| Bistrița-Năsăud County | |
| Native Name: | Județul Bistrița-Năsăud |
| Settlement Type: | County |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Development region1 |
| Subdivision Name1: | Nord-Vest |
| Subdivision Type2: | Historic region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Transylvania |
| Subdivision Type3: | Capital city (Reședință de județ) |
| Subdivision Name3: | Bistrița |
| Government Type: | County Council |
| Leader Title: | President of the County Council |
| Leader Party: | PSD |
| Leader Title1: | Prefect2 |
| Area Total Km2: | 5355 |
| Area Rank: | 26th in Romania |
| Population As Of: | 1st of December 2021 |
| Population Total: | 295988 |
| Population Rank: | 32nd in Romania |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal Code |
| Postal Code: | 42wxyz3 |
| Area Code: | +40 x634 |
| Blank Name: | Car Plates |
| Blank Info: | BN5 |
| Blank1 Name: | GDP |
| Blank1 Info: | US$3.730 billion (2024) |
| Blank2 Name: | GDP per capita |
| Blank2 Info: | US$6,723 (2015) |
| Footnotes: | 1The developing regions of Romania have no administrative role, but were formed in order to manage funds from the European Union 2 as of 2007, Romanian prefects are not politicians, but public functionaries. They are not allowed political party membership, and are banned from political activity for six months after resigning (or being excluded) 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 utility vehicles, ATVs, etc.), and the ones used outside the county |
| Website: | County Council County Prefecture |
Bistrița-Năsăud (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /ˈbistrit͡sa nəsəˈud/) is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Bistrița.
In Hungarian, it is known as Beszterce-Naszód megye, and in German as Kreis Bistritz-Nassod. The name is identical with the county created in 1876, Beszterce-Naszód County (Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Comitatul Bistrița-Năsăud) in the Kingdom of Hungary (the county was recreated in 1940 after the Second Vienna Award, as it became part of Hungary again until 1944). Except these, as part of Romania, until 1925 the former administrative organizations were kept when a new county system was introduced. Between 1925–1940 and 1945–1950, most of its territory belonged to the Năsăud County, with smaller parts belonging to the Mureș, Cluj, and Someș counties.
The county has a total area of . One third of this surface represents the mountains from the Eastern Carpathians group: the Țibleș, Rodna, Bârgău, and Călimani Mountains. The rest of the territory represents the North-East side of the Transylvanian Plateau.
The main river crossing the county is the Someșul Mare. On the Bistrița River there is a big dam and a lake.
According to the 2021 census, the county had a population of 295,988 and the population density was .[1]
| Year | County population[2] | |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 233,650 | |
| 1956 | 255,789 | |
| 1966 | 269,954 | |
| 1977 | 286,628 | |
| 1992 | 327,238 | |
| 2002 | 311,657 | |
| 2011 | 277,861 | |
| 2021 | 295,988 |
The Bistrița-Năsăud County Council, renewed at the 2020 local elections, consists of 30 counsellors, with the following party composition:[3]
| Party | Seats | Current County Council | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party (PSD) | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| National Liberal Party (PNL) | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
| People's Movement Party (PMP) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Bistrița-Năsăud County has 1 municipality, 3 towns, and 58 communes.
Natives of the county include: