Counties of Romania - Definition and Overview

Administrative map of Romania

As of 2003, Romania is divided into 41 counties and one municipality, as follows:

A new administrative division was proposed, dividing the country into regions, but its implementation is uncertain since the county division is favoured by most Romanians. Additionally, the new president Traian Băsescu said in December 2004 that he wants greater decentralisation of government, and since the counties are smaller divisions than the proposed regions, county governments would act more effectively and would better serve the needs of their populations when empowered with new responsibilities and powers.

History

The administrative division in "judeţe" was created in the 19th century using the French departments system as an example. The communist party changed it to the Russian model (in raions), but it was soon reverted to the current system in 1968. In 1981 the former counties of Ilfov and Ialomiţa were re-organised into the present-day counties of Giurgiu, Călăraşi, Ialomiţa and Ilfov. Until 1995 Ilfov was not a proper county, instead it was a dependency of Bucharest.

See also

• List of Romanian Cities
• Etymological list of counties of Romania