Germans (13.9%), Poles (2.6%), as well as other minor ethnic minorities.[7]

As a mother tongue in the urban population, Romanian (60.4%) predominated, followed by German (18.7%), Yiddish (13.8%), Ukrainian (3.2%), Polish (2.2%), as well as other minor spoken languages. From the religious point of view, the urban population consisted of 60.6% Eastern Orthodox, 18.8% Jewish, 15.3% Roman Catholic, 2.0% Greek Catholic, 1.7% Evangelical Lutheran, 0.7% Baptist, as well as other confessional minorities.[8]

Economy

The predominant industries/economic sectors in the county are as follows:

  • Lumber - producing the greatest land mass of forests in Romania
  • Food and Cooking
  • Mechanical components
  • Construction materials
  • Mining
  • Textile and leather

Suceava occupies the first place among the Romanian cities with the most commercial spaces per inhabitant.[9] Notable supermarket chains correlated with the aforementioned economic areas: Metro, Carrefour, Auchan, Selgros, Kaufland, and Lidl (some of the biggest supermarket chains in Romania).

Tourism

In 2018, Suceava County was designated 'European destination of excellence' by the European Commission.[10] Furthermore, back in 2017, Suceava ranked 3rd in Romania regarding total tourist accommodation capacity.[11]

Suceava medieval seat fortress
Arable lands near the city of Suceava
Typical winter landscape in Suceava County
Gothic-style Bogdana Monastery from Rădăuți

The main touristic attractions of the county are:

Politics

The Suceava County Council, elected at the 2020 local government elections, is made up of 36 counselors, with the following party composition:[12]

    Party Seats Current County Council
  National Liberal Party (PNL) 18                                    
  Social Democratic Party (PSD) 13                                    
  People's Movement Party (PMP) 5                                    

Administrative divisions
Suceava (German: Suczawa or Sutschawa)
Câmpulung Moldovenesc (German: Kimpolung)
Gura Humorului (German: Gura Humora)
Rădăuți (German: Radautz)
Vatra Dornei (German: Dorna-Watra)
Siret (German: Sereth)
Fălticeni (German: Foltischeni)
Solca (German: Solka)
Iacobeni (German: Jakobeny)
Cârlibaba (German: Mariensee or Ludwigsdorf)
Pojorâta (German: Pozoritta or Poschoritta)
Ilișești (German: Illischestie)

Suceava County has 5 municipalities, 11 towns, and 98 communes.

2010 floods

During June 2010, Gheorghe Flutur, the president of Suceava County, told the Mediafax news agency that his region was one of the worst hit in the country. In the morning of June 29, relief work was coordinated to deal with flooding that killed 21 people, and caused hundreds to be evacuated from their homes.[13]

Natives and residents

References
  1. "HARTĂ INTERACTIVĂ - Câți mai suntem în România? Populația în fiecare județ și în fiecare municipiu din țară" (in Romanian). INSSE. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  2. The number used depends on the numbering system employed by the phone companies on the market.
  3. National Institute of Statistics, "Populația după etnie" Archived 2009-08-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. National Institute of Statistics, "Populația la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992 și 2002"
  5. "Populaţia României pe localitati la 1 ianuarie 2016" (in Romanian). INSSE. 6 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-10-27. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  6. Portretul României Interbelice - Județul Suceava
  7. Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 434-437
  8. Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 738-739
  9. Sandrinio Neagu (4 May 2018). "Suceava pe primul loc la nivel național în privința spațiilor comerciale". Monitorul de Suceava (in Romanian). Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  10. Dan Coman. "Flutur a primit, la Bruxelles, premiul "Suceava, destinație europeană de excelență" (in Romanian)". Radio România Internațional. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  11. "Județul Suceava pe locul trei ca număr de structuri de primire turistică după Brașov și Constanța (in Romanian)". News Bucovina. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  12. "Mandate de CJ pe județe și competitori" (in Romanian). Biroul Electoral Central. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2010-07-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Fundația Löwendal" (in Romanian).
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