| Type: | municipality |
| County: | Hunedoara |
| Leader Name: | Tiberiu Iacob-Ridzi[1] |
| Leader Party: | PNL |
| Term: | 2020 - 2024 |
| Coordinates: | 45.4122°N 23.3733°W |
| Elevation: | 431 |
| Area Total: | 195.56 |
| Population Total: | auto |
| Postal Code: | 330001 |
| Area Code: | (+40) 02 54 |
Petroșani (in Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan pronounced as /petroˈʃanʲ/; Hungarian: Petrozsény; German: Petroschen) is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 31,044 as of 2021.[2] The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century.
"Pietros" means "stony, rocky" in Romanian. The city of Petroșani was founded in the 17th century (around 1640) with the name Petrozsény. In 1720, an Austrian cartographer mentions that the entire Jiu Valley was intensely populated and settlements could be seen from one end to the other.
At the 1818 census, Petroșani had 233 inhabitants, while the entire Valley counted 2,550. During this time, the main activity of the people was shepherding and no urban settlement had appeared yet. Around 1840, coal surface mining began in Petroșani, Vulcan, and Petrila.
After Romania joined the Allies of World War I in 1916, Romanian troops attacked the town during the Battle of Transylvania. A battalion of miners defended Petroșani in a last stand battle, refusing to give up the town. The Romanian occupation, however, did not last long: the united Austro-Hungarian and German troops regained control of the town shortly, in which guerrilla warfare, led by the local Viktor Maderspach, played an important role.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, and the declaration of the Union of Transylvania with Romania, the Romanian Army took control of Petroșani in December 1918, during the Hungarian–Romanian War. The town officially became part of the territory ceded to the Kingdom of Romania in June 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. During the interwar period, the city was the headquarters of plasa Petroșani, within Hunedoara County. After 1950, the city became the headquarters of Petroșani raion within . Following the administrative reform of 1968, Petroșani became once more part of Hunedoara County.
The population experienced massive growth only in the 20th century during the communist government, as many workers were brought in from other parts of the country.
As other cities from the Jiu Valley, throughout the second half of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, most activities in the city revolved around the mines. But after the fall of the communist regime, many mines were closed, and the city, just like the whole valley, was forced to diversify the economy. This has also led to a significant population decline: Petroșani is one of the Romanian cities which has experienced the fastest population loss from the 1990s onwards.[3]
Petroșani is located in the Jiu Valley, which is the entrance to the Retezat National Park and provides access to the Vâlcan, Parâng, and Retezat mountains. The city administers four villages: Dâlja Mare (Nagydilzsa), Dâlja Mică (Kisdilzsa), Peștera (Zsupinyászuvölgy) and Slătinioara (Szlatinova községrész).
The following social events take place in Petroșani:
In 1850, Petroșani was a small village, the vast majority of its 581 inhabitants being Romanian.[4] According to the 1910 census, from 12,193 inhabitants 7,748 (63.54%) were Hungarian, 3,250 Romanian (26.65%) and 831 (6.82%) German.[4] At the 2002 census, 83.3% of the city's inhabitants were Romanian Orthodox, 7.2% Roman Catholic, 3.7% Reformed, 2.2% Pentecostal, 0.8% Greek-Catholic, and 0.9% belonged to another religion. At the 2011 census, 90.59% of inhabitants were Romanians, 6.54% Hungarians, 1.82% Roma, and 0.35% Germans. At the 2021 census, Petroșani had a population of 31,044.[5]