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Counties of Romania

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Summary

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Field	Value
name	Counties of Romania

map
category	Unitary state
territory	Romania
start_date	1997 (Current form, 41 + Bucharest)
start_date1	1859 (33)
start_date2	1926 (71)
start_date3	1941 (73)
start_date4	1968 (38 + Bucharest + Ilfov Agricultural Sector)
start_date5	1981 (40 + Bucharest)
end_date	1950–1968
current_number	41
number_date	1997
exofficio	electoral constituency
population_range	193,355 (TL) – 760,774 (IS)/1,716,983 (B)
area_range	228 km2 (B)/1,583 km2 (IF) – 8,697 km2 (TM)
government	County Council and County Council President
subdivision	Municipality/town/commune/sector

A total of 41 counties (), 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 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 the 2021 census data from the National Institute of Statistics, the average population of Romania's 41 counties is about 423,000, with Iași County as the most populous (760,000) and Tulcea County (193,000) the least. The average county's land area is 5809 km2, with Timiș County (8697 km2) the largest and Ilfov County (1583 km2) 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 1,716,983 people and 228 km2.

History

Colored map showing the territory of Romania and its division into 71 counties before the World War II. — The 71 counties of Romania between 1925 and 1940

Outline showing the territory of present Romania and its into counties superimposed over the colored map of the inter-war counties. — Current counties imposed over the inter-war counties

Main article: Former administrative divisions of Romania

The earliest organization into județe (for Wallachia), and ținuturi (for Moldavia), dates back at least to the late 14th century.Județ originates from the Latin judicium and ținut probably from the Latin tenutum. 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. Transylvania was divided into royal counties headed by comes (royal counts) with administrative and judicial functions.

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.

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.

In 1938, King Carol II modified the law on the administration of the Romanian territory according to the fascist model. 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.

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.

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. 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.

In 1981, Giurgiu and Călărași were split from Ialomița and the former county of Ilfov, 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.

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. 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. The territorial districts of the Romanian judicial system overlap with county borders, thus avoiding further complication in the separation of powers on the government.

Current list

CoA	County	County seat	Name origin
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.
Region	ISO code
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.
Postal code
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.
Area code
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.
NUTS code
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.
Pop. (1 December 2021)
Area
Map	[[File:RO Alba County CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Alba County]]	Alba
[[File:Stema judetului Arad.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Arad County]]	Arad	[[File:Actual Argeș county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Argeș County]]	Argeș	[[File:Stema judetului Bacau.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Bacău County]]	Bacău	[[File:Actual Bihor county CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Bihor County]]	Bihor	[[File:Stema Bistrita-Nasaud.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Bistrița-Năsăud County]]	Bistrița-Năsăud	[[File:Stema judetului Botosani.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Botoșani County]]	Botoșani	[[File:Stema judetul brasov nou.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Brașov County]]	Brașov	[[File:Stema judetului Braila.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Brăila County]]	Brăila	[[File:Actual Buzau county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Buzău County]]	Buzău	[[File:Actual Caras-Severin county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Caraș-Severin County]]	Caraș-Severin	[[File:Stema Calarasi.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Călărași County]]	Călărași	[[File:Actual Cluj county CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Cluj County]]	Cluj	[[File:Actual Constanta county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Constanța County]]	Constanța	[[File:Coa Romania County Kovászna.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Covasna County]]	Covasna	[[File:Stema Dambovita.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Dâmbovița County]]	Dâmbovița	[[File:RO Dolj county COA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Dolj County]]	Dolj	[[File:Stema judetului Galati.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Galați County]]	Galați	[[File:Stema Giurgiu.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Giurgiu County]]	Giurgiu	[[File:Stema Gorj.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Gorj County]]	Gorj	[[File:Harghita county coat of arms.gif	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Harghita County]]	Harghita	[[File:Actual Hunedoara county CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Hunedoara County]]	Hunedoara	[[File:Stema Ialomita.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Ialomița County]]	Ialomița	[[File:Actual Iasi county CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Iași County]]	Iași	[[File:Actual Ilfov county CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Ilfov County]]	Ilfov	[[File:Coat of Arms of Maramureș County.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Maramureș County]]	Maramureș	[[File:Actual Mehedinti county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Mehedinți County]]	Mehedinți	[[File:Mures county coat of arms.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Mureș County]]	Mureș	[[File:Stema Neamt.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Neamț County]]	Neamț	[[File:Actual Olt county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Olt County]]	Olt	[[File:Stema Prahova.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Prahova County]]	Prahova	[[File:Satu Mare county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Satu Mare County]]	Satu Mare	[[File:RO Județul Sălaj COA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Sălaj County]]	Sălaj	[[File:Sibiu county coat of arms.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Sibiu County]]	Sibiu	[[File:Actual Suceava county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Suceava County]]	Suceava	[[File:Stema Teleorman.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Teleorman County]]	Teleorman	[[File:ROU Timis County CoA.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Timiș County]]	Timiș	[[File:Actual Tulcea county CoA.png	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Tulcea County]]	Tulcea	[[File:Stema Vaslui.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Vaslui County]]	Vaslui	[[File:Stema Valcea.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Vâlcea County]]	Vâlcea	[[File:Stema Vrancea.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Vrancea County]]	Vrancea
Alba Iulia	Alba Iulia	Center	AB	51	58	RO121	325,941	6,250 km2	[[File:Alba.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Alba County]]
Arad	county seat	West	AR	31	57	RO421	410,143	7,746 km2	[[File:Arad.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Arad County]]
Pitești	Argeș River	South-Muntenia	AG	11	48	RO311	569,932	6,822 km2	[[File:Arges.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Argeș County]]
Bacău	county seat	North-East	BC	60	34	RO211	601,387	6,622 km2	[[File:Bacau.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Bacău County]]
Oradea	Biharia commune	North-West	BH	41	59	RO111	551,297	7,539 km2	[[File:Bihor.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Bihor County]]
Bistrița	Bistrița River and Năsăud city	North-West	BN	42	63	RO112	295,988	5,358 km2	[[File:Bistrita-Nasaud.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Bistrița-Năsăud County]]
Botoșani	county seat	North-East	BT	71	31	RO212	392,821	4,987 km2	[[File:Botosani.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Botoșani County]]
Brașov	county seat	Center	BV	50	68	RO122	546,615	5,361 km2	[[File:Brasov.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Brașov County]]
Brăila	county seat	South-East	BR	81	39	RO221	281,452	4,766 km2	[[File:Braila.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Brăila County]]
[[File:Coat of arms of Bucharest.svg	40px	alt=Coat of arms of Bucharest]]	BucharestBucharest is not a county, but a municipality that has an identical administrative status to all the other 41 counties.	last name Bucur	Bucharest-Ilfov	B	six sectors]].	1x
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).	RO321	1,716,983	240 km2	[[File:Bucharest.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting the location of Bucharest]]
Buzău	Buzău River	South-East	BZ	12	38	RO222	404,979	6,101 km2	[[File:Buzau.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Buzău County]]
Reșița	defunct Caraș and Severin Counties	West	CS	32	55	RO422	246,588	8,532 km2	[[File:Caras-Severin.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Caraș-Severin County]]
Călărași	county seat	South-Muntenia	CL	91	42	RO312	283,458	5,087 km2	[[File:Calarasi.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Călărași County]]
Cluj-Napoca	county seat	North-West	CJ	40	64	RO113	679,141	6,672 km2	[[File:Cluj.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Cluj County]]
Constanța	county seat	South-East	CT	90	41	RO223	655,997	7,104 km2	[[File:Constanta.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Constanța County]]
Sfântu Gheorghe	Covasna River	Center	CV	52	67	RO123	200,042	3,707 km2	[[File:Covasna.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Covasna County]]
Târgoviște	Dâmbovița River	South-Muntenia	DB	13	45	RO313	479,404	4,056 km2	[[File:Dambovita.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Dâmbovița County]]
Craiova	Jiu RiverDolj is a shortened form of Dolu (Slavic for "valley") Jiu, in reference to the county's location in the lower part of Jiu river.	South-West Oltenia	DJ	20	51	RO411	599,442	7,425 km2	[[File:Dolj.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Dolj County]]
Galați	county seat	South-East	GL	80	36	RO224	496,892	4,465 km2	[[File:Galati.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Galați County]]
Giurgiu	county seat	South-Muntenia	GR	08	46	RO314	262,066	3,544 km2	[[File:Giurgiu.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Giurgiu County]]
Târgu Jiu	Jiu RiverGorj is a shortened form of Gora (Slavic for "mountain") Jiu, in reference to the county's location in the upper part of Jiu river.	South-West Oltenia	GJ	21	53	RO412	314,684	5,572 km2	[[File:Gorj.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Gorj County]]
Miercurea Ciuc	Harghita Mountains	Center	HR	53	66	RO124	291,950	6,637 km2	[[File:Harghita.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Harghita County]]
Deva	Hunedoara city	West	HD	33	54	RO423	361,657	7,072 km2	[[File:Hunedoara.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Hunedoara County]]
Slobozia	Ialomița River	South-Muntenia	IL	92	43	RO315	250,816	4,455 km2	[[File:Ialomita.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Ialomița County]]
Iași	county seat	North-East	IS	70	32	RO213	760,774	5,477 km2	[[File:Iasi.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Iași County]]
Bucharest	Ilfov River	Bucharest-Ilfov	IF	07	1x
RO322	542,686	1,564 km2	[[File:Ilfov.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Ilfov County]]
Baia Mare	Maramureș historical region	North-West	MM	43	62	RO114	452,475	6,303 km2	[[File:Maramures.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Maramureș County]]
Drobeta-Turnu Severin	Mehadia commune	South-West Oltenia	MH	22	52	RO413	234,339	4,942 km2	[[File:Mehedinti.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Mehedinți County]]
Târgu Mureș	Mureș River	Center	MS	54	65	RO125	518,193	6,705 km2	[[File:Mures.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Mureș County]]
Piatra Neamț	Neamț River	North-East	NT	61	33	RO214	454,203	5,897 km2	[[File:Neamt.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Neamț County]]
Slatina	Olt River	South-West Oltenia	OT	23	49	RO414	383,280	5,503 km2	[[File:Olt.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Olt County]]
Ploiești	Prahova River	South-Muntenia	PH	10	44	RO316	695,117	4,715 km2	[[File:Prahova.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Prahova County]]
Satu Mare	county seat	North-West	SM	44	61	RO115	330,668	4,420 km2	[[File:Satu Mare.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Satu Mare County]]
Zalău	Sălaj River	North-West	SJ	45	60	RO116	212,224	3,867 km2	[[File:Salaj.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Sălaj County]]
Sibiu	county seat	Center	SB	55	69	RO126	388,325	5,432 km2	[[File:Sibiu.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Sibiu County]]
Suceava	Suceava River	North-East	SV	72	30	RO215	642,551	8,553 km2	[[File:Suceava.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Suceava County]]
Alexandria	Teleorman River	South-Muntenia	TR	14	47	RO317	323,544	5,788 km2	[[File:Teleorman.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Teleorman County]]
Timișoara	Timiș River	West	TM	30	56	RO424	650,533	8,692 km2	[[File:Timis.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Timiș County]]
Tulcea	county seat	South-East	TL	82	40	RO225	193,355	8,484 km2	[[File:Tulcea.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Tulcea County]]
Vaslui	Vaslui River	North-East	VS	73	35	RO216	374,700	5,317 km2	[[File:Vaslui.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Vaslui County]]
Râmnicu Vâlcea	medieval county of Vîlcea	South-West Oltenia	VL	24	50	RO415	341,861	5,764 km2	[[File:Valcea.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Vâlcea County]]
Focșani	medieval county of VranchaVran is a substratum word believed to mean "forest" or "mountain".	South-East	VN	62	37	RO226	335,312	4,854 km2	[[File:Vrancea.svg	100px	alt=Map of Romania highlighting Vrancea County]]

Notes

References

"Primele atestari documentare ale judetului Valcea (First Historical Mentions of Vâlcea County)". [[National Institute of Statistics (Romania)]].
Cornel Șomâcu. (2009-09-09). "De la sat la județ în istoria Olteniei (From Village to County in the History of Oltenia)". Vertical.
Cosmin Dariescu. (2008). "Istoria statului și dreptului românesc din antichitate până la Marea Unire (History of Romanian State and Law from Antiquity until the Unification)". C.H. Beck.
Cosmin Dariescu. (2008). "Istoria statului și dreptului românesc din antichitate până la Marea Unire (History of Romanian State and Law from Antiquity until the Unification)". C.H. Beck.
"Scurtă privire istorică (Short View on History)". Instituția Prefectului județul Argeș.
Valeriu Nicolescu. "Un ținut de legendă, județul Buzău (A legendary Land, Buzau County)". Buzau.com.
"2003–2005 National Human Development Report: Local Governance in Romania". United Nations Development Programme.
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)". Nomos Verlag.
(2008-09-10). "Istoria Banatului – În linii mari (History of Banat – A Quick View)". Vestul.ro.
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]].
"Prezentarea Judetului Ilfov (Overview of Ilfov County)". National Institute of Statistics (Romania).
"Istoria Ilfov (History of Ilfov)". Camera de Comert si Industrie a Judetului Ilfov.
"Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics – Introduction". [[Eurostat]].
"CEMR – Members – Romania". Council of European Municipalities and Regions.
(11 January 2013). "Istoria numelor județelor din România. De unde provine denumirea regiunii în care locuiți".
"Postal code search". Compania Nationala Posta Romania SA.
(2005-04-26). "List of the county prefixes in Romania". National Regulatory Authority for Communications and Information Technology (Romania).
"Publications Office, European Union, EU". Simap – Information about European public procurement.
(2022). "Primele date provizorii pentru Recensământul Populației și Locuințelor, runda 2021". National Institute of Statistics (Romania).
(2018). "Romanian Statistical Yearbook 2017". National Institute of Statistics (Romania).
"DEX online – Search: "bucura"". Dexonline.ro.
''Vâlcea'' is the Romanian word for a narrow valley.
"Județul Vrancea (Vrancea County)". National Institute of Statistics (Romania).

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