Hunedoara County is located in Transylvania, its capital is Deva, not the homonymous city Hunedoara (Eisenmarkt). The county has karst with caves, and even a show cave. It also has numerous resources and a mining history. From ancient times, metals and coal have been exploited in the region. Around 1603 the first blast furnace was built at Hunedoara as a result of iron mining. This is also the reason for the German name Eisenmarkt. There was once an Iron Museum, but it was closed in 2004.
More spectacular are the Muntii Metaliferi (Ore Mountains), also called the Polygon of Gold. The reason is the fact that numerous mines were located in a specific area which is very rich in metal ores, especially gold.
During the communist the county was one of the most industrialized areas of Romania. After the fall of the communist regime the industry collapsed, resulting in massive unemployment.