The ethnographic zone of Vrancea (or simply Vrancea) is situated in the ‘elbow’ of the Carpathians mountains. It is formed by strings of villages along several river valleys deep into the Carpathians which remained relatively isolated until recently due to poor road access.

It is separated from the Valea Trotușului zone to the north by sparsely populated forests, to the south it meets the Buzău region of Valea Râmnicului. The upper Șușița valley villages (Rucăreni, Dragosloveni and Soveja) whose population originated in Muscel is included in ^[1] but not in ^[2].

The regional county is also known as Vrancea and includes the lowland plain area and the county town of Focșani as well as the mountain ethnographic zone.