Hațeg (Romanian: [ˈhatseɡ]; German: Wallenthal; Hungarian: Hátszeg) is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 8,793 as of 2021.

[citation needed] Prior to WWII, Hațeg was home to a thriving Jewish community comprising both Ashkenazi and Sephardim Jews, and featured at least one synagogue.

The fossils found in the Hațeg area span over 300 million years of Earth's geologic history, showing tropical coral reefs and volcanic island in the Tethys Sea, dinosaurs, primitive mammals, birds, and Pterosaurs (such as Hatzegopteryx, which was named for the region).

Baron Franz Nopcsa published articles about these Mesozoic-era archosaurs on Hațeg Island.

His studies led to his theory of insular dwarfism, the notion that "limited resources" on small islands can lead to a downsizing of the indigenous vertebrate animals.