Beclean

The town lies on the Transylvanian Plateau, at the confluence of the river Someșul Mare with its affluent, the Șieu. It is located in the western part of the county, at a distance of {{cvt|30|km}} from the town of Năsăud and {{cvt|36|km}} from the county seat, Bistrița; the city of Dej is {{cvt|27|km}} to the west, in Cluj County.{{cite web|url=http://primariabeclean.ro/web/date-generale/|title=Date generale|lang=ro|website=primariabeclean.ro|publisher=Beclean town hall|access-date=November 21, 2021}}

File:RO BN Castelul Bethlen din Beclean (2).jpg

The town of Beclean is the ancestral seat of the Hungarian Bethlen family.

In 1850, the town had 1,475 inhabitants, of which 805 were Romanians, 327 Hungarians, 163 Jews, 163 Roma, 5 Germans, and 12 of other ethnicities.{{cite web|url=http://www.kia.hu/konyvtar/erdely/erd2002.htm|title=ERDÉLY ETNIKAI ÉS FELEKEZETI STATISZTIKÁJA|access-date=2020-11-07|archive-date=2022-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007065315/http://www.kia.hu/konyvtar/erdely/erd2002.htm|url-status=dead}} At the 2011 census, it had 10,628 inhabitants; of those, 81.6% were Romanians, 14.2% Hungarians, and 3.7% Roma. At the 2021 census, Beclean had a population of 11,260.{{cite web|url=https://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tabel-1.03_1.3.1-si-1.03.2.xls|title=Populația rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021|publisher=INSSE|language=ro|date=31 May 2023}}

{{Historical populations

|source = Census data

|1850 |1475

|1910 |3070

|1920 |3088

|1930 |3334

|1941 |3439

|1966 |3657

|1977 |6957

|1992 |11606

|2002 |12033

|2011 |10628

|2021 |11260

}}

File:Beclean pe Someş 3.jpg

Beclean is the site of an important railway junction (the train station is called Beclean pe Someș), where secondary routes to Sighetu Marmației and Suceava diverge from the main Căile Ferate Române railway line 400 from Brașov to Satu Mare.

The town is traversed by two national roads: {{ill|DN17|ro}} (part of European route E58), which joins Dej in Cluj County to Suceava, and {{ill|DN17D|ro}}, which joins Beclean to Cârlibaba in Suceava County. Additionally, county road DJ172A connects it to Gherla in Cluj County, while road DJ172F provides an alternate route to Dej.

File:Scoala Grigore Silasi.jpg

Beclean is home to four high schools: the Petru Rareș National College,{{cite web|url=http://petrurares.ro|title=Colegiul Național Petru Rareș – Beclean|lang=ro| website=petrurares.ro|access-date=November 21, 2021}} the Henri Coandă Technological High School,{{cite web|url=https://www.lthc.ro|title=Liceul Tehnologic "Henri Coandă", Beclean|lang=ro| website=www.lthc.ro|access-date=November 21, 2021}} the Beclean Agricultural Technological High School,{{cite web|url=http://www.agricolbeclean.ro|title=Liceul Tehnologic Agricol Beclean|lang=ro| website=www.agricolbeclean.ro|access-date=November 21, 2021}} and High School Nr. 1. There is also a middle school, the Grigore Silași Gymnasium.{{cite web|url=http://www.scoalagrigoresilasi.ro|title=Școala Gimnazială "Grigore Silași" Beclean|lang=ro| website=www.scoalagrigoresilasi.ro|access-date=November 21, 2021}}

• {{ill|Radu Afrim|ro}} (born 1968), theater director
• Károly Bárányos (1892–1956), Hungarian politician
• György Bernády (1864–1938), mayor of Târgu Mureș
• Cornel Cornea (born 1981), footballer
• Cristian Costin (born 1998), footballer
• {{ill|Grigore Silași|ro}} (1836–1897), Greek Catholic priest and philologist
• Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash (born 1948), Israeli general

{{Reflist}}

• {{Youtube|id=rTC3Rd3fAyQ|Drone views of Beclean}}

File:RusuDeJosBN.JPG

{{commons category|Beclean}}

{{Bistriţa-Năsăud County}}

Category:Populated places in Bistrița-Năsăud County

Category:Localities in Transylvania

Category:Towns in Romania

Category:Monotowns in Romania

Category:Jewish communities in Romania