Hunedoara County

Hunedoara County (Romanian pronunciation: [huneˈdo̯ara] ⓘ) is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion.

This article is about a county in Romania. For the historic county in the Kingdom of Hungary, see Hunyad County.
Hunedoara County
Județul Hunedoara
County
Coat of arms of Hunedoara County
Coat of arms
Administrative map of Romania with Hunedoara county highlighted
Coordinates: 45.78°N 22.93°E / 45.78; 22.93
CountryRomania
Development regionVest
Historical regionTransylvania
CapitalDeva
Area
 • Total7,063 km2 (2,727 sq mi)
 • Rank9th
Population
 (2021-12-01)[1]
 • Total361,657
 • Rank20th
 • Density51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Telephone code(+40) 254 or (+40) 354[2]
ISO 3166 codeRO-HD
GDP (nominal)US$ 2.716 billion (2015)
GDP per capitaUS$ 6,853 (2015)
WebsiteCounty Council
Prefecture
www.orastie.info

Name

In Hungarian, it is known as Hunyad megye, in German as Kreis Hunedoara, and in Slovak as Huňadská župa. The county got its name from the city of Hunedoara (Hungarian: Vajdahunyad), which is the Romanian transliteration of the Hungarian Hunyadvár (lit. 'Castle of Hunyad', archaic: Hwnyadwar), old name of the municipality. That most likely originated from the Hungarian huny verb meaning 'to close' or 'to die', but may also come from wear the name of the Huns, who were headquartered near for a time and were the first to establish solid rule over the land since the Dacians.[3]

Geography
Romanian Counties

This county has a total area of 7,063 km2.

Mainly, the relief is made up of mountains, divided by the Mureș River valley which crosses the county from East to West. To the North side there are the Apuseni Mountains and to the South side there are mountains from the Southern Carpathians group, Parâng Mountains group and Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group: Orastie and Surianu Mountains (South-East), Retezat Mountains (South), Poiana Ruscai Mountains (South-West).

Except from the Mureș River with its tributaries Strei, Râul Mare and Cerna which forms wide valleys, in the North side Crișul Alb River also forms a valley in the Apuseni Mountains - Zarand region. In the South side along the Jiu River with its two branches Jiul de Vest and Jiul de Est, there is a large depression, and an accessible route towards Southern Romania - Oltenia..

Neighbours

Economy
Gold and sphalerite on quartz, from Sacarîmb, Hunedoara County. Scale at bottom is one inch, with a rule at one cm.
European bison in Hațeg nature reserve

Hunedoara County was one of the most industrialised areas during the communist period, and was very negatively affected when the industry collapsed after the fall of the communist regime.[4]

The industry in the Hunedoara county is linked with the mining activity in the region. In the mountains, from ancient times, metals and coal have been exploited. Nowadays, there is one large industrial complex at Hunedoara owned by Mittal Steel. Also energy related enterprises are located in the county - one of the biggest thermoelectric plant is located at Mintia.

The Jiu Valley, located in the south of the country, has been a major mining area throughout the second half of the 19th century and the 20th century, but many mines were closed down in the years following the collapse of the communist regime.

The city of Hunedoara has also suffered significantly from the 1990s onwards - under communism it contained the largest steel works in Romania (until Galați took the lead), but activity gradually diminished after the fall of communism due to the loss of the market. This was a blow to the overall prosperity of the town, which is now recovering through new investments.

Agricultural activities also take place in Hunedoara county, which include livestock raising, and fruit and cereal cultivation. The county also has touristic potential, especially through the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains and the Corvin Castle.

The predominant industries in the county are:

  • Metallurgy.
  • Construction materials.
  • Textile industry.
  • Mining equipment.
  • Food industry.

In the 1990s, a large amount of mines were closed down, leaving Hunedoara county with the highest unemployment rate in Romania, of 9.6%, in comparison to the national average of 5.5%.

Tourism
Ruins of Dacian temples of Sarmizegetusa Regia
Corvin Castle in Hunedoara is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe and features in one of the lists of the Seven Wonders of Romania.
Fortress of Deva in Deva

Retezat National Park and other picturesque regions makes it one of the most beautiful counties in Romania. Also there can be found Dacian and Roman complexes in the Orăştie Mountains.

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

Demographics

According to the 2021 census, the county had a population of 361,657 and the population density was 51.2/km2 (132.6/sq mi).[5]

The population of Hunedoara county is the second eldest of all Romanian counties, with an average age of the residents of 45.5 years, only behind Teleorman County (46.3 years).[6] Hunedoara's Jiu River Valley is traditionally a coal-mining region, and its high level of industrialisation drew many people from other regions of Romania in the period before the fall of the communist regime.

Ethnic composition of Hunedoara County (2021)

  Romanians (95.01%)
  Hungarians (2.90%)
  Romani (1.72%)
  Germans (Transylvanian Saxons) (0.16%)
  Others (0.21%)
Year County population[7]
1948 306,955 Steady
1956 381,902 Increase
1966 474,602 Increase
1977 514,436 Increase
1992 547,993 Increase
2002 485,712 Decrease
2011 396,253 Decrease
2021 361,657 Decrease

Politics

The Hunedoara County Council, renewed at the 2020 local elections, consists of 32 counsellors, with the following party composition:[8]

    Party Seats Current County Council
  Social Democratic Party (PSD) 17                                  
  PNL-UDMR-PNȚCD Alliance 7                                  
  PRO Romania (PRO) 4                                  
  Save Romania Union (USR) 2                                  
  People's Movement Party (PMP) 2                                  

Administrative divisions
Deva
Hunedoara

Hunedoara County has 7 municipalities, 7 towns and 55 communes. Although Hunedoara County is the most urbanized county in Romania (75% of the population is urban - in 2011)[9] it does not contain any city of more than 100,000 people. Also, following the de-industrialization after the communism fall, the major urban centres in the county, particularly Hunedoara and Petroșani, suffered significant population decline.

Historical county
Județul Hunedoara
County (Județ)
The Hunedoara County Prefecture building of the interwar period, currently serving the same function.
The Hunedoara County Prefecture building of the interwar period, currently serving the same function.
Coat of arms of Județul Hunedoara
Coat of arms
Country Romania
Historic regionTransylvania
Capital city (Reședință de județ)Deva
Established1925
Area
 • Total7,695 km2 (2,971 sq mi)
Population
 (1930)
 • Total332,118
 • Density43/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

Historically, the county was located in the central-western part of Greater Romania, in the southwestern part of Transylvania. It included a large part of the present Hunedoara County.

After the administrative unification law in 1925, the name of county remained as it was, but the territory was reorganized. It was bordered on the west by the counties of Severin and Arad, to the north by Turda County, to the east by the counties of Sibiu and Alba, and to the south by the counties of Gorj and Mehedinți.

Administration
Map of Hunedoara County as constituted in 1938.

The county originally consisted of ten districts (plăși):[10]

  1. Plasa Avram Iancu, headquartered at Avram Iancu
  2. Plasa Brad, headquartered at Brad
  3. Plasa Deva, headquartered at Deva
  4. Plasa Geoagiu, headquartered at Geoagiu
  5. Plasa Hațeg, headquartered at Hațeg
  6. Plasa Hunedoara, headquartered at Hunedoara
  7. Plasa Ilia, headquartered at Ilia
  8. Plasa Orăștie, headquartered at Orăștie
  9. Plasa Petroșani, headquartered at Petroșani
  10. Plasa Pui, headquartered at Pui

Subsequently, two other districts were established:

  1. Plasa Dobra, headquartered at Dobra
  2. Plasa Sarmizegetusa, headquartered at Sarmizegetusa

Population

According to the census data of 1930, the county's population was 332,118, of which 82.0% were Romanians, 11.3% Hungarians, 2.5% Germans, 1.5% Romanies, 1.4% Jews, as well as other minorities. In the religious aspect, the population consisted of 64.2% Eastern Orthodox, 18.5% Greek Catholic, 9.1% Roman Catholic, 4.5% Reformed, as well as other minorities.[11]

Urban population

In 1930, the urban population of the county was 41,234, of which 52.8% were Romanians, 30.4% Hungarians, 6.7% Germans, 6.6% Jews, 1.6% Romanies, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the urban population was made up of 42.0% Eastern Orthodox, 25.7% Roman Catholic, 10.5% Greek Catholic, 9.9% Reformed, 6.9% Jewish, 3.5% Lutheran, 1.0% Unitarian, as well as other minorities.[11]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hunedoara County.
  1. "Populaţia rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021" (XLS). National Institute of Statistics.
  2. The number used depends on the numbering system employed by the phone companies on the market.
  3. Kuun, Géza; Torma, Zsófia; Téglás, Gábor (1902). "Hunyadvármegye története" [The history of Hunyad County]. Irodalmi Szemle (in Hungarian). Budapest. I: 353.
  4. "Mărirea şi declinul industriei în Hunedoara. Ce soartă au avut după 1990 cele mai mari întreprinderi din judeţ". Adevural.ro. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  5. "Rezultate definitive: Caracteristici etno-culturale demografice". Recensamantromania.ro. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  6. "Institutul Naţional de Statistică: Fenomenul de îmbătrânire s-a accentuat în România".
  7. National Institute of Statistics, "Populația la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992 și 2002" Archived September 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Rezultatele finale ale alegerilor locale din 2020" (Json) (in Romanian). Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  9. "Rezultate definitive ale Recensământului Populaţiei şi al Locuinţelor – 2011" (PDF). Recensamantromania.ro. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  10. Edu, Aspera Pro. "Judeţul Hunedoara". romaniainterbelica.memoria.ro. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  11. Recensământul general al populației României din 29 decemvrie 1930, Vol. II, pag. 633-639
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