Carbonia

• Name — Carbonia • Official Name — Comune di Carbonia • Region — Sardinia • Province — Sulcis Iglesiente • Frazioni — Bacu Abis, Barbusi, Cannas, Corongiu, Cortoghiana, Genna Corriga, Flumentepido, Is Gannaus, Is Meis, Medadeddu, Medau Desogus, Serbariu, Sirai, Sirri • Mayor Party — PD • Mayor — Pietro Morittu • Area Total Km2 — 145.54 • Population Total — 25353 • Population As Of — 2026 • Population Demonym — Carboniesi or Carboniensi • Elevation M — 111 • Saint — St. Pontian • Day — Third Thursday of May • Postal Code — 09013 • Area Code — 0781

• Illustration — Benito Mussolini visit Carbonia in 1938 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 (in particular from the regions of Veneto, Sicily, Abruzzo, Marche, Basilicata and Campania), 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.

According to the Köppen climate classification, Carbonia experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa).

As of 2026, the population is 25,353, of which 48.0% are male, and 52.0% are female. Minors make up 10.1% of the population, and seniors make up 34.5%.

Foreign population by country of birth (2025) • Country — Population • Germany — 135 • Romania — 113 • France — 96 • China — 42 • Brazil — 41 • Senegal — 38 • Morocco — 34 • Switzerland — 33 • Belgium — 20 • Argentina — 16 • Bangladesh — 16 • Russia — 16 • Nigeria — 15 • Algeria — 14 • Kyrgyzstan — 14 As of 2025, immigrants make up 3.3% of the total population. The 5 largest foreign countries of birth are Germany, Romania, France, China, and Brazil.

• Monte Sirai, a hill in the surroundings of the city that hosts the ruins of a Phoenician-Carthaginian built-up area • Domus de janas in the surroundings of Sirri and Monte Crobu • Romanesque church of Santa Maria di Flumentepido (11th century) • Former Serbariu Coal Mine, now turned into a museum and a site of industrial archaeology

Carbonia is twinned with: • Oberhausen, Germany • Behren-lès-Forbach, France, since 2005 • Croatia Labin, Croatia, since 2010 • Croatia Raša, Croatia, since 2010

• Illustration — Piazza Roma • Illustration — Church of St. Pontian • Illustration — Serbariu mine