Alba County

Alba County
Județul Alba
County

Coat of arms

Location of Alba County in Romania
Country  Romania
Development region1 Centru
Historic region Transylvania
County seat Alba Iulia
Government
 • Type County Board
 • President of the County Board Ion Dumitrel (PDL)
 • Prefect2 Dan Simedru-Coriolan
Area
 • Total 6,242 km2 (2,410 sq mi)
Area rank 16th in Romania
Population
 • Total 327,224
 • Rank 29th in Romania
 • Density 52/km2 (140/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 is banned to have any political activity in the first six months after the resignation (or exclusion) from the public functionaries 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]) is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, its capital city being Alba-Iulia with a population of 58,861.[1]

Name

"Alba" means "white" in Latin and is derived from the name of the city Alba Iulia. In Hungarian, it is known as Fehér megye, and in German as Kreis Karlsburg.

Demographics

In October 31, 2011, it had a population of 327,224 and the population density was 52/km².

Year County population[3]
1948 361,062
1956 370,800
1966 382,786
1977 409,634
1992 414,227
2002 382,747
2011 327,224

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 - Șureanu and Cindrel Mountains. In the east there is the Transylvanian Plateau with deep but wide valleys. The three main elements are separated by the Mureș River valley.

The main rivers are the Mureș River and its tributaries, the Târnava, the Sebeș and the Arieș.

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

Gold in quartz, Roșia Montană. Size 4.3 × 2.7 × 1.3 cm.

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.[4]

Tourist attractions

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

Administrative divisions

Alba Iulia
Blaj
Abrud
Baia de Arieș

Alba County has 4 municipalities, 7 towns and 67 communes.

Historical county

Județul Alba
County (Județ)

Coat of arms
Country Romania
Historic region Transylvania
Capital city (Reședință de județ) Alba-Iulia
Established 1925
Ceased to exist Administrative and Constitutional Reform in 1938
Area
 • Total 2,433 km2 (939 sq mi)
Population (1930)
 • Total 213,795
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)

Administration

The county consisted of eight districts (plăṣi):

After 1938

After the 1938 Administrative and Constitutional Reform, this county merged with the counties of Ciuc, Odorhei, Sibiu, Târnava Mare, Târnava Micǎ to form Ținutul Mureș.

People

Notable natives include:

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alba County.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interwar Alba County.
  1. ↑ http://www.alba.insse.ro/cmsalba/files/DATE%20PROVIZORII%20RPL%202011_alba_comunicat%20presa.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Comunicat_DATE_PROVIZORII_RPL_2011.pdf
  3. ↑ National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992, 2002 şi 2011"
  4. ↑ Roșia Montanã at Mindat.org

External links

Coordinates: 46°08′00″N 23°32′00″E / 46.1333°N 23.5333°E / 46.1333; 23.5333

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.