Alba County

Alba
—  County (Județ)  —

Coat of arms
Alba county, territorial location
Country  Romania
Development region1 Centru
Historic region Transylvania
County seat Alba-Iulia
Government
 • Type County Board
 • President of the County Board Ion Dumitrel (Democratic Party)
 • Prefect2 Cosmin Covaciu
Area
 • Total 6,242 km2 (2,410 sq mi)
Area rank 16th in Romania
Population
 • Total 382,747
 • Rank 29th in Romania
 • Density 61/km2 (158/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code 51wxyz3
Area code(s) +40 x584
Car Plates AB5
GDP US$ 3.77 billion (2008)
GDP/capita US$ 9,842 (2008)
Website County Board
County Prefecture
1The developing regions of Romania have no administrative role. They were formed to attract funds from the European Union
2 as of 2007, the Prefect is not a politician, but a public functionary. He (or she) is not allowed to be a member of a political party, and are banned to have any political activity in the first six months after the resignation (or exclusion) from the public functionaires corp
3w, x, y, and z are digits that indicate the city, the street, part of the street, or eaven the building of the address
4x is a digit indicating the operator: 2 for the former national operator, Romtelecom, and 3 for the other ground telephone networks
5used on both the plates of the vehicles that operate only in the county limits (like utilitary vehicles & ATVs, etc.) and the ones used outside the county

Alba (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈalba]; Hungarian: Fehér) is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in Transylvania, its capital city being Alba-Iulia with a population of 66,406.

Contents

Demographics

In 2002, it had a population of 382,747 and the population density was 61/km².

Year County population[2]
1948 361,062
1956 370,800
1966 382,786
1977 409,634
1992 413,919
2002 382,747

Geography

This county has a total area of 6,242 km², with mountains occupying about 59% of its surface.

In the northwestern part there are the Apuseni Mountains, in the southern part there is the northeastern side of the Parâng group - Şureanu and Cindrel Mountains. In the east there is the Transylvanian Plateau with deep but wide valleys. The three main elements are separated by the Mureş River valley.

The main rivers are the Mureş River and its tributaries, the Târnava, the Sebeş and the Arieş.

Neighbours

Economy

The predominant industries in the county are:

The mineral resources exploited in Alba county are metals (gold, silver, copper), salt and construction materials: marble, granite, etc.

Roșia Montană gold mines

Mining began 2000 years ago on Mt. Kirnik, with well-preserved Roman galleries. A Canadian company attempted an open-pit mine, but abandoned the project around 2007. Roșia Montană is a famous locality among mineral collectors for fine native gold specimens.[3]

Tourist attractions

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

People

Administrative divisions

Alba County has 4 municipalities, 7 towns and 68 communes

See also

References

External links