The Danube metropolitan area or Galați–Brăila metropolitan area is a proposed

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

project in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It would be formed from the cities of

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

and

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

, and 15 nearby communes from Galați, Brăila and Tulcea counties. Together they have a population of 441,801 people, of whom 372,537 live in the cities of Galați and Brăila (as of 2021). As defined by

Eurostat Eurostat ("European Statistical Office"; also DG ESTAT) is a department of the European Commission ( Directorate-General), located in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statist ...

, the Galați

functional urban area The functional urban area (FUA), previously known as larger urban zone (LUZ), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zo ...

has a population of 322,501 residents, whilst the Brăila functional urban area has a population of 217,645 residents.

Overview

If completed, it would represent one of the largest

metropolitan areas in Romania Metropolitan areas in Romania are private agencies of public utility which were established by Law no. 351 of 6 July 2001 with the aim of encouraging the development of neighboring towns and communes within a radius of 30 km. The first to be establ ...

. Several major infrastructure projects have been proposed, or are being actively built: the Brăila–Galați Expressway, a bridge (the

Brăila Bridge The Brăila Bridge () is a road suspension bridge in Romania over the Danube river, between Brăila, a major city in eastern Romania, and the opposite bank of the river in Tulcea County, on the Roads in Romania, DN2S national road and European r ...

) across the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

connecting

and

counties to

Tulcea County Tulcea County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube. Demographics In 2021, Tulcea Coun ...

, and a new airport in Braniștea-Schela area. The metropolitan area has a border checkpoint to Moldova and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Galați is located from

Giurgiulești Giurgiulești () is a commune in the Cahul District of Moldova. It is also a border crossing point to Romania, located from Galați. Geography The locality is in the southernmost point of Moldova, at the confluence of the river Prut with th ...

and from Reni.

Demographics

Subdivisions

References

Brăila Galați Metropolitan areas of Romania Geography of Brăila County Geography of Galați County {{romania-geo-stub