- Bihar (county)
Infobox Former Subdivision
native_name =
conventional_long_name = Bihar County
common_name = Bihar
subdivision = County
nation = theKingdom of Hungary
p1 =
s1 = Bihor County
s2 = Hajdú-Bihar
year_start = 11th century
event_end = Treaty of Trianon
year_end = 1920
date_end = June 4
capital = Nagyvárad
stat_area1 = 10657
stat_pop1 = 646300
stat_year1 = 1910
today =Romania ,Hungary
footnotes =Oradea is the current name of the capital.:"For current affairs, seeBihor County andHajdú-Bihar County"Bihar is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of theKingdom of Hungary . Its territory is presently mostly in north-westernRomania , where it is administered asBihor County , and a smaller part in easternHungary . The capital of the county wasNagyvárad ; the city now lies in Romania under the Romanian name of "Oradea".Geography
Bihar county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Békés, Hajdú, Szabolcs,
Szatmár ,Szilágy ,Kolozs ,Torda-Aranyos and Arad. Three tributaries of the riverCriş /Körös flow through the county (Crişul Repede ,Crişul Negru andBerettyó ). The western half of the county is in thePannonian plain , while the eastern half is part of theApuseni mountains. Its area was 10,657 km² around 1910.History
Bihar was one of the oldest counties of the
Kingdom of Hungary , formed before the twelfth century.In 1876 the Kingdom of Hungary was divided into seven Circles, with a total of 64 counties [H. Wickham Steed, Walter Alison Phillips, and David Hannay , "A Short History of Austria-Hungary and Poland", (London: Encyclopaedia Britannica Company) 1914. [http://historicaltextarchive.com/hungary/counties.html On-line] .] The Circle on the left bank of the Theiss contained eight counties, including Bihar Megye ("Megye" means county), with the other seven being Békés, Hajdú,
Máramaros , Szabolcs,Szatmár ,Szilágy andUgocsa . Bihar county in theAustro-Hungarian Empire containedDebrecen andNagyvárad .In 1918/19 (confirmed by the
Treaty of Trianon 1920), about 75% of the county became part ofRomania . The west of the county remained inHungary . The capital of this smaller county Bihar wasBerettyóújfalu . AfterWorld War II , the Hungarian county Bihar was merged with Hajdú county to formHajdú-Bihar county. The southernmost part of Hungarian Bihar (the area aroundSarkad andOkány ) went to Békés county.The
Romania n part of former Bihar county now forms theRomania n county Bihor, except the southernmost part (aroundBeliu ), which is in Arad county. This part was occupied by Hungary between 1940-1944 duringWorld War II .Districts
In the early 20th century, the districts ("járás") and their capitals were:
The towns of
Derecske ,Berettyóújfalu ,Biharnagybajom andBiharkeresztes are presently inHungary , while the other towns mentioned are inRomania .Notes
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