Nord-Vest (development region)

Nord-Vest (English: North West) is a development region in Romania. It was created in 1998. Its main function is to organise regional development projects and manage money sent from the European Union.

Counties
The Nord-Vest region is made up of these counties: 

 County population 2011  Bihor 568,229 Bistriţa-Năsăud 301,425 Cluj 676,026 Maramureş 472,117 Satu Mare 336,117 Sălaj 225,631 Total 2,579,545
Source: 

Economy

The economy of Nord-Vest is mainly agricultural (46% of its population having agriculture as their main occupation), even though there is some heavy and light industry in the major regional industrial centres of Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Baia Mare, Bistriţa, Satu Mare and Zalau. 

There are also several mining centres in Maramureş county and in the Apuseni Mountains. Many of these mining areas have been partly shut down, resulting in significant local unemployment, even though unemployment in the Nord-Vest region is about 4%, below the Romanian national average of 5.5%. The government gives incentives to investors who plan to create jobs in these areas and diversify the economy.

The region's GDP per capita is slightly below the Romanian average (approximately 90% of the Romanian average), despite the fact that Cluj-Napoca and Oradea  are some of the most prosperous cities in Romania.

Infrastructure
The region is crossed by five European roads – E60, E81, E79, E671 and E58. Additionally, the A3 freeway is currently in construction and will cross Cluj, Sălaj and Bihor counties in the region. Nord-Vest also it has an extensive railway infrastructure connecting most of the important towns.

The region has four airports – Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Satu Mare and Baia Mare. Cluj-Napoca, Oradea and Baia Mare airports have international flights, while Satu Mare airport only handles domestic flights.

Demographics

Romania's Nord-Vest development region has a total population of 2,579,545 (2011 Census). It is one of the most ethnically-diverse in Romania, with 25% of the population coming from a minority group. After Romanians, who make up 75% of the population, the largest minority group are Hungarians, who comprise slightly less than 20% of the population. This is mainly due to area's history as part of Austria-Hungary. Hungarians are mainly concentrated in urban centres, especially those near the Hungarian border, such as Oradea and Satu Mare. The third largest minority are Roma people, who make up 3.5%, slightly above the national average. Roma people are spread relatively evenly throughout the region, even though the highest proportions are in Bihor county, where approximately 5% of the population is Roma.

Romanian is the most widely spoken language, spoken as a main language by 76.6% of the inhabitants of the region. The other important language is Hungarian, spoken by 19.9% of the population as a main language. Religion is mainly based on ethnic groups, with the largest religion being Romanian Orthodoxy, observed by 68.38% of the population, mostly ethnic Romanians. Other important religions are the Reformed Church (12.70%), Roman Catholicism (6.86%) and Greek Catholicism (4.20%).

Citizenship

99.9% of the population of Nord-Vest region has Romanian citizenship. There are 2,343 residents, or 0.09% of the population, of foreign citizenship, including:

Moldovan citizenship: 621
Italian citizenship: 298
Ukrainian citizenship: 156

2,687 people, or 0.10% of the population, has dual citizenship.

 References 

Category:Development regions of Romania