Argeș County


Argeș County is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Pitești.

Demographics

On 20 October 2011, it had a population of 612,431 and the population density was 89/km2.
YearCounty population
1948448,964
1956 483,741
1966 529,833
1977 631,918
1992 680,574
2002 652,625
2011 612,431

Geography

This county has a total area of 6,862 km2.
The landforms can be split into 3 distinctive parts. In the north side there are the mountains, from the Southern Carpathians group – the Făgăraș Mountains with Moldoveanu Peak, Negoiu Peak and Vânătoarea lui Buteanu peak towering the region, and in the North-East part the Leaotă Mountains. Between them there is a pass towards Brașov, the Rucăr-Bran Passage. The heights decrease, and in the center there are the sub-carpathian hills, with heights around 800 m, crossed with very deep valleys. In the south there is the northern part of the Romanian Plain.
The main river that crosses the county is the Argeș River in which almost all the other rivers coming from the mountains flow. In the south the main rivers are the Vedea River and the Teleorman River.

Neighbours

The county is one of the most industrialized counties in Romania. There is one oil refinery and two automobile plants at Mioveni – the Dacia Renault car plant, and at Câmpulung the ARO plant.
The predominant industries in the county are:
Oil is being extracted in the center and in the south. Also there are a few coal mines and close to Mioveni there is a nuclear research and production facility making nuclear fuels for the Cernavodă Nuclear Electric Power Plant. On the Argeș River there are a great number of hydroelectric power plants, the most impressive being the Vidraru power plant and dam.
The hillsides are well suited for wines and fruit orchards, and the south is suited for cereal crops.

Tourism

The main tourist destinations are:
The Argeș County Council, elected at the 2016 local government elections, is made up of 35 counselors, with the following party composition:

Administrative divisions

Argeș County has 3 cities, 4 towns and 95 communes:
The county was located in the central-southern part of the Greater Romania, in the western part of the historic Muntenia region. Its territory comprised a large part of the current county, and a piece of the western part of the present Vâlcea County. It was bordered on the west by the counties of Olt and Vâlcea, to the north by the counties Făgăraș and Sibiu, to the east by the counties Muscel and Dâmbovița, and to the south by the counties Teleorman and Vlașca.

Administration

The county was originally divided administratively into five districts :
  1. Plasa Argeș, headquartered at Curtea de Argeș
  2. Plasa Dâmbovnic, headquartered at Rociu
  3. Plasa Oltul, headquartered at Jiblea Veche
  4. Plasa Teleorman, headquartered at Costești
  5. Plasa Uda, headquartered at Uda
Subsequently, Plasa Uda was divided into two districts, and some territory was transferred from Plasa Oltul:

  1. Plasa Cuca, headquartered at Cuca, which town was formerly in Plasa Oltul
  2. Plasa Pitești, headquartered at Pitești

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 257,378 inhabitants, out of which 97.6% were ethnic Romanians. From the religious point of view, the population was 99.1% Eastern Orthodox, 0.3% Roman Catholic, 0.3% Jewish, as well as other minorities.

Urban population

In 1930, the county's urban population was 26,341 inhabitants, comprising 90.4% Romanians, 2.2% Jews, 2.0% Hungarians, 1.7% Romanies, 1.1% Germans, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population was composed of 93.0% Eastern Orthodox, 2.4% Roman Catholic, 2.4% Jewish, 0.7% Reformed, 0.7% Lutheran, as well as other minorities.