Șona (; ) is a commune located in

Alba County Alba County () is a county (județ) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of the ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

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 ...

. It is composed of seven villages: Alecuș (''Elekes''), Biia (''Magyarbénye''), Doptău (''Dobtanya''), Lunca Târnavei (until 1964 ''Spini''; ''Kistövis''), Sânmiclăuș (''Betlenszentmiklós''), Șona, and Valea Sasului (''Szászvölgy'').

Geography

The commune lies on the

Transylvanian Plateau The Transylvanian Plateau (; ) is a plateau in central Romania. Description The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern Carpathians, Eastern, Southern ...

, on the banks of the

Târnava Mică River The Târnava (full name in ; ; ; ) is a river in Romania. It is formed by the confluence of the Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică in the town of Blaj. The Târnava flows into the Mureș after 23 km near the town of Teiuș. The two source ...

. It is located in the northeastern part of the county, from

Blaj Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Blußendref'') is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 17,816 inhabitants as of 2021. The city administers eight villages: Deleni-Obârșie ('' ...

and from the county seat,

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...

. Șona is crossed by

county road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

DJ107, which connects Blaj to

Târnăveni Târnăveni (, historically Diciosânmartin; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Dicsőszentmárton'', ; German language, German: ''Sankt Martin'', earlier ''Marteskirch'') is a Municipalities of Romania, city in Mureș County, central Romania. It li ...

Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 4,067 inhabitants, 68.5% of whom were

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

, 25.2%

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

, and 5.8%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. At the 2021 census, Șona had a population of 3,782, of which 56.5% were Romanians, 20.65% Hungarians, and 12.4% Roma.

Sights

Notable sights include the , dating to the 16th century, and the , dating to the 17th century.

Natives

* Farkas Bethlen (1639 – 1679), Hungarian noble and chronicler,

Chancellor of Transylvania The following is the list of chancellors of Transylvania during the Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711) and the (Grand) Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867). List of chancellors Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Principali ...

from 1678 to 1679.

References

Communes in Alba County Localities in Transylvania {{Alba-geo-stub