Counties of Romania

The 41 counties of Romania and Municipality of Bucharest (clickable imagemap)

A total of 41 counties (Romanian: județe), along with the municipality of Bucharest, constitute the official administrative divisions of Romania. They represent the country's NUTS-3 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics – Level 3) statistical subdivisions within the European Union and each of them serves as the local level of government within its borders. Most counties are named after a major river, while some are named after notable cities within them, such as the county seat.

The earliest organization into județe of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (where they were termed ținuturi) dates back to at least the late 14th century. For most of the time since modern Romania was formed in 1859, the administrative division system has been similar to the French departments one. The system has been changed several times since then, and the number of counties has varied over time, from the 71 județe that existed before World War II to only 39 after 1968. The current format has largely been in place since 1968 as only small changes have been made since then, the last of which was in 1997.

According to 2011 census data from the National Institute of Statistics, the average population of Romania's 41 counties is about 445,000, with Iași County as the most populous (772,000) and Covasna County (210,000) the least. The average county's land area is 5,809 square kilometres (2,243 sq mi), with Timiș County (8,697 square kilometres (3,358 sq mi)) the largest and Ilfov County (1,583 square kilometres (611 sq mi)) the smallest. The municipality of Bucharest, which has the same administrative level as that of a county, is both more populous and much smaller than any county, with 1,883,425 people and 228 square kilometres (88 sq mi).

History

The 71 counties of Romania between 1925 and 1940

Current counties imposed over the inter-war counties

The earliest organization into județe (for Wallachia), and ținuturi (for Moldavia), dates back at least to the late 14th century.^{[note 1][1][2][3]} Inspired from the organization of the late Byzantine Empire, each județ was ruled by a jude (or pârcălab for a ținut), a person officially appointed with administrative and judicial functions.^[3][4] Transylvania was divided into royal counties headed by comes (royal counts) with administrative and judicial functions.^[3]

After modern Romania was formed in 1859 through the union of Wallachia and the rump of Moldavia, the administrative division was modernized using the French administrative system as a model, with județ as the basic administrative unit.^[5][6] Aside from the 1950–1968 period, this system has remained in place until today. Since 1864, for each județ there exists a prefect, a subordinate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and representative of the government inside the county; he is also the head of local administration for areas not delegated to local authorities.^[5][6] Until 1948, each județ was further divided into several plăși, each administered by a pretor.^[7]

After the adoption of a new Constitution in 1923, the traditional local administrative systems of the newly acquired regions of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia were made uniform in 1925 with that of the Romanian Old Kingdom. County borders were kept largely intact, with few adjustments, and the total number of counties was raised to 71; this lasted until the beginning of World War II.^[6]

In 1938, King Carol II modified the law on the administration of the Romanian territory according to the fascist model.^[8] Ten ținuturi (approx. translation "lands") were created, ruled by Rezidenți Regali (Royal Residents), appointed directly by the Monarch. The ținuturi represented another layer of administration between counties and the country, as the county borders were not erased.^[5][9]

Due to the territorial changes during World War II, this style of administration did not last, and the administration at the județ level was reintroduced after the war.^[5] Between 1941–1944, Romania administered the territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers known as Transnistria, which consisted of 13 separate counties.^[10]

After taking over the administration of the country in 1945, the Communist Party changed the administrative model to that of the Soviet Union (regions and raions) in 1950, but changed it back in 1968.^[11] Nevertheless, the county borders set then were quite different from those present during the interbellum, as only 39 counties were formed from the 56 remaining after the war.^[12]

In 1981, Giurgiu and Călărași were split from Ialomița and the former county of Ilfov,^[12] while in 1997, Ilfov County, which had been a dependency of the municipality of Bucharest for nearly two decades, was reinstated.^[13][14] The county borders set in 1968 are still largely in place today, but the functions of different authorities have changed due to administrative reforms in the 1990s.^[5][6]

At present, Romania is divided into 41 counties and one municipality (Bucharest); these are assigned as the NUTS-3 geocode statistical subdivision scheme of Romania within the European Union.^[15] Each of the counties is further divided into cities (some of which have municipality status) and communes. The prefect and his administration have executive prerogatives within the county limits, while limited legislative powers are assigned to a County Council elected every four years during local elections.^[16] The territorial districts of the Romanian judicial system overlap with county borders, thus avoiding further complication in the separation of powers on the government.^[5]

Current list

County	County seat	Name origin [note 2][17]	Development region	ISO code [note 3]	Postal code [note 4][18]	Area code [note 5][19]	NUTS code [note 6][20]	Population (2011)[21]	Area [22]	Map
Alba	Alba Iulia	Alba River	Center	AB	51	58	RO121	342,376	6,242 km^2 (2,410 sq mi)
Arad	Arad	county seat	West	AR	31	57	RO421	430,629	7,754 km^2 (2,994 sq mi)
Argeș	Pitești	Argeș River	South-Muntenia	AG	11	48	RO311	612,431	6,862 km^2 (2,649 sq mi)
Bacău	Bacău	county seat	North-East	BC	60	34	RO211	616,168	6,621 km^2 (2,556 sq mi)
Bihor	Oradea	Biharia commune	North-West	BH	41	59	RO111	575,398	7,544 km^2 (2,913 sq mi)
Bistrița-Năsăud	Bistrița	Bistrița River and Năsăud city	North-West	BN	42	63	RO112	286,225	5,355 km^2 (2,068 sq mi)
Botoșani	Botoșani	county seat	North-East	BT	71	31	RO212	412,626	4,986 km^2 (1,925 sq mi)
Brașov	Brașov	county seat	Center	BV	50	68	RO122	549,217	5,363 km^2 (2,071 sq mi)
Brăila	Brăila	county seat	South-East	BR	81	39	RO221	321,212	4,766 km^2 (1,840 sq mi)
Bucharest	(Municipality of Bucharest) [note 7]	last name Bucur[23]	Bucharest-Ilfov	B	01–06 [note 8]	1x [note 9]	RO321	1,883,425	228 km^2 (88 sq mi)
Buzău	Buzău	Buzău River	South-East	BZ	12	38	RO222	451,069	6,103 km^2 (2,356 sq mi)
Caraș-Severin	Reșița	defunct Caraș and Severin Counties	West	CS	32	55	RO422	295,579	8,514 km^2 (3,287 sq mi)
Călărași	Călărași	county seat	South-Muntenia	CL	91	42	RO312	306,691	5,088 km^2 (1,964 sq mi)
Cluj	Cluj-Napoca	county seat	North-West	CJ	40	64	RO113	691,106	6,674 km^2 (2,577 sq mi)
Constanța	Constanța	county seat	South-East	CT	90	41	RO223	684,082	7,071 km^2 (2,730 sq mi)
Covasna	Sfântu Gheorghe	Covasna River	Center	CV	52	67	RO123	210,177	3,710 km^2 (1,430 sq mi)
Dâmbovița	Târgoviște	Dâmbovița River	South-Muntenia	DB	13	45	RO313	518,745	4,054 km^2 (1,565 sq mi)
Dolj	Craiova	Jiu River[note 10]	South-West Oltenia	DJ	20	51	RO411	660,544	7,414 km^2 (2,863 sq mi)
Galați	Galați	county seat	South-East	GL	80	36	RO224	536,167	4,466 km^2 (1,724 sq mi)
Giurgiu	Giurgiu	county seat	South-Muntenia	GR	08	46	RO314	281,422	3,526 km^2 (1,361 sq mi)
Gorj	Târgu Jiu	Jiu River[note 11]	South-West Oltenia	GJ	21	53	RO412	341,594	5,602 km^2 (2,163 sq mi)
Harghita	Miercurea Ciuc	Harghita Mountains	Center	HR	53	66	RO124	310,867	6,639 km^2 (2,563 sq mi)
Hunedoara	Deva	Hunedoara city	West	HD	33	54	RO423	418,565	7,063 km^2 (2,727 sq mi)
Ialomița	Slobozia	Ialomița River	South-Muntenia	IL	92	43	RO315	274,148	4,453 km^2 (1,719 sq mi)
Iași	Iași	county seat	North-East	IS	70	32	RO213	772,348	5,476 km^2 (2,114 sq mi)
Ilfov	Buftea	Ilfov River	Bucharest-Ilfov	IF	07	1x [note 9]	RO322	388,738	1,583 km^2 (611 sq mi)
Maramureș	Baia Mare	Maramureș historical region	North-West	MM	43	62	RO114	478,659	6,304 km^2 (2,434 sq mi)
Mehedinți	Drobeta-Turnu Severin	Mehadia commune	South-West Oltenia	MH	22	52	RO413	265,390	4,933 km^2 (1,905 sq mi)
Mureș	Târgu Mureș	Mureș River	Center	MS	54	65	RO125	550,846	6,714 km^2 (2,592 sq mi)
Neamț	Piatra Neamț	Neamț River	North-East	NT	61	33	RO214	470,766	5,896 km^2 (2,276 sq mi)
Olt	Slatina	Olt River	South-West Oltenia	OT	23	49	RO414	436,400	5,498 km^2 (2,123 sq mi)
Prahova	Ploiești	Prahova River	South-Muntenia	PH	10	44	RO316	762,886	4,716 km^2 (1,821 sq mi)
Satu Mare	Satu Mare	county seat	North-West	SM	44	61	RO115	344,360	4,418 km^2 (1,706 sq mi)
Sălaj	Zalău	Sălaj River	North-West	SJ	45	60	RO116	224,384	3,864 km^2 (1,492 sq mi)
Sibiu	Sibiu	county seat	Center	SB	55	69	RO126	397,322	5,432 km^2 (2,097 sq mi)
Suceava	Suceava	Suceava River	North-East	SV	72	30	RO215	634,810	8,553 km^2 (3,302 sq mi)
Teleorman	Alexandria	Teleorman River	South-Muntenia	TR	14	47	RO317	380,123	5,790 km^2 (2,240 sq mi)
Timiș	Timișoara	Timiș River	West	TM	30	56	RO424	683,540	8,697 km^2 (3,358 sq mi)
Tulcea	Tulcea	county seat	South-East	TL	82	40	RO225	213,083	8,499 km^2 (3,281 sq mi)
Vaslui	Vaslui	Vaslui River	North-East	VS	73	35	RO216	395,499	5,318 km^2 (2,053 sq mi)
Vâlcea	Râmnicu Vâlcea	medieval county of Vîlcea[1][note 12]	South-West Oltenia	VL	24	50	RO415	371,714	5,765 km^2 (2,226 sq mi)
Vrancea	Focșani	medieval county of Vrancha[24][note 13]	South-East	VN	62	37	RO226	340,310	4,857 km^2 (1,875 sq mi)

See also

• Communes of Romania
• List of Romania county name etymologies
• Former administrative divisions of Romania
• List of Romanian counties by population
• List of cities and towns in Romania
• List of Romanian counties by foreign trade
• Municipiu

Notes

1. Județ originates from the Latin judicium and ținut probably from the Latin tenutum.
2. Most of the names of the present counties originate from one of the larger rivers that flow through the county. In a number of cases, the name of the county seat or another large city in the county is the same as that river.
3. These are the ISO 3166-2:RO codes which coincide with the license plate ones; they are also used as usual abbreviations, such as in mailing addresses.
4. The postal code format is of the type xxyzw, with xx being the numbers associated with the county; the digits y, z, and w indicate the city, the street, part of the street, or even the building of the address.
5. Landline phone numbers are of the type +40-abb-xxx-xxx, where 40 is the country code, bb is the area code, and a is a digit indicating the operator: 2 for the former national operator, Romtelecom, and 3 for the other ground telephone networks. Mobile phone numbers, however, only start with the digit 7 (for a) and do not follow county borders.
6. The development region code follows the format ROxyz, where x is the macroregion number, y represents the development region and is either 1 or 2, and z is the county number within the region.
7. Bucharest is not a county, but a municipality that has an identical administrative status to all the other 41 counties.
8. Due to Bucharest's significantly larger population, it has a different postal code for each of its six sectors.
9. Bucharest and Ilfov county have the same code. Due to their large population, phone numbers have only the suffix "1" (unlike two-digit suffixes for counties) followed by seven digits (only six digits for anywhere else).
10. Dolj is a shortened form of Dolu (Slavic for "valley") Jiu, in reference to the county's location in the lower part of Jiu river.
11. Gorj is a shortened form of Gora (Slavic for "mountain") Jiu, in reference to the county's location in the upper part of Jiu river.
12. Vâlcea is the Romanian word for a narrow valley.
13. Vran is a substratum word believed to mean "forest" or "mountain".

References

1. "Primele atestari documentare ale judetului Valcea (First Historical Mentions of Vâlcea County)" (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). Retrieved 2010-01-23.
2. Cornel Șomâcu (2009-09-09). "De la sat la județ în istoria Olteniei (From Village to County in the History of Oltenia)" (in Romanian). Vertical. ISSN 1841-6063. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
3. Cosmin Dariescu (2008). "21: Organizarea administrativ-teritorială a Țării Românești și a Moldovei în evul mediu (21: Administrative Divisions in Wallachia and Moldavia in the Middle Ages)". Istoria statului și dreptului românesc din antichitate până la Marea Unire (History of Romanian State and Law from Antiquity until the Unification) (in Romanian). C.H. Beck. pp. 47–51. ISBN 978-973-115-337-7.
4. Cosmin Dariescu (2008). "16: Domnia în Țările Române medievale (16: Rulers in the Romanian Principalities in the Middle Ages)". Istoria statului și dreptului românesc din antichitate până la Marea Unire (History of Romanian State and Law from Antiquity until the Unification) (in Romanian). C.H. Beck. pp. 35–39. ISBN 978-973-115-337-7.
5. "Scurtă privire istorică (Short View on History)" (in Romanian). Instituția Prefectului județul Argeș. Archived from the original on 2012-05-20. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
6. 2003–2005 National Human Development Report: Local Governance in Romania (PDF) (Report). United Nations Development Programme. p. 35.
7. Valeriu Nicolescu. "Un ținut de legendă, județul Buzău (A legendary Land, Buzau County)" (in Romanian). Buzau.com. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
8. Günther H. Tontsch (2000). "Juristische Literatur zur rumänischen Verwaltungsgeschichte im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Law Literature on the Romanian Administrative History in the 19th and 20th Centuries)". Jahrbuch für Europäische Verwaltungsgeschichte (Yearbook of European Administrative History) (in German). 12. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag. p. 285. ISSN 0937-7107.
9. Ioan Scurtu; Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu; Georgiana Margareta Scurtu (2002). "8.7. Decret-lege pentru reforma electorală (Law Decree for electoral reform)". Istoria românilor între anii 1918–1940 (The History of the Romanians in 1918–1940) (in Romanian). University of Bucharest.
10. Anatol Petrenci (2006). Basarabia în timpul celui de-al doilea război mondial: 1939–1945 (Bessarabia During the Second World War: 1939–1945) (in Romanian). Chișinău, Moldova: Ed. Prut Internațional. ISBN 978-9975-69-049-2.
11. "Istoria Banatului – În linii mari (History of Banat – A Quick View)" (in Romanian). Vestul.ro. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
12. Petre Mihai Bacanu (2010-03-11). "Cum ar trebui să arate harta redesenată a României? (How Should Romania's Redrawn Map Look Like?)" (in Romanian). România Liberă. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
13. "Prezentarea Judetului Ilfov (Overview of Ilfov County)" (PDF) (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). Retrieved 2010-08-01.
14. "Istoria Ilfov (History of Ilfov)" (in Romanian). Camera de Comert si Industrie a Judetului Ilfov. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
15. "Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics – Introduction". Eurostat. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
16. "CEMR – Members – Romania". Council of European Municipalities and Regions. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
17. "Istoria numelor județelor din România. De unde provine denumirea regiunii în care locuiți" (in Romanian). Retrieved 2013-01-30.
18. "Postal code search" (in Romanian). Compania Nationala Posta Romania SA. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
19. "List of the county prefixes in Romania" (in Romanian). National Regulatory Authority for Communications and Information Technology (Romania). 2005-04-26. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
20. "Publications Office, European Union, EU". Simap – Information about European public procurement. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
21. 
    Population at the Censuses of 1948, 1956, 1966, 1977, 1992, 2002 and 2011 – By Localities and Counties (XLS) (Report) (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). 2013-07-04. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
22. Romanian Statistical Yearbook 2008 – Geography, Meteorology, and Environment (PDF) (Report) (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). 2007-07-01. p. 18. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
23. "DEX online – Search: "bucura"". Romanian Etymological Dictionary 1958–1966 (in Romanian). Dexonline.ro. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
24. "Județul Vrancea (Vrancea County)" (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). Retrieved 2010-08-23.

External links

• Blog of the Romanian Royalty House showing various maps with the previous administrative divisions of Romania.
• Current and historical divisions of Romania at Statoids.com
• "Geopolitical Entities and Their Codes (FIPS codes)". National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 2010-08-23.