Abstract

The paper examines the typology of the rural areas on the basis of the official definition in Bulgaria, as well as on this of the most broadly used in the EU countries - the definition of OECD. The latter distinguishes two levels - local and municipal or regional. Local level includes LAU1/2 which in the case of Bulgaria is a municipality or a settlement (the paper uses a municipality) and the regional level is NUTS 3 and corresponds to a county. Some recommendations were made based on the established conclusions on the use of the term "rural areas" and the need for a change of the term "municipality" is grounded.