Copșa Mică

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Copșa Mică
Kleinkopisch
Kiskapus
Copșa Mica coat of arms
Copșa Mică (Romania)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Basic data
State : RomaniaRomania Romania
Historical region : Transylvania
Circle : Sibiu
Coordinates : 46 ° 7 '  N , 24 ° 15'  E Coordinates: 46 ° 7 '2 "  N , 24 ° 14' 38"  E
Time zone : EET ( UTC +2)
Height : 295  m
Area : 25.9  km²
Residents : 5,404 (October 20, 2011)
Population density : 209 inhabitants per km²
Postal code : 555400
Telephone code : (+40) 02 69
License plate : SB
Structure and administration (as of 2016)
Community type : city
Mayor : Daniel-Tudor Mihalache ( PNL )
Postal address : Str. Aleea Castanilor, no. 8
loc. Copșa Mică, jud. Sibiu, RO-555400
Website :

Copșa Mică ( German  Kleinkopisch , Hungarian Kiskapus ) is a small town in the Sibiu district in Transylvania ( Romania ).

location

District of Copşa Mică

The small town is located at the confluence of the Vișa river ( Weißbach ) in the Târnava Mare ( Great Kokel ) and is 43 kilometers from the district capital Sibiu ( Hermannstadt ) and twelve kilometers from Mediaș ( Mediasch ).

history

The place was first mentioned in 1402 under the name Parva Kabaz . The name suggests a customs post, because in the Hungarian form it means "small gate". A watchtower was built on the site of today's Protestant church in the 15th century.

The social and economic development of the village was lastingly influenced by the discovery of methane gas in 1913.

politics

Mandates in the local council (elections 2016):

  • PNL : 10
  • PSD : 3
  • UDMR : 1
  • Partidul Blocul Unității Naționale (BUN): 1

Economy and Social

The town's population has fallen by 23 percent since 1989. Many of the remaining people live in modest circumstances. The unemployment rate in 2000 was 56 percent, while the national average at that time was 12 percent.

After the industrial decline, Copşa Mică was declared an economically disadvantaged region on November 24, 2000 for ten years. As a result, investors and companies active in this area are exempt from both customs duties and VAT when importing or purchasing systems and equipment.

Environmental situation

The area is considered to be one of the areas with the highest environmental damage in Romania. The reason for this was the operation of a soot factory and a non-ferrous metal smelter from 1939. After the Romanian state continued to make large investments from 1965 to 1970, Copşa Mică achieved sad world fame as a gigantic “poison kitchen” in the 1980s. Traffic also put additional strain on people.

The soot factory was shut down in 1993, which led to a decrease in visible pollution in and around Copşa Mică. However, the invisible and much more dangerous toxic loads from heavy metals persist, as the non-ferrous metal smelter was in operation until 2008. Because of the global economic crisis, there has only been maintenance operation since then; a renewed commissioning is not excluded.

The vegetation around Copşa Mică suffered such lasting damage, not least due to the soot production at that time, that the surrounding hills were only very thinly overgrown. In the village itself, individual houses were and are still colored gray to almost black by the soot mist from back then. The massive pollution was even carried as far as Mediaș , about 12 km away, in westerly winds and caused an occasional acrid, sulphurous stench and, when it rained, “black rain” or snow. Copşa Mică has therefore been referred to several times as one of the most polluted places in Europe by various environmental organizations.

Picture gallery of carbon black factory and non-ferrous metal plant

Pictures from 2002. Nature has continued to recover since then.

  • Soot factory (former)

  • Non-ferrous metal plant

  • Slag dump of the non-ferrous metal plant

  • Blackened houses

traffic

The road connection from Kleinkopisch to Sibiu - today the national road DN 14 - was built between 1850 and 1867. Soon afterwards, in 1872, the district capital was connected to the Transylvanian railway system by a train line running via Kleinkopisch . To this day, the village is an important rail hub for the CFR .

education

In Kleinkopisch there are three kindergartens, three schools with eight classes, a lyceum, a vocational school, a further education and a technical school.

Attractions

Web links

Commons : Copșa Mică  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2011 census in Romania at citypopulation.de
  2. ↑ SIBIU - CENTRUL TURISMULUI FEROVIAR DE EPOCA , accessed on June 5, 2011 ( Memento from June 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )