Satu Mare County

Satu Mare County
Județul Satu Mare
County

Coat of arms
Administrative map of Romania with Satu Mare county highlighted
Coordinates: 47°41′N 22°53′E / 47.69°N 22.89°E / 47.69; 22.89Coordinates: 47°41′N 22°53′E / 47.69°N 22.89°E / 47.69; 22.89
Country Romania
Development region Nord-Vest
Historical region Crișana, Maramureș
Capital Satu Mare
Area
 • Total 4,418 km2 (1,706 sq mi)
Area rank 36th
Population (2007)[1]
 • Total 366,270
 • Rank 31st
 • Density 83/km2 (210/sq mi)
Telephone code (+40) 261 or (+40) 361[2]
ISO 3166 code RO-SM
Website County Council
Prefecture

Satu Mare County (Romanian: Județul Satu Mare, pronounced [ˌsatu ˈmare]) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Hungary and Ukraine. The capital city is Satu Mare. Besides Romanians (58.8% of the population), Satu Mare features a significant ethnic minority of Hungarians (35.2%).

Name

In Hungarian, it is known as Szatmár megye, in German as Kreis Sathmar, in Ukrainian as Сату-Маре, and in Slovak as Satmárska župa.

Demographics

Satu Mare is a multicultural city, with a population mix of Romanian, Hungarian, Roma, German and other ethnicities.

In 2002, Satu Mare County had a population of 367,281 and the population density was 83/km².[3][4]

In 2011, its population was 329,079 and population density was 74.48/km².[3][5]

Hungarians mostly reside along the border with Hungary, but some are also scattered throughout the whole county.

Historically, Hungarians were concentrated in the cities, where administration resides, while the Romanian population was larger in the villages throughout the county. In 1930 the Hungarians were representing 41,9% of the urban population in Satu Mare County and only 20,0% of the population in the villages according to census data.[6] The proportion of different ethnic groups varied throughout the history, due to regime and political changes. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 the Hungarian population increased its proportion greatly, in 1880 representing 44.4% and in 1910 reaching 55.1% of the county population, according to Árpád E. Varga.[7] After World War I the Hungarian and German population declined.

Year County population Romanians Hungarians Germans
1880[8] 194,326 76,668 95,681 13,449
1890 216,158 85,663 114,836 14,030
1900 245,855 93,591 138,086 12,165
1910 267,310 92,264 166,369 6,709
1920 262,937 124,476 81,242 34,982
1930[6] 294,875 178,523 74,191 9,530
1948[9] 312,672
1956 337,531 180,930 145,880 3,588
1966 359,393
1977 393,840
1992 400,789
2002 367,281
2004 371,759
2007 366,270

Geography

This county has a total area of 4,418 square kilometres (1,706 sq mi).

In the north are the Oaș Mountains, part of the Eastern Carpathians. This makes up around 17% of the area. The remainder is hills, forming 20% of the area, and plains. The western county takes up the Eastern part of the Pannonian Plain.

The county is crossed by the Someș River and also Tur River and Crasna River.

The county lies partly in the historical region of Maramureș and partly in the historical region of Crișana.

Neighbours

It is a member of the Carpathian euroregion.

Economy

Satu Mare County benefits from its position, close to the border of Romania with Hungary and Ukraine, and it is one of the places which attracts foreign investment in industry and agriculture.

The predominant industries in the county are:

Tourism

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

Politics

The Satu Mare County Council, elected at the 2016 local government elections, is made up of 33 counselors, with the following party composition:[10]

    Party Seats Current Council
  Democratic Alliance of Hungarians 13                          
  Social Democratic Party 9                          
  National Liberal Party 7                          
  Alliance of Liberals and Democrats 4                          

Administrative divisions

Satu Mare

Satu Mare County has 2 municipalities, 4 towns and 59 communes:

References

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Maramureș.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Satu Mare County.
  1. ↑ INSSE Statistic
  2. ↑ The number used depends on the numbering system employed by the phone companies on the market.
  3. 1 2 National Institute of Statistics, "Populația după etnie"
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Structura Etno-demografică a României
  6. 1 2 "Recensământul general al populației României din 29 Decemvrie 1930", vol. II, pag. 394, Institutul Central de Statistica, (published in French and Romanian)
  7. ↑ "Árpád E. Varga, Hungarians in Transylvania between 1870 and 1995, Original title: Erdély magyar népessége 1870–1995 között, Published in Magyar Kisebbség 3–4, 1998 (New series IV), pp. 331–407, Translation by Tamás Sályi, Linguistic editing by Rachel Orbell, Published by Teleki László Foundation. Budapest, March 1999"
  8. ↑ Erdély etnikai és felekezeti statisztikája
  9. ↑ National Institute of Statistics, "Populația la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992 și 2002"
  10. ↑ "Mandate de CJ pe judete si competitori" (in Romanian). Biroul Electoral Central. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
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