Petrila (Romanian pronunciation: [peˈtrila]; Hungarian: Petrilla) is a town in the Jiu Valley, Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania.
The town administers four villages: Cimpa (Csimpa), Jieț (Zsiec), Răscoala (Reszkola), and Tirici.
The name of the town was noted in 1733 as coming from the Latin word “petrinus” ("pietros" in Romanian), which can be translated into English to mean “of stone”, a reference to the large coal deposits in the area that would become a profitable export in the Industrial Revolution.
Mining operations began in 1840, but the town would remain sparsely populated until the arrival of Western Moldavian workers forced to relocate by the former president of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu under Communist rule.
The restructuring of the economy since the Romanian Revolution of 1989 has led to a decrease in production and supply for the region, including Petrila.