Vulcan (Romanian pronunciation:[vulˈkan]; formerly Jiu-Vaidei-Vulcan; Hungarian: Vulkán, Zsilyvajdejvulkán (Zsily-Vajdej-Vulkán); German: Wolkendorf, Wulkan) is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. With a population of 19,772 as of 2021, it is the second-largest city in the Jiu Valley. It administers two villages, Dealul Babii ("Old Woman's Hill" in Romanian; Hegyvulkán) and Jiu-Paroșeni (Zsilymacesdparoseny).
Name
The city is named after the Vulcan Pass that connects the Jiu Valley to Oltenia, itself being derived from Slavic "vlk", meaning "wolf" (even if "vulcan" means "volcano" in Romanian).
Geography
Vulcan is located at the southern extremity of Hunedoara County, about 100 km (62 mi) from the county seat, Deva, on the border with Gorj County. It is situated in a hilly area north of the Vâlcan Mountains, on the banks of the Jiul de Vest and its tributaries, the rivers Merișoara and Crevedia.
The city is crossed by national roadDN66A [ro], which connects it to nearby Aninoasa and to Petroșani, 11 km (6.8 mi) to the northeast, and to Lupeni, 7 km (4.3 mi) to the west. County road DJ664 leads to the Vulcan Pass, 8 kilometres (5 mi) to the south, and on to Schela, Gorj, while county road DJ666 leads north to Dealul Babii village and Bănița commune.
The Vulcan train station serves the CFRLine 214, a 17 km (11 mi) railway from Livezeni (in Petroșani) to Lupeni.
History
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 Brașov.
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1956
14,859
—
1966
21,979
+47.9%
1977
28,664
+30.4%
1992
34,524
+20.4%
2002
33,186
−3.9%
2011
24,160
−27.2%
2021
19,772
−18.2%
Source: Census data
At the 2021 census, Vulcan had a population of 19,772.[3] This marked a decrease of 18.2% from the 2011 census, when the city had 24,160 inhabitants; of those, 92.91% were Romanians, 5.13%
Hungarians, 1.41% Romani, and 0.2% Germans.
People
Pius Brânzeu [ro] (1911–2002), doctor and member of the Romanian Academy
