Alsó-Fehér

Alsó-Fehér is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in western Romania (central Transylvania). The capital of the county was Aiud (Romanian, Nagyenyed in Hungarian).

Geography

Alsó-Fehér county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Hunyad, Torda-Aranyos, Kis-Küküllő, Nagy-Küküllő, and Szeben. The rivers Mureş/Maros and Târnava/Küküllő flow through the county. Its area was 3580 km² around 1910.

History

Alsó-Fehér (Lower Fehér) county was formed when the county Fehér was split in the Late Middle Ages. (The other half, Felső-Fehér county, consisted entirely of enclaves between Saxon and Székely seats.) In 1876, when the administrative structure of Transylvania was changed, the territory of Alsó-Fehér was modified, and 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 Mureş (a small northeastern part).

Demographics

In 1910, county had a population of 221,618 people. Population by language:

• Romanian = 171,483
• Hungarian = 39,107
• German = 7,269

The majority of the Hungarians lived in the cities of the county (like Alba Iulia, Aiud, Abrud, Ocna Sibiului, etc.) and in the districts of Marosújvár and Nagyenyed.

Subdivisions

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

Districts (járás)
District	Capital
Alvinc	Alvinc, RO Vinţu de Jos
Balázsfalva	Balázsfalva, RO Blaj
Kisenyed	Vízakna, RO Ocna Sibiului
Magyarigen	Magyarigen, RO Ighiu
Marosújvár	Marosújvár, RO Ocna Mureş
Nagyenyed	Nagyenyed, RO Aiud
Tövis	Tövis, RO Teiuş
Verespatak	Verespatak, RO Roşia Montană
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Abrudbánya, RO Abrud
Gyulafehérvár, RO Alba Iulia
Nagyenyed, RO Aiud
Vízakna, RO Ocna Sibiului