Archaeology - ROMANIA Romania Country Facts

Romania

Population: 22.2 million (UN, 2005) Capital: Bucharest Area: 238,391 sq km (92,043 sq miles) Major language: Romanian Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 67 years (men), 74 years (women) Monetary unit: 1 new leu = 100 bani Main exports: Textiles and footwear, metal products, machinery, minerals GNI per capita: US $3,830 (World Bank, 2006) International dialing code: +40

Geography

Romania is in Southeastern Europe, has 225km of coastline bordering the Black Sea and shares land borders with Bulgaria, the Ukraine, Hungary, Moldova and Serbia & Montenegro. The terrain includes plains and mountains. The climate is temperate with cold white winters and sunny summers. Romania's natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, coal and iron ore.

People

The population of Romania is made up as follows: 89.5% Romanian, 7.1% Hungarian, and 0.5 % German with the remaining population comprised of almost twenty different ethnic minorities. This ethnic diversity can be attributed to the geographical position of Romania astride major continental migration routes. Romanian is the official language, but foreign languages are strongly promoted and English, French, German, Italian and Spanish are widely spoken. The majority of Romanians follow the Romanian Orthodox religion. The literacy rate is 98%.

Brief History

Since the Geto-Dacian people settled in modern-day Romania in the 7th century, the land has been occupied by Romans, Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, and Hungarians. The nation state of Romania was formed in 1862 under Alexandra Cuza. Cuza was succeeded by King Carol I in 1866 who declared independence from the Ottoman Empire and expanded Romanian territory.
Romania entered WWI on the side of the Triple Entente (UK, France, Russia) which sparked immediate invasion by Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The 1930s saw the rise of the fascist 'Iron Guard' mass movement. In WWII Romania switched sides and ended up fighting on the side of the Soviet Union. In 1945 a Soviet-backed government was installed. Romania lived for forty years behind the 'Iron Curtain.' In the early 1960s Romania's communist government began to assert some independence from the Soviet Union. Ceausescu became head of the Communist Party in 1965 and head of state in 1967. Ceausescu's denunciation of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and a brief relaxation in internal repression helped give him a positive image both at home and in the West. Seduced by Ceausescu's "independent" foreign policy, Western leaders were slow to turn against a regime that, by the late 1970s, had become increasingly harsh, arbitrary, and capricious. December 1989 marked the fall of Ceausescu and the end of the communist regime in Romania, a violent change, which resulted in more than 1000 deaths. Former communists dominated politics until the centrist government came to power in 1996. AN EU accession treaty was signed in 2005, which puts Romania on course to join in 2007 provided reforms are implemented in time. The current government's main objective is to speed up EU-orientated reforms.

Politics

Romania is a parliamentary democracy with both a president and a prime minister. The present government is a coalition formed of the Democratic Party (PD), the Liberal Party (PNL), the UDMR (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania) and the Conservative Party. The president is Trajan Basescu of the Democratic Party, and he appointed Calin Popescu Tariceanu of the Liberal Party as prime minister. Basescu gained popularity through his pro-Western and anti-corruption policies. He also promises to fight poverty and ensure EU membership for Romania by 2007.

Economy

Romania has extensive rich and fertile land which has abundant mineral deposits. However, since the 1960's industry has steadily surpassed agriculture as the country's main source of income as well as its leading employer. Romania's main exports are textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals and agricultural products. The unemployment rate is about 6% and 25% of the population live below the poverty line.