Background: The Soviet occupation after World War II led to the formation in 1947 of a communist “people’s” republic and to the exile of the king. The long reign of President Nicolae Ceausescu (Nicolae CEAU-SESCU) became especially brutal in the 1980s. He was overthrown and executed at the end of 1989. Former communists dominated the government until 1996. Romania needs to make a lot of changes in the economy before it can achieve its goal of joining the EU.
Geography
Location: Southeast Europe, on the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine. See franciscogardening.com to know more about Romania Geography.
Geographic coordinates: 46° 00′ N. latitude, 25° 00′ E
Reference map: Europe.
Area: total: 237,500 square kilometers; land surface area: 230,340 km2; water surface area: 7,160 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than the state of Oregon.
Land borders: total: 2,508 km; with neighboring states: with Bulgaria 608 km, with Hungary 443 km, with Moldova 450 km, with Yugoslavia 476 km, with Ukraine (in the north) 362 km, with Ukraine (in the east) 169 km.
Coastline: 225 km.
Maritime claims: neutral waters: 24 nautical miles; continental shelf: up to 200 m depth or exploitation depth; exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles; territorial waters: 12 nautical miles;
Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snowfalls and fogs; sunny summer with frequent rains and thunderstorms.
Relief: the center of the Transylvanian Plateau is separated from the Moldavian Upland in the east by the Carpathians, and from the Wallachian Upland in the south by the Transylvanian Alps.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Black Sea 0 m; highest point: Mt. Moldoveanu 2,544 m.
Natural resources: oil (reserves declining), timber, gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower.
Land use: arable land: 41%; cultivated land: 3%; pastures: 21%; forests and plantations: 29%; others: 6% (1993 est.).
Irrigated land: 31,020 km2 (1993 est.).
Natural hazards: earthquakes are most frequent in the south and southwest of the country; geological structure and climate favor landslides.
Current environmental issues: soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in the south from industrial emissions; pollution of the Danube Delta.
International agreements on environmental protection: member: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Change, Hazardous Waste, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Marine Pollution from Ships, Wetlands; signed but not ratified: Air Pollution – Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctica – Protocol on Environmental Protection, Kyoto Protocol.
Geography note: Romania is the shortest land route between the Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine.
Population
Population: 22,364,022 (July 2001 est.).
Age structure: under 14: 17.95% (male 2,054,323; female 1,959,196); 15 to 64 years old: 68.51% (male 7,605,751; female 7,715,434); over 65: 13.54% (male 1,255,880; female 1,773,438) (2001 est.).
Population growth: -0.21% (2001 est.).
Birth rate: 10.8 newborns / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Mortality: 12.28 deaths / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Migration: -0.6 people / 1000 people (2001 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male/female; under 15: 1.05 male/female; 15 to 64 years old: 0.99 male/female; over 65: 0.71 male/female; for the general population: 0.95 male/female (2001 est.).
Child mortality: 19.36 deaths/1000 births (2001 est.).
Life expectancy: for the general population: 70.16 years; men: 66.36 years; women: 74.19 years (2001 est.).
General birth rate: 1.35 children/wives. (2001 est.).
Proportion of adults infected with HIV: 0.02% (1999 est.).
Number of people infected with HIV: 7,000 (1999 est.).
AIDS deaths: 350 (1999 est.).
Nationality: noun: Romanian; adjective: Romanian.
Ethnic groups: Romanians 89.5%, Hungarians 7.1%, Roma 1.8%, Germans 0.5%, Ukrainians 0.3%, others 0.8% (1992).
Believers: Romanian Orthodox 70%, Catholics 3%, Uniates 3%, Protestants 6%, non-denominational 18%.
Language(s): Romanian, Hungarian, German.
Literacy: definition: persons over the age of 15 who can read and write; for the general population: 97%; men: 98%; women: 95% (1992 est.).
Politics
Common long form: no;
conventional short form: Romania; local long form: no; local short form: Romania.
State structure: republic.
Capital: Bucharest.
Administrative division: 40 counties (judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu): Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bistrici-Nasaud, Bihor, Botosani, Brasov, Braila, Buzau, Bucharest*, Vaslui, Vrancea, Valcea, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Dol, Dymbovitsa, Karash Severin, Cluj, Covasna, Constanta, Calarasi, Maramures, Mehedinci, Mures, Neamts, Opt, Prahova, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Salazh, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomica, Iasi.
Dependent Territories:
Independence: since 1881 (until 1881 – under the rule of Turkey; the republic was proclaimed on December 30, 1947).
National holiday: Unification Day (Romania and Transylvania), December 1 (1918).
Constitution: adopted December 8, 1991
Legal system: formerly a mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; now based on the constitution of the French Fifth Republic.
Suffrage: from 18 years old; universal.
chief of state: President Ion ILIESCU (since 20 December 2000);
head of government: Prime Minister Adrian NASTASE (since 29 December 2000)
government: the council of ministers is appointed by the prime minister; elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; elections last held 26 November 2000, runoff 10 December 2000 (next to be held November-December 2004); the prime minister is appointed by the president; election results: percentage of votes – Ion ILIIESCU 66.84%, Corneliu Vadim TUDOR 33.16%.
Legislature: the bicameral parliament consists of the Senate (140 seats; members are directly elected by proportional representation for a four-year term) and the Chamber of Deputies (Adunarea Deputatilor) (345 seats; members are elected by direct universal suffrage by proportional representation for a four-year term); elections: for Senate – last held 26 November 2000 (next to be held in autumn 2004); to the Chamber of Deputies – last held on 26 November 2000 (next to be held in autumn 2004); election results: Senate – distribution of votes between parties – PDSR 37.1%, PRM 21.0%, PD 7.6%, PNL 7.5%, UDMR 6.9%; distribution of seats among parties – PDSR 65, PRM 37, PD 13, PNL 13, UDMR 12; Chamber of Deputies – distribution of votes between parties – PDSR 36.6%, PRM 19.5%, PD 7.0%, PNL 6.9%, UDMR 6.8%; distribution of seats among parties – PDSR 155, PRM 84, PD 31, PNL 30,
Judiciary: Supreme Court of Justice, judges are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council.
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party (PD) (Petre ROMAN); Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) (Bela MARKO [Bela MARKO]); National Liberal Party (PNL) (Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS [Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS]); Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) (Adrian NASTASE); Party of Greater Romania) (PRM) (Corneliu Vadim TUDOR); Democratic Agreement (CDR) (Ion DIACONESCU).
Political pressure groups and their leaders: various professional associations and human rights groups.
Participation in international organizations: ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G-9, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC.
Diplomatic representation in the USA: head of mission: the post is vacant; office: 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20OO8; phone: [1] (202) 332-4846, 332-4848, 332-4851; fax: [\] (202) 232-4748; Consulates General: Los Angeles and New York.
US Diplomatic Mission: Chief of Mission: Ambassador James ROSAPEPE [James C. ROSAPEPE]; embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest; mailing address: American Embassy Bucharest, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5260; phone: [40] (1) 210 40 42; fax: [40] (1) 210 03 95; branch: Cluj-Napoca.
Description of the flag: three equal vertical stripes of blue (hoist side), yellow and red; the state emblem, formerly located on the central stripe, has now been removed; similar to the flag of Chad, also resembles the flags of Andorra and Moldova.
