Bacău (Romanian pronunciation: [baˈkəw] ( listen)) is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeş-Făget, in Transylvania.

In October 31, 2011, it had a population of 583,588 and the population density was 88/km².

The ethnic breakdown was as follows:

According to the 2001 census the Csángó (Romanian: Ceangăi) Hungarians number 4,373 people (0.7%). Some estimates put the total number of Csángós at around 70,000.

This county has a total area of 6,621 km².

The West side of the county are mountains from the Eastern Carpathian group. Here, along the valleys of the Oituz River and Trotuş River there are two important links between Moldavia and Transylvania. To the East side, the heights decrease and the lowest point can be found on the Siret River valley which crosses the county from North to South in the middle. On the East side there is the Moldavian Plateau crossed by many small rivers.

The county of Bacău was one of the most industrialized regions in the communist period and it remained Moldavia's most important industrial center ever since. There are two large oil refineries at Oneşti and Dărmăneşti. Following the collapse of the communist regime, Bacău continued to be the region's most important GDP supplier, but the county became more famous for the controversial figures involved in local economy than for its performance.

Bacău (Romanian pronunciation: [baˈkəw] ( listen), German: Barchau, Hungarian: Bákó) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. As of 2011 census, it has a population of 133,460, making it the 15th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, and on the Bistriţa River (which meets the Siret River about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the south of Bacău). The Ghimeş Pass links Bacău to Transylvania.

Similarly to most urban centers in Moldavia, Bacău emerged on a ford that allowed water passage.Colonists played a significant role in the development of the town. Archaeological finds, some surface or semi-buried dwellings from the second half of the 15th century, suggest that Hungarians started to settle in the region after 1345–1347 when the territory was under the control of the king of Hungary. They mainly occupied the flat banks of the river Bistriţa. Discoveries of a type of 14th-century grey ceramic that has also been found in Northern Europe also suggests the presence of German colonists from the north. Originally the town focused around the Roman Catholic community that settled near a regular local market frequented by the population of the region on the lower reaches of the river.

Victor-Viorel Ponta (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈviktor ˈponta]; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian jurist and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its leader since 2010, he has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Gorj County since 2004. In the Emil Boc cabinet, he was Minister-Delegate for Relations with Parliament from 2008 to 2009. The joint leader of the Social Liberal Union, he became Prime Minister of Romania in May 2012.

He was born in Bucharest, completing secondary studies in 1991 at the city's Ion Neculce High School. In 1995, he graduated from the University of Bucharest's Law faculty. In 2000, he received a master's degree in International Criminal Law from the University of Catania; he received a degree from the Carol I National Defence University in 2002, and in 2003 received a doctorate in Criminal Law from the University of Bucharest and a master's degree in Political Management from the Social Democratic Institute. He has written several books in his field, including one on the International Criminal Court, the subject of his doctoral thesis. Between 1996 and 1998, and since 2002, he has taught Criminal Law at the Romanian-American University. From 1995 to 1998, Ponta worked as a prosecutor handling cases at the Sector 1 courthouse. From 1998 to 2001, he was a prosecutor at the Supreme Court of Justice in the anti-corruption division, in particular dealing with economic and financial crimes. From 2000 to 2001, he coordinated the Bureau for Combating Money Laundering.