ROU (Romania)

UN SALB - The data they have on Romania is ADM1, not ADM2. From what I can tell, the reason for this discrepancy is an EU classification. The EU breaks Romania down into a few different economic zones. I think the UN calls those zones ADM1. When the UN goes down to the next level for ADM2, they use the official Romanian ADM1 as their ADM2 data. The problem is that those economic zones have no administrative purpose within Romania itself and are thus not ADM1.

Let's talk about NUTS - To clarify some of the points above. Romania has 41 counties and one municipality (Bucharest). However, they decided to group those counties into statistical regions called NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) levels. NUTS level one (NUTS I) consists of four macroregions that are used for European development funds. NUTS level two (NUTS II) is made up of 8 development regions which are used by the Romanian National Commission of Statistics (NCS) for statistical purposes but are not actual administrative divisions. The 41 counties and one municipality (NUTS III) represent the official administrative divisions of Romania.

Sources: https://www.unsalb.org/data/rou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Romania