Bihor County

Bihor
—  County (Judeţ)  —

Coat of arms
Bihor county, territorial location
Country  Romania
Development region1 Nord-Vest
Historic region Crişana
Capital city (Resedinţă de judeţ) Oradea
Government
 • Type County Board
 • President of the County Board Radu Tarle (PNL)
 • Prefect2 Mircea Ghitea
Area
 • Total 7,544 km2 (2,912.8 sq mi)
Area rank 6th in Romania
Population (2002)
 • Total 600,246
 • Rank 12th in Romania
 • Density 84/km2 (217.6/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code 41wxyz3
Area code(s) +40 x594
Car Plates BH5
GDP US$ 5.82 billion (2008)
GDP/capita US$ 9,708 (2008)
GDP/capita at purchasing power parity US$ 17,152 (2009)
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 (Romanian pronunciation: [biˈhor] ( listen); Hungarian: Bihar [ˈbihɒr]) is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea. Together with Hajdú-Bihar County in Hungary it constitutes the Biharia Euroregion.

Contents

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.[1][2]

By religion

99.4% of the county's population are Christian[3] and of these:

Year County population[4]
1948 536,323
1956 574,488
1966 586,460
1977 633,094
1992 638,863
2002 600,246

Geography

This county has a total area of 7,544 km². In the East side of the County there are the Apuseni Mountains with heights up to 1,800 m. 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 Criş hydrographic basine with the rivers Crişul Repede, Crişul Negru and Barcău the main rivers.

Neighbours

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:

In the west side of the county there are mines for extracting coal and bauxite. Also crude oil is being extracted

Tourism

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

Administrative divisions

Bihor County has 4 municipalities, 6 towns and 91 communes.

References

  1. ^ Romanian 2002 Census
  2. ^ National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia după etnie"
  3. ^ Romania and Bihor County Census, 2002, (Hungarian) [1]
  4. ^ National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992 şi 2002"