Romania, measured differently
What is Romania's smallest town? It depends how you measure it
Băile Tușnad has the fewest residents; Bălan the smallest territory. All 319 of Romania's towns and municipalities compared on one method, so there is nothing left to guess.
Three measures, three answers. Pick a card to switch the ranking.
Every town, one ranking
Find your town or play with the buttons. Each row shows rank, county, status and the exact value — and the result card is made to be screenshotted and shared.
No town found.
- 1Băile Tușnad townHarghita1,372
- 2Nucet townBihor1,987
- 3Vașcău townBihor2,025
- 4Băile Govora townVâlcea2,158
- 5Borsec townHarghita2,391
- 6Solca townSuceava2,405
- 7Berești townGalați2,473
- 8Căzănești townIalomița2,938
- 9Făurei townBrăila3,008
- 10Baia de Arieș townAlba3,035
- 11Sulina townTulcea3,118
- 12Ocnele Mari townVâlcea3,134
- 13Dragomirești townMaramureș3,154
- 14Aninoasa townHunedoara3,369
- 15Ocna Sibiului townSibiu3,434
- 16Miercurea Sibiului townSibiu3,619
- 17Băile Olănești townVâlcea3,750
- 18Băile Herculane townCaraș-Severin3,787
- 19Azuga townPrahova3,901
- 20Țicleni townGorj3,934
- 21Slănic-Moldova townBacău4,011
- 22Predeal townBrașov4,020
- 23Bucecea townBotoșani4,171
- 24Berbești townVâlcea4,231
- 25Bălcești townVâlcea4,235
- 26Cavnic townMaramureș4,264
- 27Bechet townDolj4,355
- 28Abrud townAlba4,360
- 29Isaccea townTulcea4,408
- 30Baia de Aramă townMehedinți4,478
- 31Copșa Mică townSibiu4,570
- 32Negru Vodă townConstanța4,616
- 33Fierbinți-Târg townIalomița4,620
- 34Milișăuți townSuceava4,657
- 35Slănic townPrahova4,669
- 36Săliștea de Sus townMaramureș4,856
- 37Sângeorgiu de Pădure townMureș4,875
- 38Rupea townBrașov4,907
- 39Ștefănești townBotoșani5,032
- 40Vânju Mare townMehedinți5,078
- 41Geoagiu townHunedoara5,087
- 42Broșteni townSuceava5,179
- 43Potcoava townOlt5,229
- 44Novaci townGorj5,276
- 45Ștei townBihor5,398
- 46Sebiș townArad5,410
- 47Bălan townHarghita5,414
- 47Miercurea Nirajului townMureș5,414
- 49Ciacova townTimiș5,434
- 50Gătaia townTimiș5,473
- 51Anina townCaraș-Severin5,521
- 52Deta townTimiș5,670
- 53Brezoi townVâlcea5,696
- 54Săliște townSibiu5,710
- 55Frasin townSuceava5,817
- 56Însurăței townBrăila5,870
- 57Livada townSatu Mare5,892
- 58Târgu Bujor townGalați5,946
- 59Lehliu- Gară townCălărași5,991
- 60Piatra-Olt townOlt6,000
- 61Bicaz townNeamț6,106
- 62Ardud townSatu Mare6,124
- 63Sarmașu townMureș6,186
- 64Dumbrăveni townSibiu6,238
- 65Pătârlagele townBuzău6,276
- 66Răcari townDâmbovița6,306
- 67Teiuș townAlba6,308
- 68Tismana townGorj6,359
- 69Cehu Silvaniei townSălaj6,369
- 70Fieni townDâmbovița6,378
- 71Pogoanele townBuzău6,384
- 72Victoria townBrașov6,446
- 73Săveni townBotoșani6,447
- 74Horezu townVâlcea6,467
- 75Vlăhița townHarghita6,468
- 76Câmpeni townAlba6,569
- 77Făget townTimiș6,595
- 78Zlatna townAlba6,652
- 79Uricani townHunedoara6,669
- 80Siret townSuceava6,708
- 81Plopeni townPrahova6,709
- 82Tălmaciu townSibiu6,711
- 83Nădlac townArad6,713
- 84Fundulea townCălărași6,714
- 85Pâncota townArad6,787
- 86Amara townIalomița6,805
- 87Buziaș townTimiș6,834
- 88Murgeni townVaslui6,853
- 89Turceni townGorj6,891
- 90Panciu townVrancea6,921
- 91Ungheni townMureș7,007
- 92Ulmeni townMaramureș7,110
- 93Budești townCălărași7,126
- 94Ghimbav townBrașov7,208
- 95Chișineu-Criș townArad7,212
- 96Măcin townTulcea7,248
- 97Curtici townArad7,279
- 98Călimănești townVâlcea7,348
- 99Segarcea townDolj7,356
- 100Negrești townVaslui7,530
- 101Agnita townSibiu7,564
- 102Băbeni townVâlcea7,570
- 103Târgu Cărbunești townGorj7,616
- 104Bumbești-Jiu townGorj7,684
- 105Șomcuta Mare townMaramureș7,703
- 106Baraolt townCovasna7,730
- 107Mihăilești townGiurgiu7,760
- 108Tășnad townSatu Mare8,058
- 109Techirghiol townConstanța8,061
- 110Huedin townCluj8,069
- 111Roznov townNeamț8,133
- 112Seini townMaramureș8,198
- 113Întorsura Buzăului townCovasna8,332
- 114Recaș townTimiș8,347
- 115Bușteni townPrahova8,368
- 116Tăuții-Măgherăuș townMaramureș8,463
- 117Iernut townMureș8,473
- 118Oțelu Roșu townCaraș-Severin8,497
- 119Orșova municipiuMehedinți8,506
- 120Eforie townConstanța8,630
- 121Hârșova townConstanța8,737
- 122Hațeg townHunedoara8,793
- 123Cristuru Secuiesc townHarghita8,797
- 124Ineu townArad8,807
- 125Liteni townSuceava8,878
- 126Valea lui Mihai townBihor8,969
- 126Ianca townBrăila8,969
- 128Podu Iloaiei townIași8,992
- 129Strehaia townMehedinți9,059
- 130Sinaia townPrahova9,071
- 131Cajvana townSuceava9,139
- 132Murfatlar townConstanța9,173
- 133Covasna townCovasna9,208
- 134Babadag townTulcea9,213
- 135Moldova Nouă townCaraș-Severin9,278
- 136Titu townDâmbovița9,291
- 137Oravița townCaraș-Severin9,346
- 138Topoloveni townArgeș9,373
- 139Odobești townVrancea9,423
- 140Costești townArgeș9,460
- 141Nehoiu townBuzău9,464
- 142Salcea townSuceava9,513
- 143Târgu Frumos townIași9,597
- 144Aleșd townBihor9,662
- 145Jibou townSălaj9,677
- 146Sovata townMureș9,703
- 147Drăgănești-Olt townOlt9,721
- 148Beiuș municipiuBihor9,745
- 149Lipova townArad10,040
- 150Călan townHunedoara10,055
- 151Videle townTeleorman10,107
- 152Urlați townPrahova10,131
- 153Jimbolia townTimiș10,179
- 154Năsăud townBistrița-Năsăud10,215
- 155Rovinari townGorj10,246
- 156Boldești-Scăeni townPrahova10,298
- 157Dăbuleni townDolj10,333
- 158Hârlău townIași10,349
- 159Târgu Ocna townBacău10,410
- 160Flămânzi townBotoșani10,561
- 161Sânnicolau Mare townTimiș10,627
- 162Săcueni townBihor10,720
- 163Scornicești townOlt10,795
- 164Sângeorz-Băi townBistrița-Năsăud10,931
- 165Dolhasca townSuceava11,007
- 166Comarnic townPrahova11,106
- 167Târgu Lăpuș townMaramureș11,163
- 168Beclean townBistrița-Năsăud11,260
- 169Simeria townHunedoara11,268
- 170Mărășești townVrancea11,314
- 171Darabani townBotoșani11,948
- 172Pecica townArad11,950
- 173Vălenii de Munte townPrahova12,044
- 174Sântana townArad12,460
- 175Ocna Mureș townAlba12,480
- 176Avrig townSibiu12,534
- 177Vatra Dornei municipiuSuceava12,578
- 178Găești townDâmbovița12,583
- 179Zimnicea townTeleorman12,589
- 180Toplița municipiuHarghita12,609
- 181Brad municipiuHunedoara12,690
- 182Țăndărei townIalomița12,761
- 183Bolintin-Vale townGiurgiu12,806
- 184Bocșa townCaraș-Severin12,949
- 185Pucioasa townDâmbovița12,953
- 186Mizil townPrahova12,962
- 187Dărmănești townBacău13,069
- 188Gura Humorului townSuceava13,278
- 189Urziceni municipiuIalomița13,380
- 190Corabia townOlt13,527
- 191Marghita municipiuBihor13,573
- 192Calafat municipiuDolj13,807
- 193Șimleu Silvaniei townSălaj13,948
- 194Ovidiu townConstanța13,968
- 195Buhuși townBacău14,152
- 196Baia Sprie townMaramureș14,329
- 197Măgurele townIlfov14,414
- 198Negrești-Oaș townSatu Mare14,616
- 199Luduș townMureș14,757
- 200Chitila townIlfov14,762
- 201Breaza townPrahova14,871
- 202Filiași townDolj15,031
- 203Cernavodă townConstanța15,088
- 204Vicovu de Sus townSuceava15,143
- 205Adjud municipiuVrancea15,178
- 206Vișeu de Sus townMaramureș15,349
- 207Moreni municipiuDâmbovița15,472
- 208Drăgășani municipiuVâlcea15,617
- 209Câmpulung Moldovenesc municipiuSuceava15,642
- 210Salonta municipiuBihor15,792
- 211Gheorgheni municipiuHarghita15,884
- 212Râșnov townBrașov15,920
- 213Băilești municipiuDolj15,928
- 214Ștefănești townArgeș15,931
- 215Motru municipiuGorj15,950
- 216Balș townOlt16,114
- 217Târgu Secuiesc municipiuCovasna16,243
- 218Băicoi townPrahova16,722
- 219Orăștie municipiuHunedoara16,825
- 220Blaj municipiuAlba17,816
- 221Târgu Neamț townNeamț18,029
- 222Lupeni municipiuHunedoara18,699
- 223Carei municipiuSatu Mare18,957
- 224Cugir townAlba19,473
- 225Turnu Măgurele municipiuTeleorman19,597
- 226Petrila townHunedoara19,600
- 227Moinești municipiuBacău19,728
- 228Vulcan municipiuHunedoara19,772
- 229Gherla municipiuCluj19,873
- 230Comănești townBacău19,996
- 231Codlea municipiuBrașov20,534
- 232Buftea townIlfov20,586
- 233Câmpia Turzii municipiuCluj20,590
- 234Târnăveni municipiuMureș20,604
- 235Aiud municipiuAlba21,307
- 236Zărnești townBrașov21,624
- 237Caransebeș municipiuCaraș-Severin21,714
- 238Otopeni townIlfov21,750
- 239Cisnădie townSibiu22,277
- 240Roșiori de Vede municipiuTeleorman22,294
- 241Oltenița municipiuCălărași22,624
- 242Dorohoi municipiuBotoșani22,893
- 243Fălticeni municipiuSuceava23,902
- 244Sighișoara municipiuMureș23,927
- 245Rădăuți municipiuSuceava24,292
- 246Huși municipiuVaslui25,045
- 247Curtea de Argeș municipiuArgeș25,977
- 248Făgăraș municipiuBrașov26,284
- 249Sebeș municipiuAlba26,490
- 250Caracal municipiuOlt27,403
- 251Fetești municipiuIalomița27,465
- 252Câmpulung municipiuArgeș27,574
- 253Borșa townMaramureș27,711
- 254Câmpina municipiuPrahova28,993
- 255Mioveni townArgeș29,317
- 256Reghin municipiuMureș29,742
- 257Râmnicu Sărat municipiuBuzău29,774
- 258Pașcani municipiuIași30,766
- 259Săcele municipiuBrașov30,920
- 260Petroșani municipiuHunedoara31,044
- 261Odorheiu Secuiesc municipiuHarghita31,335
- 262Dej municipiuCluj31,475
- 263Mangalia municipiuConstanța31,950
- 264Sighetu Marmației municipiuMaramureș32,793
- 265Tecuci municipiuGalați32,801
- 266Pantelimon townIlfov32,873
- 267Onești municipiuBacău34,005
- 268Năvodari townConstanța34,398
- 269Miercurea Ciuc municipiuHarghita34,484
- 270Medgidia municipiuConstanța34,612
- 271Lugoj municipiuTimiș35,450
- 272Mediaș municipiuSibiu39,505
- 273Bragadiru townIlfov40,080
- 274Alexandria municipiuTeleorman40,390
- 275Slobozia municipiuIalomița41,550
- 276Turda municipiuCluj43,319
- 277Voluntari townIlfov47,366
- 278Roman municipiuNeamț48,644
- 279Sfântu Gheorghe municipiuCovasna50,080
- 280Hunedoara municipiuHunedoara50,457
- 281Zalău municipiuSălaj52,359
- 282Bârlad municipiuVaslui52,475
- 283Deva municipiuHunedoara53,113
- 284Popești Leordeni townIlfov53,434
- 285Giurgiu municipiuGiurgiu54,551
- 286Călărași municipiuCălărași58,211
- 287Reșița municipiuCaraș-Severin58,393
- 288Vaslui municipiuVaslui63,035
- 289Slatina municipiuOlt63,487
- 290Alba Iulia municipiuAlba64,227
- 291Tulcea municipiuTulcea65,624
- 292Focșani municipiuVrancea66,648
- 293Târgoviște municipiuDâmbovița66,965
- 294Târgu Jiu municipiuGorj73,545
- 295Bistrița municipiuBistrița-Năsăud78,877
- 296Piatra-Neamț municipiuNeamț79,679
- 297Drobeta-Turnu Severin municipiuMehedinți79,865
- 298Suceava municipiuSuceava84,322
- 299Botoșani municipiuBotoșani90,010
- 300Satu Mare municipiuSatu Mare91,520
- 301Râmnicu Vâlcea municipiuVâlcea93,151
- 302Buzău municipiuBuzău103,481
- 303Baia Mare municipiuMaramureș108,759
- 304Târgu Mureș municipiuMureș116,033
- 305Sibiu municipiuSibiu134,309
- 306Bacău municipiuBacău136,087
- 307Pitești municipiuArgeș141,275
- 308Arad municipiuArad145,078
- 309Brăila municipiuBrăila154,686
- 310Ploiești municipiuPrahova180,540
- 311Oradea municipiuBihor183,105
- 312Galați municipiuGalați217,851
- 313Craiova municipiuDolj234,140
- 314Brașov municipiuBrașov237,589
- 315Timișoara municipiuTimiș250,849
- 316Constanța municipiuConstanța263,688
- 317Iași municipiuIași271,692
- 318Cluj-Napoca municipiuCluj286,598
- 319București municipiuBucurești1,716,961
How small is small?
1.41 km² means nothing until you set it next to something familiar. The squares below share one scale — every pixel stands for the same number of square metres.
3.41 km²
1.87 km²
1.41 km²
- The town of Bălan fits inside Herăstrău park (1.87 km²), with room for a walk left over.
- Bălan and Victoria together fit inside Central Park (3.41 km²).
- Bălan is 5.3 km from end to end — about an hour on foot, unhurried.
- Bucharest holds 169 copies of Bălan; Vișeu de Sus, the largest town by area, 312.
Own areas, computed alike for all. Herăstrău: 187 ha; Central Park: 843 acres (341 ha).
Top tens
Romania's smallest towns by population
Resident population on 1 December 2021. All ten are small spa resorts, old market towns or former single-industry centres, each far below 10,000 residents.
- 1. Băile TușnadHarghita · O1,372
- 2. NucetBihor · O1,987
- 3. VașcăuBihor · O2,025
- 4. Băile GovoraVâlcea · O2,158
- 5. BorsecHarghita · O2,391
- 6. SolcaSuceava · O2,405
- 7. BereștiGalați · O2,473
- 8. CăzăneștiIalomița · O2,938
- 9. FăureiBrăila · O3,008
- 10. Baia de ArieșAlba · O3,035
Romania's smallest towns by area
Administrative territory, in km². The winners are towns with no administered villages and no communal forests: a narrow valley or an industrial platform is enough.
- 1. BălanHarghita · O1.41 km²
- 2. VictoriaBrașov · O1.85 km²
- 3. Băile TușnadHarghita · O1.89 km²
- 4. ȘteiBihor · O6.54 km²
- 5. EforieConstanța · O7.16 km²
- 6. PlopeniPrahova · O8.44 km²
- 7. ChitilaIlfov · O11.85 km²
- 8. Băile GovoraVâlcea · O13.47 km²
- 9. FăureiBrăila · O17.45 km²
- 10. FieniDâmbovița · O18.25 km²
Towns with the lowest density
Residents per km². Usually a huge territory — delta, mountain, forest — divided by a few thousand people. Sulina is a town the size of a Bucharest district, with 3,118 residents.
- 1. SulinaTulcea · O9.5 inh./km²
- 2. BroșteniSuceava · O12.0 inh./km²
- 3. TismanaGorj · O21.4 inh./km²
- 4. Băile OlăneștiVâlcea · O22.8 inh./km²
- 5. ZlatnaAlba · O24.9 inh./km²
- 6. BrezoiVâlcea · O25.1 inh./km²
- 7. SălișteSibiu · O25.2 inh./km²
- 8. UricaniHunedoara · O27.3 inh./km²
- 9. ÎnsurățeiBrăila · O27.6 inh./km²
- 10. Negru VodăConstanța · O29.4 inh./km²
And the largest?
Curiosity works both ways. Bucharest leads population and density by a mile; by area, the winner is a mountain town with forests the size of a small county.
- Bucureștipopulation1,716,961
- Vișeu de Susarea441.61 km²
- Bucureștidensity7,185.0 inh./km²
Why does Google give different answers?
Because the question quietly mixes different things. Here are the five confusions that keep recurring in articles:
- Resident population vs. domicile populationThe census counts people where they actually live; the population register counts where their ID says they live. The gap reaches tens of percent in towns with heavy migration.
- Locality vs. administrative unitAbrud-the-locality has a few thousand people; Abrud-the-unit includes three villages and all the land between them. Serious rankings compare units, not neighbourhoods.
- Administrative area vs. built-up townA commune territory can hold forests, pastures, lakes and villages. The built-up footprint — houses and streets — is another measure entirely, with no comparable national dataset.
- Old censuses vs. new dataMany articles still quote 2011 or 2002 populations. Since then some small towns have lost a quarter of their residents.
- Copied figures with no sourceOnce a wrong value reaches an infobox, it spreads to dozens of articles. The Abrud case below is the textbook example.
The Abrud case: 3.2 km² → 39.53 km²
Several articles claim Abrud covers only 3.2 km², making it the smallest town by area. The figure comes from infoboxes fed by Wikidata — not from any measurement.
The problem: the town's own strategy document (SIDU Abrud) states plainly that “the town of Abrud occupies an area of 39.53 sq km”. Our computation from ANCPI polygons gives 39.532 km², and independently drawn OpenStreetMap boundaries give 39.530 km². Three sources, one answer.
The explanation is simple: Abrud administers three villages — Abrud-Sat, Gura Cornei and Soharu — plus all the land between them. The 3.2 km² figure most likely describes something else (perhaps the built-up core, or an old error) and was copied onward from there.
That is why every area on this page was recalculated on one basis instead of copied from existing rankings.
3.2 km²
the figure copied across articles (via Wikidata)
39.53 km²
the real territory: SIDU Abrud + ANCPI + OpenStreetMap
Locality, administrative unit, built-up zone: three different things
When you say “the town of X”, you picture streets and houses. When statistics say “UAT X”, they mean an administrative-territorial unit: the town plus its administered villages, plus the forests, pastures, waters and roads between them. (Romania ranks two kinds of urban places: the oraș, a town, and the municipiu, a higher-status municipality.)
That is why Sulina — a few streets between the Danube and the sea — officially covers 328 km²: nearly all of it the Danube Delta land it administers. And why Bălan, with no villages and no communal forests, covers only 1.41 km².
The built-up zone is the third notion: houses and streets as they stand. For fair national comparisons, this page uses one measure throughout: the administrative territory of the unit.
Method
- Population: resident, RPL2021, definitive Table 1.03 (INS) — all 319 urban rows: 103 municipalities (Bucharest included) and 216 towns.
- Area: ANCPI “UAT limits” polygons, 23.12.2021 edition (via geo-spatial.org, OGL-ROU-1.0 licence), reprojected to Stereo 70 (EPSG:3844); square metres divided by one million.
- Bucharest: municipality-row population; area as the sum of the 6 ANCPI sector polygons (239.0 km² — against 228 km² often quoted from older sources). Sectors never appear separately in the ranking.
- Equal values share a rank and the next rank skips (1, 2, 2, 4); in the 2021 data this happens twice, for population.
- Cross-checks: OpenStreetMap boundaries confirm Bălan, Victoria, Abrud, Ștei, Plopeni, Chitila and Fieni to the decimal; whole-Romania area comes out at 238,397 km² against 238,391 official.
- Declared caveats: Eforie 7.16 (ANCPI) vs 8.03 (OSM, probably lake-inclusive) — rank 5 unchanged; Tușnad 1.89 vs 1.85 — rank 3 unchanged.
- Built-up footprint is absent as a metric because no comparable national source exists; improvising one would mislead exactly the reader this page wants to inform.
- Names and counties from the ANCPI layer (SIRUTA code kept on each row); one toponym fixed for spelling (Toplița).
Questions
What is Romania's smallest town by population?
Băile Tușnad, a spa resort in Harghita County: 1,372 resident inhabitants at the 1 December 2021 census. Next come Nucet (1,987) and Vașcău (2,025), both in Bihor.
What is Romania's smallest town by area?
Bălan, also in Harghita: 1.41 km² of administrative territory — with no administered villages. Next are Victoria (1.85 km²) and Băile Tușnad (1.89 km²). Every area was computed here, on one method.
What is Romania's smallest municipality?
By population, Orșova (8,506 residents), followed by Beiuș (9,745) — the only two municipalities under 10,000 inhabitants. Municipalities are higher-status towns designated by law.
How many towns and municipalities does Romania have?
319 urban localities: 103 municipalities (Bucharest included) and 216 towns, under the SIRUTA classification used at the 2021 census.
Is Băile Tușnad Romania's smallest town?
Yes — by headcount, on official 2021 data. By area it ranks third (1.89 km², after Bălan and Victoria), and by density it does not make the top 10. It depends what you measure.
Is Abrud Romania's smallest town?
No. Abrud has 4,360 residents (28th by population) and 39.53 km² (45th by area). The 3.2 km² figure circulating online comes from erroneous infoboxes; the town hall's documents and two independent boundary sources confirm about 39.5 km².
What does a town's area mean?
In this ranking, the administrative territory of the unit: the town plus administered villages and all the land between them — forests, pastures, waters. It is not the built-up surface (houses and streets), for which no comparable national data exist.
What is the difference between an oraș and a municipiu?
Both are urban localities; a municipiu is a higher rank, granted by law to more important towns, usually county capitals. The rank brings a larger administration, not necessarily more residents.
Download the data
The full table: 319 rows with SIRUTA code, county, status, RPL2021 population, computed area and density. Reuse freely, with attribution.
Sources
Data
- INS, RPL2021 definitive results, Table 1.03 — resident population by municipalities, towns and communes (recensamantromania.ro).
- ANCPI, UAT limits, 23.12.2021 edition, via geo-spatial.org (OGL-ROU-1.0 licence) — the geometries behind the areas.
- OpenStreetMap — administrative boundaries for cross-checks (ODbL).
Case documents
- SIDU Abrud (primariaabrud.ro): “the town of Abrud occupies an area of 39.53 sq km”.
- Wikidata P2046 — cited as the source of the 3.2 km² error, not as evidence.
Scale references
- Herăstrău / King Michael I Park: 187 ha.
- Central Park, New York: 843 acres (341 ha).
Corrections: write in with the source, and the page notes the change below.
Changelog
- 16 September 2026 — first edition: 319 towns and municipalities, 3 rankings, 8 questions.
- 16 September 2026 — revision: shared ranks for tied values, multi-result search, town-name labels on the map.