Bistrița (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈbistrit͡sa] ⓘ; German: Bistritz, archaic Nösen,[3] Transylvanian Saxon: Bästerts, Hungarian: Beszterce) is the capital city of Bistrița-Năsăud County, in northern Transylvania, Romania.

There is a project for the creation of a metropolitan area that will contain the municipality of Bistrița and 3 surrounding localities (Șieu-Măgheruș, Budacu de Jos, and Livezile), whose combined population would be over 91,600 inhabitants.

[citation needed] A large part of settlers were fugitives, convicts, and poor people looking for lands and opportunities.

In 1353, King Louis I of Hungary granted the town the right to organize an annual 15-day fair on Saint Bartholomew day, as well as a seal containing the coat of arms of an ostrich with a horseshoe in its beak.

[10] The community was Orthodox with a strong Hasidic section, but there were also Jews who adopted German and Hungarian culture.

The Jews of Bistrița, as elsewhere in Hungary, were subjected to restrictions, and Jewish men of military age were drafted for forced labor service.

At its peak, the ghetto held close to 6,000 Jews, including those brought in from the neighboring communities in Beszterce-Naszód County.

Among these were the Jews of Borgóbeszterce, Borgóprund, Galacfalva, Kisilva, Marosborgó, Nagyilva, Nagysajó, Naszód, Óradna, and Romoly.

By October of that year, Romanian and Soviet troops gained control of all of Northern Transylvania, which was reintegrated into Romania in March 1945.

[18] According to the 2011 census, there were 75,076 inhabitants of Bistrița,[19] making it the 30th largest city in Romania, with the following ethnic makeup: Prior to World War II there was a sizable Jewish community living in the town.

[20] Given continuing discrimination and unfavorable political conditions, the Jewish population declined steadily as a result of emigration to Israel, the United States, and Canada.

In the PlayStation 2 game Shadow Hearts, Bistrița (where it is spelled "Biztritz") was a major place and home to the role-playing character Keith Valentine.