| Bihor |

Coat of arms |
|
|
|
| Country |
Romania |
| Development region1 |
Nord-Vest |
| Historic region |
Crişana |
| Capital city (Resedinţă de judeţ) |
Oradea |
| Government |
| - Type |
County Board |
| - President of the County Board |
Alexandru Kiss (UDMR) |
| - Prefect2 |
Mircea Ghitea |
| Area |
| - Total |
7,544 km² (2,912.8 sq mi) |
| Population (2002) |
| - Total |
600,223 |
| - 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 |
1The developing regions of Romania have no administrative role. They were formed to attract funds from the European Unioncitation needed
2 as of 2007, the Prefect is not a politician, but a public functionary. He (or she) is not allowed to be a member of a political party, and is banned to have any political activity in the first six months after the resignation (or exclusion) from the public functionary corps
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 |
Website: County Board
County Prefecture |
Bihor (IPA: [bi.'hor]), in Hungarian: Bihar (IPA: [bi.'har]), is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea.
Demographics
In 2002, Bihor had a population of 600,223 and the population density was 79.56/km². 48.6% of its population lives in urban areas, lower than the Romanian average.
By religion
99.6% of County population are Christian[2] and from these:
| Year |
County population[3] |
| 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
BH

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%. In 2003, 25.1% of the population lived below the national poverty line, a figure which is improving and is set to reach 20% in 2005.
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. Also crude oil is being extracted
Tourism
The main tourist attractions in the county are:
Administrative divisions
- See also: Oradea metropolitan area
The county has 4 municipalities, 6 towns and 90 communes.
Municipalities
Towns
Communes
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Links
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