Romania

Region: Europe

Official language: Romanian

Population: 18,148,155 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Romanian(s) (noun), Romanian (adjective)

Land area: 229,891 sq km (88,761 sq miles)

Water area: 8,500 sq km (3,282 sq miles)

Capital: Bucharest

National anthem: "Desteapta-te romane!" (Wake up, Romanian!), by Andrei Muresianu/Anton Pann

National holiday: Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania), December 1 (1918)

Population growth: -0.94% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +2

Flag: The Romanian flag is a vertical tricolor featuring stripes of blue (hoist side), yellow (center), and red (right) representing liberty, justice, and fraternity, respectively.

Independence: May 9, 1877 (independence proclaimed from the Ottoman Empire; independence recognized on July 13, 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin); March 26, 1881 (kingdom proclaimed); December 30, 1947 (republic proclaimed)

Government type: republic

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: civil law system

Romania is located in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine on the north, Moldova on the northeast, Hungary on the northwest, Serbia on the southwest, Bulgaria on the south, and the Black Sea on the southeast.

Romania experienced a revolution in December 1989, resulting in the execution of communist leader Nicholae Ceausescu and the adoption of democracy. Former communists continued to control the government until the mid-1990s when they lost power. Romania joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. Romania has a free-market economy and mostly privatized industrial and agricultural sectors.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: Romania is divided into six informal regions: Moldavia in the northeast, Walachia in the south, Transylvania in the center and northwest, Banat in the west, Bukovina in the north, and Dobruja in the southeast.

Central and southwest Walachia and central and northwest Transylvania are the most heavily populated areas in Romania. 54.7 percent of the population lived in urban areas in 2023.

The capital, Bucharest, is Romania's largest city, with an estimated population of 1.776 million (2023 estimate). It is located in Walachia in the southeast.

Romanians, who make up the largest ethnic group at 89.3 percent of the population, are descendants of Dacians who lived in early Romania in the second century. Hungarians constitute 6 percent of the population. The Roma account for 3.4 percent of the population. Other ethnic minority groups include Germans, Ukrainians, Russians, and Turks (2021 estimates). Transylvania and Banat have the highest percentage of minorities and Walachia and Moldavia the smallest. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Romania took in an estimated 130,000 Ukrainian refugees, according to the United Nations.

Over three-quarters of Romanians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church. The remainder of the population is Roman Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, or other.

Romanian, a romance language similar to classical Latin, is Romania's official language. Its origin dates back to the Roman occupation of Dacia in the second century. Modern Romanian incorporates many words from Slavic languages.

Indigenous People: Between 2000 and 700 BCE, a people of Indo-European origin called the Thracians lived in the area that would eventually become Romania. In 700 BCE, they met with Greeks who arrived via the Black Sea, and their land became known as Dacia. The Dacians were conquered by the Roman Empire in 106.

The Romans withdrew in 271, and despite their short occupation, they had a long-lasting effect on the Dacians, who adopted the Roman religion and language.

Until Romania gained independence in 1878, it was invaded and occupied by Huns, Goths, Slavs, Magyars (Hungarians), Saxons (Germanic people), and Ottoman Turks. There are still minority Hungarian and German populations in Romania today.

Education: The Romanian educational system consists of primary school (for children between the ages of seven and ten), lower secondary school (ages eleven to fourteen), and upper secondary school (ages fifteen to eighteen). Public education is free up to the university level. Although underfunded, public schools teach well-rounded curricula.

There are dozens of universities in the country, both public and private, including the University of Bucharest and the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University.

In 2021 the average literacy rate in Romania was 98.9 percent.

Health Care: The Romanian health care system is unable to meet the needs of the population. There were only 2.98 physicians per 1,000 people in 2017, and many of these physicians were underpaid and ill-equipped to deal with increasing numbers of patients. Many doctors require patients to pay bribes or buy supplies such as syringes in exchange for medical services, and many medical students have left Romania to practice medicine in other countries. While there were wage increases in 2018, the situation was still considered serious.

Romanians have an average life expectancy of 76.9 years, and an infant mortality rate of 5.5 deaths per 1,000 live births (2024 estimates). Romania was ranked 53 out of 193 countries and territories on the 2022 United Nations Human Development Index, a comparative index that measures a country's quality of life.

Food: Food, particularly meat, is expensive in Romania, although it is more readily available than it was before the Romanian Revolution of 1989.

Romanians typically eat three meals a day, the largest of which is lunch. Favorite dishes include ciorba, a soup made from fermented wheat bran juice; sarmale, stuffed grape or cabbage leaves; mamaliga, a corn mush eaten as a main dish or a side dish; tocana, a soup made from autumn-harvest vegetables and either chicken or mutton; mititei, grilled beef meatballs; and turnovers and crêpes for dessert. Favorite alcoholic beverages are wine, which is made locally, and plum brandy, the national alcoholic drink.

Arts & Entertainment: Spectator sports, especially soccer, are popular forms of entertainment in Romania. Romanians play soccer, tennis, table tennis, chess, card games, and a native sport called oinya, which is similar to baseball and cricket. They also take advantage of outdoor recreation areas and enjoy hiking, running, skiing, sailing, swimming, and kayaking.

Romanian literature dates to as far back as the late 1600s. Romania is also home to theater and cultural festivals such as the Medieval Arts Festival in Sighisoara, an annual event in which medieval works of art, music, and drama are showcased.

Romanian folk music incorporates traditional Romanian instruments like the bucium (alphorn), nai (panpipe), cimpoi (bagpipes), and cobza (pear-shaped lute) alongside flutes and violins. Folk musicians play at rural festivals, and at weddings, births, and funerals. A major folk music festival called Songs of the Olt takes place in August in the town of Calimanesti.

Folk musicians accompany dancers as they perform traditional fast circle dances like the sârba and the hora. Music and dance, in which the musicians and dancers dress in colorful traditional costumes, are the mainstays of the many rural festivals that are held in Romania throughout the year.

Holidays: A public holiday unique to Romania is Union Day, celebrated on December 1. Union Day commemorates the formation of Romania from the 1918 union of Transylvania, Bucovina, Bessarabia, and Cadrilater. The holiday was celebrated on August 23 prior to the fall of Communism.

Other official holidays include Flag Day (June 26), National Anthem Day (July 29), and Constitution Day (December 8).

Environment and Geography

Topography: The Carpathian Mountains, which cover one-third of Romania, run the length of the country from the north to the southwest. The mountain range is U-shaped and partially surrounds the Transylvania plateau in its center. The Carpathians are divided into the Eastern Carpathians, the Western Carpathians, and the Southern Carpathians (Transylvania Alps). The Southern Carpathians contain Romania's highest peak, Mount Moldoveanu, at 2,544 meters (8,346 feet) above sea level.

Elevated plateaus account for another third of Romania's area, while lowland plains, such as the Walachian plain in the south, make up the remainder.

Throughout the entire Carpathian range are over three thousand mineral and thermal springs, and near the Eastern Carpathians are small volcano-like cones 5 to 6 meters (16 to 20 feet) high that spew sulfur and methane-laced mud. Another unique geological feature, found predominantly in the Southern Carpathians, is a cave system of over twelve thousand caves.

The Danube River is the longest river in Romania, and Europe's second-longest, extending for a total of 2,850 kilometers (1,771 miles) through several countries (1,075 kilometers/668 miles of its length are in Romania). The Danube winds along Romania's southern border, sprouting numerous tributaries, and empties by way of the Danube Delta in eastern Romania into the Black Sea.

Romania has over 2,300 lakes. The largest, Lake Razelm in the Danube Delta, measures 415 square kilometers (160 square miles).

Natural Resources: Oil, coal, and natural gas have been Romania's most abundant natural resources, although by 2020 existing oil reserves were shrinking and the country had been looking to develop others; at the same time, the country had turned more to importing crude oil than in the past. Methane and other natural gases are present in the Transylvanian Plateau and are used in conjunction with industry.

Romania's mineral resources include salt, copper, manganese, iron, molybdenum, bauxite, lead, and zinc. Timber, arable land, and hydropower are also important resources.

Plants & Animals: The plains are predominantly steppe grassland, the majority of which has been cultivated for agricultural use. The plateaus are a combination of grassland and broad-leaved forests. Nearly 28.7 percent of Romania is covered by forest (2018 estimate).

In the Carpathian Mountains, deciduous forests of oak, sycamore, maple, and poplar grow at the higher altitudes. Coniferous forests of pine, spruce, and fir, and juniper, little willow, bilberry brush, and other alpine and sub-alpine shrubs and grasses grow at lower altitudes. Over 1,350 species of flowers grow in the Carpathians, among them Transylvanian columbine, yellow poppy, and saxifrage at higher in the higher elevations, and crocuses, narcissi, anemones, daffodils, and lilacs in the foothills.

Deer, bears, wolves, lynx, foxes, and badgers live in the lower forests of the Carpathian Mountains, while chamois (a type of antelope) live in the rocky outcrops in higher elevations. The Carpathians are also home to many different species of birds including eagles, falcons, green woodpeckers, jays, and grey owls.

The majority of the Danube Delta is wetland and contains expansive reed marshes. These marshes are home to hundreds of birds, both migratory and indigenous. A large percentage of the world's pygmy cormorant population lives in the Danube Delta, as does half the world's red-breasted goose population (in winter). Also present are Dalmatian pelicans, flamingoes, night herons, swans, ducks, bee-eaters, white-tailed eagles, and egrets. Sturgeon, carp, and many other species of fish populate the tributaries of the delta.

On the dry portions of the Danube Delta, woody vines and softwood forests grow, and snakes, mink, muskrat, foxes, and wild cats are found.

Climate: Romania experiences four separate seasons: winter is typically cold and foggy with heavy snowfall, spring is mild and rainy, summer is hot and sunny, and autumn is cool and rainy.

In winter, the temperature may drop as low as –7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature is higher in the south and east than in the Carpathian Mountains.

The Carpathian Mountains receive twice as much rain as the plains because the mountains restrict air masses from the Atlantic, preventing them from reaching the southern and eastern parts of the country. Dobruja in the east is the country's driest region.

Economy

After experiencing a recession in the 1990s after the transition from a communist economy, Romania has stabilized its economy over the years. The country's extensive natural resources, fertile farmland, and skilled workforce have all provided potential for economic growth. However, corruption and bureaucracy continue to hamper the business environment. Romania joined the European Union in 2007.

In 2023, Romania's gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) was US$772.107 billion, with a per capita GDP of $40,500. The unemployment rate was 5.6 percent (2023 estimate). About 21.2 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in 2021.

Industry:Major exports include machinery and equipment, agricultural products and foodstuffs, metals and metal products, chemicals, minerals and fuels, and raw materials. Oil production, mining, and timber processing are all still major industries, though timber processing has declined.

Agriculture: Most of the country's farmland is located in the fertile plains of the Walachia region in the south.

Important crops include wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes for wine production, tomatoes, and cabbage. Livestock products include lamb, chicken, and eggs. Fisheries provide fresh fish. Cereal grain (wheat, rye, and barley) is the number one crop in terms of volume.

Tourism: Romania's tourism industry benefited greatly from the fall of communism, becoming a sizeable component of the country's service industry. More than 11.7 million international tourists visited Romania in 2018, and the total contribution of tourism and travel accounted for 5.9 percent of the GDP in 2019. However, the sector suffered in the early 2020s from travel restrictions and other public health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Romanian government statistics, 11.3 million tourists visited the country in 2022, a sign that the sector had largely recovered from the pandemic.

Tourists enjoy Romania's thermal and mineral springs and visit spa resorts in areas such as Covasna and the Black Sea coast (which has many popular public beaches as well). Architecture in Bucharest attracts much tourist attention; a popular destination is the Palace of Parliament.

Other popular tourist attractions are the Saxon towns Brasov and Sighisoara in the Transylvania region, which contain well-preserved buildings from the medieval period; and Bran Castle, also known as "Dracula's Castle."

Tourists also enjoy bird-watching in the Danube Delta and hiking in the Carpathian Mountains.

Government

Romania is a semipresidential republic with a central government that consists of an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The country's current constitution was written in 1991 and amended in 2003.

The president is the chief of state. The executive branch also includes the prime minister, who is the head of government, and the cabinet, a council of ministers. The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote (there is universal suffrage for citizens eighteen years of age and older) and cannot serve more than two terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament, and the prime minister selects the cabinet.

The legislature is a bicameral parliament made up of the 329 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 136 members of the Senate, who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice is Romania's highest court, on which judges, selected by the president, serve six-year terms and cannot be removed from the bench before the end of their terms.

Interesting Facts

• The character of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1898 novel Dracula is thought to have been inspired by Vlad Tepes, the ruler of Walachia (which would eventually become part of Romania) in the fifteenth century. Vlad was known for impaling tens of thousands of criminals, dissidents, and foreign soldiers on stakes.
• In 2016, scientists reported that a bearded vulture, a bird once popular in Alps regions but had become endangered, was seen for the first time in over eighty years in Romania when it flew into the country from Czechia, where it had been bred in captivity.
• One of the heaviest buildings in the world is Romania's Palace of the Parliament, a massive marble building located in Bucharest that weighs 4.1 million tons. Construction started in 1984 during the rule of communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu; after Ceaușescu was overthrown and executed in 1989 and Romania became a democratic republic, the building was used to house the offices of Romania's parliament, although much of it remained vacant.

Bibliography

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Human Development Insights, United Nations Development Programme, 13 Mar. 2024, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

"International Tourism, Number of Arrivals." The World Bank, data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL. Accessed 22 Sept. 2020.

"Romania." The World Bank, data.worldbank.org/country/romania. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

"Romania." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2 Jan. 2025., www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/romania/. Accessed 10 Jan. 2025.

"Romania." World Health Organization, www.who.int/countries/rou/en/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.