The territory was famous for its apiaries, that's why it was named from the Hungarian méh word meaning bee.

In the North-West there are the Mehedinți Mountains with heights up to 1500 m, part of the Western end of the Southern Carpathians.

The county was originally divided into four administrative districts (plăși):[6] Subsequently, Plasa Câmpul was disbanded and replaced with five more districts: According to the 1930 census data, the county population was 303,878 inhabitants, ethnically divided as follows: 98.7% Romanians, 1.2% Romanis, as well as other minorities.

From the religious point of view, the population was 99.0% Eastern Orthodox, 0.5% Roman Catholic, 0.2% Jewish, as well as other minorities.

In 1930, the county's urban population comprised 91.3% Romanians, 2.5% Germans, 1.3% Romanies, 1.3% Jews, 1.1% Serbs and Croats, as well as other minorities.