Vulcan, Hunedoara

For the commune in Braşov County, see Vulcan, Braşov. For other uses, see Vulcan (disambiguation).

Vulcan
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms
Vulcan Location of Vulcan, Hunedoara
Coordinates: 45°22′52″N 23°17′29″E
Country	Romania
County	Hunedoara County
Status	Municipality
Government
• Mayor	Gheorghe Ile (Conservative Party)
Area
• Total	87.31 km2 (33.71 sq mi)
Population (2002)
• Total	30,188
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Website	http://www.vulcan-vj.ro/

Vulcan (Romanian pronunciation: [vulˈkan]; formerly Jiu-Vaidei-Vulcan; Hungarian: Vulkán, Zsilyvajdejvulkán (Zsily-Vajdej-Vulkán); German: Wolkersdorf, Wulkan) is a city in Hunedoara county, Romania. With a population of 30,188, it is the second-largest city in the Jiu Valley. It administers two villages, Dealul Babii and Jiu-Paroşeni.

The city is named after the Vulcan Pass that connects the Jiu Valley to Oltenia, itself being derived from Slavic "vlk", meaning "wolf".

The coal resources of the region were discovered in 1788 while the Austrian General Landau defended Vulcan from the Ottoman Turks. One night the soldiers could not put out the camp fire they made, as the piles of coal underneath had caught fire. General Landau thought that he could stop the Turks without a fight by setting piles of coal on fire. The Turks noted the large numbers of fires on the heights and thought that the Austrian army was much larger than theirs and retreated.

In 1850, the first mine was set up by the Hoffman brothers of Braşov.

Ethnic structure

• Romanians: 90%
• Hungarians: 7%
• Roma: 1%
• Germans: 0.2%

People

• Pius Brânzeu (1911 - 2002)
• Ernő Csíki
• Dafinel Duinea, artist
• Andrej Prean Nagy
• Ştefan Onisie

See also

• Jiu Valley
• CS Vulcan
• Vulcan Pass

External links

• Jiu Valley Portal - the regional portal host of the official Jiu Valley municipal websites