| Romania Geography |
| Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine |
| Geographic Coordonates: 46 00 N, 25 00 E Romania stretches c. 514 km from North to South and 720 km from East to West. |
| Map references: Europe |
| Area: 237,500 sq. km |
| Land: 230,340 sq. km (13th in Europe) |
| Water: 7,160 sq. km. The Danube River is Europe's second longest river after the Volga,it rises in Germany's Black Forest and flows southeastwards for a distance of 2857 km course through ten countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine) before emptying in Romania's Danube Delta. Some of its 1075 km length bordering Romania drains the whole of Romania. In the 1970s, a new dam raised the Danube's level and eased navigation through the Iron Gates. The river has become an important source of hydroelectric power and of irrigation water for farming. Romania's rivers are mainly tributaries of the Danube. Main rivers: Danube (1,075 km), Mures (768 km) runs westward between the Transylvanian Alps and the Bihor Mountains, Olt (736 km) forms a wide valley in the mountains before reaching the Wallachian Plain, Prut (716 km) which forms Romania's border with Moldova meets the Danube River just west of the Danube Delta, Siret (596 km) and Bistrita (290 km) rivers are the major waterways in Moldavia, Ialomita (410 km) and Arges (344 km) rivers cross eastern Wallachia near Bucharest. Other Romania's rivers are: Somes (388 km), Jiu (331 km), Buzau (324 km), Timis (242 km), Jijia (307 km), Barlad (289 km), Dambovita (268 km), Bega (180 km), Tarnava Mare (246 km), Crisul Alb (240 km), Vedea (238 km), Moldova (237 km), Barlad (207 km), Tarnava Mica (196 km), Prahova (193 km), Neajlov (186 km), Oltet (185km), Somesul Mic(186 km), Suceava (178 km) and Aries (166 km). Lakes: approximately 2,300 lakes and over 1,150 ponds account for an area of 2,650 sq.km. Main lakes: Razelm = Razim (415 sq.km), Sinoe (171 sq.km), Golovita (119 sq.km), Zmeica (54 sq.km), Bicaz (artificial lake 33 sq.km), Babadag (25 sq.km), Tasaul (23 sq.km), Brates (21 sq.km), Mostistea (20 sq.km), Siutghiol (20 sq.km), Dranov (20 sq.km), Oltina (19 sq.km), Gorgova (13 sq.km), Lacul Rosu (13 sq.km), Techirghiol (12 sq.km), Vidra (artificial lake 10.5 sq.km), Jirlau (10 sq.km), Vidraru ( artificial lake 8.2 sq.km), Amara (6.0 sq.km) and Snagov (5.8 sq.km). |
| Area - comparative: slighty smaller than Oregon, half the size of France, slightly smaller than the United Kingdom, about the combined size of New York and Pennsylvania. |
| Land boundaries: total 2,508 km |
| Neighbors: Moldova 450 km, Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Serbia 476 km, Ukraine (N) 362 km, Ukraine (E) 169 km |
| Coastline: 225 km |
| Maritime claims: |
| Contiguous zone: 24 NM Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM Territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Climate: temperate-continental; ranges between hot summers and very cold winters with lots of snow from mid December until the end of March. Romania's average annual temperature is 11C (52F) in the south and on the coast, 2C (36F) in the mountains. In June, July and August, the hottest places in Romania are near the Black Sea coast, where average temperatures reach 24-30C. In summer, there are frequent showers and thunderstorms in the mountains. The mild, sunny days of autumn linger from early September until late October. Spring starts in mid March in most of Romania's regions, April in the mountains and in the north part of the country. Annual rainfall is 600 mm to 700 mm, much of it in spring. Precipitation is heaviest in Transylvania and in the Carpathian Mountains, where an average of 53 inches of rain and snow fall each year. Dobrojea is Romania's warmest and driest region, with less than 15 inches of annual rainfall. |
| Terrain: The Carpathian Mountains (the tallest peak is Mt.Moldoveanu at 2544 m, 8346 ft) cross Romania from the north to the southwest. The Carpatians were glaciated and in Fagaras and Retezat Mountains are glacial lakes and mass of rock created when the ice melted circa 10,000 years ago. Around Transylvania, the mountains formed Europe's longest volcanic chain; the only remaining volcanic lake is St. Ana. The central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from Walachian Plain on the south by Transylvanian Alps. The Carpathian Mountains account for about a third (31%) of the country's area (eastern Carpathians - Pietrosu Peak 2303 m; southern Carpathians - Moldoveanu Peak 2544 m; western Carpathians - Cucubata Mare 1849 m). Another third of Romania (33%) is covered by hills and plateaus full of orchards and vineyards. The final third is a fertile plain of dark chernozem soil where cereals, vegetables, herbs and other crops are grown. Dobrogea region is separated from the rest of Romania by the Danube on its final northern fling to the sea; it is divided in two parts by a low, stegasaurean spine of hills, which are older than the Carpatians, and the Danube Delta's reed beds formed from the massive quantity of sediments brought down the river. It is Europe's most extensive wetland and the world's largest continous reedbed. Lowest point is Black Sea 0 m. |
| Natural resources: petrolium, timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydro power. |
| Land use: arable land: 41% forest and woodland: 29% permanent pastures: 21% permanent crops: 3% other: 6% |
| Irrigated land: 31,020 sq km |
| Natural hazards: earthquakes most severe in south and southwest, and landslides. |
| Environment: Romania passed environment protection lows in 1967, 1973 and 1976, and a National Council for the Protection of the Environment was created in 1975. Water quality has been monitored since 1960, and air quality since 1973. After the revolution, a new Ministry of Waters, Woods and Environment Protection was created, with the aim of reducing polluation by 20% by 1995, and bringing it down to European levels by 2000. An ordonance on atmospheric polluation was passed in 1993 and a new environment low in 1995 created Environment Protection Agency in each of the Romania's counties, responsible for polluation monitoring and permits. Uncontrolled and/or non-existent waste storage is one of Romania's greatest environmental problems. Air pollution exceeds maximum allowable levels more than 50% of the time in 11 of Romania's 41 counties, and nitrate levels exceed safety levels in 14 counties' water supply. Ecological disaster struck Romania in January 2000 when a tailing dam burst at a Romanian-Australian owened gold mine in Baia Mare, prompting 100,000 cubic metres of cyanide-contaminated water to spill into Tisa and Danube rivers and subsequently kill thousands of fish and birds in Romania. In March 2000 another dam burst at a zinc plant in Baia Borsa and an estimated 20,000 tons of pollutive waste gushed into Tisa. Experts say it will take 10 years for the affected habitat to fully recover, although 95% of river life should return by 2004. The ecological ills of the Black Sea and Danube Delta have long been a thorn in Romania's side. Since 1991 the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve has ecologically reconstructed large areas of land in the Delta, removing dikes and reflooding what was originally natural marshland. Romania continues to be involved in various joint projects with the World Bank to protect Black Sea ecosystems. The electrical power industry has relied on thermal and hydro-power stations. The only nuclear power station is at Cernavoda (built jointly with Canada), saving over $ 100 millions per year in fuel imports. However radioactive waste continues to be a problem until Romania discovers a safe means of disposal. |
| Nature reserves have existed in Romania since 1930's, and some 6.6% of the country is now protected. The first National Park was created in 1935 in the Retezat Mountains. Romania has 13 national parks and 586 protected areas, most of which are in the Carpathians. The reserves range from vast uninhabited areas (such as Rodna, Caliman and Piatra Craiului mountains) to relatively modest sites, including caves, rocks and individual trees.The Danube Delta has been protected as a biosphere reserve on Unesco's World Heritage list since 1991, and some 50,000 hectares of the Delta are strictly off-limits to tourists and locals alike. |
| Administrative Division: Romania has 9 regions (see map): Banat, Bucovina, Crisana, Dobrogea, Maramures, Muntenia, Moldavia, Oltenia, Transylvania. These are divided into 41 counties plus the capital of Bucharest, with similar county status.Towns (262), Communes (2,686), Villages (13,149). Romanian Counties: Bucharest (capital, municipal status), Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Braila, Brasov, Botosani, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dambovita, Dolj, Galati, Giurgiu, Gorj, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Ilfov (Bucharest county), Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Valcea, Vrancea. |
| Environmental international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Antartic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Polluation, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Polluants, Antartic-Environment Protocol. |
| Romania Population: 22,225,421(July 2009 est.), more than 54% of whom live in towns and cities, and officially just over 2,500,000 belong to 17 ethnic minorities. Population density is 98 people per square kilometre. |
| Ethnic groups: Romanians 89.5%, Hungarian 6.6%, Roma 2.5%, German 0.3%, Ukrainian 0.3%, Russians 0.2%, Serbs 0.2%, other 0.8% (Armanians, Turks, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Tatars, Croats) |
| Romania's multiethnicity is most obvious in Transylvania where 1,600,000 ethnic Hungarians live, with the highest concentration in the eastern counties of Covasna and Harghita, where their ancestors, the Szekely, settled in the 10th century. The Magyar party has representatives in Parliament. Roma population probably account for 10% of the total population, although government statistics say there are only 420,000 of them. The German population in Romania peaked in the 1930s when there were 800,000 Saxons. Most of the ethnic German population has left Romania, leaving under 120,000 people behind, most of them in Transylvania and Banat. There are around 65,000 Ukrainians and 45,000 Russians (who live in the east), 45,000 Serbs and around 18,000 Slovaks in the Banat and Crisana regions. Of the 760,000 Jews recorded in Romania between 1918-1944, there are around 9000 left. Ceausescu allowed Jews to emigrate to Israel in return for large cash payments, and over 300,000 had left by 1989. There are around 7,000 Armanians. There are over 8,000,000 Romanians living abroad. |
| Age structure (2009 est.): 0-14 years 15.5% (male 1,681,539; female 1,772,583); 15-64 years 69.7% (male 7,711,062; female 7,784,041); 65 years and over 14.7% (male 1,332,120; female 1,934,016) |
| Population growth rate: -0.147% (2009 est.) Starting 1990, Romania's population has been decreasing year by year, due to a negative stock of migration abroad and a strong decrease of birth rate growth of the population. |
| Birth rate: 10.53 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Death rate: 11.69 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: total population 72.45 years (2009 est.); female 76.16 years; male 68.95 years (2009 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: 1.39 children born/woman (2009 est.) |
| Nationality: Romanian(s) |
| Religion plays an integral part in the lives of Romanians. 1992 census figures claims that over 86.8 % of the population belonged to the Orthodox church. Roman Catholics and Protestant minotities, such as the Hungarian Reformed Church, are well represented in Transylvania. In Maramures region many Romanians follow the Uniate creed. The Schwab and Landler Germans are Roman Catholics, while the Saxons embraced Lutheranism, although a few are Seven-Day Adventists. About 75,000 Hungarians are Unitarian and since 1989 the Baptists and newer evangelican churches have making great gains. About 1% of the population are Greek Catholic and 0.1 % jewish. |
| Historical documents states that the Scythians and Dacians converted to Christianity in 196 AD. We know that a group of Geto-Dacian visited Jerusalem before 270 AD, and the first missionary to Dacia was Wulfila, who came from south of the Danube to preach in Gothic and Latin. The first known church in Romania, dating from Constantine's reign, was built at Piatra Frecatei in Tulcea county. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of 4th century churches in Niculitel (Tulcea), Densus and Biertan (Transylvania). Romania's first Metropolitan churches were founded before 1359 at Campulung, Turnu Severin and Curtea de Arges. In 1359, Jakinth of Vicina in Dobrogea became the first Metropolitan of Wallachia. His official seat was in the capital of Curtea de Arges. |
| National Flag: Three equal vertical stripes: red, yellow, blue (hoist side), the national coat of arms that used to be center in the yellow band has been removed. |
| National day: 1st December, aniversary of the 1918 union of all Romanians into one single state. |
| Anthem: "Wake up, Romanian", lines by Andrei Muresanu (participant in the 1848 Revolution), music Anton Pann. |
| Romania's Coat of Arms adapted in 1992 |
| Romania's Flag adapted in 1848 |
| Official Languages: Romanian. The Eastern most representative of the family Romance languages, Romanian descends directly from Latin spoken in Dacia and Moesia in ancient times. |
| Standard Time: East European zone time (GMT + 2 hours). As of 1979, from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in September, Daylight Saving Time (GMT + 3 hours). Romania lies in the same time zone with Moldova, Greece, Israel, Egypt and the Republic of South Africa. |
| Weights and Measures: The metric system, in force since 1866. |
| International Membership: Romania has diplomatic and consular relations with 164 states and is a member of UNO, IAEA, IBIRD, FAO, IFAD, GATT, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ILO, IMO, WMO, WIPO, WHO, UNIDO, ITU, UNESCO, UPU, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, WCL, WCO, WEU. In 1993 Romania becomes EEC and EFTA associate member, and the 32nd Council of Europe member. NATO member since 2004, Romania becomes EU member in January 1, 2007. |
| Main Cities: Eight cities exceed 300,000 inhabitants: Bucharest 2,060,551 , Constanta 348,575 , Iasi 339,728 , Timisoara 327,830 , Galati 326,728 , Cluj-Napoca 326,017 , Brasov 324,210 , Craiova 306,825. Twenty-five cities have a population of over 100,000. |
| Ports: On the Black Sea: Constanta (can take ships of over 150,000dwt), Mangalia, Sulina (free port). On the Danube river : Turnu Severin, Turnu Magurele, Giurgiu, Oltenita, Cernavoda, Braila, Galati, Tulcea. |
| The Danube-Black Sea Canal (64.2 km long), between Cernavada and Agigea-Constanta was opened to traffic in 1984. Following the inauguration in 1992 of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, it facilitates a direct connection with the North Sea. It is navigable for river and sea-going ships of up to 5,000 dwt. |
| Independence: 9 May 1877 Independence proclaimed from Turkey, recognized 13 July 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin; Romania Kingdom proclaimed 26 March 1881; Republic of Romania proclaimed 30 December 1947 |
| Constitution: 8 December 1991 |
| Net migration rate: -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: total 22.9 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 19.66 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 25.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.) |
| Merchant marine: total: 61 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 494,670 GRT/650,863 DWT, includes 1 Greece foreign-owened ship and 5 Italy foreign-owned ships registered in Romania as a flag of convenience (2002 est.) ships by type: cargo 39, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, bulk 9, container 1, petroleum tanker 4, railcar carrier 2, roll on/roll off 4 |
| Government type: republic |
| Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal |
| Romania Average Temperature |
| January -3C (26F) -1C (31F) -5C (22F) |
| Bucharest The Coast The Mountains |
| February -1C (31F) 1C (34F) -10C (14F) |
| March 4C (40F) 3C (39F) -3C (26F) |
| April 11C (52F) 13C (55F) 5C (41F) |
| June 21C (69F) 24C (75F) 9C (49F) |
| July 23C (71F) 26C (79F) 13C (55F) |
| August 22C (70F) 26C (79F) 11C (52F) |
| September 18C (65F) 22C (70F) 8C (47F) |
| October 13C (55F) 17C (62F) 5C (41F) |
| November 5C (41F) 11C (52F) 0C (32F) |
| December 1C (34F) 6C (43F) -3C (26F) |
| May 17C (62F) 19C (66F) 6C (43F) |
| Average year temperature for Bucharest, the coast and the Mountains |
| . |
| Location, Area, Maps, Land, Climate, Environment, Population |
| Branches: Executive - President Traian Basescu (head of state) since 20 December 2004, Prime minister Emil Boc (head of government) since 28 December 2008, Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister. Last election held on 22 November 2009, with runoff between the top two candidates held on 6 December 2009; percent of vote Traian Basescu 50.33%, Mircea Geoana 49.66%. Romania hasn't scheduled its next presidential election yet. Legislative - bicameral Parliament. Judicial - Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and lower courts. |
| The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two 4-year terms. He is the chief of state, the supreme commander of the armed forces and the chairman of the Supreme Defense Council. The president nominates the prime minister, who appoints the government. The bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (332 seats) and the Senate (137 seats), is the lawmaking authority. Deputies and senators are elected for 4-year terms by universal suffrage. Elections: Senate and Chamber of Deputies - last held on November 2008, next to be held on November 2012. The Constitutional Court adjudecates the constitutionality of challenged lows. The court consists of nine judges, appointed for a term of 9 years. The Supreme Court judges are appointed for a term of 6 years and may serve consecutive terms. |
| Railways: total: 10,789 km, standard gauge: 10,731, broad gauge: 57 km, narrow gauge: 1 km |
| Highways: total: 198,817 km, paved : 98,308 km, unpaved: 100,295 km |
| Pipelines: gas 3,508 km, oil 2,427 km (2004 est.) |
| Airports: total: 62, Airports with paved runways: 25, Airports with unpaved runways: 36, Helicopters: 2 |
| Military Brances: Romanian Air Force, Naval Forces, Land Forces and Special Operations (2006) All military inductees are volunteers who contract for 5-years term of service; subsequent voluntary service contracts are for 3-years terms until the age of 36. |
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