Copşa Mică

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Copşa Mică
Coat of Arms of Copşa Mică Location of Copşa Mică
County Sibiu County
Status Town
Mayor Mihalache Daniel Tudor, National Liberal Party, since 2004
Area 25.90 km²
Population (2002) 5,189
Density 200 inh/km²
Geographical coordinates 46°6′45″N, 24°13′50″E
Web site http://www.copsa-mica.ro/

Copşa Mică (German: Kleinkopisch, Hungarian: Kiskapus) is a town in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania, located north of Sibiu, 33 km east of Blaj, and 12 km southwest of Mediaş. According to the town's website, its population in 2000 was 5189, down 23% from its population in 1989, the year communism collapsed in Romania.

Factory in Copsa Mica
Enlarge
Factory in Copsa Mica

The town is best known for its status (in the 1990s) as one of the most polluted in Europe. This was due to the emissions of two factories in the area:

  • One, open from 1936 to 1993, produced carbon black for dyes; its emissions permeated the area for nearly sixty years, leaving soot on homes, trees, animals, and everything else in the area. The stain from these decades of deposits are still visible.
  • The other source of the pollution, less visible but with even more serious effects to the health of the town's residents, was Sometra, a smelter whose emissions have contributed to significantly higher incidence of lung disease and impotence, along with a life expectancy nine years below Romania's average.


[edit] Politics

The Copşa Mică City Council, elected in the 2004 local government elections, is made up of 15 councillors, with the following party composition:

    Party Seats Current Council
  Justice and Truth Alliance 10                    
  Social Democratic Party 4                    
  Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania 1                    

[edit] External links and sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../c/o/p/Cop%C5%9Fa_Mic%C4%83_7e6b.html"