page_title: Ilfov County
section_title: Administrative divisions
hierarchical_section_title: Ilfov County / Administrative divisions
context_page_description: Ilfov is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest. The gentrification of the county is continuing, with many towns in Ilfov, such as Otopeni, having some of the highest GDP per capita levels in the country.
context_section_description: The county has 8 towns and 32 communes. The largest settlements by population are Voluntari, Pantelimon, Buftea and Popești-Leordeni. These are the only settlements with more than 20.000 residents. Unlike most other areas of Romania, the population in Ilfov County is increasing, as many of the settlements here are seen as suburbs of Bucharest and are increasingly attracting upper class families. At the 2011 census, 43% of the county's population was defined as urban.
  Voluntari is the largest settlement, with a population of  42.944 at the 2011 census. It has experienced rapid population growth in recent years. There were serious debates about the city level awarded to Voluntari in 2004, as it is alleged that it was given in regard to the city's political affiliation, rather than population, development or any other objective features. Despite this, Voluntari did have a population of 30,000 at that time, and many other localities with this population have been given city-status in the past.
  Buftea is associated with the cinema of Romania; as the film studios MediaPro Pictures are located in Buftea.
  Otopeni was transformed into a town under the communist regime, as part of Nicolae Ceaușescu's systematization policy, with semidetached houses being replaced by four-storey blocks of flats.
  Before 1972, Ilfov County used to be one of the largest counties of Romania, but parts of it were added to neighbouring counties and nowadays it is the smallest (excluding the city of Bucharest, which has a special status). Between 1981 and 1997, it was called "Sectorul Agricol Ilfov" and it was not a separate county, but subordinate to the capital.
  Periș
  Ciolpani
  Gruiu
  Nuci
  Snagov
  Grădiștea
  Moara Vlăsiei
  Balotești
  Corbeanca
  Dascălu
  Petrăchioaia
  Otopeni (town status)
  Tunari
  Ștefăneștii de Jos
  Afumați
  Voluntari (town status)
  Găneasa
  Mogoșoaia
  Buftea (town status)
  Chitila (town status)
  Dragomirești-Vale
  Chiajna
  Dobroești
  Pantelimon (town status)
  Brănești
  Ciorogârla
  Domnești
  Clinceni
  Bragadiru (town status)
  Popești-Leordeni (town status)
  Glina
  Cernica
  Cornetu
  Măgurele (town status)
  Jilava
  Berceni
  Dărăști-Ilfov
  1 Decembrie
  Vidra
  Ilfov County is the only county that has its capital outside of its territorial area, in Bucharest, which is not part of the actual county. Initially, immediately after the 1968 reform of the public administration in communist Romania, Ilfov was a larger county, that comprised its present-day territory, the entire Giurgiu County, Bucharest and the western parts of Călăraşi and Ialomiţa counties. Later during the communist period, its territory was reduced to its current size and it became one of the sectors of Bucharest. It became again a county in 1997, when its capital was designated to be Bucharest.
  However, in 2005, some plans were proposed that would merge Bucharest with 90 other communes located to up to 40 km outside the city, in Ilfov County and other nearby counties into a "metropolitan area" of Bucharest, similar to Greater London. As of 2011, these plans did not happen, while a debate on the general administrative division of Romania was under way.
caption: Ilfov communes
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