| Official Name: | Bucharest Metropolitan Area |
| Subdivision Type3: | Component localities |
| Subdivision Name3: | 40 (first stage) 62 (intermediate stage)[1] |
| Utc Offset: | +2 |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +3 |
| Settlement Type: | Metropolitan area |
| Established Title: | Functional |
| Established Date: | 2016[2] -2017[3] |
| Area Total Km2: | 1,811 |
| Area Footnotes: | (first stage) |
| Population Total: | 2,272,163 (first stage) |
| Population Density Km2: | 1,254 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 census |
| Population Footnotes: | [4] [5] |
| Demographics Type1: | GDP |
| Demographics1 Footnotes: | [6] [7] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Metro |
| Demographics1 Info1: | €66.0 billion |
| Postal Code: | 0 S NNNN1 |
| Area Code: | +40 x12 |
| Footnotes: | 1S is the number of the Sector, and NNNN is used to differentiate between streets and/or subzones. 2x is a digit indicating the operator: 2 for the former national operator, Romtelecom, and 3 for the other ground telephone networks. |
| Website: | BMA official site |
The Bucharest Metropolitan Area (Romanian: Zona Metropolitană București) is a metropolitan area project formally established since 2016 that includes Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, and surrounding communes. If completed, it would have a population of about 2.3 million,[8] only slightly larger than that of the city proper (1.9 million). It would also be a member of the METREX network.[9]
According to Eurostat, Bucharest has a functional urban area of 2,412,530 residents .[10]
The "Metropolitan Area" project has been initiated in 2003.A survey in 2008 showed that about 70% of the population of the area favors the project.[11] The city proper has now 228 km2, but the metropolitan zone would reach 1,800 km2 in a first phase.[1] A possible name for it will probably be "Greater Bucharest".[12]
In an initial stage, the zone would include Bucharest and Ilfov County.[1] Then, there are several plans to further increase the "Metropolitan Area of Bucharest" to about 20 times the area of the city proper (from 228 km2 to 5,046 km2). It would include 6 cities and 87 communes from the Ilfov, Giurgiu and Călărași counties, and would extend all the way towards the border with Bulgaria in the south, and towards the Prahova County in the north. In an intermediate stage, the extension of the zone would include 62 out of the proposed 93 candidate localities.[11] The "Bucharest Metropolitan Area" may become the biggest port on the Danube upon completion of the Danube–Bucharest Canal.
The enlarged "Metropolitan Area" Council will have 105 councilors, twice as many are now, and the Government will appoint a governor, a position which would be homologized to the prefect of Bucharest.
| valign=bottom | Hierarchy of planning bodies | valign=bottom | Major localities | valign=bottom | Area (first stage) | valign=bottom | Population (first stage) | valign=bottom | Area (intermediate stage) | valign=bottom | Population (intermediate stage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucharest | 228 km2 | 1,883,425 | 228 km2 | 1,883,425 | |||||||
| Ilfov County (all localities) | 1,285 km2 | 388,738 | 1,285 km2 | 388,738 | |||||||
| ↓ | Voluntari | 37 km2 | 42,944 | 37 km2 | 42,944 | ||||||
| Pantelimon | 69 km2 | 25,596 | 69 km2 | 25,596 | |||||||
| Buftea | 55 km2 | 22,178 | 55 km2 | 22,178 | |||||||
| Popești-Leordeni | 56 km2 | 21,895 | 56 km2 | 21,895 | |||||||
| Bragadiru | 22 km2 | 15,329 | 22 km2 | 15,329 | |||||||
| Chitila | 13 km2 | 14,184 | 13 km2 | 14,184 | |||||||
| Otopeni | 32 km2 | 13,861 | 32 km2 | 13,861 | |||||||
| Măgurele | 45 km2 | 11,041 | 45 km2 | 11,041 | |||||||
| Giurgiu County (11 localities) | 656 km2 | 65,825 | |||||||||
| ↓ | Bolintin-Vale | 41 km2 | 12,929 | ||||||||
| Mihăilești | 69 km2 | 7,923 | |||||||||
| Călărași County (5 localities) | 295 km2 | 23,492 | |||||||||
| ↓ | Fundulea | 23 km2 | 6,851 | ||||||||
| Dâmbovița County (3 localities) | 206 km2 | 16,059 | |||||||||
| Ialomița County (2 localities) | 56 km2 | 4,054 | |||||||||
| BMA | 1,811 km2 | 2,272,163 | 2,726 km2 | 2,381,593 |
In 2020 Bucharest's gross metropolitan product was €61 billion. This puts Bucharest in 37th place among cities in European Union.[13]