Metropolitan areas in Romania
# 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 (2018) | Area $(km^2)$ | Density $(pop/km^2)$ | 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, Bușteni 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 | 418,681 | 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 |
