Regions in Romania: Purpose and Territorial Realities

Regionalisation as a process and regions as territorial entities reappeared in the political, economic, administrative, and scientific discourse. In Romania, even since the Middle Ages, there have been regional type entities called “ţări”/ “countries.” They covered areas of approximately 400 km². These regions have remained as such until nowadays and therefore, they are irrefutable territorial proofs of the continuity of the Romanian people in the area. The territorial and administrative divisions that appeared later were the result of the effort to keep pace with the necessity to modernize the society and with the consequences of different historical events. The present eight development regions in Romania try to emulate the territorial realities that had occurred earlier in Western Europe. The Romanian regions emerged from the need to fit the statistical requirements of the rank 2 NUTS regions, but they are not functional.The same thing is true about Euroregions, which, in fact, have a rather cartographic functionality, the normal territorial relationships being obstructed by the frontier effect. This effect has increased lately because visas have again become compulsory for some of the would-be partners in the co-operation on which the construction of these regions relies