Gorj County

For 160 years, the Jiu Valley meant coal—Habsburg-era German, Czech, and Polish miners joining Romanians to extract what became the country's largest coalfield. Communist industrialization supercharged extraction: steel production rose from 280,000 tons in 1938 to 13.79 million tons by 1985. But Gorj's identity runs deeper than black carbon. Tismana Monastery, founded 1375, preserves centuries of carpet weaving and glass icon painting while monks continue hesychast meditation traditions. Today the county produces 36% of Romania's electricity from Rovinari and Turceni thermal plants plus hydroelectric facilities—but the coal mines that powered this output are closing, leaving one of Romania's highest unemployment rates. The name itself tells the story: 'Upper Jiu' in Slavic, positioned where the Transylvanian Alps drain southward.