Alba County

Downtown Mendoza.jpg

Alba (Template:IPA2; Template:Lang-hu) is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Alba Iulia (population: 66,406).

Demographics

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

Romanians - 90.4%<ref>National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia după etnie"</ref>
Hungarians - 5.4%
Romani - 3.7%
Germans - less than 0.3%

Year	County population<ref>National Institute of Statistics, "Populaţia la recensămintele din anii 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992 şi 2002"</ref>
1948	361,062
1956	370,800
1966	382,786
1977	409,634
1992	413,919
2002	382,747

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 Mountains group - Şureanu Mountains 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.

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.

The main tourist attractions in the county are:

The city of Alba Iulia.
The Apuseni Mountains.
- Scărişoara Karst Complex.
- Maidens' Fair on the Găina Mountain.
- "The Hill With Snails" west of Vidra.
- Barren Detunata and Shaggy Detunata.
The Câlnic Castle and the Castle of Gârbova.
The Towns and Churches of Sebeş and Aiud.
The Ocna Mureş Resort.
The Ţara Moţilor ethnographical area. Situated in the Apuseni Mountains, Ţara Moţilor is a region with strong Romanian traditions.