Oradea is the county seat of Bihor County, Crişana, Romania. It is located in the west of Romania, on the Crişul Repede River, in the immediate vicinity of the Hungarian border.
Oradea is also the most important city in the Crişana historical region.
At the 2002 census, the municipality had 206,614 inhabitants.The metropolitan area, which includes 11 neighboring communes, had population of 249,746 inhabitants in 2002, 68.2% of Romanians, 28.7% of Hungarians.In the interwar period, 20.6% of the city's population was made up of Jews, as well as communities of Germans, Slovaks, Ukrainians.
Spa resorts Baile Felix and Baile 1 Mai are 8 km and 4 km away from the town. In addition to internationally recognized thermal effects for therapeutic effects, there is a spectacular karst formation, namely a 86-meter deep avenue, called the "Betfair Crater", as well as Peza Peak, with a unique tropical vegetation in Europe.
For centuries, Oradea has been an important reference point for the area, being the most important cultural and commercial center. In the Middle Ages, there was an astronomical observer in Oradea fortress, and astronomers working there used the Oradea meridian as a 0 ° meridian.
