| Arad County | |
| Native Name: | Județul Arad |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Shield Link: | Coat of arms of Arad County |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Romania |
| Subdivision Type1: | Development region1 |
| Subdivision Type2: | Historic region |
| Subdivision Type3: | Capital city (Reședința de județ) |
| Government Type: | County Council |
| Leader Title: | President of the County Board |
| Leader Name: | Iustin Cionca |
| Leader Title1: | Prefect2 |
| Leader Name1: | Czaba Tóth |
| Established Title: | Județul Arad |
| Established Date: | 1968 |
| Area Total Km2: | 7754 |
| Elevation M: | 1486 |
| Elevation Ft: | 4875 |
| Coordinates: | 46.36°N 21.8°W |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Postal Code: | 31wxyz3 |
| Area Code: | +40 x574 |
| Blank Info: | AR5 |
| Blank1 Info: | US$ 7.130 billion (2024) |
| Blank2 Info: | US$ 21,350 (2022) |
| Footnotes: | 1 The development regions of Romania have no administrative role and were formed in order to manage funds from the European Union. 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 from having any political activity in the first six months after his resignation (or exclusion) from the public functionaries' 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 utilitary vehicles and ATVs, etc.), and the ones used outside the county |
| Website: | County Council County Prefecture |
Arad County (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /aˈrad/) is an administrative division (județ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad. The Arad County is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion.
In Hungarian, it is known as Hungarian: Arad megye, in Serbian as Serbian: Арадски округ, and in German as German: Kreis Arad. The county was named after its administrative center, Arad.
The county has a total area of, representing 3.6% of national Romanian territory. The terrain of Arad County is divided into two distinct units that cover almost half of the county each. The eastern side of the county has a hilly to low mountainous terrain (Dealurile Lipovei, Munții Zărandului, Munții Codru Moma) and on the western side it's a plain zone consisting of the Arad Plain, Low Mures Plain, and The High Vinga Plain. Taking altitude into account we notice that it follows a stepped pattern as it drops as we go from the east to the west of the county from 1489 m to below 100 m. In the east there are the Zarand Mountains and the Codru Moma Mountains, all subdivisions of the Apuseni Mountains, a major group of the Western Carpathians.
In terms of climate, the characteristics of Arad county have a typical temperate continental climate with oceanic influences, with a circulation of air masses with a predominantly western ordered direction visible from west to east, with increasing altitude. Average annual temperatures range from 10 °C in the lowlands, the hills and piedmonts 9 °C, 8 °C and 6 °C in the low mountains in the area of greatest height.Average amounts of precipitation is between annually in the lowlands, annually in the hills and piedmonts and annually in the mountainous area.
The hydrographic network is composed of the two main rivers plus their tributaries and channels.
Along with Timiș County it forms one of the most developed regions in Romania. Due to its proximity to the border, it attracts a great number of foreign investments. The agricultural potential is greatly put into value, Arad plains being considered one of the most important cereal and vegetable producing basins.
The predominant industries in the county are:
Natural resources in Arad, are worthy to be taken into account as there are oil and associated gases, points of extraction in the west of the county, molibden mines in the Săvârșin area, marble quarries at Căprioara and Moneasa, mineral waters at Lipova, Moneasa, Dorobanți, Curtici, Macea and uranium deposits in the NE part of the county.
The main tourist destinations are:
According to the 2021 census, the county had a population of 410,143 and the population density was .[1]
| Year | County population[2] | |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 476,207 | |
| 1956 | 475,620 | |
| 1966 | 481,248 | |
| 1977 | 512,020 | |
| 1992 | 487,370 | |
| 2002 | 461,791 | |
| 2011 | 430,629 | |
| 2021 | 410,143 |
The Arad County Council, renewed at the 2020 local elections, consists of 32 counsellors, with the following party composition:[3]
| Party | Seats | Current County Council | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Liberal Party (PNL) | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Save Romania Union (USR) | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Social-Liberal Christian Platform (PSD) | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| PRO Romania (PRO) | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| People's Movement Party (PMP) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
Arad County has 1 municipality, 9 towns and 68 communes with approximately 180 villages.
| Official Name: | Județul Arad |
| Settlement Type: | County (Județ) |
| Subdivision Type2: | Historic region |
| Subdivision Type3: | Capital city (Reședință de județ) |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Title2: | Ceased to exist |
| Established Date2: | 1950 |
| Area Total Km2: | 6248 |
| Population As Of: | 1930 |
| Population Total: | 423469 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
In 1930, the county was divided into nine districts (plăși):[4]
Subsequently, a tenth district was established having been carved out of Plasa Ineu:
Administration was re-organized in 1947, comprising 13 districts:[5]
According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 423,469 inhabitants, 61.0% Romanians, 19.5% Hungarians, 12.3% Germans (Banat Swabians), 2.8% Slovaks, 2.1% Jews, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, 55.8% declared Eastern Orthodox, 26.5% Roman Catholic, 5.5% Reformed, 4.2% Greek Catholic, 3.2% Lutherans, 2.4% Jewish, 1% Baptists, as well as other minorities.[6]
In 1930, the county's urban population was 77,181 inhabitants, 39.3% Romanians, 38.8% Hungarians, 9.1% Jews, 7.1% Germans (Banat Swabians), 1.7% Serbs and Croats, 1.4% Slovaks, as well as other minorities. In the urban area, languages were Hungarian (53.3%), Romanian (37.0%), German (6.0%), Serbian (1.4%), Yiddish (0.9%), as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population was composed of Roman Catholics (38.5%), Eastern Orthodox (33.8%), Jewish (10.1%), Reformed (9.9%), Greek Catholics (4.0%), Lutherans (2.6%), as well as other minorities.[6]
The county's capital, Arad, was the location of Romania's first automotive factory. During the 1920s, Astra cars and commercial vehicles were made at Arad.[7] ASTRA Arad manufactured automobiles from 1922 to 1926.[8] The factory had an output of 2 automobiles per working day as of 1922.[9]