Bihor County


Bihor County is a county in western Romania. With a total area of, Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. 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, 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. 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.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Bihor County was adopted in 1998, and is a quarterly shield featuring a castle, five wheat stalks with a ribbon, a grape 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 or the Latin alphabet. The county has no significant history with Greece.

Geography

This county has a total area of. In the eastern side of the county there are the Apuseni Mountains, with the highest peak being the Cucurbăta Mare, at. 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 basin with the rivers Crișul Repede, Crișul Negru, and Barcău the main rivers.

Neighbours

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. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of the war, and the declaration of the Union of Transylvania with Romania, the Romanian Army took control of the county in April 1919, during the Hungarian–Romanian War. The territory of Bihor County was officially transferred to the Kingdom of 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. Ten ținuturi were created to be ruled by rezidenți regali - appointed directly by the king - instead of the prefects. Bihor County became part of Ținutul Crișuri.
In August 1940, under the auspices of Nazi Germany, which imposed the Second Vienna Award, Hungary retook the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania. In October 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. In September 1950, the county was disestablished by the communist government of Romania and was replaced by the Bihor Region, whose territory comprised an area similar to the old county. Bihor County was re-established in February 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:
According to the 2021 census, the county had a population of 551,297 and the population density was. 51.1% of its population lives in urban areas, lower than the Romanian average.


YearCounty population
1948536,323
1956574,488
1966586,460
1977633,094
1992634,093
2002600,246
2011575,398
2021551,297

Politics and administration

The Bihor County Council is led by Mircea Mălan, who has held office since March 2025, after Ilie Bolojan became acting President of Romania. Renewed at the 2024 local elections, the Bihor County Council consists of 34 counsellors, with the following party composition:

Administrative divisions

Bihor County has four municipalities, six towns, and 91 communes.
Municipalities
  • Beiuș
  • Marghita
  • Oradea – capital city; 183,105
  • Salonta
Towns
  • Aleșd
  • Nucet
  • Săcueni
  • Ștei
  • Valea lui Mihai
  • Vașcău
'''Communes'''

Historical county

Administration

The territory of the county was divided into twelve districts
  1. Plasa Aleșd
  2. Plasa Beiuș
  3. Plasa Beliu
  4. Plasa Ceica
  5. Plasa Centrală
  6. Plasa Marghita
  7. Plasa Salonta
  8. Plasa Săcueni
  9. Plasa Sălard
  10. Plasa Tileagd
  11. Plasa Tinca
  12. Plasă Vașcău
Within Bihor County there were three urban localities: Oradea and urban communes Salonta and Beiuș.

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 510,318, ethnically divided among Romanians, Hungarians, Jews, Czechs and Slovaks, as well as other minorities. By language the county was divided among Romanian, Hungarian, Czech, Yiddish, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the population consisted of Eastern Orthodox, Reformed, Greek Catholics, Roman Catholics, Jews, Baptists, as well as other minorities.

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 predominated, followed by Romanian, Yiddish, German, 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.