Central Europe
Map of Romania
Romania
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.
Romania (formerly spelled Rumania or Roumania)
is a country in south-eastern Europe.
The name Romania comes from Rome or the Roman
Empire and represents the country's origins.
Romania is bordered by Ukraine and Moldova in the
northeast, Hungary and Serbia in the
west and Bulgaria to the south.
Romania also has a small sea coast on the Black Sea.
Romania
Official language; Romanian
Capital; Bucharest
President; Ion Iliescu
Area; 238,391 kmē
Independence; May 9, 1877
Currency; Leu
Time zone; UTC +2/+3
National anthem; Desteapta-te, Romane!
Internet TLD; .RO
Phone Calling Code; 40
History
The Dacians were defeated by the Roman Empire in
106, which marked the beginning of succession
of invasions of Romania, although the rulers
usually allowed a high degree of autonomy.
In the Middle Ages Romanians lived in three
distinct principalities: Wallachia,
Moldavia and Transylvania.
The first two would be under the influence
of the Ottoman Empire, but with internal
autonomy, the third at first belonged to
Hungary, also having a large autonomy,
then to Austria-Hungary.
The modern Romania was born when the principalities
of Moldavia and Wallachia merged in 1859,
and became independent in 1877.
The country was expanded after World War I,
when Transylvania, Bucovina and
Bassarabia were included.
Parts of Romania were incorporated by
the Soviet Union in 1940, mostly comprising
the present-day country of Moldova.
After the Second World War, Romania became a
communist nation under pressure of the Soviet Union.
The decades-long reign of president Nicolae
Ceausescu was ended with an uprising in late 1989,
although ex-communists continue to be present in
the democratically elected government.
Politics
The legislative part of the Romanian government
consists of two chambers, the Senat (Senate),
which has 143 members, and the Camera Deputatilor
(House of Deputies), which has 343 members.
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 four years.
The president appoints a prime minister, who will
head the council of ministers, whom are in turn
appointed by the prime minister.
Romania is divided into 41 judete, or counties,
and the municipality of Bucharest (Bucuresti) - the capital.
Geography
A large part of Romania's borders with Yugoslavia 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, Brasov,
Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta,
Craiova, and Iasi (Jassy).
Economy
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 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.
In 1999 Romania's economy contracted for a
third straight year - by an estimated 4.8%.
Romania reached an agreement with the IMF in
August for a US $547 million loan, but release
of the second tranche was postponed in October
because of unresolved private sector lending
requirements and differences over budgetary spending.
Bucharest avoided defaulting on mid-year
lump-sum debt payments, but had to significantly
draw down reserves to do so; reserves rebounded
to an estimated $1.5 billion by year end 1999.
The government's priorities include: obtaining
renewed IMF lending, tightening fiscal policy,
accelerating privatisation, and
restructuring unprofitable firms.
2002 and 2003 were successful economic years,
and currently GDP growth is
forecast at 4.5% per annum.
The average gross wage per month in Romania
is 6,721,855 lei as of July 2003, an
increase of 3.8% over the previous month.
This shows that salaries increase faster
than the inflation rate, which is slightly
less than 2% per month.
The average net salary per month in July 2003
is 4,863,801 lei, which is equal
to US$141.05, 131.32 Euro and A$223.73.
Romania was invited by the European Union
in December 1999 to begin accession negotiations.
It is expected to join the EU in 2007
along with Bulgaria.
Demographics
The official language is Romanian, a
Latin language member of the Romance
group 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.
Romania is the only Eastern Bloc country
where a Romance language is spoken.
Sizeable minorities of Hungarian
(according to the 2002 census, 6.6% of
the population) and German descent, mostly in
Transylvania, also speak Hungarian and German.
Other ethnic groups include Roma gypsies and
natives of Romania's neighbouring countries.
Most Romanians are members of the Romanian
Orthodox Church, which is one of the churches
of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Catholicism is also represented, mostly in the
areas inhabited by population of
Hungarian descent, mostly in the
western part of the country.
In Dobrogea, the region lying on the shore of the Black
Sea, there is a small Islamic minority, a remnant of
the Ottoman colonisation of that province in the past.
Official Holidays
January 1; New Year's Day, Anul nou
Easter (April/May) Pastele, Romanians
celebrate the Orthodox Easter.
The holiday is three days long
May 1; Labour Day, Ziua muncii
International Labour day
December 1; National Day,
(Unification Day), Ziua Unirii, celebrating the
unification of Transylvania with Romania, December 1, 1918
December 25/26; Christmas Day, Craciunul
Romanians celebrate two days of Christmas.
Traditional holidays
March 1; Martisorul Spring festival
(vaguely similar to St. Valentine's Day).
External Links
Official site of the Romanian
government
All text is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License.
This information correct in 2003. E. & O.E.
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