State Institutions in Bucharest

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Bucharest has a unique status in Romanian administration, since it is the only municipality that is not part of a county. Its population, however, is larger than that of any Romanian county, and hence the power of the Bucharest General City Hall (Primaria Generala), which is the city's local government body, is about the same as, if not greater than, that of Romanian county councils.

The city government is headed by a General Mayor (Primar General), currently (as of 2006) Adriean Videanu. Decisions are approved and discussed by the General Council (Consiliu General) made up of 55 elected councillors. Furthermore, the city is divided into six administrative sectors (sectoare), each of which has their own 27-seat sectorial council, town hall and mayor. The powers of local government over a certain area are therefore shared by the Bucharest City Hall and the local sectorial councils with little or no overlapping of authority. The general rule is that the main City Hall is responsible for citywide utilities such as the water system, the transport system and the main boulevards, while sectorial town halls manage the contact between individuals and the local government, secondary streets, parks, schools and cleaning services.

The six sectors are numbered from one to six and are disposed radially so that each one has under its administration an area of the city center. They are numbered clockwise and are further divided into districts without any form of administration (cartiere):

Sector 1: Aviatorilor, Aviatiei, Baneasa, Bucurestii Noi, Damaroaia, Domenii, Dorobanti, Gara de Nord, Grivita, Victoriei, Pajura, Pipera, Primaverii, Romana
Sector 2: Colentina, Floreasca, Iancului, Mosilor, Obor, Pantelimon, Stefan cel Mare, Tei, Vatra Luminoasa
Sector 3: Balta Alba, Centrul Civic, Dristor, Dudesti, Lipscani, Muncii, Titan, Unirii, Vitan
Sector 4: Berceni, Oltenitei, Tineretului, Vacaresti
Sector 5: 13 Septembrie, Cotroceni, Dealul Spirii, Ferentari, Rahova, Ghencea
Sector 6: CrÃ¢ngasi, Giulesti, Drumul Taberei, Militari, Regie-GrozÃ¤vesti

Like all other local councils in Romania, the Bucharest sectorial councils, the city's General Council and the mayors are elected every four years by the population. Additionally, Bucharest has a prefect, who is appointed by Romania's central government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party. The prefect's role is to represent the national government at local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the implementation of National Development Plans and governing programmes at local level. The current prefect of Bucharest (as of 2006) is Mioara Mantale.

The Municipality of Bucharest, along with the surrounding Ilfov county, forms the Bucharest development region, which is equivalent to NUTS-II regions in the European Union and is used by the European Union and the Romanian Government for statistical analysis and regional development. The Bucharest development region is not, however, an administrative entity.