Harghita County

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Harghita (Template:IPA2; Template:Lang-ro; Template:Lang-hu) is a county (judeţ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea-Ciuc.

1 Demographics
2 Geography
- 2.1 Neighbours
3 Economy
4 Tourism
5 Politics
6 Administrative divisions
7 References
8 External links

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Demographics

In 2002, it had a population of 326,222<ref>National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992 şi 2002"</ref> and a population density of 52/km².

Hungarians- 85% (or 276,038)<ref>National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia după etnie" ("Population by ethnicity")</ref>
Romanians - 14% (or 45,870)
Roma - 1% (or 3,835), and others.

Harghita county has the highest percentage of Hungarians in Romania, just ahead of Covasna county. The primary Hungarian group, the Székely (Szeklers, Secui in Romanian), form the majority of the population in most of the county's municipalities, with Romanians concentrated in the northern part of the county, particularly Topliţa and Bălan.

The Székely are mostly Roman Catholic, while Romanians are primarily Orthodox, and the other Hungarian groups are Reformed and Unitarian. By religion, the county is divided roughly as follows:

Roman Catholic (65%)
Orthodox (13%)
Reformed (13%)
Unitarian (7%)
Other (2%)

Demographic evolution <timeline> Colors=

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BarData=

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 bar:1948 text:1948
 bar:1956 text:1956
 bar:1966 text:1966
 bar:1977 text:1977
 bar:1992 text:1992
 bar:2002 text:2002

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 color:barra width:20 align:left

 bar:1930 from:0 till: 250194
 bar:1948 from:0 till: 258495
 bar:1956 from:0 till: 273964
 bar:1966 from:0 till: 282392
 bar:1977 from:0 till: 326310
 bar:1992 from:0 till: 348335
 bar:2002 from:0 till: 326222

PlotData=

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 bar:1948 at: 258495 fontsize:S text: 258.495 shift:(-10,5)
 bar:1956 at: 273964 fontsize:S text: 273.964 shift:(-10,5)
 bar:1966 at: 282392 fontsize:S text: 282.392 shift:(-10,5)
 bar:1977 at: 326310 fontsize:S text: 326.310 shift:(-10,5)
 bar:1992 at: 348335 fontsize:S text: 348.335 shift:(-10,5)
 bar:2002 at: 326222 fontsize:S text: 326.222 shift:(-10,5)

TextData=

 fontsize:S pos:(20,20)
 text:Data - INSSE, Graphic by Wikipedia

</timeline>

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Geography

Harghita County has a total area of 6,639 km².

Harghita consists primarily of mountains, connected to the Eastern Carpathians, such as the Ciuc and Harghita Mountains; volcanic plateaux, foothills, and the more densely populated river valleys.

The mountains are volcanic in origin, and the region is known for its excellent hot mineral springs. Harghita is known as one of the coldest regions in Romania, although summers can be quite warm.

It is in this county that two of the most important rivers in Romania, the Mureş and the Olt, originate. These rivers' origins, near the villages of Izvoru Mureşului and Sândominic, are only a few miles apart; yet the Mureş flows west to the Tisza, while the Olt flows south to the Danube. In the western part of the county the two Târnava rivers (Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică) flow to the Târnava Plateau, which is part of the Transylvania Plateau.

Harghita's many spectacular natural scenery include Sfanta Ana Lake, a volcanic crater lake near the town of Băile Tuşnad; Lacu Roşu a mountain lake in the northeast near the town of Gheorgheni, and Cheile Bicazului, a dramatic, narrow canyon formed by the Bicaz stream. The county is renowned for its spa resorts and mineral waters.

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