Carbonia, Sardinia
Carbonia is a town and municipality, along with Iglesias is the co-capital of the province of Sulcis Iglesiente in the autonomous region of Sardinia in Italy. It is located in the south-west of the island, at about an hour by car or train from the regional capital, Cagliari. With a population of 25,588, it is the largest municipality in the province and the 9th-largest in Sardinia.
History
Carbonia was founded on the 18 December 1938 by the Fascist regime. Benito Mussolini ordered the building of the city and was present at its inauguration. The city was built to provide housing for the workforce of the nearby mines. The name Carbonia comes from the Italian word for coal, abundant in the area.Vitale Piga was appointed mayor of Carbonia and served in that capacity from September 28, 1939 to April 24, 1942. Piga authored a book on the coalfields of the Sulcis region titled Il giacimento carbonifero del Sulcis: Carbonia.
The city has grown since its founding in 1938 due to immigration from elsewhere on the island and from mainland Italy, reaching about 45,000 residents in 1951. Currently it has a population of over 28,000.
Since the closing of the mines in the 1970s, Carbonia has had a high unemployment rate. After the closure of the mines the town's economy was converted to the metallurgical industry. Today most Carbonians are employed in heavy industry, and in the tertiary sector.
Demographics
As of 2025, Carbonia has a population of 25,588, of whom 47.9% are male and 52.1% are female. Minors make up 10.4% of the population, and seniors make up 33.6%, compared to the Italian average of 14.9% and 24.7% respectively.As of 2024, the foreign-born population is 833, equal to 3.2% of the population. The 5 largest foreign nationalities are Germans, Romanians, French, Brazilians and Chinese.
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International relationsTwin towns - sister citiesCarbonia is twinned with:
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