History
Bihar was one of the oldest counties of the Kingdom of Hungary, formed before the 12th century. It was ruled by Ottoman Empire as Varat Province between 1660-1692.
In 1876 the Kingdom of Hungary was divided into seven Circles, with a total of 64 counties The Circle on the left bank of the Theiss contained eight counties, including Bihar Megye (Megye means county), with the other seven being Békés, Hajdú, Máramaros, Szabolcs, Szatmár, Szilágy and Ugocsa. Bihar county in the Austro-Hungarian Empire contained Debrecen and Nagyvárad.
In 1918/19 (confirmed by the Treaty of Trianon 1920), about 75% of the county became part of Romania. The west of the county remained in Hungary. The capital of this smaller county Bihar was Berettyóújfalu.
After World War II, the Hungarian county Bihar was merged with Hajdú County to form Hajdú-Bihar county. The southernmost part of Hungarian Bihar (the area around Sarkad and Okány) went to Békés County.
The Romanian part of former Bihar County now forms the Romanian Bihor County, except the southernmost part (around Beliu), which is in Arad County. This part was occupied by Hungary between 1940-1944 during World War II.
Read more about this topic: Bihar County
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