It became the "County Library" with the administrative reform of February 1968. As of the end of the 1960s, the city became a regional industrial center for the first time, which was heavily impacted by the Systematization process. Industrial factories like Armătura Zalău, Silcotub Zalău and Anvelope Silvania (recently bought by Michelin) hired thousands of workers, which sparked an increase in population as a result. The population influx gradually led to changes in the ethnic structure with the Romanians being now the majority and the Hungarians reduced to a minority. However, in many of the surrounding communes, the ethnic structure still remained unchanged (for example Vârșolț) are still populated by Hungarians; on the other hand, nearby villages such as Marin have a 100% ethnic Romanian population, basically unchanged for more than a century. In the 1970s with the working-class population expanding, housing estates of high-rise blocks of flats were built in both the centre and the outskirts of the town. In 2007, due to the negligence of the local natural gas distributor, a gas accumulation produced an explosion that led to casualties and significant material damage. Today Zalău is crossed by European road E81 and the national road DN 1F. A new motorway (Transylvania Highway) is being built to connect Zalău to Western Europe. The town has two nationally accredited University colleges, a public library, one museum, an art gallery, more than four hotels, a motel, and two student halls of residence. Zalău lies in the Zalău Valley, at the junction of the Apuseni mountains and the Eastern Carpathians, in Sălaj County, at . Zalău is in the central part of Sălaj County, in Zalău watershed where the depression of the same name and the Meseș Peak meet. It neighbours Țara Maramureșului and the county of Satu Mare, in the northwestern part of the historical region of Transylvania, which in the past was a mainly independent small state but since 1918 has belonged to Romania (except between September 1940 and October 1944, when it was under the administration of Hungary following the Second Vienna Award). Whether Zalău lies in Crișana or Transylvania is still a matter of debate because, geographically, Zalău lies on the eastern border of Crișana.