Coșteiu (; ; ) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Coșteiu (commune seat), Hezeriș, Păru, Țipari and Valea Lungă Română. It is located on the right bank of the Timiș River, downstream from Lugoj.
History
The first recorded mention of Coșteiu dates from 1597. The settlement was formed around a medieval castle known as Kastély, from which its name is derived (in Hungarian kastély means "castle"). On the Josephinische Landesaufnahme of 1717, it was listed under the name Gustik. Today's village was formed by merging three hamlets after 1945: Coșteiu Mare (), Coșteiu Mic () and Sâlha ().
The Bega Canal played an important role in the history of Coșteiu. Work on the canal began in 1728. To regularize Bega, Dutch engineer built a dam near Coșteiu between 1759 and 1760. It was rebuilt in 1860 after the catastrophic floods of the previous year.
Demographics
Coșteiu had a population of 3,815 inhabitants at the 2021 census, up 4.95% from the 2011 census. Most inhabitants are Romanians (77.56%), larger minorities being represented by Hungarians (9.8%) and Roma (5.6%). For 6.63% of the population, ethnicity is unknown. By religion, most inhabitants are Orthodox (73.42%), but there are also minorities of Reformed (6.31%), Pentecostals (4.01%), Greek Catholics (2.77%), Roman Catholics (2.01%), Adventists (1.83%) and Baptists (1.23%). For 7.02% of the population, religious affiliation is unknown. Census Ethnic composition Year Population Romanians Hungarians Germans Roma 1880 4,456 4,376 29 47 – 1890 5,343 4,127 1,119 80 – 1900 6,020 4,340 1,581 79 – 1910 6,373 4,281 2,021 34 – 1920 5,557 3,816 1,729 6 – 1930 5,590 3,882 1,591 27 61 1941 5,213 3,679 1,466 16 – 1956 4,575 3,377 1,182 7 5 1966 4,500 3,383 981 21 110 1977 4,535 3,642 814 19 53 1992 3,762 3,087 593 14 58 2002 3,830 3,171 501 12 132 2011 3,635 2,912 375 8 84 2021 3,815 2,959 374 7 214 Politics and administration The commune of Coșteiu is administered by a mayor and a local council composed of 13 councilors. The mayor, Petru Carebia, from the Social Democratic Party, has been in office since 2004. As from the 2024 local elections, the local council has the following composition by political parties: Party Seats Composition Social Democratic Party 6 Save Romania Union 3 National Liberal Party 2 Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania 2
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