Counties of Romania - History

History

The earliest organization into judeţe (for Wallachia), and ţinuturi (for Moldavia), dates back at least to the late 14th century. Inspired from the organization of the late Byzantine Empire, each judeţ was ruled by a jude (or pârcălab for a ţinut), 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 judeţ as the basic administrative unit. Aside from the 1950–1968 period, this system has remained in place until today. Since 1864, for each judeţ 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. Until 1948, each judeţ was further divided into several plăşi, each administered by a pretor.

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 ţinuturi (approx. translation "lands") were created, ruled by Rezidenţi Regali (Royal Residents), appointed directly by the Monarch. The ţinuturi 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 judeţ level was reintroduced after the war. Between 1941–1944, Romania administered the territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers known as Transnistria, which consisted of 13 separate counties.

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 Călăraşi were split from Ialomiţa and the former county of Ilfov, while in 1997, Ilfov County, which had been a dependency of the Municipality of Bucharest for nearly two decades, was reinstated. 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.