Târgu Ocna (; hu, Aknavásár) is a town in

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county the ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, situated on the left bank of the

Trotuș River The Trotuș ( hu, Tatros) is a river in eastern Romania, a right tributary of the river Siret. It emerges from the Ciuc Mountains in the Eastern Carpathians and joins the Siret in Domnești-Sat near Adjud after passing through Comănești and O ...

, an affluent of the

Siret Siret (; german: Sereth; hu, Szeretvásár; uk, Серет, Seret; yi, סערעט, Seret) is a town, municipality and former Latin bishopric in Suceava County, northeastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Siret is ...

, and on a branch railway which crosses the Ghimeș Pass from

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

into

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. Târgu Ocna is built among the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

on bare hills formed of rock

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

. In fact the English translation of Ocna is

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

. Târgu Ocna's main industry is salt production, as it is the largest provider in Moldavia. Other industries include

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wood pro ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, steel producing, and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

-based industries. The town administers two villages, Poieni and Vâlcele.

People

* Gabriela Adameșteanu (born 1942), writer *

Sorin Antohi Sorin Antohi (born 20 August 1957) is a Romanian historian, essayist, and journalist. Biography Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iași and a DEA fro ...

(born 1957), political scientist *

Miron Grindea Miron Grindea (31 January 1909 – 18 November 1995) was a Romanian-born literary journalist and the editor of '' ADAM International Review'', a literary magazine published for more than 50 years. In 1984 ''ADAM'' was said to be "the world's lon ...

(1909–1995), journalist *

Dan Iuga Daniel Iuga (born November 13, 1945) is a retired Romanian-American pistol shooter and coach. He competed for Romania in the mixed free pistol 50 m event at the 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics and won a silver medal in 1972. As a teenager Iuga pl ...

(born 1945), pistol shooter *

Costache Negri Costache Negri (May 14, 1812 – September 28, 1876) was a Moldavian, later Romanian writer, politician, and revolutionary. Born in Iași, he was the son of ''vistiernic'' (treasurer) Petrache Negre. The scion of a boyar family, he was educate ...

(1812–1876), writer *

Mihăiță Nițulescu Mihăiță Nițulescu ( 1969 – 7 July 2022) was a Romanian professional boxer in the 1980s and 1990s, best known for his bouts against Francisc Vaștag and Rudel Obreja, among others, at the National Championship Finals that were held at the ...

( 1969–2022), boxer *

Ion Talianu Ion Talianu (; 1898–1956) was a Romanian stage actor.Sandache p.275 He also appeared in six films. Filmography * '' The Valley Resounds'' (1950) * '' A Lost Letter'' (1953) * '' Mitrea Cocor'' (1953) * ''The Sun Rises ''The Sun Rises'' (Roma ...

(1898–1956), actor *

Traian Vasai Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

(born 1929), painter

References

Populated places in Bacău County Localities in Western Moldavia Towns in Romania Mining communities in Romania Market towns in Moldavia Spa towns in Romania {{Bacău-geo-stub