Alsó-Fehér was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in western Romania (central Transylvania). The latest capital of the county was Nagyenyed (present-day Aiud).

Alsó-Fehér County
Comitatus Albensis Inferior (Latin)
Alsó-Fehér vármegye (Hungarian)
Komitat Unterweißenburger (German)
Comitatul Alba de Jos (Romanian)
County of the Principality of Transylvania
(1744-1867)
County the Kingdom of Hungary
(1867-1920)
Coat of arms of Alsó-Fehér
Coat of arms

CapitalGyulafehérvár;
Nagyenyed (1876-1920)
Area
 • Coordinates46°19′N 23°44′E / 46.317°N 23.733°E / 46.317; 23.733
 
• 1910
3,576.5 km2 (1,380.9 sq mi)
Population 
• 1910
221,618
History 
• Established
1744
4 June 1920
Today part ofRomania
Alba Iulia; Aiud are the current name of the capital.

Geography

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Map of Alsó-Fehér, 1891.

Alsó-Fehér county shared borders with Hunyad, Torda-Aranyos, Kis-Küküllő, Nagy-Küküllő and Szeben counties. The rivers Mureș and Târnava flowed through the county. Its area was 3,576.5 km2 around 1910.

History

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Alsó-Fehér (Lower Fehér) county was formed when Fehér county was split in 1744 (the other half, Felső-Fehér county, consisted entirely of enclaves between Székely and Saxon seats). In 1876, when the administrative structure of Transylvania was changed, the territory of Alsó-Fehér was modified and parts of it were annexed to the counties of Torda-Aranyos and Seben (during the same administrative reform, Felső-Fehér county was entirely abolished and merged with other counties). In 1920, the Treaty of Trianon assigned the territory of the county to Romania. Its territory lies in the present Romanian counties of Alba, Sibiu (the south-east) and Mureș (a small northeastern part).

Demographics

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Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description)
Population by mother tongue[a]
Census Total Romanian Hungarian German Other or unknown
1880[1] 178,021 135,439 (78.79%) 25,818 (15.02%) 6,972 (4.06%) 3,667 (2.13%)
1890[2] 193,072 151,397 (78.41%) 30,181 (15.63%) 7,539 (3.90%) 3,955 (2.05%)
1900[3] 212,352 166,099 (78.22%) 36,360 (17.12%) 7,953 (3.75%) 1,940 (0.91%)
1910[4] 221,618 171,483 (77.38%) 39,107 (17.65%) 7,269 (3.28%) 3,759 (1.70%)
Population by religion[b]
Census Total Eastern Orthodox Greek Catholic Calvinist Roman Catholic Lutheran Jewish Other or unknown
1880 178,021 76,165 (42.78%) 66,714 (37.48%) 16,834 (9.46%) 8,551 (4.80%) 5,961 (3.35%) 2,806 (1.58%) 990 (0.56%)
1890 193,072 80,353 (41.62%) 74,132 (38.40%) 19,472 (10.09%) 8,943 (4.63%) 5,813 (3.01%) 3,280 (1.70%) 1,079 (0.56%)
1900 212,352 87,210 (41.07%) 80,211 (37.77%) 21,296 (10.03%) 11,226 (5.29%) 7,170 (3.38%) 3,903 (1.84%) 1,336 (0.63%)
1910 221,618 89,724 (40.49%) 85,276 (38.48%) 23,009 (10.38%) 11,194 (5.05%) 7,283 (3.29%) 3,845 (1.73%) 1,287 (0.58%)

Subdivisions

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In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Alsó-Fehér county were:

Districts (járás)
District Capital
  Alvinc Alvinc (now Vințu de Jos)
  Balázsfalva Balázsfalva (now Blaj)
  Kisenyed Kisenyed (now Ocna Sibiului)
  Magyarigen Magyarigen (now Ighiu)
  Marosújvár Marosújvár (now Ocna Mureș)
  Nagyenyed Nagyenyed (now Aiud)
Tövis (from 1908) Tövis (now Teiuș)
  Verespatak Verespatak (now Roșia Montană)
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú városok)
Abrudbánya (now Abrud)
Gyulafehérvár (now Alba Iulia)
Nagyenyed (now Aiud)
Vízakna (now Ocna Sibiului)

Notes

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  1. ^ Only linguistic communities > 1% are displayed.
  2. ^ Only religious communities > 1% are displayed.

References

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  1. ^ "Az 1881. év elején végrehajtott népszámlálás főbb eredményei megyék és községek szerint rendezve, II. kötet (1882)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  2. ^ "A Magyar Korona országainak helységnévtára (1892)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  3. ^ "A MAGYAR KORONA ORSZÁGAINAK 1900". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  4. ^ "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.