Official name :
Romania

Form of government. Republic

National flag:

National Coat – of –arms ( since 1992): an eagle holding a cross in its beak and a sword and a scepter in its talons, plus the symbols of the historical provinces of Wallahia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Banat, Oltenia,and Dobrodja.

National Day ( since 1990): December 1 , the anniversary of the creation of the Romanian unitary national state in 1918 ; when the Great Assembly held at Alba Iulia, decided on Transilvania's union with Romania , the moment symbolizing union of all Romanians in a single estate – Romanian's for ever dream .

National anthem: “Desteapta-te romane” / Romanian wake up ( Music by Anton Pan; Lyrics by Andrei Muresan).

National Holidays:

Official language: Romanian , which descends directly from the Latin spoken in Dacia and Moesia in ancient times. Besides words inherited from Latin, the vocabulary has been enriched especially with elements taken from Slavonic, though the grammatical structure has remained exclusively Latin. Starting from the 19 th century Romanian has borrowed a number of words in international usage, for scientific and technical necessities. English, French and German are widely spoken.

Population: Romania : 21,700,00 ( 2003). Ethnic composition: Romanian 89,4%, Hungarian 7,1%, Gypsies 1,7%, German 0,5%, Ukrainians 0,3%, Jewish o,04%, Others ( Bulgarians, Turks, expats, etc ) 0.96%. 49,1% males and 50,9% females. The urban population is 54,4%.

Religion: Orthodox (86,6%), Roman Catholic (5%), Reformed (0.3%), Greek Catholic (1%), Pentecostal (1%), Baptist (0,5%), Adventist (0,3%), Unitarian (0,3%), Muslim (0,3%), Church of Christ (0,2%), Evangelical of Augustine Confession (0,2%), Old Rite Church (0,1%), other denominations (0,2%), non Believers (0,15%).

Geographical position: Romania is situated in south- east Europe , in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, bordering on the Black Sea . The country is about the size of Great Britain , Laos , Uganda and Ghana . It is 2,700-2,900 km away from Atlantic Ocean, the Artic Ocean and Urals Mountains and only 1,050 km from the Mediterranean Sea .

MAP of ROMANIA:

Area: 237,500 sq. km (91,699sq. miles; 12 th in Europe and 79 th in the world).

Boundaries: Total length 3,175.1 km , of which 1,036.7km on land and 2,138.4 km on the course of rivers or the seashore. Romania neighbors to the north and east the Ukraine (639,4 km) and the Republic of Moldova (681,3 km), to the southeast on the Black Sea (234 km), to the south on Bulgaria (631,3 km), to the south-west on Serbia (544,5 km) and the west and north-west on Hungary (444,8 km). The length of the territory from west to east, in straight line, is of about 720 km, and from north to south is of about 514 km.

Administrative organization: Romania has 6 historical countries : Wallahia , Moldova , Transilvania, Banat , Oltenia, Dobrodja. Today, Romania includes 40 counties (regions) and the Bucharest Municipality (which includes the Ilfov Agricultural sector), 260 towns (of which 56 have municipality status) and 2,688 communes. The government is the supreme body of state administration.

Capital City: Bucuresti ( Bucharest ) – located in south –east part of the country; has over 2.1 million inhabitants.

Major cities and their population: Brasov – 353,000; Timisoara – 350,000; Iasi – 330,000; Cluj-Napoca –318,000; Constanta – 316,000; Sibiu – 169,000; Targu Mures – 165,000; Suceava – 106,000.

Economic development : Romania ranks as a developing country. It is an industrial – agrarian and touristic country.

Political organization: Romania is a republic, a sovereign, unitary and independent state. In accordance with the Constitution adopted in2003, Romania is a parliamentary republic, with two chambers, the Senate and the deputies Chamber . The deputies and the senators are elected every four years by universal secret ballot. The president of the country is elected every 5 years. The head of the state is th e President ; in that quality he represents the state power within the country and in its foreign relations. The ethnic minorities also have representation in Parliament. Democratic rights and freedom are guaranteed by the Constitution.

Configuration of the land: Romanian ‘s land is characterized by perfect harmony for the mountains cover 30% of the country's total area, the foothills and plateaus 37% and the plains 33%.

The concentric layout of the main zone of relief lends the country the appearance of a natural citadel. In the center rise the impressive Carpathian arc above which soar like as many towers the proud ridges (1,800-2,500m high; the highest peak is Moldoveanu reaching 2,544 meters). Alpine pastures, coniferous forests and leafy trees cover the Carpathians. The air is rich in ozone. The snow lasts from November till April, and measures, in winter, 0.80 cm – 1 meter.

The Carpathian range which looks like the walls of a fortress extending in the country, is crossed by high altitude passes or deep gorges and roads which have always provided a permanent contact between the inhabitants living on either slope of the mountains. In the middle of the Carpathians stretches the Transylvanian plateau, while the outer side of the Carpathians is buttressed by the sub-Carpathian foothills (500 –700m high) and by an entire girdle of lower hills, sweeping down gradually towards the extensive river – furrowed plains. It is from the Carpathian arc that rise the rivers Somes, Mures, Jiu, Olt, Arges, Dambovita, Siret and so on, which the Danube collects, directly or indirectly, before it flows, through three arms, into the Black Sea. The length of the Danube on Romanian territory is 1,075km, 38% of its total course.

Hills and tablelands (about 37% of the country's area) shelter orchards of apple, pear, cherry, peach, plum, quince, etc. and vineyards.

Fertile plains (33% of the total surface) for cereals (wheat, maize, barley, rye, etc) and many vegetables (tomato, mild pepper, salad, radish, etc), herbs and industrial crops.

The sunny shore of the ancient Euxine, Dobrudja, adds to the symmetrical balance of Romanian's varied forms of relief, ranging from fertile plains watered by the Danube and the Delta (434,000 ha), to the remains of Paleozoic mountains. The land of the ancient Getae, Dobrudja links ‘the citadel' to the sun-flooded coast of the Black Sea .

Climate: Romania 's picturesque and varied configuration is enhanced by a pleasant climate, particularly favorable to tourism in all seasons of the year. Romania has a temperate continental climate of the transitional type. All over the country July and August are the hottest months, and January and February the coldest. The rainfall varies according to the region: the lowest is recorded on the Black Sea shore and the highest in the mountain areas. Rains are more frequent in spring and more infrequent in summer and autumn. Annual average temperature is +11 o C on the sea-coast and the Southern part; +2 o C in the mountains. By seasons: winter -3 o C; spring +10 o C; summer +24 o C; autumn +10 o C. The rains average is 600- 700 mm yearly.

Flora and fauna: A result of the different forms of relief and of the favorable climate, Romania 's flora is extraordinarily varied. The mountains are covered with boundless age-old forests of conifers, beeches and oaks. The foothills are mantled with extensive orchards and renowned vineyards, while the plains abound in fields of wheat, maize, sun-flower, etc. Woods and pastures cover about 27% of the country's area. Romania 's fauna (over 3,600 species) includes innumerable species of animals characteristic of the varied natural environments. Among the rare specimens to be found in Romania we mention the Carpathian stag, well-known all over the world for its beauty and vigor, the chamois – the only mountain antelope in Europe – the lynx, the brown bear, in natural reservations the aurochs and pheasants in preserves.

The Danube Delta is unique in Europe for its landscape, flora and fauna. In the Danube Delta, besides hundreds of species of fishes, we find the renowned sturgeon, the source of caviar. The Danube Delta which in Spring and Autumn shelters 300 species of birds is the only spot in Europe where pelicans, egrets and sheldrakes take shelter.

In order to protect the monuments of the nature some 70 natural reservations, protected by special laws and regulations, have set up, in the Bucegi, Fagaras, and Piatra Craiului mountains, in the Retezat and Apuseni mountains, as well as on wide expanses of the Danube Delta.

Brief history: The territory of Romania has been inhabited since the Paleolithic period. This was the land where the Romanian ancestors of Thracian origin arrived at the beginning of the second millennium B.C. Present-day Romania was first inhabited by the Dacians, fierce warriors subdued by the Romans under Traian in two extremely difficult campaigns at the beginning of the 2 nd century AD. Most of Romania was the Roman province of Dacia from about A.D. 100 to 271.The relatively brief Roman occupation, 165 years, nevertheless left a lasting legacy – the Latin language which survived the many subsequent invasions of the migratory peoples.

From the 3rd to the 12th century, wave after wave of barbarian conquerors overran the native Daco-Roman population. Subjection to the first Bulgarian Empire (8th–10th century) brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity to the Romanians. In the 11th century, Transylvania was absorbed into the Hungarian empire. By the 16th century, the main Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia have become satellites within the Ottoman Empire , although they retained much independence. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, they became Russian protectorates. The nation became a kingdom in 1881 after the Congress of Berlin.

At the start of World War I , Romania proclaimed its neutrality, but it later joined the Allied side and in 1916 declared war on the Central Powers. The armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, gave Romania vast territories from Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, doubling its size. The areas acquired included Basarabia, Transylvania, and Bucovina . The Banat, a Hungarian area, was divided and some of its land was given to Yugoslavia . King Carol II was crowned in 1930 and transformed the throne into a royal dictatorship. In 1938, he abolished the democratic constitution of 1923. In 1940, the country was reorganized along Fascist lines, and the Fascist Iron Guard became the nucleus of the new totalitarian party. On June 27, the Soviet Union occupied Basarabia and northern Bucovina . King Carol II dissolved the Parliament, granted the new Prime Minister, Ion Antonescu, full power, abdicated his throne, and went into exile.

Romania subsequently signed the Axis Pact on Nov. 23, 1940, and the following June joined in Germany 's attack on the Soviet Union, reoccupying Bessarabia . About 270,000 Jews were massacred in Fascist Romania. Following the invasion of Romania by the Red Army in Aug. 1944, King Michael led a coup that ousted the Antonescu government. An armistice with the Soviet Union was signed in Moscow on Sept. 12, 1944. A Communist-dominated government bloc won elections in 1946, King Michael abdicated on Dec. 30, 1947, and in 1955 Romania joined the Warsaw Treaty Organization and the United Nations.

Running a neo-Stalinist police state from 1967–1989, Nicolae Ceausescu wound the iron curtain tightly around Romania, turning a moderately prosperous country into one at the brink of starvation. To repay his $10 billion foreign debt in 1982, he ransacked the Romanian economy of everything that could be exported, leaving the country with desperate shortages of food, fuel, and other essentials. An army-assisted rebellion in Dec. 1989 led to Ceausescu's overthrow, trial, and execution.

An ex-Communist, Ion Iliescu of the National Salvation Front, served as president from 1990–1995. Emil Constantinescu of the Democratic Convention Party was president from 1996–2000. The post-Communist governments' conflicted and halfhearted attempts to change to a free-market economy have been largely unrealized. Growing dissatisfaction with the government's inefficiencies and economic policies led to a wave of protests by workers, students, and others that peaked in 1997, and again in 1999. In 2000 former president Iliescu returned to power with a landslide victory, easily defeating a xenophobic nationalist opponent.

Romania joined NATO in 2004, and in 2005 the EU approved the entry of Romania in 2007 (January,1). Final acceptance into the EU was based on a number of reforms, including increased law enforcement and environmental measures and the protection of the rights of the Roma minority.

Culture, art, science: Romanians have a long acknowledged tradition of originality.

The artistic and cultural creations stem from folklore. Of many Romanian artists let us mention some of international repute: Constantin Brancusi (sculpture), George Enescu, Ionel Perlea and sergiu Celibidache (music), Mihai Eminescu, Tudor Arghezi, Nichita Stanescu, (literature), I.L. Caragiale, Eugen Ionascu (theatre), Elvira Popescu (drama ), Nicolae Iorga ( history), Vasile Parvan ( archeology), Emil Cioran and Mircea Eliade ( philosophy and history of religions) Aurel Vlaicu , Traian Vuia (aviation), Herman Oberth and Henri Coanda (space science), George Emil Palade (Nobel prize winner for biology), Stefan Odobeja ( cybernetics), Emil Racovita (biospeology), G. Constantinescu (sonicity), Nicolae Paulescu (physiology), Grigore Moisil (mathematics), D.D.Gusti (sociology) a.s.o.

The cultural, artistic and scientific activity evolves under the auspices of the Academy of Romania - founded in 1872.

The art, the culture and science reach the public via a massive production of printed work, via radio and television programs, shows, a.s.o., in Romanian language and languages of the various national minorities residing in Romania .

Health and social security: Medical assistance is free for all the citizens of the country. Average life – span : 72 years. Medical personnel: 1 physician to 580 inhabitants, 1 medical assistant to 168 inhabitants. All citizens are entitled to social security for age, illness or labor incapacity.

The Romanian school of medicine, of old tradition, turned reputed names like Victor Babes, Ioan Cantacuzino, C.I. Parhon, Daniel Danielopolu, as well as contemporary scholars like C.Arsene (neurosurgery), Ana Aslan (gerontology), D.Hociota (nose-throat-ear), M. Olteanu (ophthalmology) and so on.

The Romanian school of balneology is acknowledged for the efficiency of its therapy.

Some of the 160 spas are millenniums old - Baile Herculane, Geoagiu; one third of the European sources of mineral and thermal waters are located in Romania ; they are recommended as treatments for numerous diseases.

Education: of all degrees is free. There are 10 obligatory classes for all population. The educational process aims at connecting to the necessity of the country's development.

Many important cities of the country have their own university centers where specialists in all domains of activity are trained. Also, students of many countries follow training courses at Romanian universities, especially in: medicine, civil constructions, machine building, petro-chemistry, architecture, agronomy, etc.

Sports and physical education: in Romania , sports are regarded as national-interest activities and belong to the general educational process of the maintenance and the improvement of the state of health of the population.

In the world sportive gallery stand also: Nadia Comaneci (gymnastics), Ioland Balas, Lia Manoliu, Mihaela Penes, Maricica Puica, Florenta Craciunescu, Vali Ionescu, Anisoara Cusmir, Gabi Szabo (athletics); Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac (low tennis); Maria Alexandru and Olga Nemes (table tennis); Vasile Diba, Sanda Toma , Ivan Patzaichin (aquatic sports); Carmen Bunaciu ( swimming).