Romania

România Romania
Coat of arms of Romania Flag Coat of arms
Motto: (each main institution has its own motto)
Anthem: Deşteaptă-te, române!
Location of  Romania (orange) – on the European continent (camel  white) – in the European Union (camel)   [Legend]
Capital	Bucharest (Bucureşti) 44°25′N 26°06′E
Largest city	capital
Official languages	Romanian1
Government	Semi-presidential Unitary Democratic Republic
- President	Traian Băsescu
- Prime Minister	Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
Independence
- Declared	9 May 1877 (O.S.)2
- Recognised	13 July 18783
Accession to EU	January 1 2007
Area
- Total	238,392 km² (82nd) 92,043 sq mi
- Water (%)	3
Population
- July 2007 estimate	22,276,056
- 2002 census	21,680,974
- Density	91/km² 236/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2007 estimate
- Total	$229.9 billion
- Per capita	$10,661
HDI  (2004)	0.805 (high)
Currency	Leu (RON)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Internet TLD	.ro4
Calling code	+40
1 Other languages, such as Hungarian, German, Romani, Ukrainian and Serbian, are official at various local levels. 2 Romanian War of Independence. 3 Treaty of Berlin. 4 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Romania (Romanian: România, IPA: [ro.mɨˈni.a]) is a country in Southeastern Europe bordering Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south.

The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859.The state united with Transylvania in 1918.

Many Romanians take pride in being the most eastern Romance people, completely surrounded by non-Latin peoples ("a Latin island in a Slavic sea").

Geography

Topographic map of Romania.

The name "Romania," first used in 1859, reflects the influence of ancient Rome on the nation's language and culture. Before the nineteenth century, Romanian documents use interchangeably two spelling forms: Român and Rumân.

With a surface area of 92,043 square miles (238,391 km²), Romania is the largest country in southeastern Europe and the 12th-largest in Europe, or slightly smaller than Oregon in the United States. Situated in the northeastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula, the country is halfway between the equator and the North Pole and equidistant from the westernmost part of Europe—the Atlantic Coast—and the most easterly—the Ural Mountains.

The Danube river forms a large part of Romania's border with Serbia and Bulgaria, is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border with the Republic of Moldova, and flows into the Black Sea on Romanian territory, forming the Danube Delta, the largest delta in Europe, which is a biosphere reserve and World Heritage-listed site due to its biodiversity. Other significant rivers are the Siret, running vertically through Moldavia, the Olt, running from the oriental Carpathian Mountains to Oltenia, the Tisa, marking a part of the border between Romania and Hungary, the Mureş, running through Transylvania from East to West, and the Someş.

The Danube is an important water route for domestic shipping, as well as international trade. It is navigable for river vessels along its entire Romanian course and for seagoing ships as far as the port of Brăila. It is also important for the production of hydroelectric power, at one of Europe's largest hydroelectric stations located at the Iron Gates, where the Danube surges through the Carpathian gorges.

Romania's terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountainous, hilly and lowland territories. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the centre of Romania, with 14 of its peaks reaching above the altitude of 6500 feet (2000 metres). The highest mountain in Romania is Moldoveanu Peak at 8346 feet (2544 meters). In south-central Romania, the Carpathians soften into hills, towards the Bărăgan Plains.

Because of its position on the south-eastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is transitional between temperate and continental. In the extreme southeast, Mediterranean influences offer a milder, maritime climate. In Bucharest, the temperature ranges from -20.2°F (-29°C) in January to 84.2°F (29°C) in July. Rainfall, although adequate throughout the country, decreases from west to east and from mountains to plains. Some mountainous areas receive about 40 inches (1010 millimeters) of precipitation each year. Annual precipitation averages about 25 inches (635mm), in central Transylvania, and only 15 inches (381 millimeters) at Constanţa on the Black Sea.

Romania has a stretch of coast along the Black Sea, and the eastern and southern Carpathian Mountains run through its center.

Romania's geographical diversity has led to an accompanying diversity of flora and fauna. The country has the largest brown bear population in Europe, while chamois are also known to live in the Carpathian Mountains, which dominate the centre of Romania.

Natural resources include petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, and hydro power.

Natural hazards include earthquakes, which are most severe in south and southwest. The geological structure and climate results in numerous landslides.

Bucharest’s Alba Iulia Square and Union Boulevard.

Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, which with 2,082,334 inhabitants, is the sixth largest city in the European Union. Located in the southeast of the country, it is the industrial and commercial centre of Romania. Since 1459, it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum, Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of the "Paris of the East" or "Little Paris". Other cities are: Iaşi with 320,888, Cluj-Napoca with 318,027, Timişoara with 317,660, and Constanţa with 310,471.

History

The territory of Romania has been inhabited by different groups of people since prehistory. In 2002, the oldest modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) remains in Europe, were discovered in a cave Anina, Romania. Nicknamed "John of Anina", his remains (the lower jaw) are approximately 42,000 years old.

Dacians

Thracian peltast, fifth to fourth century B.C.E.

The territory of today's Romania was inhabited since at least 513 B.C.E. by the Getae or Dacians, a Thracian tribe. Under the leadership of Burebista (70-44 B.C.E.) the Dacians became a powerful state which threatened even the regional interests of the Romans. Julius Caesar intended to start a campaign against the Dacians, but was assassinated in 44 B.C.E. A few months later, Burebista shared the same fate, assassinated by his own noblemen. His powerful state was divided in four and did not become unified again until 95 B.C.E., under the reign of the Dacian king Decebalus. The Dacian state sustained a series of conflicts with the expanding Roman Empire, and was finally conquered in 106 C.E. by the Roman emperor Trajan, who defeated Decebalus.

The Gothic and Carpian campaigns in the Balkans during 238–269 C.E. (from the beginning of the period of military anarchy to the battle of Naissus), forced the Roman Empire to reorganize a new Roman province of Dacia south of the Danube, inside former Moesia Superior. In either 271 or 275 C.E., the Roman army and administration left Dacia, which was invaded by the Goths.

Dark Ages

The medieval city of Sibiu

The Goths lived with the local people until 378 C.E., when another nomadic people, the Huns, arrived and stayed until 435. The Gepids and the Eurasian Avars ruled Transylvania until the eighth century]], after which the Bulgarians included the territory of modern Romania in the First Bulgarian Empire until 1018.

Middle Ages

File:Sighisoara-Tower-Clock.jpg

The medieval city of Sighisoara.

Many small local states with varying degree of independence developed, but only in the fourteenth century the larger principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia emerged to fight the Ottoman Turks, who conquered Constantinople in 1453. By 1541, the entire Balkan peninsula and most of Hungary became Ottoman provinces. In contrast, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, came under Ottoman suzerainty, but conserved fully internal autonomy and, until the eighteenth century, some external independence.

By the eleventh century, the area of today's Transylvania became a largely autonomous part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Hungarian rulers invited the Székely, the Teutonic Order and the Transylvanian Saxons to settle in Transylvania. The Romanian principality of Wallachia was founded by Basarab I during the thirteenth century, and Moldavia by Dragoş during the fourteenth century. In 1475, Stephen III ("the Great")]] of Moldavia scored a decisive victory against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui. But Wallachia came under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in 1476, and Moldavia in 1514. In 1541, Transylvania became a multi-ethnic principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Mohács. Michael the Brave (1558-9 August 1601) was the Prince of Wallachia (1593-1601), of Transylvania (1599-1600), and of Moldavia (1600). During his reign the three principalities largely inhabited by Romanians were for the first time united under a single rule. But the chance for a unity dissolved after Michael was killed, only one year later, by the soldiers of a Habsburg (Austrian) army general Giorgio Basta.

Early Modern Romania

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Old Monastery in Suceava county.

Several competing theories have been generated to explain the origin of modern Romanians. Linguistic and geo-historical analyses tend to indicate that Romanians have coalesced as a major ethnic group both south and north of the Danube. In 1699 Transylvania became a territory of the Habsburg's Austrian empire, following the Austrian victory over the Turks. The Austrians, in their turn, rapidly expanded their empire: in 1718 an important part of Wallachia, called Oltenia, was incorporated to the Austrian monarchy and was only returned in 1739.

In 1775, the Habsburg Monarchy annexed the northern part of Moldova, Bukovina, and the Ottoman Empire its south-eastern part, Budjak. In 1812 the Russian Empire annexed its eastern half, Bessarabia.

National awakening

Revolutionary Romania by C. D. Rosenthal.

As in most European countries, 1848 brought revolution to Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, announced by Tudor Vladimirescu and his Pandurs in the Wallachian uprising of 1821. The goals of the revolutionaries - complete independence for Moldavia and Wallachia, and national emancipation in Transylvania - remained unfulfilled, but were the basis of the subsequent evolutions. Also, the uprising helped the population of the three principalities recognise their unity of language and interests.

Heavily taxed and badly administered under the Ottoman Empire, in 1859, people in both Moldavia and Wallachia elected the same domnitor (ruler) - Alexander John Cuza - as prince. Cuza led an agricultural reform distributing land to poor and attracting enemies. Via a 1866 coup d'etat, also known as the Abominable Revolution, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol I of the Principality of Romania.

The old kingdom

File:Rom1878-1913.png

Romania (1878-1913).

In 1877, Romania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire and, following a Russian-Romanian-Turkish war, in which Romania fought on the Russian side, Romania’s independence was recognized by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878, making it the first independent national state in the eastern half of Europe. In return for ceding to Russia the three southern districts of Bessarabia that had been regained by Moldavia after the Crimean War in 1852, the Kingdom of Romania acquired Dobruja. On March 26, 1881, the principality was raised to a monarchy and Prince Carol became King Carol I. The new state, squeezed between the great powers of the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian empires, looked to the West, particularly France, for its cultural, educational, military and administrative models.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Habsburg Monarchy incorporated Transylvania into what later became the Austrian Empire. During the period of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918), Romanians in Transylvania experienced a period of severe oppression under the Magyarization policies of the Hungarian government.

World War I

In 1916 Romania entered World War I on the Allies (Entente) of World War I side, after the Entente countries agreed to recognize Romanian rights over Transylvania, which at that time was part of Austria-Hungary. The Romanian military campaign ended in disaster as the Central Powers conquered most of the country and captured or killed the majority of its army within four months. Bucharest, and two-thirds of the country occupied by the Central Powers. In May 1918, Romania was in no position of continue the war, and negotiated a peace treaty (Treaty of Bucharest) with Germany. In October 1918, Romania joined the war again. By the end of the war, the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires had disintegrated; governing bodies created by the Romanians of Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina chose union with the Kingdom of Romania, resulting in Greater Romania.

Greater Romania

Great Romania (1920 -1940)

The Romanian expression România Mare (literal translation "Great Romania", but more commonly rendered "Greater Romania") generally refers to the Romanian state in the years between the First and Second World Wars and, by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time (see the map). Romania achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent, managing to unite all the historic Romanian lands (which were also inhabited by a majority of Romanians). Historically, Greater Romania—România Mare—represented one of the ideals of Romanian nationalism. Greater Romania is still seen by many as a "paradise lost", often by comparison with the "stunted" Communist Romania. To exploit the nationalistic connotation of the term, a Greater Romania nationalist political party uses it as its name.

In 1918, at the end of World War I, Transylvania and Bessarabia united with the Romanian Old Kingdom. Transylvania united by the Proclamation of Union voted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania; Bessarabia, having declared its independence from Russia in 1917 by the Conference of the Country, called in Romanian troops to protect the province from the Bolsheviks who were spreading the Russian Revolution. The union of the regions of Transylvania, Maramureş, Crişana and Banat with the Old Kingdom of Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon, which recognised the sovereignty of Romania over these regions and settled the border between the independent Republic of Hungary and the Kingdom of Romania. The union of Bucovina and Bessarabia with Romania was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles. Romania had also recently acquired the Southern Dobruja territory called "The Quadrilateral" from Bulgaria as a result of its participation in the Second Balkan War in 1913.

The union of 1918 also led to the inclusion of various sizable minorities, including Magyars (ethnic Hungarians), Germans, Jews, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, with a total of about 28 percent of the population.

From 1918 to 1938, Romania was a liberal constitutional monarchy, but one facing the rise of the nationalistic, anti-semitic parties, particularly Iron Guard, which earned about 15 percent of the votes in the general elections of 1937. From 1938 to 1944, Romania was a dictatorship. The first dictator was King Carol II himself, who abolished the parliamentary regime and ruled with his camarilla.

World War II

Buchenwald, 1945. Romanian-born Nazi hunter Elie Wiesel is on the second row from the bottom, seventh from the left.

In 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which stipulated, amongst other things, the Soviet "interest" in Bessarabia. In 1940, Romania lost territory in both east and west: In June 1940, after issuing an ultimatum to Romania, the Soviet Union occupied Bessarabia and northern Bukovina . Two thirds of Bessarabia were combined with a small part of the USSR to form the Moldavian SSR. Northern Bukovina and Budjak were apportioned to the Ukrainian SSR. In August 1940, Northern Transylvania was awarded to Hungary by Germany and Italy through the Second Vienna Award.

As a result of Carol II's having lost so much territory through failed diplomacy, General Ion Antonescu was supported by the army to seize the leadership of Romania. Carol was forced to abdicate, replaced as king by his son Mihai of Romania. Southern Dobruja was also lost to Bulgaria shortly after Carol's abdication. For four months (the period of the National Legionary State) he had to share power with the Iron Guard, but the latter overplayed their hand in January 1941 and were suppressed.

Romania entered World War II under the command of the German Wehrmacht in June 1941, declaring war to the Soviet Union in order to recover Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. Romania was awarded the territory between Dniester and the Southern Bug by Germany to administer it under the name Transnistria.

According to an international commission report released by the Romanian government in 2004, Antonescu's Fascist government of Romania is responsible for the murder in various forms (including deportations to concentration camps and executions by the Romanian Army and Gendarmerie]] and the German Einsatzgruppen), between 280,000 to 380,000 Jews in Romania and in the war zone of Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transnistria.

In August 1944, a coup led by King Mihai, with support from opposition politicians and the army, deposed the Antonescu dictatorship and put Romania's armies under Red Army command. Romania suffered additional heavy casualties fighting the Nazi Army in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

The Paris Peace Treaty at the end of World War II rendered the Vienna Awards void: Northern Transylvania returned to Romania—having, for several years, an autonomous status that was eventually abolished—but Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and southern Dobruja were not recovered. The Moldavian SSR became independent of the Soviet Union only with the latter's 1991 demise, becoming the Republic of Moldova.

Soviet rule

Romanian territory during the twentieth century: purple indicates the Old Kingdom before 1913, orange indicates Greater Romania areas that joined or were annexed after the Second Balkan War and World War I but were lost after World War II, and rose indicates areas that joined Romania after WWI and remained so after WWII.

With the Red Army forces still stationed in the country and exerting de facto control, Communists and their allied parties claimed 90 percent of the vote, through a combination of vote manipulation, elimination and forced mergers of competing parties, establishing themselves as the dominant force. In 1947, King Michael I was forced by the Communists to abdicate and leave the country. Romania was proclaimed a republic, and remained under direct military and economic control of the USSR until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's resources were drained by the "SovRom" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established to mask the looting of Romania by the Soviet Union, in addition to excessive war reparations paid to the USSR. A large number of people were arbitrarily imprisoned for political, economic or unknown reasons: detainees in prisons or camps, deported, persons under house arrest, and administrative detainees. Political prisoners were also detained as psychiatric patients. Estimations vary, from 60,000, 80,000, up to two million. There were hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a large range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens. Most political prisoners were freed in a series of amnesties between 1962 and 1964. Soviet troops left in 1958.

Ceauşescu regime

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The moment when Ceauşescu loses the grip on the mass assembly, as broadcast live by Romanian Television in December, 1989.

Nicolae Ceauşescu (1918–1989) became general secretary in 1965, and head of state in 1967. From 1958, Romania started to pursue independent policies, including the condemnation of the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania was the only Warsaw Pact country not to take part in the invasion), the continuation of diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War of 1967 (again, the only Warsaw Pact country to do so), the establishment of economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, and so forth. Also, close ties with the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed Romania to play a key role in the Israel-Egypt and Israel-PLO peace processes (intermediated the visit of Sadat in Israel. A short-lived period of relative economic well-being and openness followed in the late 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s.

Ceauşescu's denunciation of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and a brief relaxation in internal repression helped give him a positive image both at home and in the West. Seduced by Ceauşescu's "independent" foreign policy, Western leaders were slow to turn against a regime that, by the late 1970s, had become increasingly harsh, arbitrary, and capricious.

As Romania's foreign debt sharply increased between 1977 and 1981 (from three to 10 billion US dollars), the influence of international financial organisations such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank grew, conflicting with Nicolae Ceauşescu's autarchic policies. Ceauşescu eventually initiated a project of total reimbursement of the foreign debt (completed in 1989, shortly before his overthrow). To achieve this goal, he imposed policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy. He profoundly deepened Romania's police state and imposed a cult of personality.

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 resulted in more than 1000 deaths in Timişoara and Bucharest, and brought about the fall of Ceauşescu and the end of the Communist regime in Romania. After a weeklong state of unrest in Timişoara, a mass rally summoned in Bucharest in support of Ceauşescu on December 21, 1989, turned hostile. The Ceauşescu couple, fleeing Bucharest by helicopter, ended up in the custody of the army; after being tried and convicted by a kangaroo court for "genocide" and other crimes, they were executed on December 25, 1989. The events of this revolution remain a matter of debate, with many conflicting theories as to the motivations and even actions of some of the main players.

Romania since 1989

Iliescu, right, and U.S. President George W. Bush.

Ion Iliescu, a former Communist Party official marginalized by Ceauşescu, attained national recognition as the leader of an impromptu governing coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN) that proclaimed the restoration of democracy and civil liberties on December 22, 1989. Iliescu initially outlawed the Communist Party, but he soon revoked that decision. However, Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were among the first laws to be changed after the revolution, and their legality has not been questioned since then.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on May 20, 1990. Running against representatives of the re-established pre-war National Peasants' Party and National Liberal Party, and taking advantage of FSN's tight control of the national radio and television, Iliescu won 85 percent of the vote, and secured two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. A university professor with strong family roots in the Communist Party, Petre Roman, was named prime minister of the new government, which consisted mainly of former communist officials. The government initiated modest free market reforms.

Because the majority of ministers in the Petre Roman government were ex-communists, anti-communist protesters initiated Golaniad around-the-clock anti-government demonstration in University Square, Bucharest, in April 1990. Two months later, these protesters, whom the government referred to as "hooligans", were brutally dispersed by the miners from Jiu Valley, called in by President Iliescu; this event became known as the mineriad. The miners also attacked the headquarters and private residences of opposition leaders. Petre Roman's government fell in late September 1991, when the miners returned to Bucharest to demand higher salaries. A technocrat, Theodor Stolojan, was appointed to head an interim government until new elections could be held.

In December 1991, a new constitution was drafted and subsequently adopted, after a popular referendum, which, however, attracted criticism from international observers who accused the government of manipulating the population and even of outright fraud. (The constitution was most recently revised by a national referendum on October 18-19, 2003, again plagued by fraud accusations made by internal and international observers.) The new constitution, which took effect October 29, 2003, follows the structure of the Constitution of 1991, but makes significant revisions, among which the most significant are extension of the presidential mandate from four years to five, and the guaranteed protection of private property.

The subsequent disintegration of the FSN produced several political parties including the Democratic Party (PD), the Romanian Democrat Social Party (PDSR, later Social Democratic Party, PSD), and the ApR (Alliance for Romania). The Socialist parties that emerged from the National Salvation Front (FSN) governed Romania from 1990 until 1996 through several coalitions and governments with Ion Iliescu as head of state. Since then there have been three democratic changes of government: in 1996, the democratic-liberal opposition and its leader Emil Constantinescu acceded to power; in 2000 the Social Democrats returned to power, with Iliescu once again president; and in 2004 Traian Băsescu was elected president, with an electoral coalition called Justice and Truth Alliance (DA). The government was formed by a larger coalition which also includes the Conservative Party and the ethnic Hungarian party.

On April 19th, 2007, the Romanian Parliament suspended President Traian Basescu on charges of unconstitutional conduct. The suspension, passed in a vote of 322 deputies to 108, opened the way for a national referendum on his impeachment.

Post-Cold War Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, eventually joining NATO in 2004. The country applied in June 1993 for membership in the European Union (EU). It became an Associated State of the EU in 1995, an Acceding Country in 2004, and a member on January 1, 2007.

Government and politics

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The Palace of the Parliament, the seat of the Romania's bicameral parliament (Closeup of the lights in front)

Romania is a semi-presidential democratic republic where executive functions are shared between the president and the prime minister. The president is elected by popular vote, and resides at Cotroceni Palace. Since the constitutional amendment of 2003, the president's term is five years (previously it was four).

A prime minister, who appoints the other members of his or her cabinet, and who is nearly always the head of the party or coalition that holds a majority in the parliament, heads the Romanian Government, which is based at Victoria Palace. If no party holds 50 percent + 1 of the total seats in parliament, the president will appoint the prime minister. Before beginning its term, the government is subject to a parliamentary vote of approval.

The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the bicameral parliament of Romania (Parlamentul României), consists of two chambers – the Senate (Senat), which has 137 members, and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), which has 332 members. The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of party-list proportional representation. All aged 18 years of age and over may vote.

The justice system is independent of the other branches of government, and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which is the supreme court of Romania. There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the French model, considering that it is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature. The Constitutional Court (Curtea Constituţională) is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations to the Romanian Constitution, which is the fundamental law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended by a public referendum; the last amendment was in 2003. The Romanian Constitutional Court structure is based on the Constitutional Council of France, being made up of nine judges who serve nine-year, non-renewable terms. Following the 2003 constitutional amendment, the court's decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.

The country's entry into the European Union in 2007 has been a significant influence on its domestic policy. As part of the process, Romania has instituted reforms including judicial reform, increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to combat corruption.

Counties

Administrative map of Romania outlining the 41 counties

. The map also shows the historical region of Transylvania in green, Wallachia in blue, Moldavia in red, and Dobrogea in yellow.]]

Romania is divided into 41 counties]] (judeţe), as well as the municipality of Bucharest, which is its own administrative unit. Each county is administered by a county council (consiliu judeţean), responsible for local affairs, as well as a prefect, who is appointed by the central government but cannot be a member of any political party.

Alongside the county structure, Romania is also divided into eight development regions, which correspond to divisions in the European Union, but which have no administrative capacity and are instead used for co-ordinating regional development projects and statistical purposes. The country is further subdivided into 2686 communes, which are rural localities, and 265 towns. Communes and towns have their own local councils and are headed by a mayor (primar). Larger and more urbanised towns gain the status of municipality, which gives them greater administrative power over local affairs.

Romania joined NATO in 2004, and the European Union (EU) in 2007.

Military

The Romanian Armed Forces (Forţele Armate Române or Armata Română) consists of three branches: Land, naval, and air forces. Since Romania joined NATO, extensive preparations have been made to abolish conscription and make the transition to a professional army by 2007, which would include 90,000 men and women. About 75,000 of these would be military personnel, while 15,000 would be made up of civilians. Sixty thousand would be active forces, while 30,000 would comprise the territorial forces

Economy

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Bucharest Chamber of Commerce

Romania has a large, upper-middle-income economy, the 19th largest in Europe by total nominal GDP and the 15th largest based on purchasing power parity. Romania is a member of the European Union, its most important trading partner. Its capital, Bucharest, is one of the largest financial centres in the region. Romania stands to benefit from the size of its market (about 21-22 million people).

Romania is a country of considerable potential, with rich agricultural lands, diverse energy sources (coal, oil, natural gas, hydro, and nuclear), a substantial, if aging, industrial base encompassing almost the full range of manufacturing activities, a well-trained work force, and opportunities for expanded development in tourism on the Black Sea and in the mountains.

After the collapse of the Soviet 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, Romania embarked on a comprehensive macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform program, but reform subsequently was a frustrating stop-and-go process. Restructuring programs included the liquidation of large energy-intensive industries and major agricultural and financial sector reforms. In 1999 Romania's economy contracted for a third straight year, by an estimated 4.8 percent. Romania reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a $547-million loan.

The country emerged in 2000 from a punishing three-year recession thanks to strong demand in EU export markets. Despite the global slowdown in 2001-02, strong domestic activity in construction, agriculture, and consumption have kept GDP growth above 4 percent. However, macroeconomic gains have only recently started to spur creation of a middle class and address Romania's widespread poverty, while corruption and red tape continue to handicap the business environment.

Romanian government confidence in continuing disinflation was underscored by its currency revaluation in 2005, making 10,000 "old" lei equal 1 "new" leu. The economy grew at 6.4 percent in 2006, the strongest growth in the last decade. Romania joined the European Union on 1 January 2007, and the IMF has praised the country's recent reform efforts in preparation for EU accession.

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Bucharest, the largest city in Romania.

After a series of privatisations and reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, government intervention in the Romanian economy is somewhat lower than in other European economies. In 2005, the liberal-democrat Tăriceanu government replaced Romania's progressive tax system with a flat tax of 16 percent for both personal income and corporate profit, resulting in the country having the lowest fiscal burden in the European Union, a factor that has contributed to the growth of the private sector.

Since 2000, Romania has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment, becoming the single largest investment destination in south-eastern and Central Europe. Foreign direct investment was valued at €8.3 billion in 2006. According to a 2006 World Bank report, Romania ranked 49th out of 175 economies in the ease of doing business, scoring higher than other countries in the region such as Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Additionally, the same study judged it to be the world's second-fastest economic reformer in 2006.

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World Trade Center in Iaşi.

The economy is predominantly based on services, which account for 55 percent of GDP, even though industry and agriculture also have significant contributions, making up 35 percent and 10 percent of GDP, respectively. Additionally, 32 percent of the Romanian population is employed in agriculture and primary production, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Exports have increased substantially in the past few years, with a 25 percent year-on-year rise in exports in the first quarter of 2006. Exports totalled $33-billion in 2006. Export commodities included textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products Export partners included Italy 19.4 percent, Germany 14 percent, Turkey 7.9 percent, France 7.4 percent, UK 5.5 percent, Hungary 4.1 percent, and the US 4.1 percent. Imports totalled $46.48-billion. Import commodities included machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile and products, basic metals, agricultural products Import partners included Italy 15.5 percent, Germany 14 percent, Russia 8.3 percent, France 6.8 percent, Turkey 4.9 percent, China 4.1 percent. The country maintains a large trade deficit, as it imports 37 percent more goods than it exports.

The average gross wage per month in Romania is 1387 lei as of April 2007, equating to €443.13 (US$600.17) based on international exchange rates and $827.57 based on purchasing power parity. About 88 percent of all Romanian citizens have a color television set in their household and 90% a refrigerator. Figures for 2006 show a GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) of $10,661, and a GDP growth of 7.7 percent, one of the highest rates in Europe. Unemployment in Romania was at 4.5% in April 2007 which is very low compared to other middle-sized or large European countries such as Poland, France, Germany and Spain. Foreign debt is comparatively low, at 20.3 percent of GDP.

Demographics

File:Voronet-Old-Monastery.jpg

Voroneţ Monastery

According to the 2002 census, Romania has a population of 21,680,974 and, similarly to other countries in the region, is expected to gently decline in the coming years as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates. The population density of the country has doubled since 1900 although, in contrast to other central European states, there is considerable room for further growth. Life expectancy at birth for the total population was 69.93 years in 2000.

Ethnicity

File:CJROothodox.jpg

Romanian Orthodox cathedral in Cluj-Napoca.

Ethnic Romanians make up 89.5 percent of the population, Hungarians make up 6.6 percent, Roma make up about 2 percent of the population. The remaining 1.9 percent is made up of Germans, Ukrainians, Lipovans, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Czechs, Poles, Italians, Chinese, Armenians and others. Before World War II, there was a large Jewish population, but almost 400,000 Jews were killed during the Nazi years, and many of the remainder emigrated to Israel. Today the Jewish population is estimated at less than 10,000. Estimates of the Roma population range from 400,000 to one million. The Roma's nomadic lifestyle poses difficulties for statisticians. Hungarians are a sizeable minority in Transylvania, but constitute a majority in the counties of Harghita and Covasna.

The origin of the Romanians has long been disputed and there are two basic theories:

• Daco-Romanian continuity in Dacia and some adjacent regions.
• Migration of Romanic peoples from former Roman provinces south of the Danube in the Balkans.

The exact region where the Romanian language and people formed is not only a scientific puzzle, but also a heated political controversy. Nineteenth-century Hungarian historians largely supported the migration theory, which maintained that Transylvania was not inhabited by Romanians at the time of the Magyar arrival in central Europe during the tenth century. Most Romanian historians support the theory of Daco-Romanian continuity, and maintain that Transylvania was continuously inhabited by the ancestors of Romanians. The debate was politically charged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries because of territorial conflicts concerning Transylvania between Romania and Hungary.

Recognized by the Romanian Constitution of 1923 and supported by various laws, national minorities were represented in parliament, and several of them created national parties (the Magyars in 1922, the Germans in 1929, the Jews in 1931), although a unique standing of minorities with autonomy on a wide basis, provided for at the assembly of Transylvanian Romanians in 1918 were not fulfilled.

Language

The official language is Romanian, an Eastern Romance language, which has Latin roots that date back to the Roman occupation of the area but also contains words from Greek, Slavic languages, and Turkish. In the fourteenth century, the country adopted the Cyrillic alphabet, but it later reverted to Roman lettering. Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91 percent of the population, with Hungarian and Romani being the most important minority languages, spoken by 6.7 percent and 1.1 percent of the population, respectively). Until the 1990s, there was also a substantial number of German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons, even though many have since emigrated to Germany, leaving only 45,000 native German speakers in Romania. Serbian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Czech, Bulgarian, and Turkish is also spoken. In localities where a given ethnic minority makes up more than 20 percent of the population, that minority's language can be used in the public administration and justice system, while native-language education and signage is also provided. English and French are the main foreign languages taught in schools.

Religion

File:Timisoara cathedral.jpg

Timişoara Orthodox Cathedral.

Romania is a secular state, thus having no state religion. The dominant religious body is the Romanian Orthodox Church, whose members make up 86.7 percent of the population according to the 2002 census. Other important religions include Roman Catholicism (4.7 percent), Protestantism (3.7 percent), Pentecostal denominations (1.5 percent) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church (0.9 percent). Romania has a significant Muslim minority concentrated in Dobrudja, who are mostly of Turkish ethnicity and number 67,500 people. Based on the 2002 census data, there are also 6179 Jews, 23,105 people who are of no religion and/or atheist, and 11,734 who refused to answer.

Romanian Orthodoxy descends from the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity of 1054, and has a more mystical slant than Roman Catholicism. Icons—images representing Christ, angels, saints, and other holy figures— are believed to be incarnations of the saint, and are considered a link between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Under communism, religion was suppressed, churches were destroyed, and clergy were arrested. The government restricted religious practice but did not forbid it. The Romanian Orthodox Church did not oppose the regime, and priests helped the administration. In 2006, President Traian Băsescu approved a new law under which religious denominations can only receive official registration if they have at least 20,000 members, or about 0.1 percent of Romania's total population.

The belief in vampires popularized in the nineteenth century story of Dracula, is a part of Romania folk culture. The belief is that sometimes the spirit does not leave the body after death, but remains, without decaying, to haunt the village, and can claim victims with a touch or a glance. Garlic is believed to keep vampires away, as are food offerings made on the holy days of Saint George and Saint Andrew. Mirrors are covered in the home of the deceased for fear that the spirit of the dead person will see its reflection and not be able to leave.

Men and women

The communist regime gave women equal rights in marriage and the workplace, and tried to get large numbers of women into the work force. While most women work outside the home, they have lower-level positions in traditional women’s jobs, such as primary school teachers or agricultural workers. Women who have a full-time job are expected to do all the cooking and cleaning at home. The Ceauşescu regime required women to have at least five children. Efforts to increase the population burdened women with unwanted children, and made many seek illegal and dangerous abortions. The government required gynecological examinations of women of childbearing age to prove that they had not had abortions. Already poor families could not afford to feed or clothe their children, and orphanages filled with abandoned babies.

Marriage and the family

Gheorghe Lazăr High School, Bucharest

Traditionally, the couple's parents arranged marriages through a matchmaker, the bride's family contributed a dowry of linen and embroidery, and rural weddings involved the entire village. Today, young people choose their own spouses, but the bride's hair is still elaborately braided. She wears a crown of flowers, jewels, and ribbons, and the groom wears a white leather vest and a hat decorated with feathers, flowers, and leaves. The best man shaves the groom's beard, symbolizing his departure to a new lifestyle, and in the ceremony, both ask their parents to forgive them for leaving the family. Wedding feasts include kegs of wine and a big round loaf of bread shared by the bride and groom.

Traditional families were large patriarchal units, with many available to help in the fields. The domestic unit comprises several generations living together, which is also a result of housing shortages. The culture values helping extended family members, which carries the risk of nepotism. The Ceauşescu government was staffed by his relatives. Traditionally, an estate passes to the oldest son, although women are entitled to inherit property.

The communist government established state-run day-care centers called crèches, where from a very young age, children are left all day while their parents worked. Many crèches are overcrowded and insufficiently staffed.

Education

File:University of Medicine&Farmacy.IASI-ROMANIA.JPG

Gr. T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Iaşi.

Education in Romania is free and compulsory from age six to 16. Children attend elementary school to age 14. After this, they must pass examinations to enter secondary school. About half these students go on to vocational schools; others continue their education at technical institutes or teacher-training programs.

Kindergarten is optional. Primary school comprises: Elementary school - grades one to four; and gymnasium school, grades five to eight. High school comprises four or five grades (grades nine to 13). Vocational education can continue or supplant high school to prepare students for careers that are based in manual or practical activities.

Higher education has the following four components: A bachelor degree, which takes three years in most disciplines; a master’s degree, which takes a further two years; a doctorate, which takes at least three years; and lifelong learning, which includes postgraduate education occurring outside the master/doctorate framework.

The largest and most prestigious university is the University of Bucharest, founded in 1864. Other centers of higher education include Babes-Blyai University in Cluj-Napoca and the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest.

Class

Most people are poor, and the standard of living is low compared with Western Europe. Under the communist regime, a small elite had access to luxuries. Ceauşescu, lived in a 40-room palace decorated with artwork from churches and museums. Some of the old elite have retained their wealth and power. Cars, which are rare, and imported consumer goods and household appliances, which are expensive and difficult to come by, both symbolize of high economic standing. The ability to send one's children to the best day-care centers and provide private tutoring is a mark of wealth.

Culture

The culture of Romania is rich and varied. Like Romanians themselves, it is fundamentally defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be fully included in any of them. The Romanian identity formed on a substratum of mixed Roman and quite possibly Dacian elements (although the latter is controversial), with many other influences. During late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the major influences came from the Slavic peoples who migrated and settled in nearby Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine and eventually Russia; from medieval Greeks and the Byzantine Empire; from a long domination by the Ottoman Empire; from the Hungarians; and from the Germans living in Transylvania. Modern Romanian culture emerged and developed over roughly the last 250 years under a strong influence from Western culture, particularly French and German culture.

Literature

Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Romania and Moldova

The older classics of Romanian literature remain very little known outside Romania. Mihai Eminescu, a famous 19th century Romanian poet is still very much loved in Romania (especially his poems), along with several other "true classics" like George Coşbuc and Tudor Arghezi. The revolutionary year 1848 had its echoes in the Romanian principalities and in Transylvania, and a new elite from the middle of the 19th century emerged from the revolutions: Mihail Kogălniceanu (writer, politician and the first prime minister of Romania), Vasile Alecsandri (politician, playwright and poet), Andrei Mureşanu (publicist and the writer of the current Romanian National Anthem) and Nicolae Bălcescu (historian, writer and revolutionary). Other classic Romanian writers whose works are still widely read in their native country are playwright Ion Luca Caragiale (the National Theatre Bucharest is officially named in his honor) and Ion Creangă (best known for his children's stories). The works of composer George Enescu are well-known to Romanians, many of whom consider him their national musician. The symphony orchestra of Bucharest is named in Enescu's honor. Romanian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of Romania (mostly through translations into German, French and English). Some modern Romanian authors became increasingly popular in Germany, France and Italy, especially Eugen Ionescu, Mircea Eliade, Emil Cioran, Tristan Tzara and Mircea Cărtărescu.

Architecture

File:Evo mediaş.JPG

Mediaş, historic city centre

The UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites includes Romanian sites such as the Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Painted churches of northern Moldavia with their fine exterior and interior frescoes, the Wooden Churches of Maramures unique examples that combine Gothic style with traditional timber construction, the citadel of Sighişoara and the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains. Also, in 2007, the city of Sibiu is the European Capital of Culture alongside the city of Luxembourg.

Media and television

Reporters Without Borders ranks Romania 58th in its Worldwide Press Freedom Index, the same level as Poland and Hong-Kong. The public television company Televiziunea Română and the public radio Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune cover all the country and have also international programs. The state also owns a public news agency ROMPRES. The private media is grouped in media companies such as Intact Media Group, Media Pro, Realitatea-Caţavencu, Ringier, SBS Broadcasting Group, Centrul Naţional Media and other smaller independent companies. Cable television is widely available even in some villages and offers besides the national channels a great number of international and specialized channels. FM stations cover most cities and most of them belong to national radio networks. Overall readership of most newspapers is slowly declining due to increasing competition from television and the Internet. Tabloids and sport newspapers are among the most read national newspapers. In every large city there is at least one local newspaper, which usually covers the rest of the county. An Audit Bureau of Circulations exists since 1998 and a large number of publications are its members.

• List of Romanian language television channels

Sports in Romania

In the 1976 Summer Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect "ten". She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals. Ilie Năstase, the tennis player, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments; he also was a successful doubles player. Romania has also reached the Davis Cup finals three times. Virginia Ruzici was a successful tennis player in the 1970s. Football (soccer) is popular in Romania, the most internationally known player being Gheorghe Hagi, who played for Steaua Bucureşti (Romania), Real Madrid, FC Barcelona (Spain) and Galatasaray (Turkey), among others. In 1986, the Romanian soccer club Steaua Bucureşti became the first Eastern European club ever to win the prestigious European Champions Cup title. Other Romanian clubs are Dinamo Bucureşti, Rapid Bucureşti, Naţional Bucureşti, Universitatea Cluj, UTA Arad, FCU Politehnica Timişoara, Universitatea Craiova, Petrolul Ploieşti, CFR Cluj, Poli Iaşi, FC Braşov, Galaţi, Bacău, Sportul, Bistriţa, Piteşti, Farul Constanţa, etc. Though maybe not the force they once were, the Romanian national rugby team has so far competed at every Rugby World Cup.

National holidays

The Christian holidays of Christmas and (Orthodox) Easter are celebrated (they are official, non-working, holidays). Unlike some other Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on 25 December; however, they follow the usual Eastern Orthodox practice for the date of Easter. Other official holidays (non-working) are New Year's Day (January 1), Labour Day (May 1), and the National Day of Romania (December 1, the Union Day). For Christmas and for Labour Day, it is common for businesses to shut down more than a single day.

Minor, but widely observed, holidays include Mărţişor (March 1), marking the start of spring, Dragobete (February 24), day of lovers, and International Women's Day (March 8). Some businesses give women employees the day off for International Women's Day. Some holidays celebrated in the United States or in other parts of Europe have recently been gaining some currency in Romania, for example Valentine's Day (February 14).

Image gallery

• Romanian-Athenaeum-1.JPG

  Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest

• 

  University of Bucharest

• Bucharest modern building 2.jpg

  Headquarters of the Romanian Development Bank, Bucharest

• Suceava-Saint-Ioan-Cel-Nou-Old-Monastery.jpg

  Saint Ioan cel Nou Monastery in Suceava County

• Iasi-Old-Monastery.jpg

  Old Monastery in Iasi County

• MitropoliaMoldovei siBucovinei.Iasi.Romania.JPG

  Metropolitan Seat of Moldavia and Bucovina, located in Iaşi
• BCU.Iasi.Romania.JPG

  The University's Central Library Mihai Eminescu, Iaşi

• 

  Roman Catholic Church, Cluj-Napoca

• Brasov casa sfatului at night.jpg

  Braşov Old Council Building at night

• Borzesti Side view.jpg

  Borzeşti Church, Borzeşti

• 

  Medieval Town Sighişoara

• Romania Voronet Monestry.JPG

  Voroneţ Monastery

• Timisoara cathedral.jpg

  Timişoara Orthodox Cathedral

• Cretzulescu palace.JPG

  The Creţulescu Palace in Bucharest

• Office1.jpg

  Charles de Gaulle square in Bucharest

International rankings

• A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: Globalization Index 2005, ranked 35 out of 62 countries
• Bertelsmann: Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, ranked 19th out of 119 countries
• IMD International: World Competitiveness Yearbook 2006, ranked 57 out of 61 economies (countries and regions)
• Reporters without borders: Annual worldwide press freedom index (2006), ranked 58 out of 168 countries
• The Wall Street Journal: 2007 Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 67 out of 157 countries
• The Economist: The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005, ranked 58 out of 111 countries
• Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2006, ranked 84 out of 163 countries
• World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking, ranked 67 out of 117 countries

• World Bank: Doing Business 2006, ranked 49th out of 175
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Foreign Direct Investment Performance Index 2005, ranked 24th out of 141

See also

Template:Romanian Topics

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2006 and the 2005 U.S. Department of State website.

External links

Official links

Romania Portal

Overviews

• BBC News Country Profile - Romania
• Open Directory Project - Romania
• US Department of State - Romania
• Romania in EU (2007) Photographic essay with texts offering a general impression about the country
• About Romania at alllocale.com

Travel guides

• Travel guide to Romania from Wikitravel
• Romania Travel
• 1st portal about Romania estd. 1996
• Romania - journals, stories, travel photography
• Lonely Planet Guide - Romania
• Travel To Romania
• Your Holidays in Romania in a rural setting
• Your accommodation guide allover Romania
• Danube Delta Photos
• Romania presented in images
• Visiting Romania with Private Guide

Economy links

• Exchange Rates - from the National Bank of Romania
• Information about redenomination

Culture links

• Treasures of the national library of Romania

Timelines links

• Chronology of Romania from the World History Database

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