The Romanian environment ministry's dataset of protected natural areas lists 13 national parks among 1578 protected areas. For each park we give the legal act the data names and the year of that act's date in the data, which is not always the year the area was first protected.1
Which national parks does the ministry list?
The dataset's description says it covers all 1578 protected natural areas, including 13 national parks; the file has 13 sites named Parcul Național.1
| National park (as the data names it) | Legal act (as the data gives it) | Year of the legal act's date in the data |
|---|---|---|
| Parcul Național Domogled - Valea Cernei | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Retezat | Decizia Comitetului Executiv al Consiliului Popular Județean Hunedoara nr. 98/19881 | 19881 |
| Parcul Național Cheile Nerei - Beușnița | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Munții Rodnei | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Cheile Bicazului - Hășmaș | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Ceahlău | Hotărârea Consiliului de Miniștri nr. 625/19551 | —* |
| Parcul Național Călimani | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Cozia | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Piatra Craiului | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Semenic - Cheile Carașului | Ordinul ministrului nr. 7/19901 | 19901 |
| Parcul Național Munții Măcinului | Legea nr. 5/20001 | 20001 |
| Parcul Național Buila - Vânturarița | Hotărârea de guvern nr. 2151/20041 | —* |
| Parcul Național Defileul Jiului | Hotărârea de guvern nr. 1581/20051 | —* |
* We leave out three years. For Parcul Național Ceahlău the date in the data is a placeholder on the first day of the year. For Parcul Național Buila - Vânturarița and Parcul Național Defileul Jiului the date in the data falls in a later year than the act it names, so we show the act as the data gives it and no year.
What does the year mean?
It is the year of the date of the legal act in the data (the field legalFoundationDate), which goes with the act named in the second column. It is not necessarily when the area was first protected.
Can this list be reused?
The dataset record on data.gov.ro gives the licence as Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.1
What this page cannot tell you
- No regions here. The dataset has no region field.
- Names and acts as published. We print them in Romanian, exactly as the data gives them.
Related: National parks around the world · National parks of Japan · Officially recognised places.
Key takeaways
- Romania's environment ministry lists 13 national parks.
- The year is the year of the legal act's date in the data, not a founding year.
- Three years are left out because the dates in the data do not fit the acts.
- What we would skip: reading the list as a ranking or a travel guide. It records an official designation; it says nothing about opening, access or conditions, so check each park's own information before you go.
Sources
The list comes from the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests' dataset Arii naturale protejate România on data.gov.ro, read on 1 October 2026. See how we research.
- Ministerul Mediului, Apelor și Pădurilor (Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests), Arii naturale protejate România. Read the dataset record on data.gov.ro. Accessed 1 October 2026.
Credit and licence. Source: Ministerul Mediului, Apelor și Pădurilor - Arii naturale protejate România (data.gov.ro), licensed under CC BY 4.0. CC BY 4.0. Changes made. List of national parks extracted from the dataset's protected areas, with the legal act and the year of its date converted to Romanian time; three years left out as explained above. We use no logos or images from these sources. Gallivanting Gadabout is not connected with, or endorsed by, the Romanian Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests.