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Romania

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Romania (formerly spelled Rumania or Roumania) is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine and Moldova in the northeast, Hungary and Serbia in the west and Bulgaria to the south. Romania also has a stretch of sea coast on the Black Sea.

România
Motto: none
Anthem: Deşteaptă-te, Române!
Location of Romania
Capital
and largest city
Bucharest
Official languagesRomanian
GovernmentDemocratic republic
Independence
• Water (%)
3%
Population
• 2004 estimate
22,355,551 (51st)
• 2002 census
21,698,181
GDP (PPP)2004 estimate
• Total
155 billion USD (47th)
• Per capita
7,000 USD (65th)
CurrencyLeu (ROL)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code40
ISO 3166 codeRO
Internet TLD.ro

Name

The name Romania comes from Rome or the (Eastern) Roman Empire and asserts the country's origins as a Roman Empire province. In Late Antiquity the Roman Empire was often called Romania in Latin. Some historians have argued that the medieval Byzantine Empire should more properly be called Romania, but this has not caught on.

"Romania" is also used for the set of European lands where Romance languages appeared.

History

Main article: History of Romania

The tribal confederation of the Getae were encountered by Darius in his campaign in the Balkans in 513 BC. The Dacians were defeated by the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan in two campaigns stretching from 101 to 107, and the core of their kingdom became the Roman province Dacia. The Gothic and Carpic campaigns in the Balkans during 238 - 271 forced the Roman Empire to reorganize a new roman province of Dacia south of Danube, the ancient Dacia becoming the kingdom of the Goths until the end of the fourth century when it was included in the Hunnic Empire. The Gepids and the Avars ruled Transylvania until eighth century, thence the Bulgars included Romania in their Empire until 1000. The Pechenegs, the Cumans and Uzes were also mentioned by historic chronicles on the teritory of Romania until the founding of the valachian principalities of Wallachia by Basarab I, and Moldavia by Dragos during the 14th century.

In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia (also Moldova) and Transylvania.

Wallachia and Moldavia came under the suzeranity of the Ottoman Empire in 15th and 16th century respectively, with internal autonomy, and brief periods of independence, Moldova losing its eastern side Bessarabia to the Russian Empire in 1812, its northern part Bukovina to the Austrian Empire in 1775 and its south-eastern part Bugeac to the Ottoman Empire.

Transylvania came under Kingdom of Hungary's control by 12th century (since 1301 Hungary and Transylvania became possesions of House of Anjou, of Habsburg, and of Holy Roman Empire), becoming a Principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in 1526, following the Battle of Mohacs. At the end of the 18th century, Austrian Empire (since 1867 Austria-Hungary) included Transylvania inside its borders.

The modern Romania was born when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia merged in 1859, and independence was ratified by the Great Powers in 1877. Following the WW I and the disintegration of the Russian Empire and Austro-Hungary, and the rise of Bolshevism in Hungary and Russia, Transylvania and Bessarabia opted for a Union with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918.

Bessarabia, N. Bukovina and Bugeac were incorporated by the Soviet Union in 1940, mostly comprising the present-day Republic of Moldova with Bugeac and N. Bukovina assigned to Ukraine. After the Second World War, Romania became a communist state under military and economic control of USSR until 1958.

The decades-long reign of president Nicolae Ceauşescu ended with an uprising in late 1989, and the elections of 1990 were won by FSN, part of which, now reformed as the Social Democrats continued to be present in the democratically elected government until 1996 when CDR, a center-right coalition took power for one term. In 2000, the Social Democrats returned to power. The leader of the Democratic Party, who split from FSN in 1996, Traian Băsescu was elected President on December 12, 2004, and took office December 20. Traian Băsescu managed to form a government around his own political party, the Truth and Justice Alliance (Alianta Dreptate si Adevar), by appointing Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The Alliance formed a government with the Romanian Humanist Party (Partidul Umanist Roman), which was formerly allied to the Social Democrats, but switched sides, and a minority group, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (Uniunea Democrata a Maghiarilor din Romania), which has participated in government since 1996.

Following the end of the Cold War in 1989, Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, joined NATO in 2004 and it became an acceding country to the European Union, hoping to join on January 1, 2007.

See also: Kings of Romania

Politics

Main article: Politics of Romania

Romania is a democratic republic. The legislative branch of the Romanian government consists of two chambers, the Senat (Senate), which has 137 members (as of 2004), and the Camera Deputaţilor (Chamber of Deputies), which has 332 members (as of 2004). The members of both chambers are chosen in elections held every four years.

The president, the head of the executive branch, is also elected by popular vote, every five years (until 2004 - four years). The president appoints a prime minister, who heads the government, the members of which are in turn appointed by the prime minister. The government is subject to a parliamentary vote of approval.

Counties

Main article: Counties of Romania

Romania is divided into 41 judeţe, or counties, and the municipality of Bucharest (Bucureşti) - the capital.

The counties are (in alphabetical order):

File:Romania-administrative-large.png
Administrative map of Romania
Transylvania is green, Wallachia blue, the Moldavian region red, and Dobrogea yellow

Geography

Map of Romania with cities
Map of Romania with cities

Main article: Geography of Romania

A large part of Romania's borders with Serbia and Bulgaria is formed by the Danube. The Danube is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border with Moldova.

The Carpathian Mountains dominate the western part of Romania, with peaks up to 2,500 m, the highest, Moldoveanu, reaching 2,544 m.

Major cities are the capital Bucharest, Braşov, Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Constanţa, Craiova, and Iaşi.

See also:

Economy

Main article: Economy of Romania

After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989-91, Romania was left with an obsolete industrial base and a pattern of industrial capacity wholly unsuited to its needs. In February 1997, it embarked on a comprehensive macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reform programme, but reform subsequently has been a frustrating stop-and-go process. Restructuring programs include liquidating large energy-intensive industries and major agricultural and financial sector reforms.

Romania's lagging and unstable economy of the 1990s has been transformed into one with macroeconomic stability, high growth and low unemployment, although a high inflation rate of 9.2% (as of 2004) remains a problem. 2002 and 2003 were successful economic years, and currently GDP growth is forecast at 5.5% per annum. The economy grew by 8.1% in 2004, the fastest growth in the post-Communist era. Foreign direct investments reached EUR 3,7 billion in 2004. Romania was granted in October 2004 the much desired 'functional market economy' status by EU officials. Romania is expected to join the EU in 2007.

In January 2005, Romania's new Tăriceanu government imposed major fiscal reforms, replacing Romania's progressive tax system with a 16% flat tax on both personal income and company profit. Romania now has one of the most liberal taxation systems in Europe, and this, along with increased foreign investment, is expected to boost economic growth in the coming years, as well as lower corruption and bring to light the grey economy.

The average gross wage per month in Romania is 9,733,512 lei as of December 2004, an increase of 12.2% over the previous month. This equates to 258.43 euro, US$337.06 and 434.68 AUD. The average net salary per month in December 2004 was 6,875,094 lei.

Unemployment in Romania is at 6.2% (2004), which is very low compared to other large European countries such as Poland, France or Germany.

Despite the improvements in macroeconomics, privatisation and fiscal policy of the last few years, corruption remains a major problem at all levels and threatens to stifle economic growth. Additionally, lack of transparency in public spending and lack of competitivity in the agricultural sector remain problems.

Romania's legal tender is the LEU (plural LEI). As of 1 July 2005, the leu will be subject to redenomination so that 10,000 old lei, in circulation on that date, shall be exchanged for 1 new leu. The existing banknotes and coins, i.e. the old lei, shall be legal tender until end-December 2006. By 31 December 2006, the existing banknotes and coins, i.e. the old lei, are to be replaced gradually by the new banknotes and coins. The symbol for the old currency, ROL (Romanian Leu) will be replaced with RON (Romanian New). The new currency is expected to be used for a few years only, before Romania, a European Union Candidate, will adopt the Euro as legal tender.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Romania

Ethnic groups (2002 est.):

Religions (2002 est.):

The official language is Romanian, a Romance language of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, which are also called Romanic, and are spoken by about 670 million people in many parts of the world, but mainly in Europe and the Western Hemisphere.

Sizeable minorities of Hungarian and German descent, mostly in Transylvania, also speak Hungarian and German. Other ethnic groups include Rroma and natives of Romania's neighbouring countries. There are also some other like Polish minority (numbering a few thousand people) living in Suceava County.

The true size of the Rroma population is unknown because it is undercounted in national censuses (for various reasons, some Rroma choose to declare themselves as Romanians or Hungarians; usually the criterion is based on a terse individual population count). The Rroma people are commonly known in Romania as ţigani (tsigany).

Most Romanians are members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is one of the churches of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Catholicism (both Roman Catholic and Romanian Catholic) and Protestantism are also represented, mostly in the areas inhabited by population closer to western influence.

In Dobrogea, the region lying on the shore of the Black Sea, there is a small Muslim minority (of Turkish and Tatar ethnicity), a remnant of the Ottoman rule and migrations from Crimea, respectively.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Romania

See also:

Miscellaneous topics

Travel guides

Currency

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