Timiș is the largest county in Romania, occupying 8,696.7 km2, i.e. 3.65% of the country's area. It is crossed by the
46th parallel north, the
21st meridian east and the
22nd meridian east. On its territory is the westernmost point of Romania, i.e.
Beba Veche, at 20° 15 44, in the
Triplex Confinium point. Timiș County is part of the
West Development Region along with the counties of
Arad,
Caraș-Severin and
Hunedoara, being located in the center of the historical province of
Banat. Due to its geographical position, almost a third of the county's borders are at the same time state borders. Thus, in the northwestern part, it borders
Csongrád-Csanád County (
Hungary), 18 km of this border being on the
Mureș River. To the southwest, between
Beba Veche and
Lățunaș, Timiș County borders
Serbia. The land connection with the counties of the neighboring countries is ensured by the border crossing points from
Cenad,
Moravița and
Jimbolia. The neighboring Romanian counties with Timiș County are
Arad to the north,
Hunedoara to the east and
Caraș-Severin to the southeast.
Neighbours •
Caraș-Severin County to the Southeast. •
Hunedoara County to the East •
Arad County to the North. •
Hungary to the Northwest -
Csongrád-Csanád County. •
Serbia to the Southwest -
South Banat District,
Central Banat District and
North Banat District.
Relief The relief is characterized by the predominance of
plains, which cover the western part (low plain) and the central part (high plain) of the county. Timiș County features all
landforms, with altitudes between 75 m in Banat Plain and 1,374 m in
Poiana Ruscă Mountains. Proportionally, the plain covers about 6,700 km2, representing 77.2% of the county's area; the hills cover about 1,650 km2, i.e. 19.01%; and the mountains cover a relatively small area of 300 km2, i.e. 3.45%. In the east of the county lie the pre-mountain hills of Buziaș and the southern sector of the Lipova Plateau, whose peaks rise to altitudes between 200 and 400 m. The hills of Lăpugiu, Făget, Lugoj, Lipova, Silagiu and Sacoș are rich in pastures, orchards of fruit trees, vineyards, but also in cereal crops. The relief in the eastern part of the county is dominated by the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, with deep valleys and steep slopes, with heights that rarely exceed 1300 m (Padeș peak – 1374 m, Rusca peak – 1355 m).
Natural resources Located in the southeastern part of the
Pannonian Plain, the subsoil of Timiș County there are deposits of
lignite (
Sinersig),
basalt (
Lucareț–
Șanovița),
manganese (
Pietroasa),
clay (
Biled,
Cărpiniș,
Jimbolia,
Lugoj and
Sânnicolau Mare),
crude oil and
gas (in the western part of the county),
sand (
Șag) and glass sand (
Groși–
Făget,
Tomești and
Gladna Montană).
Hydrography in
Timișoara The hydrographic network of Timiș County, spread over 3,104 km, is composed of two hydrographic basins: Bega–Timiș–Caraș and Mureș. The most important rivers in size and hydropower potential in the county, which cross the territory through the center, dividing it into two halves, south and north, are
Timiș and
Bega. Timiș is the largest inland river in Banat, which has its sources on the eastern slopes of the Semenic Mountains, in
Caraș-Severin County. The river is formed at the confluence of three branches: Semenic, Grădiște and Brebu. It crosses the whole of Timiș County, then passes into Serbia where it flows into the
Danube, to
Pančevo. Bega River springs from the Poiana Ruscă Mountains and flows into the
Tisza after a route of 244 km, being its southernmost tributary. Downstream, towards the western edge, up to the border, the course of the Bega River is completely canalized. The
Bega Canal is navigable both in Romania and in Serbia, having a length of 44 km only in Romania. The natural lakes, with small areas and depths, are represented by the lake complex of
Satchinez (40 ha; 1.5 m deep), the two lakes of
Becicherecu Mic (one of 33 ha and another of 13 ha), the Petra pond of
Jebel, etc. Between 1969 and 1975, pond-like lakes for
flood control,
irrigation and
fishing were arranged on the courses of both Timiș and Bega. The largest of these,
Lake Surduc, was arranged on
Gladna stream, a tributary of the Bega, and has an area of 460 ha and a volume of 51 million m3. In the county there are also two lakes with hot (20 °C) and mineral water at
Românești, with an area of 50 m2 and the muddy volcano from
Ohaba-Forgaci, in the Magheruș valley, of 50 m2. The high density of the hydrographic network, the low slopes of the riverbeds in the plain sector, the reduced depth of the groundwater, the presence of
ultisols, all favor the floods and marshes. To reduce the amplitude of these phenomena, since the first half of the 18teenth century, large engineering works (damming, canalization, draining etc.) were made in the region, most of which are still functional today. Among the major
flash floods and
floods in the Banat Plain, the most important were those of May 1912, June 1966 and
April 2005.
Flora The natural vegetation, strongly influenced by human activities, is characterized by the small-scale presence of
forest-steppe plants and by a higher frequency of hydro- and hygrophilous vegetation in low plains and meadows with excess moisture. The extensive agricultural crops in the plain alternate with small areas of secondary meadows dominated by fescue associations (
Festuca valesiaca,
Festuca rupicola and
Festuca pseudovina) mixed with wormwood (
Artemisia austriaca) and others. The deciduous forests, made up of pedunculate oak (
Quercus robur), Austrian oak (
Quercus cerris) and Hungarian oak (
Quercus frainetto), occupy insularly or on compact areas the Lipova Plateau, the Lugoj and Pogăniș Hills and partly the Gătaia Plain. In the eastern extremity of Timiș County there are sessile oak forests (
Quercus petraea) mixed with Austrian oak (
Quercus cerris), beech forests (
Fagus sylvatica) mixed with hornbeam (
Carpinus betulus), and the upper slopes of the Poiana Ruscă Mountains are covered with
spruce forests mixed with
fir and
beech. In Timiș County there are 45
nature reserves that total 134,766.49 ha or about 13% of the county's area.
Fauna The fauna, adapted to the relief and vegetation conditions, includes steppe species (
hares,
ground squirrels,
polecats,
field mice,
moles,
rollers,
quails,
partridges,
larks,
starlings,
lizards, various insects), forest species (
deer,
squirrels,
bears,
wolves,
foxes,
wild boars,
wildcats,
dormice,
jays,
salamanders, etc.) and water species (
herons,
mallards,
geese,
storks,
frogs and a wide variety of fish, such as
pike,
barbel,
Prussian carp,
wels,
perch,
carp, etc.).
Climate The climate has a moderate temperate
continental character, with hot summers and mild winters due to both the influences of the oceanic (from the west) and Mediterranean (from the south and southwest) air masses and the fact that over 85% of the territory belongs to the plain climate (the remaining 15% belongs to the climate of hilly and mountainous regions). Due to the high uniformity of the relief, the average annual temperatures are poorly differentiated on the territory of Timiș County. The annual averages are close to 11 °C in the region with plain climate and decrease by 1–2 °C on the hills in the east of the county. The averages of the warmest month (July) exceed 21 °C in the plain and fall below 18 °C in the east. The averages of the coldest month (January) are higher than –2 °C in the plain and rise to values higher than –1 °C in the east of the county. The absolute maximum temperature (42 °C) was recorded in
Banloc (24 July 2007), and the absolute minimum temperature (–35.3 °C) in Timișoara (29 January 1963). The average multiannual precipitation amounts to increasing quantities from west to east, i.e. 569 mm in Jimbolia, 620.6 mm in Timișoara, 734 mm in Făget and over 1,200 mm on the ridges of the Poiana Ruscă Mountains. The maximum rainfall occurs in June, as a result of the intensification of cyclonic activity in the
North Atlantic or in the Mediterranean basin. On the other hand, the lowest average monthly amounts fall in February–March. The snow layer is unstable and has insignificant thicknesses. Predominant winds blow from the north (16.9%), east (15%), northwest (9.1%) and south (8.4%), with average annual speeds between 1.2 and 3.8 m/s. Local winds include
austru (dry wind from the south),
coșavă (high-speed cold wind),
rușavăț (in the Banat Plain) and mountain breezes (in the east). == History ==