Romania

Romania is located in South-Eastern region of Central Europe. It borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south. Having occupied 237,500 sq km (land-230,340 sq km, water-7,160 sq km) area, Romania is the 9th largest and 7th largest populous country among the European Union member states. The capital Bucharest is the 6th largest city in European Union. Sibiu is considered as the European Capital of Culture. Romania is granted membership of NATO, Latin Union, Francophonie and OSCE .


HISTORY:- Romania was ruled by the Dacian kingdom, followed by the Roman Empire. Later Bulgarian Empire (8th to 10th century) brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Romania. Romania became the Russian protectorates after the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829). In 1881, Romania appeared as a kingdom. At the beginning Romania remained neutral in the World War I, but later joined the Allied force. After the war Romania came to possess a huge territory. King Carol II became the king in 1930. In World War II, Romania joined the Axis power. After Axis attack over the Soviet Union, Romania regained Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. In 1947, King Michael I was overthrown by the communists. Romania was declared a republic. USSR control over Romanian economy continued until 1950s. At the end of Soviet occupation in 1958, Romania focused on independent policies under the leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu.

 

GEOGRAPHY:- Romania is situated in Southeastern Europe at 46 00 N, 25 00 E. The coastline is 225 km long along with the Black Sea in the West. Romania is mainly mountainous, hilly and low landed. The lowest point is Black Sea (0 m) and the highest point is Moldoveanu (2,544 m). Romania has a rolling fertile land. The eastern region of the middle of Danube basin is hilly. The Carpathian Mountains with its fourteen mountain ranges stand at the north and west in the center Romania. Earthquakes cause natural hazards to the south and southwest region of the country.

 

CLIMATE:- The climate of Romania is temperate. It has cool, cloudy, occasionally foggy winters with frequent snowfall. It has bright summers with frequent rains and thunderstorms.

 

GOVERNMENT:- Romania is a Unitary semi-presidential republic. The constitution was adopted on 8th December 1991 and amended on 29th October 2003. The three branch of the government are:

Executive branch consists of the President (head of state), the Prime minister (head of government), and Council of Ministers.

Legislative branch consists of the bicameral Parliament- senate (137 seats) and the Chamber of Deputies (332 seats).

Judicial branch consists of the Constitutional Court, High Court of Cassation and Justice, and some lower courts.

Prominent political parties include Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Democratic Liberal Party, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, the Conservative Party, the Greater Romania Party. All these parties represent in the Parliament. Voting rights are universal at 18.

President  Traian Basescu

Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Romania possesses 41 counties and a municipality, the city of Bucharest.

 

CULTURE:- 20th century is considered as the Golden Age of Romanian culture. George Enescu, the great Romanian musician came of this age. In his honour, ‘George Enescu Festival’, a classical music festival is organized every year in Bucharest. The Romanian UNESCO recognized World Heritage Sites include Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Painted churches of northern Moldavia, the Wooden Churches of Maramures, the Monastery of Horezu, the citadel of Sighišoara, and the Dacian Fortresses of the Oraštie Mountains. Eugen Ionescu, Mircea Eliade and Emil Cioran were the world known literary figures. Football is the most popular sport in Romania.

 

ECONOMY:- Romania is an upper-middle income country. The World Bank ranks Romania 49th out of 175 economies in the sector of doing business easily, and it is also ranks world's 2nd fastest economic reformer in 2006. Tourism plays an important role in Romanian economy.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $246.7 billion; per capita $11,100.

Real growth rate: 5.9%.

Inflation: 4.6%.

Unemployment: 4.5%.

Arable land: 39%.

Agriculture: wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes; eggs, sheep.

Labor force: 9.35 million (2007 est.); agriculture 31.6%, industry 30.7%, services 37.7% (2004).

Industries: textiles and footwear, light machinery and auto assembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining.

Natural resources: petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower.

Exports: $39.62 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products.

Imports: $63.16 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile and products, basic metals, agricultural products.

Major trading partners: Italy, Germany, France, Turkey, UK, Russia (2004).

Budget:  

Revenues: $56.29 billion

Expenditures: $60.41 billion (2007)

Public debt: 18.7% of GDP (2007 est.)

Defense: 1.9% of GDP

Monetary unit: lei

 

LANGUAGE:- The official language is Romanian  (91%). Other spoken languages are Hungarian (6.7%), Romany (Gypsy) (1.1%), other (1.2%).

 

CITIES:- The capital and largest city is Bucharest. Other large and important cities are Iasi, Constanta, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Galati, Brasov, Craiova.

 

POPULATION:- The Romanian population is 22,276,056 with a growth rate of –0.1%.

Density per sq mi: 250

Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.)

 

RACE:-

Romanian 89.5%

Hungarian 6.6%

Roma (Gyspy) 2.5%

Ukrainian 0.3%

German 0.3%

Russian 0.2%

Turkish 0.2%

Other 0.4% (2002)

 

RELIGION:-

Eastern Orthodox 86.8%

Protestant 7.5%

Roman Catholic 4.7%

Other (mostly Muslim) and unspecified 0.9%

None 0.1% (2002 census)

 

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 10.61 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 11.84 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.18 years

Total fertility rate:1.38 children born/woman (2008 est.) 

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 350 (2001 est.) 

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 507

 

UNICEF:- UNICEF in Romania helps to eliminate Iodine deficiency, tries to bring back thousands of physically or mentally challenged children in mainstream school, works rigorously to fight HIV, campaigns for breastfeeding. With the assistance of The Ministry of Education to enroll Roma children to school, UNICEF trains many under qualified teachers, distributes educational comic books to Roma children. UNICEF also works for street children.

 

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 11,385 km (2002).

Highways: total: 198,817 km (2004)

Waterways: 1,731 km (2006).

Ports and harbors: Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina, Tulcea.

Airports: 65 (2002).

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