Carpați was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n brand of

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s. It was owned manufactured by the Sfântu-Gheorghe Tobacco Factory, a subsidiary of Galaxy Tobacco. The brand is named after the

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

spanning

Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe is a geopolitical term encompassing the countries in Baltic region, Northeast Europe (primarily the Baltic states, Baltics), Central Europe (primarily the Visegrád Group), Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (primaril ...

History

Carpați was launched in 1931 in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, but production expanded significantly after the 1950s under the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, when this brand was produced in 6 factories (

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; ; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is a city that serves as the seat of Covasna County in Transylvania, Romania. Located in the central part of the country, it lies on the Olt River in a valley between ...

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu (, is the capital city, capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu (river), Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the ...

Râmnicu Sărat Râmnicu Sărat (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Sărat'', , or ''Rebnick''; ) is a municipiu, city in Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It was first attested in a document of 1439, and raised to the rank of ''municipiu'' in ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

). Each factory produced the cigarette with significant individual variations of the original recipe, giving birth to different preferences of Carpați smokers towards the producing factory. Throughout its production history, both filtered and unfiltered, king-size (85 mm) and short (70 mm) cigarettes were available under this brand, in either a soft or hard package, typically 20 cigarettes per pack. Furthermore, between 1950 and 1990, Carpați cigarettes were also available loose, typically sold by the dozen, in specialty tobacco stores. Only full strength cigarettes were ever produced, and the most popular model (and the only one produced until 2010) was the unfiltered, 70 mm variant in a soft, paper pack. Up until they discontinue of the brand in 2010, only a few thousands packs are produced each year, and mainly sold as a nostalgia item. It was one of the cheapest cigarettes available on the market, becoming a favorite amongst students, factory workers and in the military, at one point in the 1970s accounting for more than 60% of the total sales in Romania. However, ever since the introduction of foreign brands after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

and subsequent privatization of the factory, market share of Carpați cigarettes dropped to a mere 10%, and they were only sold on the internal market in Romania. The production of this brand was discontinued in March 2010, and the Sfântu-Gheorghe Tobacco Factory closed its doors on 21 December 2010, after 113 years of cigarette production.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpați (cigarette) Cigarette brands Products introduced in 1931 Products and services discontinued in 2010 Romanian brands