Administrative divisions of Moldova
administrative-territorial organization of a country
Moldova is divided administratively into two levels:
First level:
32 districts or raions (Romanian: raioane)
3 municipalities (municipii)—specifically Chișinău, Bălți, and Bender
2 autonomous territorial units: Gagauzia and Left Bank of the Dniester (de facto Transnistria, which is not under control of the government of Moldova)
Second level:
Villages (Romanian: sate); two or more villages can form together a commune (Romanian: comună)
Sectors
10 municipalities (municipii)
Cities and towns
Localities
Moldova has a total of 1,682 localities; from these 982 are incorporated (de jure with 982 mayors and 982 local councils), including 53 cities/towns, other 13 cities with municipality status (see municipiu), and 916 rural localities. They cover the entire area of the country. A number of villages are self-governed, while others 700 villages are too small to have a separate administration, and are part of either cities/towns/municipalities (41 of them) or communes (659). Few localities are inhabited.
Current divisions
In the administrative-territorial structure of Moldova are 898 second-level administrative territorial units (cities/towns, sectors and villages/communes).
The status of Chișinău, Bălți, and Tighina as municipalities and first-level territorial units of the country allows their suburb villages to have, when large enough, their own mayor and local council. By contrast, the villages that are administratively part of (some of) the other cities do not retain self-rule.
Districts (32):
District-level municipalities (3):
Autonomous territorial units (2):
¹ Tighina and the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester are under the control of the unrecognized separatist Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as Transnistria). There, Tighina is known as Bender.
Areas not under central government control
Transnistria, which with the exception of six communes (comprising a total of ten localities) corresponds to the geographic part of Moldova situated to the east of the Dniestr (Romanian: Nistru) river, is de jure a part of Moldova, but in fact is governed by breakaway authorities (see also: War of Transnistria).
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