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Alba Iulia (Alba County) in nine numbers: the sea, earthquakes, mountains in view, the hospital, first mention

Alba Iulia, Alba County · municipality · 64,227 residents (2021 census)

First written mention

When was Alba Iulia first mentioned in writing?

1201

The oldest surviving written mention of Alba Iulia dates from 1201, 825 years ago.

Older than over 99% of the 5,588 localities with a firm first mention.

The sources do not fully agree; this is the date the project picks, with the other readings at the source.

First written mention of Romanian villages and townsOpen the project — First written mention of Romanian villages and towns, opens in a new tab

Source: Wikidata (CC0), Suciu (1967–68), Documenta Romaniae Historica, Wikipedia; the date is the one the project picks

100 million years ago

Where was Alba Iulia 100 million years ago?

26°–31° N

In the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth, the ground under Alba Iulia lay at 26°–31° north, depending on the plate-tectonic model (the project compares three). Today it is at 46.1° N. It has moved 1,960–2,291 km since.

The latitude band then; today at 46.1° N.

Where was your town 100 million years ago?Open the project — Where was your town 100 million years ago?, opens in a new tab

Source: Plate models Müller 2019, Merdith 2021 and PALEOMAP; GeoNames localities (CC BY 4.0)

Mountains on the horizon

Which mountains can you see from Alba Iulia?

2,509 m

The highest summit in view from Alba Iulia is Peleaga, 2,509 m high and 94 km away. In all, 18 summits above 1,000 m are in view, 8 of them above 2,000 m.

Against Moldoveanu, Romania's highest summit (2,544 m).

The calculation takes the terrain, the curvature of the Earth and the bending of light into account, out to 450 km, from 30 m above the ground (the roof of a ten-storey block).

Which mountains you can see from your townOpen the project — Which mountains you can see from your town, opens in a new tab

Source: Terrain from Mapzen/AWS Terrain Tiles, summits from OpenStreetMap; the calculation is the project's

The sea or space

How far is the sea from Alba Iulia?

445 km

The sea is 445 km away in a straight line. Space begins 100 km straight up (the Kármán line), so from Alba Iulia space is nearer than the sea.

84% of Romanians live within 445 km of the sea.

The distance starts from a point inside the commune or town.

How far are you from the sea? The coast vs spaceOpen the project — How far are you from the sea? The coast vs space, opens in a new tabThis project cannot take a place from the address: type it there.

Source: Natural Earth (public domain), GHSL 2025 population (JRC, CC BY 4.0)

Through the Earth, under your feet

Where do you come out if you dig a tunnel through the Earth from Alba Iulia?

1,552 km

Dig a straight tunnel through the centre of the Earth from Alba Iulia and after about 12,740 km you come out in the South Pacific Ocean, at 46.1° S, 156.4° W. The nearest land from there is 1,552 km away: the Chatham Islands (New Zealand).

The tunnel passes through no other town: below you there is only rock, then the Earth's core.

Which way, and how far below the horizon, loved ones abroad really areOpen the project — Which way, and how far below the horizon, loved ones abroad really are, opens in a new tab

Source: Natural Earth (public domain); ellipsoid geometry as in the project

The earthquake design value

What is the earthquake design value of Alba Iulia in the new code?

0.10 g

Romania's new seismic design code (RTC 18-2026, in force from 11 October 2026) gives Alba Iulia a peak ground acceleration of ag = 0.10 g, that is 10% of the acceleration of free fall. The value is exceeded on average once every 475 years.

91% of Romanians live in localities with a higher value and 9% in localities with the same value.

How strong? Where your town stands in an earthquakeOpen the project — How strong? Where your town stands in an earthquake, opens in a new tab

Source: MDLPA Order 1,037/2026, RTC 18-2026, Annex A, Table A.1 (Official Gazette 771 bis, 11 Sep 2026)

Castles and manor houses

What is the nearest castle or manor house to Alba Iulia?

7.2 km

The nearest noble residence on Romania's List of Historic Monuments is Castelul Eszterhazy, in Șard, 7.2 km away (sec. XVII). Within 25 km there are 7 residences; within 50 km there are 19 residences.

A conac is the manor house of a boyar or noble, a castle is fortified; a culă is an Oltenian tower house.

The castle stops at the Carpathians. The conac does not.Open the project — The castle stops at the Carpathians. The conac does not., opens in a new tabThis project cannot take a place from the address: type it there.

Source: List of Historic Monuments (National Heritage Institute), processed by the Castele project

The nearest hospital

What is the nearest hospital to Alba Iulia?

764 beds

Alba Iulia has a hospital with inpatient beds: 764 beds in 2024, public and private.

A straight line is not the road.

When distance to the hospital starts to matterOpen the project — When distance to the hospital starts to matter, opens in a new tab

Source: INS: hospital beds (SAN102C, 2024) and population (POP107D, 2023); the calculation is the project's

The nearest airport

What is the nearest airport to Alba Iulia?

52 km

The nearest of the 17 airports with passenger traffic is Sibiu, 52 km away in a straight line. 694,805 passengers passed through it in 2025, 6th among the country's airports.

60% of Romanians live closer to an airport.

Passengers are counted on landing and on take-off.

How many airports does Romania have? Map of all 17Open the project — How many airports does Romania have? Map of all 17, opens in a new tabThis project cannot take a place from the address: type it there.

Source: Romanian Airports Association (2025 statistics), OurAirports (public domain); INS 2021 census population

Sources and limits

The unit is the commune or town (3,181 in all). A commune is Romania's basic unit of local government: a seat village and usually a few others. Distances start from a central point of the unit; in a big town a neighbourhood can be a few kilometres from that point.
A village gets its commune's numbers. The first mention and the place 100 million years ago refer to the commune's seat village.
“Of Romanians” shares use the 2021 census (the hospital card uses the 2023 population of that project), so they match the project pages.
Each project has its full method. A missing number means the source has no firm value for that place; nothing was filled in.