Caraș County

Județul Caraș
Județul Caraș
County (Județ)
	The building of the prefecture of Caraș County in the interwar period, currently Oravița city hall.
	Coat of arms
Country	Romania
Historic region	Banat
Capital city (Reședință de județ)	Oravița
Established	1925
Ceased to exist	Administrative reform of 1950
Area
• Total	4,693 km2 (1,812 sq mi)
Population (1930)
• Total	200,929
• Density	43/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Caraș County is one of the historic counties of Romania in the historic region of the Banat. The county seat was Oravița. The county was founded in 1926, following the division of the former Caraș-Severin County.

In 1938, the county was disestablished and incorporated into the newly formed Ținutul Timiș, but it was re-established in 1940 after the fall of Carol II's regime – only to be abolished 10 years later by the Communist regime on September 6, 1950.

Geography

Caraș County covered 4,693 km² and was located in the Banat region in the southwestern part of Greater Romania. Currently, the territory that comprised Caraș County is mostly now included in the reconstituted Caraș-Severin County. In the interwar period, the county neighbored Timiș-Torontal County to the north and northwest, Severin County to the east and northeast, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to the west, south, and southwest.

Administrative organization

Administratively, Caraș County was originally divided into five districts (plăși):^[1]

Plasa Bocșa-Montană
Plasa Bozovici
Plasa Moldova-Nouă
Plasa Oravița
Plasa Reșița

Subsequently, a sixth district was established:

Plasa Sasca-Montană

The county contained two urban communes (cities): Oravița (the county's headquarters) and Reșița (the largest city of the county).

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county's population was 200,929, ethnically divided as follows: 69.5% Romanians, 12.8% Germans, 4.9% Serbs and Croats, 3.6% Czechs and Slovaks, 2.8% Romanies, 2.5% Hungarians, as well as other minorities.^[2] The county's population was divided religiously as follows: 70.3% Eastern Orthodox, 21.5% Roman Catholic, 5.1% Greek Catholic, 1.5% Baptist, as well as other minorities.^[3]

Urban population

In the year 1930, the county's urban population was 29,453, ethnically divided as follows: 43.4% Germans, 42.2% Romanians, 8.8% Hungarians, 1.6% Czechs and Slovaks, 1.4% Jews, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population consisted of 50.5% Roman Catholic, 39.7% Eastern Orthodox, 3.7% Greek Catholic, 2.1% Reformed, 1.7% Jewish, 1.6% Lutheran, as well as other minorities.

References

^ Portretul României Interbelice – Județul Caraș
^ Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 116-119
^ Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 579-580