Metropolitan areas in Romania

Metropolitan areas in Romania are private agencies of public utility which were established by Law no. 351 of 6 July 2001 with the aim of encouraging the development of neighboring towns and communes within a radius of 30 km. The first to be established was the metropolitan area of Iași, on 8 April 2004, while the last is that of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, on 28 August 2019. There are 24 metropolitan areas in Romania that have been constituted as of 2019.

Legislative status The 2001 legislation regulates the status of the 319 cities in Romania according to their population and regional importance (Law no. 351 of 6 July 2001): rank 0 – the capital of Romania, municipality of European importance; rank I – municipalities of national importance, with potential influence at European level; rank II – municipalities of inter-county or county importance or with a balancing role in the network of localities; rank III – towns. Legislation also restricts the possibility to engage into a metropolitan area project to only those cities that are of rank 0 or I. The metropolitan areas are thus organized as legal entities without legal personality, being able to function on a perimeter independent of the limits of the administrative-territorial units, established by mutual agreement by the local public administration authorities. Legislation was amended in 2011 to allow county seat municipalities to form metropolitan areas in association with urban and rural localities in their immediate vicinity (i.e., up to 30 km from the main city).

Constituted metropolitan areas

+Constituted Metropolitan Areas in Romania Name Population (2021) Area (km2) Density(pop/km2) Component localities Established Alba Iulia 144,341 910 159 Cities of Alba Iulia and Sebeș, town of Teiuș and 8 communes 2007 Bacău 319,624 1,065 300 City of Bacău, town of Buhuși and 22 communes 2007 Baia Mare 244,238 1,388 176 City of Baia Mare, towns of Baia Sprie, Cavnic, Seini, Șomcuta Mare and Tăuții-Măgherăuș and 13 communes 2006 Botoșani 162,318 528 307 City of Botoșani, town of Bucecea and 7 communes 2012 Brașov 476,893 1,745 273 Cities of Brașov, Codlea and Săcele, towns of Ghimbav, Predeal, Râșnov and Zărnești and 11 communes 2006 Bucharest 2,536,859 1,821 1,393 City of Bucharest and all of Ilfov County including towns of Voluntari, Pantelimon, Buftea, Popești-Leordeni, Bragadiru, Chitila, Otopeni, Măgurele 2016 Cluj 433,247 1,603 270 City of Cluj-Napoca and 19 communes 2008 Constanța 491,746 2,121 232 City of Constanța, towns of Eforie, Murfatlar, Năvodari, Ovidiu and Techirghiol and 10 communes 2007 Corvina (Deva–Hunedoara) 173,393 410 423 Cities of Deva and Hunedoara, towns of Călan and Simeria and 3 communes 2008 Craiova 392,898 1,499 262 City of Craiova, towns of Filiași and Segarcea and 21 communes 2009 Drobeta-Turnu Severin 141,837 555 256 Cities of Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Orșova and 5 communes 2019 Iași 492,556 808 610 City of Iași and 13 communes 2004 Oradea 277,605 754 368 City of Oradea and 11 communes 2005 Piatra Neamț 166,974 461 362 City of Piatra Neamț, town of Roznov and 8 communes 2013 Pitești 228,554 479 477 City of Pitești, town of Ștefănești and 7 communes 2009 Ploiești 363,089 717 506 City of Ploiești, towns of Băicoi, Boldești-Scăeni and Plopeni and 10 communes 2009 Râmnicu Vâlcea 191,934 City of Râmnicu Vâlcea, towns of Băbeni, Băile Govora, Băile Olănești, Călimănești and Ocnele Mari and 14 communes 2013-2015(disbanded) Reșița 117,612 777 151 City of Reșița, town of Bocșa and 8 communes 2013 Roman 162,533 1,121 145 City of Roman and 24 communes 2009 Satu Mare 250,290 2,251 111 Cities of Carei and Satu Mare, towns of Ardud and Tășnad and 22 communes 2013 Suceava 211,708 682 310 City of Suceava, town of Salcea and 13 communes 2011 Târgu Mureș 230,143 695 331 City of Târgu Mureș, town of Ungheni and 13 communes 2006 Timișoara 468,430 1,080 388 City of Timișoara and 14 communes 2008 Vaslui 149,601 541 277 City of Vaslui and 10 communes 2015 Zalău 153,206 1,048 146 City of Zalău, towns of Cehu Silvaniei, Jibou and Șimleu Silvaniei and 14 communes 2015

Planned metropolitan areas +Metropolitan areas in Romania in planning stages Name Population (2018) Component localities Alexandria 98,763 City of Alexandria and 14 communes Arad 355,863 City of Arad, towns of Curtici, Lipova, Nădlac, Pâncota, Pecica and Sântana and 26 communes Bistrița 153,631 City of Bistrița and 15 communes Brăila 226,282 City of Brăila and 5 communes Buzău 201,057 City of Buzău and 11 communes Călărași 116,960 City of Călărași and 9 communes Focșani 201,129 City of Focșani, towns of Mărășești and Odobești and 21 communes Galați 396,528 City of Galați and 20 communes Giurgiu 86,017 City of Giurgiu and 6 communes Miercurea Ciuc 105,799 City of Miercurea Ciuc, towns of Băile Tușnad and Bălan and 19 communes Sfântu Gheorghe 93,593 City of Sfântu Gheorghe and 13 communes Sibiu 288,612 City of Sibiu, towns of Avrig, Cisnădie, Ocna Sibiului, Săliște and Tălmaciu and 17 communes Slatina 141,598 City of Slatina, town of Piatra-Olt and 19 communes Slobozia 60,312 City of Slobozia and 3 communes Târgoviște 218,613 City of Târgoviște and 26 communes Târgu Jiu 158,189 City of Târgu Jiu, towns of Bumbești-Jiu and Tismana and 14 communes Tulcea 110,495 City of Tulcea and 6 communes

Conurbations

Baia Mare–Satu Mare (estimated population: 400,000) Bucharest–Ploiești–Târgoviște (estimated population: 3 million) Lower Danube (Galați–Brăila) (estimated population: 580,000) Prahova Valley (Câmpina–Predeal) |(estimated population: 150,000) Suceava–Botoșani (estimated population: 300,000) Timișoara–Arad (estimated population: 805,000)

Functional urban areas In the EU, as defined by Eurostat, a functional urban area (FUA) – formerly known as larger urban zone (LUZ) – consists of a city and its commuting zone. + Largest functional urban areas of Romania Rank Name County Development region Population (2018) 1 Bucharest – Bucharest–Ilfov 2,478,618 2 Iași Iași Northeast 500,668 3 Constanța Constanța Southeast 419,033 4 Brașov Brașov Center 401,516 5 Cluj-Napoca Cluj Northwest 396,339 6 Timișoara Timiș West 364,325 7 Galați Galați Southeast 322,953 8 Craiova Dolj Southwest 321,329 9 Ploiești Prahova South 289,394 10 Oradea Bihor Northwest 239,926 11 Bacău Bacău Northeast 225,852 12 Sibiu Sibiu Center 215,248 13 Pitești Argeș South 214,287 14 Brăila Brăila Southeast 210,271 15 Arad Arad West 203,695

See also

List of cities in Romania Lower Danube metropolitan area

References