Romania

Romania Background

The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured their autonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 under the new name of Romania. The country gained full independence in 1878. It joined the Allied Powers in World War I and acquired new territories following the conflict. In 1940, it allied with the Axis powers and participated in the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Three years later, overrun by the Soviets, Romania signed an armistice. The post-war Soviet occupation led to the formation of a Communist people's republic in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae CEAUSESCU, who took power in 1965, and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. CEAUSESCU was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996, when they were swept from power by a fractious coalition of centrist parties. Currently, the Social Democratic Party forms a nominally minority government, which governs with the support of the opposition Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. Bucharest must address rampant corruption, while invigorating lagging economic and democratic reforms, before it can achieve its hope of joining the European Union. Romania did join NATO in March of 2004.

Romania Information

• Population: 22,355,551 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Romanian(s) adjective: Romanian
• Location:: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine
• Religions:: Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 87%, Protestant 6.8%, Catholic 5.6%, other (mostly Muslim) 0.4%, unaffiliated 0.2% (2002)
• Ethnic Groups:: Romanian 89.5%, Hungarian 6.6%, Roma 2.5%, Ukrainian 0.3%, German 0.3%, Russian 0.2%, Turkish 0.2%, other 0.4% (2002)
• Land Boundaries:: total: 2,508 km border countries: Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km, Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (east) 169 km
• Area: total: 237,500 sq km land: 230,340 sq km water: 7,160 sq km
• Coast Line: 225 km
• Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
• Terrain: central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 40.82% permanent crops: 2.25% other: 56.93% (2001)
• Environmental Issues: soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands
• Natural Resources: petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower
• Highways: total: 198,603 km paved: 98,308 km (including 113 km of expressways) unpaved: 100,295 km (2000)
• Railways: total: 11,385 km (3,888 km electrified) standard gauge: 10,898 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 427 km 0.760-m gauge (2003) broad gauge: 60 km 1.524-m gauge
• Ports & Harbours: Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina, Tulcea
• Airports: 62 (2003 est.)