Petrosani is one of the cities in the Jiu Valley (next to Vulcan, Petrila, Uricani, Lupeni e.a.) that share a similar development history. Petrosani is an old settlement that started to grow since the middle of the 19th century. At that moment surface coal mines were opened in this area.
This industrial focus got a boost after World War II when the communist regime decided to invest in the industrialisation and mining in this area.
In 1948, there were only 14.000 inhabitants. The same year, the ambitions of the government became clear when the Coal Institute was founded. Later this named the Mining Institute, and nowadays it is the University of Petroșani. According to Wikipedia: "The institute received part of the teaching material from the USSR and initially included a faculty of mining and coal preparation. The architecture of the building is based on a Soviet project." ("https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petro%C8%99ani)
In 1992, Petrosani reached its biggest size with 52.000 inhabitants; after that moment many mines were closed and the decline of the population started.
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