IASI COUNTY - Geography and history
Located in the north-east of Romania, Iasi county is neighboured by the Moldova river to the west and by the Prut river to the east (border with the Republic of Moldova).
By area, Iasi is an average county, with a total area of 5 476 km2, representing 2.3% of the national territory, ranking 22 among the counties.
The county's capital city is Iasi, one of the oldest and most important cities of Romania. Besides the capital city, the county also had, as of 31 December 2000, one municipality (Pascani), 2 towns (Hârlau and Târgu Frumos) and 85 communes (with 420 villages).
The geography is hilly. The central and the north-eastern part is dominated by hills and low inter-river plateaus, crossed by the Bahlui and Jijia rivers, with slopes affected by landslides and floodable meadows. The west side features hilly meadows and high plateaus (above 400 m), with the meadows of the Siret and Moldova rivers. The south part has a high, massive geography (350-450 m), crossed by the influents of the Bârlad and Vaslui rivers.
The climate is temperate-continental, with a temperature varying between -36 ° C and +40° C, the annual average between 1901 and 1990 being +9.5° C and +11.3° C in 2000.
The hydrographical network includes variable man-made rivers and lakes to prevent flooding and to store excess water for draughty seasons.
The eastern side of the territory is limited by the Prut river. The Jijia, Bahlui and Bahluet rivers run into it, as they cross most of the northern and central part of the county.
The north-eastern side of the county is crossed by the Siret and Moldova rivers, and the southern one, by the Vaslui and Bârlad rivers (with their influents).
"The land of Iasi" (mentioned in 1716 in the writings of Prince Dimitrie Cantemir) has a rich history with troubled and glorious times, all mentioned in many chronicles and historical monuments.
Prooves of its existence and historical evolution were found in the archaeological discoveries in Cucuteni (which represented, in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, one of the most outstanding Neolithic civilisations of Europe), as well in Cotnari, Dumbrava, and Iasi-Nicolina etc.
Even since the Middle Age the cities of Iasi, Hârlau and Târgu Frumos were known by the ruler's palaces built in stone. Starting with the 16th century, Iasi becomes the capital city for the Moldovan voivodes.
It was Iasi where Michael the Brave unified for the first time the three Romanian lands in 1600. Iasi is also the city that sparkled the Romanian Revolution in 1848 and it was here where, on 5 January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected the Prince of Moldova, as a first step to the unification of the principalities of Moldova and Walachia.
Being the second largest city of Romania by number of inhabitants (after Bucharest), through its numerous historical, cultural and economic sites, also called "the museum-city", but also as an educational and business centre, Iasi is a point of attraction for tourists, students and businessmen.
The natural resources of the county are of local interest (sand, gravel, clay, and mineral waters).
The natural vegetation is specific to forested steppe. The forests are mostly leafy. The fauna includes hunting species such as: red goats, boars, wolves, foxes, hares, and plumage birds.
The soil richness consists of about 381 thousand ha agricultural land (with 66.1% arable land, 28.5% pastures and hays, 5.4% vineyards and orchards), 96.9 thousand ha of woods and other forested lands and 12.8 thousand ha of waters and ponds.
Economy
The county had 9 982 active companies in 2000, more than 99% with with private capital. Of the total active companies, by main activity, industry accounted for 10.9% while services represented 83%.
The production yielded by the companies in the county has an important share in the national economy, mainly for synthetic fibres (25.4% of the national production in 2000), medicines (22.2%), edible oils (16%), steel pipes (12.6%), bricks and ceramic blocks (12.1%), cotton and cotton-like fabrics (11.3%), paints and varnishes (7.5%), textiles (5.4%), meat products (4.7%), meat (4.3%) etc.
As of 31 December 2000, the county's agricultural land totalled 380.7 thousand ha (1.6% of the national figure), of which 66.1% arable land, 28.5% pastures and hays, and 5.4% vineyards and orchards. Non-agricultural lands accounted for 166.6 thousand ha, with 96.9 thousand ha (58.1%) of woods and other forested lands, and 12.8 thousand ha (7.7%) of waters and ponds.
In 2000 the county of Iasi gave 3.4% of the total agricultural production of Romania. Iasi county ranked 5th at vegetal production and 3rd at animal production. The main productions of the county were corn (2nd place in the country), sugar beet (5th place), vegetables (5th place), and livestock: sheep (1st place) and cattle (2nd place). Such positions were given by the 114 thousand head of cattle, 111 thousand pigs, and 365 thousand sheep at the end of 2000.
Fruit trees and vineyards have good weather conditions. The county is the 6th in Romania considering the production of fruits (in 2000) and the 5th for grapes. The most important vineyards are in Cotnari, Copou, Bucium, and Raducaneni.
In 2000 the quantity of processed wood was 249.5 thousand. A total of 428 ha of forests were regenerated.
Through the road and railway network, the city and the county of Iasi has a direct connection for the transport of passengers and goods with all the other regions of the country. It also provides with the railway traffic between the eastern part of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
At the end of 2000, the railway network's total length was 290 km, 135 km (46.6% of the county's total) electric; the public road network totalled 2 368 km, of which 411 km modernised; of the total public roads, only 14.5% are national, the remaining 85.5% being county and communal roads.
As of 31 July 2000 the tourist network included 49 accommodation facilities, with a total of 2 917 places, of which 16 hotels and motels with 1 494 places. The utilisation index of this capacity was 43.1%, higher than the national average (35.2%).
Population and social environment
With a population of 836 751 as of 1 July 2000, Iasi county is the 3rd among the counties of Romania (after the city of Bucharest and Prahova county), and accounts for 3.7% of Romania's population. The urban population represents 49.9% of the county's total (under the national average), and the rural one is 50.1%. The population density in 2000 was 152.8 inhabitants per km2, above the national average density.
The age structure of the population displays an aging trend mainly because of the increase of life expectancy from 69 years in 1996 to 71 years in 2000.
The birth rate is high, about 13.4 per 1 000 inhabitants between 1996 and 2000 (second place in 2000 after the county of Vaslui).
The overall mortality rate decreased slightly from 11 deaths per 1 000 inhabitants in 1996 to 9.7 in 2000, the third lowest rate in Romania in 2000. The life expectancy between 1998 and 2000 was 67.6 years for males and 74.4 years for females, above the national average for both males and females.
During the period 1996-2000, the overall activity rate had a constant level of about 42%. The county accounts for 3.7% of the active civil population of the country.
The major economic changes influenced the structure of the employed population. The share of the employed persons in industry decreased from 24.5% in 1996 to 20.7% in 2000, as the employment shifted to trade (8.9% in 2000, as compared to 5.9% in 1996), and mainly to agriculture, where the employment increased by 5 percentage points, from 37.5% in 1996 to 42.6% in 2000.
Of the total employed civil population, 52.3% are employees (59.8% in 1996). The average net monthly salary, at 1 858.3 thousand lei, is 13.1% under the national average .
Registered unemployed people at the end of 2000 were 39 thousand, with an unemployment rate of 10.9% (over the national average).
The number of registered unemployed increased between 1996 and 2000 (32.5 thousand in 1996 and 39 thousand in 2000) and the unemployment structure by education level also had significant variations. The share of workers fell from 98.2% in 1996 to 76.2% in 2000. The share persons with medium level of training increased from 1.2% in 1996 to 21.6% in 2000, together with the share of the people with higher-education, from 0.6% to 2.2%.
During the school year of 2000/2001, the educational system of Iasi county included 1 002 units, of which 456 were pre-school units, 479 primary and secondary schools, 44 high-schools of various professional fields, 5 vocational schools, 6 post-high-school units and 12 higher education institutions.
Health services were provided in 2000 through 22 hospitals, 10 polyclinics, 2 medical consultation centres, 3 health centres, 186 pharmacies and 860 other medical units.
The medical staff consisted of 3 390 physicians (13.2% dentists), 344 pharmacists and 5 132 persons with medium sanitary training. The patients-per-physician ratio was 247 (255 less compared to the North-East Region, and 168 less compared to the national average).
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