Dolj County

Dolj County (Romanian pronunciation: [dolʒ] ^ⓘ; originally meant Dol(no)-Jiu, "lower Jiu", as opposed to Gorj (upper Jiu))^{[citation needed]} is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova.

Dolj County Județul Dolj
County
Lipscani Street, Craiova Craiova Art Museum Jiu River New Europe Bridge over the Danube Jiu River
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 44.17°N 23.7°E / 44.17; 23.7
Country	Romania
Development region1	Sud-Vest
Historic region	Oltenia
Capital city	Craiova
Government
• Type	County Council
• President of the County Council	Vasile Dorin-Cosmin [ro]
• Prefect2	Dan Diaconu [ro]
Area
• Total	7,414 km2 (2,863 sq mi)
• Rank	7th in Romania
Population  (2021-12-01)[1]
• Total	599,442
• Rank	7th in Romania
• Density	81/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal Code	20wxyz3
Area code	+40 x514
ISO 3166 code	RO-DJ
Car Plates	DJ5
GDP nominal	US$9.400 billion (2024)
GDP per capita	US$6,512 (2015)
Website	County Council County Prefecture
1 The development regions of Romania have no administrative role and were formed in order to manage funds from the European Union 2 as of 2007, the Prefect is not a politician, but a public functionary. He (or she) is not allowed to be a member of a political party, and is banned from having any political activity in the first six months after his resignation (or exclusion) from the public functionaries' corps. 3w, x, y, and z are digits that indicate the city, the street, part of the street, or even the building of the address 4x is a digit indicating the operator: 2 for the former national operator, Romtelecom, and 3 for the other ground telephone networks 5used on both the plates of the vehicles that operate only in the county limits (like utility vehicles, ATVs, etc.), and the ones used outside the county

Demographics

In 2011, the county had a population of 660,544 and a population density of 89/km² (230/sq mi).

• Romanians – over 95.5%^[2]
• Roma – 4.3%
• Unknown - 0.2%

Year	County population[3]
1948	615,301
1956	642,028
1966	691,116
1977	750,328
1992	761,074
2002	734,231
2011	660,544
2021	599,442

Geography

This county has a total area of 7,414 km² (2,863 sq mi).

The entire area is a plain with the Danube on the south forming a wide valley crossed by the Jiu River in the middle. Other small rivers flow through the county, each one forming a small valley. There are some lakes across the county and many ponds and channels in the Danube valley. 6% of the county's area is a desert.^[4]

Neighbours

AB

AR

AG

BC

BH

BN

BT

BV

BR

BZ

CS

CL

CJ

CT

CV

DB

DJ

GL

GR

GJ

HR

HD

IL

IS

IF

MM

MH

MS

NT

OT

PH

SM

SJ

SB

SV

TR

TM

TL

VS

VL

VN

B

• Olt County to the east.
• Mehedinți County to the west.
• Gorj County and Vâlcea County to the north.
• Bulgaria – Vidin Province to the southwest, Montana and Vratsa provinces to the south.

Economy

Agriculture is the county's main industry. The county has a land that is ideal for growing cereals, vegetables, and wines. Other industries are mainly located in the city of Craiova, the largest city in southwestern Romania.

The county's main industries:

• Automotive industry – Ford has a factory.
• Heavy electrical and transport equipment – Electroputere Craiova is the largest factory plant in Romania.
• Aeronautics
• Chemicals processing
• Foods and beverages
• Textiles
• Mechanical parts and components

There are two small ports on the shore of the Danube river – Bechet and Calafat.

People

• Corneliu Baba
• Tudor Gheorghe
• Mircea Mihail Ghiorghiu [ro]
• Alexandru Macedonski
• Titu Maiorescu
• Amza Pellea
• Gheorghe Popescu
• Doina Ruști
• Francisc Șirato
• Marin Sorescu
• Nicolae Titulescu
• Ion Țuculescu
• Nicolae Vasilescu-Karpen
• Mihai Viteazul

Tourism

Major tourist attractions:

• The city of Craiova;
• The city of Calafat;
• Fishing on the Danube;
• The city of Băilești.

Politics

The Dolj County Council, renewed at the 2020 local elections, consists of 36 counsellors, with the following party composition:^[5]

	Party	Seats	Current County Council
	Social Democratic Party (PSD)	16
	National Liberal Party (PNL)	13
	PRO Romania (PRO)	3
	People's Movement Party (PMP)	2
	Ecologist Party of Romania (PER)	2

Administrative divisions

Craiova

Calafat

Danube at Bechet

Dolj County 3 municipalities, 4 towns and 104 communes

Municipalities

• Băilești
• Calafat
• Craiova – capital city; population: 243,765 (as of 2011)

Towns

• Bechet
• Dăbuleni
• Filiași
• Segarcea

Communes

• Afumați
• Almăj
• Amărăștii de Jos
• Amărăștii de Sus
• Apele Vii
• Argetoaia
• Bârca
• Bistreț
• Botoșești-Paia
• Brabova
• Brădești
• Braloștița
• Bratovoești
• Breasta
• Bucovăț
• Bulzești
• Călărași
• Calopăr
• Caraula
• Cârcea
• Cârna
• Carpen
• Castranova
• Catane
• Celaru
• Cerăt
• Cernătești
• Cetate
• Cioroiași
• Ciupercenii Noi
• Coșoveni
• Coțofenii din Dos
• Coțofenii din Față
• Daneți
• Desa
• Dioști
• Dobrești
• Dobrotești
• Drăgotești
• Drănic
• Fărcaș
• Galicea Mare
• Galiciuica
• Gângiova
• Ghercești
• Ghidici
• Ghindeni
• Gighera
• Giubega
• Giurgița
• Gogoșu
• Goicea
• Goiești
• Grecești
• Întorsura
• Ișalnița
• Izvoare
• Leu
• Lipovu
• Măceșu de Jos
• Măceșu de Sus
• Maglavit
• Malu Mare
• Mârșani
• Melinești
• Mischii
• Moțăței
• Murgași
• Negoi
• Orodel
• Ostroveni
• Perișor
• Pielești
• Piscu Vechi
• Plenița
• Pleșoi
• Podari
• Poiana Mare
• Predești
• Radovan
• Rast
• Robănești
• Rojiște
• Sadova
• Sălcuța
• Scăești
• Seaca de Câmp
• Seaca de Pădure
• Secu
• Siliștea Crucii
• Șimnicu de Sus
• Sopot
• Tălpaș
• Teasc
• Terpezița
• Teslui
• Țuglui
• Unirea
• Urzicuța
• Valea Stanciului
• Vârtop
• Vârvoru de Jos
• Vela
• Verbița

Historical county

Județul Dolj
County (Județ)
The building of the Dolj County prefecture from the interwar period.
Coat of arms
Country	Romania
Historic region	Oltenia
Capital city (Reședință de județ)	Craiova
Area
• Total	6,538 km2 (2,524 sq mi)
Population  (1930)
• Total	485,149
• Density	74/km2 (190/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Historically, the county was located in the southwestern part of Greater Romania, in the southwest part of the historical region of Oltenia. Its capital was Craiova. The interwar county territory comprised the central and southwestern part of the current Dolj county. It was bordered to the north with by the counties of Gorj and Valcea, to the west by Mehedinți County, to the east by Romanați County, and to the south by the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

Administration

Map of Dolj County as constituted in 1938.

The county was originally divided into six administrative districts (plăși):^[6]

1. Plasa Amaradia, headquartered at Melinești
2. Plasa Bârca, headquartered at Bârca
3. Plasa Calafat, headquartered at Calafat
4. Plasa Gângiova, headquartered at Gângiova
5. Plasa Ocolul, headquartered at Ocolul
6. Plasa Plenița, headquartered at Plenița

Subsequently, four districts were created in place of two of the prior districts (Plasa Bârca and Plasa Gângiova):

1. Plasa Bechet, headquartered at Bechet
2. Plasa Brabova, headquartered at Brabova
3. Plasa Filiași, headquartered at Filiași
4. Plasa Segarcea, headquartered at Segarcea

Population

According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 485,149 inhabitants, ethnically divided as follows: 96.7% Romanian, 0.5% Jews, 0.3% Germans, 0.3% Hungarians, as well as other minorities.^[7] From the religious point of view, the population was 98.4% Eastern Orthodox, 0.7% Roman Catholic, 0.5% Jewish, as well as other minorities.

Urban population

In 1930, the county's urban population was 91,788 inhabitants, comprising 90.2% Romanians, 2.4% Jews, 2.2% Romanies, 1.7% Germans, 1.3% Hungarians, as well as other minorities.^[7] From the religious point of view, the urban population was composed of 92.7% Eastern Orthodox, 3.1% Roman Catholic, 2.5% Jewish, 0.7% Lutheran, 0.3% Calvinist, 0.3% Greek Catholic, as well as other minorities.