Alba County - Geography and history
The Alba County, located in the central part of the country and to the west of the Central Region, is located in the contact zone of the Transylvania Plateau with the Apuseni Mountains and the Meridional Carpathians. It is surrounded by the following counties: Cluj (in the north), Mures and Sibiu (in the east), Vâlcea (in the south) and Hunedoara, Arad and Bihor (in the west). It lies on an area of 6 242 km2 that is 2.6% of the country's area. As of 31 December 2000 it included 4 municipalities and 7 towns, 65 communes and 656 villages. The county's capital city is Alba Iulia.
The geography of the county is diverse; mountains are predominant, occupying more then half of the country (52%). The plateaus and hills occupy 26% of the territory, in the east - The Târnave Plateau and in the south-east- the Secase Plateau. The lowlands and the rivers' meadows complete the difference of 22% of the area. In the central and north-eastern part lies the Alba Iulia - Turda low-land, and in the west a part of the lowland Passage of Orastie is located.
The county's climate is continental, with slight nuances of excessiveness in the plains and plateau regions and moderate, with slight pluvial nuances in the mountain regions.
The hydrographical network consists of the Mures River which crosses the county from north-east to north-west and its influents: the two Târnava (Mare and Mica) reunited, the Aries, the Ampoi, the Sebes and the Cugir rivers.
There is a lot of evidence (discoveries from Sohodol, Tartaria, Teleac, etc.) to the presence and the perpetuation of some communities and human settlements from ancient times. In the period of the Dacia Felix domination by the Romans, the most numerous cities of the province existedon the present territory of the county : Apulum (Alba Iulia), Ampelum (Zlatna), Alburnus Maior (Rosia Montana), Alburnus Minor (Abrud), Salinae (Ocna Mures), and Brucla (Aiud). Considering the strategic and administrative importance, it is worth mentioning Apulum, the capital of Roman Dacia and the settlement of the Gemina XIII Legion. They were declared a municipality and a colony, respectively. Related to its name are all the important events of the Middle Age's Transylvania: The victory of Iancu de Hunedoara in 1442 against the Turks, the first unification of the three Romanian principalities accomplished for a short time by Michael the Brave in 1600, the riot of Horea, Closca and Crisan in 1784, the Revolution of 1848-1849. The leaders of the 1784 revolt were imprisoned and tortured here. The revolutionary Avram Iancu was also imprisoned here. On 1 December 1918, Alba Iulia witnessed the Great Unification, a historical act which founded modern Romania.
The county's main natural resources are the forests, the waters (the Mures and the Sebes rivers), methane gas explorations, salt, golden and silver ores, complex sulphurs (lead, zinc, copper, and pyrites), manganese, mercury ore, uranium, marble, limestone, construction stone, etc.
Economy
Alba county's economy is characterised by equilibrium, both in structure and in territorial repartition of the main economical activities.
The results of the economic activities developed by 4 479 economic agents in 2000 led to a turnover rate of 16 352.5 billion lei. The biggest value of the turnover rate was in industry (47.2%), then in trading (38.8%).
Among the most representative companies of the din industry sector can be counted: Apulum SA Alba Iulia (porcelain houseware), Stratusmob SA Blaj, Montana SA Câmpeni (furniture), Ariesul Conf SA Baia de Aries (textile garments), Ardeleana SA Alba Iulia (shoes), Ciserom SA Sebes (stockings), INCOV SA Alba Iulia (carpets), M.D. Frati SA Sebes (hardboards), Cugir SA (machine tools and domestic apparatus), UPSOM SA Ocna Mures (caustic soda and soda ash), mining in Apuseni Mountains (gold, silver, copper ore), Ampelum SA Zlatna (copper, pesticides).
The agriculture is well represented both through the vegetal and animal productions, the private sector owing 98.2% of the agricultural production.
The structure of the agricultural land at the end of 2000 was the following: 132.8 thousand ha (40.4%) arable land, 117.4 thousand ha (35.7%) pastures, 72.2 thousand ha (22%) hays, 4.7 thousand ha (1.5%) vineyards and wine-growing and 1.6 thousand ha (0.5%) orchards.
In 2000 the main crops were: wheat, rye and grain corn, cultivated on 22.5 thousand ha and respectively 38.5 thousand ha, representing 17% and 29% of the arable area; the average production per hectare of these two cultures in 2000 was 2 126 kg wheat and 2 480 kg corn. The livestock at the end of 2000 included 76.7 thousand cattle, 98.4 thousand pigs, 241.2 thousand sheep and goats and 2 099 thousand poultry. The average production of cow and buffalo-cow milk per animal was 2 988 litres, superior to the country average of 2 867 litres.
The wines produced in the vineyards located around Alba Iulia, Aiud, Blaj, Jidvei, are much appreciated and every year won numerous distinctions at national and international competitions. The total production of grapes of 45.4 thousand tons placed the county in 2000 on the first place among the other counties of the Central Region.
The favourable geographic position of the County facilitated the development of an important communication network, with a density of the roads on 100 km2 of territory much over the national average.
The railway network has the same configuration with that of the roads, Alba owing the most important railway centre (Teius, Vintu de Jos, Razboieni) that controls Romania's flow of passengers and merchandise to and from Central and Western Europe. At the end of 2000 the operated railway length was 250 km, and that of public roads of 2 593 km, of which 419 km national roads.
The tourist accommodation capacity as of 31 July 2000 in Alba County was 1 641 places, of which 922 places in hotels and motels, 78 places in villas, 14 places in inns, 167 places in tourist pensions and 460 places in school camps.
Population and social environment
The total population as of 1 July 2000 was 395 941 inhabitants (7 553 persons less than in 1996), representing 1.8% of Romania's population.
The population density, of 63.4 inhabitants per km2 is relatively low, especially as a result of the fact that the largest occupied areas are the mountain ones, where life conditions are more difficult.
The average age of the population is 37.4 years and id depending on the life conditions. In urban area average age lies between 33.9 years in Alba Iulia municipality and 38.6 years in Ocna Mures city, while in rural area between 34.7 years in Bistra commune and 46.2 years in Berghin.
In urban area lived 58.8% of county's population, and the rest of 41.2% in rural area.
The birth rate in 2000 was 9.9 live births per 1 000 inhabitants, a decease compared to 1996 (10.0 per 1 000 inhabitants), but under the national average.
The overall mortality of 11.6 deaths per 1 000 inhabitants in 2000 determined a negative natural increase of 1.7 persons per 1 000 inhabitants. The infant mortality was 17.2 deaths of children under 1 year per 1000 live births, 7.5% less compared to the national level.
The marriage rate in 2000 was 5.9 marriages per 1 000 inhabitants (6.9 in 1996), and the divorce rate was 1.43 divorces per 1 000 inhabitants (1.53 in 1996).
The life expectancy between the years 1998 and 2000 was 67.4 years for males and 74.8 years for females, over national average for both male and female.
The labour force as of 1 January 2001 was 238.0 thousand persons, of which 122.8 thousand male and 115.2 thousand female. On the same date, the employed civilian population was 177.7 thousand persons (91.0 thousand male and 86.7 thousand female), of which 95.3 thousand employees (48.5 thousand male and 46.8 thousand female). The structure of the employed population by main sectors was: 39.5% in agriculture and forestry, 30.8% in industry (with 26.6% in processing industry), 2.5% in construction, 8.6% in trade and catering, 3.6% in transport, 4.3% in education, 3.5% in health and social assistance, 1.8% in public administration, 1.4% in collective, social and personal services.
Compared to 1996, the employed civilian population in 2000 decreased by 23.4 thousand persons.
The expenditures for salaries in 2000 had an important share in the turnover (13.6% in the county), while by main economic sectors they had 16.9% in industry, 14% in construction, 18.9% in transport, 29.2% in telecommunication, 12.4% in wholesale trade, 6.7% in retail trade, 11% in services for population and 23.1% in agriculture and forestry.
The average monthly gross salary in 2000 was 2 445 thousand lei per employee, being 2 501 thousand lei in industry, 2 232 thousand lei in construction, 2 553 thousand lei in transport, 4 295 thousand lei in post and telecommunications, 1 918 thousand lei in wholesale trade, 1 830 thousand lei in services and 2 414 thousand lei in agriculture and forestry.
As of 31 of December 2000 the number of unemployed was 26.4 thousand persons, compared to 9.5 thousand in 1996, and the unemployment rate were 12.9% and 4.5%, respectively.
In the school year 2000/2001 the educational activity in Alba County took place in 706 units (296 kindergartens, 371 primary and secondary schools, 34 high schools, 2 units post-high school and 3 higher-education institutions).
The county has 10 hospitals, 3 clinics, 24 medical consultation centres, 218 medical family cabinets, 2 sanatoria for tuberculosis, one health centre, 117 private medical cabinets, 14 medical laboratories, 120 dentist clinics, 34 dentist technical laboratories, 2 nurseries, 1 shelter for orphans and 85 pharmacies.
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