CARAS SEVERIN COUNTY - Geography and history
Placed in the south-western part of Romania, Caras-Severin county has an area of 8 520 km2, representing 3.6% of the country's area. By size, Caras-Severin is the third county. It is bordered by Timis county (in the north), Hunedoara, Gorj and Mehedinti counties (in the east) and Yugoslavia (in the south and west). As of 31 December 2000, the administrative organisation of this county's territory was as follows: 2 municipalities and 6 towns, 69 communes and 287 villages.
From a geographic point of view, Caras-Severin county has all the three classic levels of the Romanian earth. Of the county's territory, mountains represent 65.4%, hills have a lesser extension, 10.8%, and depressions represent 16.5%. Plains occupy the last position, representing 7.3% of the area.
Not far from the Adriatic Sea and sheltered by the Carpathians, the county has a temperate-continental climate (the Banat sub-county) with sub-Mediterranean influences.
The Banat climate subtype is characterised by Atlantic air masses and the invasion of the Mediterranean air masses, which provides the thermal regime with a moderate character, with frequent warm periods in winter, and early springs and relatively high multi-annual average quantities of rainfalls.
The presence of the mostly mountainous geography determined a rich water network consistingof 1 302 km of running waters and 245 ha of alpine and man-made lakes.
Since ancient times, the natural conditions of Caras-Severin county allowed the development of human settlements. The Haiducilor Cave revealed living traces dating from the Mesolithic period, Gornea and Liubcova revealed Neolithic human settlements, and the Bârzava Valley - traces since the Bronze Age. At Ocna de Fier, Oravita and Bocsa traces of the Iron Age were discovered.
Archaeological sources prove the existence in time of the Geto-Dacian, Dacian-Roman and Roman civilisations. The migrating tribes and the Ottoman and Austrian-Habsburg occupations influenced the development of these territories.
Between the 9th and 10th centuries the formation of feudal relationships and political structures was in full process, according to the documentary mentions. Thus, the "Chronicle of Anonymus" mentions about the Principality of Glad the Knez, with its capital city on the present territory of the county. The first documentary mention regarding the Caras shire dates since 1200. During the 17th century, the Banat, covering Western Romania, as well as several Hungarian and Yugoslavian territories, was colonised by the Germans and the Austrians.
County's subsoil is rich in useful ores. Except for oil, significant quantities of balance resources appear, consisting of almost 130 homologated ores, wherein 64 coal and mineral resources, 50 non-metalliferous substances and useful rocks, 6 thermal-mineral and plain industrial waters. The marble resources of Ruschita, resemble the Carrara type of marble.
Vast territories of Caras-Severin county's area of a distinct geographical value were declared natural reservations and were included in the National Parks perimeter. In this context we can mention the natural reservations in the Domogled-Cera Valley area, the Semenic-Caras Quays, the Nera Quais, the Poganis Meadow and others.
Economy
The Caras-Severin industry is a main component of the national economy and concentrates the county's main municipalities and cities. In 2000 there were 3 341 active companies, over 98% with with private capital. By main activity, industry accounted for 16% of the total active companies, while services represented 75.5%.
The county's industrial units produce electric motors and generators, hydraulic turbines, ship motors, and worldwide known steels. The steel produced at Resita can be found in the structures of the Eiffel Tour and the Cernavoda Bridge. The Caransebes municipality contributes in the county's industry by the engine bogies production and wood processing. Mining is well represented by the coal exploitation at Anina and metalliferous ores at Moldova Noua. The agricultural land represents 42.7% (399 694 ha) of the county's total area (851 976 ha).
By usage of the agricultural land, the arable land represents 31.8%, pastures 45.8%, hays 19% and vineyards and orchards 3.4%.
Given the geographic conditions, the Caras-Severin county's agriculture mainly focuses on sheep breeding in private farms.
At the end of 2000, there were 56.7 thousand cattle, 41.9 thousand pigs, 264.7 thousand sheep and goats and 1 175 thousand poultry.
The cereal production in the same year was 160.2 thousand tons, of which wheat and rye 61.0 thousand tons, barley and two-row barley 10.3 thousand tons, corn beans 76.7 thousand tons.
At the end of 2000 Caras-Severin county had 1 940 km of public roads, of which 740 km of modernised roads. As of 31 December 2000 the exploited railway lines were 400 km long, of which 160 km were electrified.
Placed in the south of Caras-Severin county, the Danube river is an important connection to Europe's countries and transportation means of Romania.
The volume of the wood used in the economical circuit in 2000 was 511.5 thousand m3, representing 30.6% of the total mass volume of the West Region including Caras-Severin county.
As of 31 July 2000, there were 78 structures of tourist accommodation, of which 17 were hotels, and the total accommodation capacity was 8 596 places, of which 5 261 places were in hotels. There were 778 thousand persons staying over night, the highest figure in the West Region, resulting in a 44.3% usage of the functional capacity index of Caras-Severin county, as compared to the 36.3% index of the West Region.
Population and social environment
Caras-Severin county is the third in area, but due to the geographic and historical characteristics of the area, as well as the recent demographic evolution (related to the natural growth and emigration rate), is placed on the penultimate place in Romania by density (41.5 inhabitants/km2). The population as of 1 July 2000 was 353 209 inhabitants.
In Caras-Severin county the life expectancy is 69.5 years, with 73.3 years for females, higher than for males (66.1 years).
The average age of Caras-Severin county's population was 37.8 years, above the country's average (37.2 years).
The birth rate in 2000 was 9 per 1 000 inhabitants, a decrease from 9.2 in 1996 and under the country's rate.
The overall mortality rate was 12.8 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2000, determining a negative natural growth of 3.8 persons per 1 000 inhabitants. The infant mortality was 19.2 deaths of children under 1 year per 1 000 live births, over the country's rate (18.6).
In 2000 the marriage rate was 5.9 per 1 000 inhabitants (6.4 in 1996), and the divorce rate was 1.31 per 1 000 inhabitants (1.59 in 1996).
If in 1996 the employed civil population was 144.6 thousand persons (46.1% females), the economic decline made this number fall to 137.9 thousand employed persons (46.3% females) in 2000.
The highest share of the employed civil population in 2000 was in agriculture and forestry (45.3%), followed by services (28.6%) and industry and construction (26.1%). The employees represented 51.6% of the total employed civil population.
The average net salary was 1 850.5 thousand lei, 13.5% under the national average and 9.4% under the West Region's average.
Between 1996 and 1998, the unemployment rate in Caras-Severin was above the national rate, and under this figure during the following period (1999 and 2000).
In 2000, there were 14.8 thousand registered unemployed persons (52.3% females). Among the female population, the unemployment rate (10.8%) was over the total unemployment rate (9.7%).
During the 2000/2001 school year, the educational activity was provided by 4 366 teachers and a network made up of 548 educational units of which 255 in pre-school education, 260 in primary and secondary education, 31 in high school education (28 high schools) and 2 higher education institutions. There were 18 pre-school pupils for a teacher, 14.6 and 12.9 pupils in primary and secondary schools, respectively.
The school population totalled 67 046 persons. The enrollment gross rate by levels was 96.3% in primary and secondary schools, 76.1% in pre-school units and 67.7% in high schools.
Healthcare was carried out by 675 physicians (99 dentists) and the patient-per-physician ratio in 2000 was 523 persons, much over the West Region value (+186 persons) and over the country's average (+108 persons). There were also 69 pharmacists and 2 086 persons with a medium medical training level. The county had 550 functional medical units, of which 8 hospitals, 6 clinics, 22 medical consultation centres, 3 health centres and 88 pharmacies.
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