Hațeg

Hațeg is mentioned for the first time in the Diploma of the Joannites of 1247 as a possession of Vlach voivode Litovoi, granted from King Béla IV of Hungary.{{Cite book |author=Romulus Vuia|title=Studii de etnografie și folclor|volume=2|year=1980|publisher=Editura Minerva|page=138, 423|language=ro}} In 1360 it is mentioned as the seat of a Romanian district.{{Cite book |author=Dan Berindei|title=Istoria românilor: De la universalitatea creștină către Europa "patriilor"|volume=4|year=2001|publisher=Editura Enciclopedică|page=199|language=ro|isbn=978-97-34-50381-0}}

In 1765, while part of the Habsburg controlled Principality of Transylvania, the settlement was completely militarised and integrated into the Second Border Company of the First Border Regiment from Orlat, until 1851, when that unit was disbanded.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Prior to WWII, Hațeg was home to a thriving Jewish community comprising both Ashkenazi and Sephardim Jews, and featured at least one synagogue.https://cja.huji.ac.il/mhs/browser.php?mode=set&id=10140 During the Second World War, antisemitic policies of the Antonescu dictatorship resulted in the confiscation of Jewish properties, forced labour and extortion of the Jewish communities.https://www.yerusha-search.eu/viewer/metadata/RIN-0490/

In 1940, all of the Jewish residents of Hațeg were rounded up and housed in one location, and all of their possessions were confiscated. By the end of World War II, only 30 Jewish residents remained.https://biblicallyinspiredlife.com/loveisraelconnectionblog/the-former-jewish-community-of-hateg/

Țara Hațegului (the Hațeg Country) is the region around the town of Hațeg. The fossils found in the Hațeg area span over 300 million years of Earth's geologic history, showing tropical coral reefs and volcanic island in the Tethys Sea, dinosaurs, primitive mammals, birds, and Pterosaurs (such as Hatzegopteryx, which was named for the region).

Hațeg Island was an island during the Cretaceous Period where a dwarf species of sauropod dinosaur, Magyarosaurus dacus, lived until their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Baron Franz Nopcsa published articles about these Mesozoic-era archosaurs on Hațeg Island. His studies led to his theory of insular dwarfism, the notion that "limited resources" on small islands can lead to a downsizing of the indigenous vertebrate animals.{{cite journal|author1=Csikia, Z. |author2=M. J. Benton|title=An island of dwarfs — Reconstructing the Late Cretaceous Hațeg palaeoecosystem|journal = Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|volume=293|issue=3–4|year =2010|pages=265–270|doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.032}}

Since 2015 the area has been an UNESCO Global Geopark.{{cite web|url= https://en.unesco.org/global-geoparks/hateg|title= Haţeg UNESCO Global Geopark |access-date=24 March 2023}}

According to the first ethnic census of 1850, the town had 1,194 inhabitants, 915 of them being Romanians, 92 Roma, 77 Hungarians, 62 Germans (more specifically Transylvanian Saxons), and 48 of other ethnicities.{{cite web|url=http://www.kia.hu/konyvtar/erdely/erd2002/hdetn02.pdf|title=ERDÉLY ETNIKAI ÉS FELEKEZETI STATISZTIKÁJA|access-date=2021-01-24|archive-date=2007-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610215142/http://www.kia.hu/konyvtar/erdely/erd2002/hdetn02.pdf|url-status=dead}} According to the 2011 census, Hațeg had 9,685 inhabitants, of which 93.15% were Romanians, 1.6% Hungarians, 1,1% of other ethnicities, and unknown for 4,14% of the population. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 8,793; of those, 90.88% were Romanians and 7.61% of unknown ethnicities.{{cite web|url=https://www.recensamantromania.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Tabel-1.03_1.3.1-si-1.03.2.xls|title=Populația rezidentă după grupa de vârstă, pe județe și municipii, orașe, comune, la 1 decembrie 2021|publisher=INSSE|language=ro|date=31 May 2023}}

{{Historical populations

|align = none

|source = Census data

|1850 |915

|1880 |1808

|1900 |2367

|1912 |3124

|1930 |3383

|1948 |3210

|1956 |3853

|1966 |5631

|1977 |8423

|1992 |11616

|2002 |12507

|2011 |9685

|2021 |8793

}}

• Nicholas Deak (1905—1985), American banker and a secret service operative with the OSS and the CIA
• Elena Lasconi (born 1972), TV personality and politician
• Chike Onyejekwe (born 1986), handballer
• Nneka Onyejekwe (born 1989), volleyball player

File:14-18-hateg-zimbrii-2.jpg|European bison in Hațeg nature reserve

File:Colegiul National I C Bratianu Hateg.jpg|The I. C. Brătianu National College

File:HategHD2012 (4).JPG|Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church

File:HategHD2012 (7).JPG|Historic bank building, today Hotel Ferdinand

File:HategHD2012 (6).JPG|Reformed Church

File:Hatszegi zsinagoga.jpg|Synagogue

File:NalatvadHD (19).JPG|Nalatzi-Fay Manor, Nălațvad. Now in poor condition, was built in the 19th century. Between 1941 and 1944 some of the rural Jews were interned here.

File:Adler - Drumul lui Traian lângă Haţeg, la începutul secolului XX.jpg|Trajan's Road near Hațeg (1900–1920)

File:Adler - Interiorul bisericii greco-catolice din Haţeg, jud. Hunedoara.jpg|Interior of the Greek-Catholic Church (1900–1920)

• Hateg Country Dinosaur Geopark

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Hațeg}}

• {{wikivoyage-inline|Hațeg}}
• [http://www.primariehateg.ro/ Hațeg City Hall Official Site] {{in lang|ro}}

{{Hunedoara County}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hateg}}

Category:Towns in Romania

Category:Populated places in Hunedoara County

Category:Localities in Transylvania

Category:Țara Hațegului

Category:Global Geoparks Network members

Category:Geoparks in Romania

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