Part of România's historical province of Moldova, the North-East region is the largest development region of the country in terms of population and area. The region covers six counties: Bacău, Botoșani, Iași, Neamț, Suceava and Vaslui. Although the region has registered a sustained economic growth in the past years (above national average), its contribution to the gross domestic product -GDP is still only about 10% (despite having 16% of the population).