The mineriads were a series of protests and often violent altercations by Jiu Valley miners in Bucharest during the 1990s, particularly 1990–91. The term "mineriad" is also used to refer to the most significant and violent of these encounters, which occurred June 13–15, 1990. During the 1990s, the Jiu Valley miners played a visible role in Romanian politics, and their protests reflected inter-political and societal struggles after the Romanian Revolution.
Bucharest meeting February 1990
Association of Victims of the Mineriads
Protests during the February 1990 Mineriad in the Victoria Palace, Bucharest
Bucharest meeting February 1990
The Jiu Valley is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity was coal mining, but due to low efficiency, most of the mines were closed down in the years following the collapse of Communism in Romania. For a long time the place was called Romania's biggest coalfield.
Jiu Valley scenery
Writer Panait Istrati (second from the right) with coal miners of Lupeni, during the 1929 protests
Petroșani
Vulcan