Baia Sprie (Hungarian: Felsőbánya, German: Mittelstadt) is a town in the Maramures (Hungarian Máramaros) County of Romania.

The commune contains four settlements: Town of Baia Sprie/Felsőbánya, Chiuzbaia, Satu Nou de Sus and Tautii de Sus villages. The commune has 16,059 inhabitants. The town has 11,735 inhabitants (28.9% Hungarians, 1992 census). Neighbouring communities are: Baia Mare/Nagybánya City, Grosi, Dumbravita, Sisesti and Desesti.

History

The first mention of the settlement is from 1329 as "Civitas in medio monte". The city was in Szatmár County of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1567 it was annexed by Prince János Zsigmond, prince of Transylvania. 1605-1606, 1621-1629, 1645-1648 the town with the county was part of the Principality of Transylvania.

Ethnic groups In 1910: Hungarian 93.8%, Romanian 5.2%, other 1.0%

Religions In 1910: Roman Catholic 52.1%, Greek Catholic 28.1%, Calvinist 13.3%, Jewish 6.1%, other 0.5%

From 1919/1920 (Romanian occupation/Treaty of Trianon) to 1940 (Second Decision in Vienna) part of the Kingdom of Romania. 1940-1944 part of Hungary. The Treaty of Paris (1947) reallocated it to Romania.The settlement was a town 1952-1960 in Baia Mare Region, 1960-1968 in Maramures Region and from 1968 is in Maramures County.