Counties of Romania

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.

Counties of Romania
Romanian: Județele României
The 41 counties of Romania and Municipality of Bucharest (clickable imagemap)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationRomania
Created
  • 1995 (Current form, 41 + Bucharest)
  • 1859 (33)
  • 1926 (71)
  • 1941 (73)
  • 1968 (38 + Bucharest + Ilfov Agricultural Sector)
Abolished
  • 1950–1968
Number41 (as of 1995)
Additional status
  • electoral constituency
Populations210,177 (CV) – 772,348 (IS)/1,883,425 (B)
Areas228 km2 (88 sq mi) (B)/1,583 km2 (611 sq mi) (IF) – 8,697 km2 (3,358 sq mi) (TM)
Government
  • County Council and County Council President
Subdivisions
  • Municipality/town/commune/sector

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 that of the French departments. The system has since changed several times 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 a 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 and 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
CoA County County seat Name origin
[note 2][17]
 Region ISO code
[note 3]
 Postal code
[note 4][18]
 Area code
[note 5][19]
 NUTS code
[note 6][20]
 Pop.
(2011)[21]
 Area[22]
 Map
Alba
Alba Iulia Alba Iulia Center AB 51 58 RO121 342,376 6,250 km2 (2,410 sq mi)
Arad Arad county seat West AR 31 57 RO421 430,629 7,746 km2 (2,991 sq mi)
Argeș Pitești Argeș River South-Muntenia AG 11 48 RO311 612,431 6,822 km2 (2,634 sq mi)
Bacău Bacău county seat North-East BC 60 34 RO211 616,168 6,622 km2 (2,557 sq mi)
Bihor Oradea Biharia commune North-West BH 41 59 RO111 575,398 7,539 km2 (2,911 sq mi)
Bistrița-Năsăud Bistrița Bistrița River and Năsăud city North-West BN 42 63 RO112 286,225 5,358 km2 (2,069 sq mi)
Botoșani Botoșani county seat North-East BT 71 31 RO212 412,626 4,987 km2 (1,925 sq mi)
Brașov Brașov county seat Center BV 50 68 RO122 549,217 5,361 km2 (2,070 sq mi)
Brăila Brăila county seat South-East BR 81 39 RO221 321,212 4,766 km2 (1,840 sq mi)
Bucharest[note 7] last name Bucur[23] Bucharest-Ilfov B 01–06
[note 8]		 1x
[note 9]		 RO321 1,883,425 240 km2 (93 sq mi)
Buzău Buzău Buzău River South-East BZ 12 38 RO222 451,069 6,101 km2 (2,356 sq mi)
Caraș-Severin Reșița defunct Caraș and Severin Counties West CS 32 55 RO422 295,579 8,532 km2 (3,294 sq mi)
Călărași Călărași county seat South-Muntenia CL 91 42 RO312 306,691 5,087 km2 (1,964 sq mi)
Cluj Cluj-Napoca county seat North-West CJ 40 64 RO113 691,106 6,672 km2 (2,576 sq mi)
Constanța Constanța county seat South-East CT 90 41 RO223 684,082 7,104 km2 (2,743 sq mi)
Covasna Sfântu Gheorghe Covasna River Center CV 52 67 RO123 210,177 3,707 km2 (1,431 sq mi)
Dâmbovița Târgoviște Dâmbovița River South-Muntenia DB 13 45 RO313 518,745 4,056 km2 (1,566 sq mi)
Dolj Craiova Jiu River[note 10] South-West Oltenia DJ 20 51 RO411 660,544 7,425 km2 (2,867 sq mi)
Galați Galați county seat South-East GL 80 36 RO224 536,167 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi)
Giurgiu Giurgiu county seat South-Muntenia GR 08 46 RO314 281,422 3,544 km2 (1,368 sq mi)
Gorj Târgu Jiu Jiu River[note 11] South-West Oltenia GJ 21 53 RO412 341,594 5,572 km2 (2,151 sq mi)
Harghita Miercurea Ciuc Harghita Mountains Center HR 53 66 RO124 310,867 6,637 km2 (2,563 sq mi)
Hunedoara Deva Hunedoara city West HD 33 54 RO423 418,565 7,072 km2 (2,731 sq mi)
Ialomița Slobozia Ialomița River South-Muntenia IL 92 43 RO315 274,148 4,455 km2 (1,720 sq mi)
Iași Iași county seat North-East IS 70 32 RO213 772,348 5,477 km2 (2,115 sq mi)
Ilfov Buftea Ilfov River Bucharest-Ilfov IF 07 1x
[note 9]		 RO322 388,738 1,564 km2 (604 sq mi)
Maramureș Baia Mare Maramureș historical region North-West MM 43 62 RO114 478,659 6,303 km2 (2,434 sq mi)
Mehedinți Drobeta-Turnu Severin Mehadia commune South-West Oltenia MH 22 52 RO413 265,390 4,942 km2 (1,908 sq mi)
Mureș Târgu Mureș Mureș River Center MS 54 65 RO125 550,846 6,705 km2 (2,589 sq mi)
Neamț Piatra Neamț Neamț River North-East NT 61 33 RO214 470,766 5,897 km2 (2,277 sq mi)
Olt Slatina Olt River South-West Oltenia OT 23 49 RO414 436,400 5,503 km2 (2,125 sq mi)
Prahova Ploiești Prahova River South-Muntenia PH 10 44 RO316 762,886 4,715 km2 (1,820 sq mi)
Satu Mare Satu Mare county seat North-West SM 44 61 RO115 344,360 4,420 km2 (1,710 sq mi)
Sălaj Zalău Sălaj River North-West SJ 45 60 RO116 224,384 3,867 km2 (1,493 sq mi)
Sibiu Sibiu county seat Center SB 55 69 RO126 397,322 5,432 km2 (2,097 sq mi)
Suceava Suceava Suceava River North-East SV 72 30 RO215 634,810 8,553 km2 (3,302 sq mi)
Teleorman Alexandria Teleorman River South-Muntenia TR 14 47 RO317 380,123 5,788 km2 (2,235 sq mi)
Timiș Timișoara Timiș River West TM 30 56 RO424 683,540 8,692 km2 (3,356 sq mi)
Tulcea Tulcea county seat South-East TL 82 40 RO225 213,083 8,484 km2 (3,276 sq mi)
Vaslui Vaslui Vaslui River North-East VS 73 35 RO216 395,499 5,317 km2 (2,053 sq mi)
Vâlcea Râmnicu Vâlcea medieval county of Vîlcea[1][note 12] South-West Oltenia VL 24 50 RO415 371,714 5,764 km2 (2,225 sq mi)
Vrancea Focșani medieval county of Vrancha[24][note 13] South-East VN 62 37 RO226 340,310 4,854 km2 (1,874 sq mi)

See also
Politics of Romania
Constitution
  • Referendums
    1991 (adoption)
    2003 (amendments)
  • Constitutional Court
Government
  • President (list)
    Klaus Iohannis
  • Prime Minister (list)
    Nicolae Ciucă
    • Cabinet (current, list)
Parliament
  • Senate
    Acting President: Alina Gorghiu
    Standing Bureau
  • Chamber of Deputies
    President: Marcel Ciolacu
    Standing Bureau
Judiciary
  • High Court of Cassation and Justice
  • Constitutional Court
  • Ombudsman
  • Judicial reform
Political parties
  • Parliamentary
    National Liberal Party (PNL)
    Social Democratic Party (PSD)
    Save Romania Union (USR)
    Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS)
    Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR)
    Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR)
    Humanist Power Party (PPU)
    Romanian Nationhood Party (PNR)
    Other ethnic-minority parties
  • Non-parliamentary
    People's Movement Party (PMP)
    PRO Romania (PRO)
    Greater Romania Party (PRM)
    Ecologist Party of Romania (PER)
Elections
  • Permanent Electoral Authority
  • Recent elections
    • Presidential: 2014
    • 2019
    • 2024
    • Legislative: 2016
    • 2020
    • next
    • Local: 2016
    • 2020
    • 2024
    • European: 2014
    • 2019
    • 2024
Administrative divisions
  • Macroregions
    • Development regions
      Counties
    • Metropolitan areas
      • Municipalities
      • Sectors

      • Cities
      • Communes
Foreign relations
  • China
  • United States

  • Moldova
    • unification movement
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • Embassies
Politicians
  • Heads of state
  • Presidents by time in office
  • Prime Ministers
  •  Romania portal
  • Other countries
  • Communes of Romania
  • Development regions 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). Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. 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. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  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. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. 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). Vol. 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. Archived from the original on 2015-03-22. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  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. Archived from the original on 2013-05-21. 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?)". România Liberă (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  13. "Prezentarea Judetului Ilfov (Overview of Ilfov County)" (PDF) (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-23. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  14. "Istoria Ilfov (History of Ilfov)" (in Romanian). Camera de Comert si Industrie a Judetului Ilfov. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. 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. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. 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. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. 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 (Report) (in Romanian). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). 2013-07-04. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (XLS) on 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  22. Romanian Statistical Yearbook 2017 (PDF) (Report). National Institute of Statistics (Romania). 2018. p. 17. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  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). Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2010-08-23.

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