Beszterce-Naszód County

Beszterce-Naszód County Beszterce-Naszód vármegye Komitat Bistritz-Naszod Comitatul Bistriţa-Năsăud
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
1876–1920
Coat of arms
Capital		Beszterce 47°8′N 24°30′E / 47.133°N 24.500°ECoordinates: 47°8′N 24°30′E / 47.133°N 24.500°E
History
•	Established	1876
•	Treaty of Trianon	June 4, 1920
Area
•	1910	4,333 km^2 (1,673 sq mi)
Population
•	1910	127,800
	Density	29.5 /km^2  (76.4 /sq mi)
Today part of		Romania
Bistrița is the current name of the capital.

Beszterce-Naszód was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Romania (north-eastern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Beszterce (now Bistrița).

Geography

Beszterce-Naszód county shared borders with the Kingdom of Romania, the Austrian Bukovina, and the Hungarian counties Máramaros, Szolnok-Doboka, Kolozs, Maros-Torda, and Csík. Its area was 4167 km² around 1910.

Contemporary map about the county

History

Beszterce-Naszód county was formed in 1876, when the Transylvanian Saxon district of Beszterce/Bistritz was united with the district of Naszód (since 1861, 1762–1851 military frontier district) and part of Doboka county. In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon assigned the territory of Beszterce-Naszód county to Romania. In 1940 by the Second Vienna Award it was returned to Hungary and was occupied until 1944 during World War II. The territory of the county is now in the (larger) Romanian county Bistrița-Năsăud.

Demographics

In 1900, the county had a population of 119,014 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:^[1]

Total:

• Romanian: 82,256 (69,1%)
• German: 26,036 (21,9%)
• Hungarian: 8,475 (7,1%)
• Ruthenian: 165 (0,1%)
• Slovak: 128 (0,1%)
• Serbian: 4 (0,0%)
• Croatian: 9 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 1,941 (1,6%)

According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities:^[2]

Total:

• Greek Catholic: 66,078 (55,5%)
• Lutheran: 22,874 (19,2%)
• Eastern Orthodox: 15,290 (12,9%)
• Jewish: 6,385 (5,4%)
• Roman Catholic: 4,927 (4,1%)
• Calvinist: 3,349 (2,8%)
• Unitarian: 101 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 10 (0,0%)

In 1910, county had a population of 127,843 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:^[3]

Total:

• Romanian: 87,564 (68,5%)
• German: 25,609 (20,0%)
• Hungarian: 10,737 (8,4%)
• Ruthenian: 213 (0,2%)
• Slovak: 37 (0,0%)
• Croatian: 11 (0,0%)
• Serbian: 6 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 3,666 (2,9%)

According to the census of 1910, the county was composed of the following religious communities:^[4]

Total:

• Greek Catholic: 72,494 (56,7%)
• Lutheran: 22,415 (17,5%)
• Eastern Orthodox: 16,615 (13,0%)
• Jewish: 7,254 (5,7%)
• Roman Catholic: 5,083 (4,0%)
• Calvinist: 3,781 (3,0%)
• Unitarianist: 200 (0,1%)
• Other or unknown: 1 (0,0%)

Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of the county Beszterce-Naszód were:

Districts (járás)
District	Capital
Besenyő	Beszterce, RO Bistrița
Jád	Beszterce, RO Bistrița
Naszód	Naszód, RO Năsăud
Óradna	Óradna, RO Rodna
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Beszterce, RO Bistrița

References

1. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
2. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
3. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-19.
4. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-19.