It is composed of five villages: Bozânta Mică (Kisbozinta), Lăpușel (Hagymáslápos), Mocira (Láposhidegkút), Recea (Lénárdfalva), and Săsar (Zazár).

The commune is located in the western part of Maramureș County, 7 km (4.3 mi) southwest of the county seat, Baia Mare, and belongs to the Baia Mare metropolitan area.

Recea is crossed by national road DN1C [ro] (part of European route E58), which runs from Cluj-Napoca north towards Baia Mare and the border crossing at Halmeu, where it connects with the Ukrainian highway M26.

The town has two train stations (Lăpușel and Săsar), both serving the CFR Main Line 400, which connects Brașov with Baia Mare and Satu Mare.

CS Academica Recea is an amateur Romanian football club based in the commune.