A total of 41 counties in Romania, along with the municipalityofBucharest, constitute the official administrative divisions of Romania. For most of the time since modern Romania was formed in 1859, the administrative division system has been similar to the French departments one. The system has been changed several times since then, and the number of counties has varied over time. 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 2011 census data from the National Institute of Statistics, the average population of Romania's 41 counties is about 445,000, with Iași County(coat of arms pictured) as the most populous and Covasna County the least. The average county's land area is 5,809 square kilometres (2,243 sq mi), with Timiș County the largest and Ilfov County 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 1,883,425 people and 228 square kilometres (88 sq mi). (Full list...)
