Almost 40 cities and the same number of municipalities formally no longer meet the conditions for such a name.

According to Law 351/2001, in order to be able to call itself a city,

According to the recently completed population census, many cities in Romania no longer meet the definition of municipality or city in terms of population.

Although cities such as Nuset (Bihor) or Beile Tusnad (Kharghita) should have a population of over 5,000, their population is well below 2,000.

Other cities with a population of less than 5,000: VACU, BILE-GOVORA, BORSEC, SOLCA, BERECSI, FUREI, BAYA DE ARIES, SULINA, OKNELE MARI, DRAGOMIREST, ANINOASA, OCNA SIBIULI, MERCURIA SIBIULI, BILE OLACUNESTI, HALIKUNESTI, SLAINE – MOLDOVA, PREDEAL, KAVNIK, BECHET, ABRUD, etc. You can find the full list here.

In the case of municipalities, we have such settlements that do not even have 10,000 inhabitants, although they should have at least 25,000. This is the case of Orshov or Beishului. In addition to them, we have more than 30 municipalities that do not meet the population size criterion: Vatra-Dorney, Urzichen, Kalafat, Ajud and others. You can find the full list here.

But it is not only about the population

If we look at other criteria in the law, we have dozens of other settlements that are declared cities or municipalities, with a population that allows them to be defined, but which are more like a village or a commune, rather than a municipality/city. In the sense that they have no doctors, no sewage, no modernized streets.

It is likely that the upcoming administrative reform will change the classification of these settlements according to the criteria provided by law.