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RomaniaRomânia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none (Royal Motto, 1878-1947: Nihil Sine Deo)
Anthem: Deşteaptă-te, române!
Capital	Bucharest (Bucureşti)
Largest city	Bucharest
Official languages	Romanian
Government	Republic
• President	Traian Băsescu
• Prime Minister	Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
Independence
• Declared	9 May, 1877 (O.S.)
• Recognised	13 July, 1878
• Water (%)	3%
Population
• July 2006 estimate	22,303,552 (50th)
• 2002 census	21,680,974
GDP (PPP)	2006 estimate
• Total	$204.4 billion (44th)
• Per capita	$9,446 (67th)
HDI (2005)	0.792 high (64th)
Currency	Leu (RON)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code	40
ISO 3166 code	RO
Internet TLD	.ro

Romania: (Romanian: România /ro.mɨˈni.a/) is a country in Southeastern Europe. Romania borders Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south. Romania has a stretch of sea coast along the Black Sea, and the eastern and southern Carpathian mountains run through its center.

Historic Bucharest (Romanian: Bucureşti /bu.kuˈreʃtʲ/), a major tourist attraction, is the country's capital and largest city. Romania has been an active member of NATO since 2004, and is also an acceding country to the European Union. The EU Accession Treaty was signed in early 2005, and Romania is due to join the European Union on January 1, 2007. Starting on January 1, 2007, Romania will have the seventh largest population and the ninth largest territory in the EU. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria, as expected in 2007, will complete the fifth enlargement of the EU that had started in May 2004.

Name

Main article: Etymology of Romania

The name of Romania (România) comes from Român ("Romanian"), which is a derivative of the word Romanus ("Roman") from Latin.
The fact that Romanians called themselves with a derivative of Romanus (Romanian: Român/Rumân) is mentioned in scholarly works as late as the 16th century by many authors, among them Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia.
The oldest surviving document written in the Romanian language is a 1521 letter (known as "Neacşu's Letter from Câmpulung") which notifies the mayor of Braşov about the imminent attack of the Ottoman Turks. This document is also notable for having the first occurrence of "Rumanian" in a Romanian written text, Wallachia being here named "the Rumanian land" - Ţeara Rumânească (Ţeara < Latin Terra = "land"). In the following centuries, Romanian documents used two spelling forms interchangeably: Român and Rumân. Socio-linguistic evolutions in the late 17th century led to a process of semantic differentiation: the form "rumân", presumably common among the lower classes, got the meaning of "bondsman", while the form "român" kept an ethno-linguistic meaning. After the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the form "rumân" gradually disappeared and the spelling definitively stabilised to the form "român", "românesc". The name "România" as a common homeland of all Romanians is documented in the early 19th century.
Many Romanians take pride in being the easternmost Romance people, completely surrounded by non-Latin peoples ("a Latin island in a Slavic sea").

History

Main article: History of Romania

Part of a series on the
History of Romania
Prehistory Cucuteni–Trypillia culture Hamangia culture Bronze Age in Romania Prehistory of Transylvania
Antiquity Dacia Dacian Wars Roman Dacia Origin of the Romanians
Middle Ages (Early) History of Transylvania Banat in the Middle Ages First Bulgarian Empire Second Bulgarian Empire Voivodeship of Maramureș Founding of Wallachia Founding of Moldavia Rumelia Eyalet
Early Modern Times Silistra Eyalet Principality of Transylvania Eyalet of Temesvar Varat Eyalet Phanariotes Danubian Principalities
National Awakening Transylvanian School Organic Statute 1848 Moldavian Revolution 1848 Wallachian Revolution Danube Vilayet United Principalities ASTRA War of Independence
Kingdom of Romania World War I Union with Bessarabia Union with Bukovina Union with Transylvania Greater Romania Fascist Kingdom Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina World War II
Socialist Republic of Romania Soviet occupation Revolution
Post-Revolution Romania since 1989
By topic Economic history Romanian language Historical timeline Military history Christianity Islam Judaism
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Dacia

In 513 BC, south of the Danube, the tribal confederation of the Getae were defeated by the Persian emperor Darius the Great during his campaign against the Scythians (Herodotus IV.93). Over half a millennium later, the Getae (also named Daci by Romans) were defeated by the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan in two campaigns stretching from 101 to 106, and the core of their kingdom was turned into the Roman province of Dacia. The Gothic and Carpic campaigns in the Balkans during 238–269 (from the beginning of the military anarchy period to the battle of Naissus) forced the Roman Empire to reorganize a new Roman province of Dacia south of the Danube, inside former Moesia Superior.

Romania in the Middle Ages

In 271 or 275 the Roman army and administration left Dacia, which was invaded by the Goths, who lived with the local people until the fourth century, when another nomadic people arrived, the Huns. The Gepids and the Avars ruled Transylvania until the 8th century, after which the Bulgars included the territory of modern Romania to their Empire until 1018. Transylvania was under control of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 10-11th century until the 16th century when the independent Principality of Transylvania was formed. But from the destructions and the financial burdens, the local people were not influenced by the migrators in their culture and way of life. The Pechenegs, the Cumans and Uzes were also mentioned by historic chronicles on the territory of Romania, until the founding of the Romanian principalities of Wallachia by Basarab I, and Moldavia by Dragoş during the 13th and 14th centuries respectively. In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in two distinct independent Romanian principalities: Wallachia (Romanian: Ţara Românească - "Romanian Land"), Moldavia (Romanian: Moldova) as well as in the Hungarian-ruled principality of Transylvania.

In 1475, Stephen the Great of Moldavia scored a decisive victory over the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui. Wallachia and Moldavia would later come gradually under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire during the 15th and 16th centuries (1476 for Wallachia, 1514 for Moldavia), as vassal tributary states with complete internal autonomy and an external independence which was finally lost in the 18th century. In 1812 the Russian Empire annexed the eastern half side Bessarabia of Moldavia (though partially regained it with the Treaty of Paris in 1856), the Habsburg Monarchy annexed in 1775 its northern part Bukovina and the Ottoman Empire its south-eastern part Budjak .

One of the greatest Hungarian kings, Matthias Corvinus (known in Romanian as Matei Corvin - with romanian origin, ruled 1458–1490)— was born in Transylvania, and is claimed by the Romanians because of his Romanian father, Iancu de Hunedoara (Hunyadi János in Hungarian), and by the Hungarians because of his Hungarian mother, (ruled 1458–1490) — was born in Transylvania. Later, in 1541, Transylvania became a multi-ethnic principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Mohács.

Early Modern Romania

Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul) (1558-9 August 1601) was the Prince of Wallachia (1593-1601), of Transylvania (1599-1600), and of Moldavia (1600). During his reign the three principalities largely inhabited by Romanians were for the first time united under a single rule. He is regarded as one of Romania's greatest national heroes.

At the end of the 18th century, the Habsburg Monarchy incorporated Transylvania into what successively became the Austrian Empire. During the time of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918), Romanians in Transylvania experienced one of the worst oppression in the form of the Magyarization policies of the Hungarian government.

Kingdom of Romania

The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 under the Moldavian domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza. He was replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1866. During the Russo-Turkish War, Romania fought on the Russian side; in the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 Romania was recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers. In return for ceding to Russia the three southern districts of Bessarabia which had been regained by Moldavia after the Crimean War in 1852, the Kingdom of Romania acquired Dobruja. In 1881 the principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol I became King Carol I.

Romania entered World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. The Romanian military campaign ended in disaster for Romania as the Central Powers conquered most of the country and captured or killed the majority of its army within four months. By war's end Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had collapsed, allowing Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania to unite with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918. Restored Hungary renounced in favour of Romania to any claims over the rights and titles of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.

Romania during World War II

In 1940 during World War II, Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, Northern Transylvania, and southern Dobrudja were occupied by the Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria respectively (see Romania during World War II). The authoritarian King Carol II abdicated in 1940 and the subsequent year Romania entered the war joining Nazi Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. After the invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania recovered Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from the Soviet Russia, under the leadership of general Ion Antonescu. It was awarded the territory Transnistria by Germany. During the Second World War, the Antonescu regime, allied with Nazi Germany, played a role in the Holocaust, following its policy of oppression and massacre of the Jews, and, to a lesser extent, Romas. According to a quite controversial report released in 2004 by a commission appointed by former Romanian president Ion Iliescu and chaired by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, the Romanian authorities were the main perpetrators in the planning and implementation of the killing of between 280,000 to 380,000 Jews, primarily in the Eastern territories Romania recovered or occupied from the Soviet Union and in Moldavia, though some estimates are even higher.

In August 1944 the Antonescu regime was toppled, and Romania joined the Red Army against Nazi Germany, but its role in the defeat of Germany was not recognized by the Paris Peace Conference of 1947.

Communist Romania

With the Red Army forces still stationed in the country and exerting defacto control, communists and their allied parties claimed 80% of the vote in the 1946 Romanian elections, through a combination of vote manipulation, elimination and forced mergers of competing parties, establishing themselves as the dominant force; Western democracies left Romania in the hands of the Soviet Union. In 1947, King Michael I was forced by the communists to abdicate and leave the country.

Romania was proclaimed a communist state, under direct military and economic control of the USSR until 1958. During this period, Romania's scarce resources left after WWII were drained by the "SovRom" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established in the aftermath of World War II to mask the looting of Romania by the Soviet Union, in addition to excessive war reparations paid to the USSR. During this period, up to two million people were arbitrarily imprisoned for political, economical or unknown reasons. There were hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a large range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens, bringing gloom over Romania. At least 200,000 people lost their lives as a result of communist influences in Romania between 1948 and 1964.

A short-lived period of relative economic well-being and openness followed in the late 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, still regarded by some as a "golden era". This period gradually ended, first politically, and then economically. Some party leaders (such as Ion Iliescu, Corneliu Manescu, or Gheorghe Apostol) who questioned the achievements of the regime during the latter portion of this era, were sent to lower positions. From an economic point of view, Romania's foreign debt sharply increased between 1977 and 1981 (from 3 to 10 billion US dollars). Thus, the influence of international financial organisms such as the IMF or the World Bank grew, conflicting with Nicolae Ceauşescu's autarchic policies. Ceauşescu eventually initiated a project of total reimbursement of the foreign debt (completed in 1989, shortly before his overthrow). To achieve this goal, he imposed policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy. He profoundly deepened Romania's police state (see Securitate) and imposed a cult of personality.

One positive achievement during that period was the spread of near-universal literacy and the development of a very efficient education system. However, this educational transformation was not coupled with appropriate industrial development and urbanization policies, so that almost half of Romania's population is still rural (47.3%; see Demography of Romania). Another achievement is the negotiated retreat of Soviet troops from Romania, in 1958. This allowed the country to pursue independent policies, including the condemnation by the Communist Party of Romania of the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania was the only country of the Warsaw pact not to take part in the invasion), the continuation of Romanian-Israeli diplomatic relations after the Six-Day War of 1967 (Romania was the only country in the Warsaw pact to do so), the establishment of economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, and so forth. Close ties between Romania and both Israel and the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed Romania to play an essential role in the Israel-Egypt and Israel-PLO peace processes.

The Communist dictatorship ended 22 December 1989 (see Romanian Revolution of 1989).

During the 1989 revolution, power was taken by a group called the National Salvation Front (FSN), which grouped former members of the communist party and of the Securitate as well as dissidents, other personalities and (then-unknown) persons that participated in the uprising and overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu.

Romania since 1989

Following the end of the Cold War in 1989, Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, the country quickly applied for membership in the EU in June 1993, becoming in 1995 Associated State of EU, joined NATO in 2004 and became an Acceding Country to the European Union, being at an advanced stage to join on January 1, 2007. The Treaty of Accession of Romania has been signed by EU member states' representatives in Luxembourg, Abbaye de Neumünster, on April 25 2005. Ratification of the Romanian and Bulgarian Accession Treaty is ongoing in the parliaments of all member states.

After the fall of Ceauşescu, the FSN restored civil order and took seemingly democratic measures. Thus, political parties of the pre-war era, such as the National Christian Democrat Peasant's Party (PNTCD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Romanian Social Democrat Party (PSDR) were resurrected. These parties rallied an important amount of public support in a very short time, despite the fact that FSN controlled a large part of the media.

In April 1990 a sit-in demonstration against the FSN began in the University Square, Bucharest, which rapidly grew to a continuing mass demonstration that contested the results of the recently hold parliamentary elections from May 1990. The opposition and demonstrators accused the FSN of having organised undemocratic elections . These demonstrations degenerated in riots in 11-12 June. After the police failed to bring the demonstrators to order, the newly elected power asked the coal miners of Jiu Valley to come to Bucharest and stop the street war in the city. Their intervention, marked by acts of violence, ended the riots. (see June 1990 Mineriad).

The subsequent disintegration of the FSN, which did not have a clear political platform (given the fact that the only thing that united them was their greed for power and fear of being prosecuted), produced several political parties including the Democratic Party (PD), which for a time retained the FSN name), the Social Democratic Party (PSD, formerly known as the Romanian Democrat Social Party (PDSR) or the Democratic National Salvation Front-FDSN), and the Alliance for Romania (APR). Throughout several elections, coalitions, and governments, parties that emerged from the FSN governed or participated in the government of Romania from 1990 until today.

In 1996, the CDR entered power on a "Contract with Romania" platform which would have required the CDR to resign en masse after 200 days from a mixed coalition government. Some members had signed on to the contract programme, while others had not; once in power, the "Contract" was repudiated. The major CDR parties were electorally eviscerated in 2000, and the Social Democrats returned to power, with Ion Iliescu once again president of Romania and Adrian Năstase, the president of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), as prime minister.

On December 12, 2004, Traian Băsescu was elected president of Romania, with campaign promises to stop corruption by bringing the corrupt to justice and by unmasking all former Securitate members. He was supported during elections by a coalition, called Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), formed of his Democratic Party and of the National-Liberal Party. The government was formed by a larger coalition which also included the Romanian Humanist Party (now called Conservative Party) and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR.

Government and politics

Template:Morepolitics

Romania is a semi-presidential democratic republic where executive functions are shared between the president and the prime minister. The president is elected by popular vote, and resides at Cotroceni Palace. Since the constitutional amendment of 2003, the president's term is five years (previously it was four). The Romanian Government, which is based at Victoria Palace, is headed by a prime minister, who appoints the other members of his or her cabinet and who is nearly always the head of the party or coalition that holds a majority in the parliament. If, however, none of the parties hold 50% + 1 of the total seats in parliament, the president will appoint the prime minister. Before beginning its term, the government is subject to a parliamentary vote of approval.

The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the Parliament (Parlamentul României), consists of two chambers – the Senate (Senat), which has 137 members, and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), which has 332 members. The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of party-list proportional representation.

The justice system is independent of the other branches of government, and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which is the supreme court of Romania. There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the French model, considering that it is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature.

The Constitutional Court (Curtea Constituţională) is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations to the Romanian Constitution, which is the fundamental law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended by a public referendum; the last amendment was in 2003. The Romanian Constitutional Court structure is based on the Constitutional Council of France, being made up of nine judges who serve nine-year, non-renewable terms. Following the 2003 constitutional amendment, the court's decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.

Administrative divisions

Romania is divided into 41 counties (judeţe), as well as the municipality of Bucharest, which is its own administrative unit. Each county is administered by a county council (consiliu judeţean), responsible for local affairs, as well as a prefect, which is appointed by the central government but cannot be a member of any political party. In alphabetical order, the counties are:

Alongside the county structure, Romania is also divided into eight development regions, which correspond to NUTS-II divisions in the European Union, but which have no administrative capacity and are instead used for co-ordinating regional development projects and statistical purposes.

The country is further subdivided into 2686 communes, which are rural localities, and 265 towns. Communes and towns have their own local councils and are headed by a mayor (primar). Larger and more urbanised towns gain the status of municipality, which gives them greater administrative power over local affairs. Based on the 2002 census, the ten largest cities (all of which also have municipality status) are:

Source: National Institute of Statistics, 2002 Census

See also: List of Romanian Cities

Geography

With a surface area of 238,391 km², Romania is the largest country in Southeastern Europe and the twelfth-largest in Europe. A large part of Romania's border with Serbia and Bulgaria is formed by the Danube. The Danube is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border with the Republic of Moldova. The Danube flows into the Black Sea on Romanian territory, forming the Danube Delta, the largest delta in Europe, which is currently a biosphere reserve and World Heritage-listed site due to its biodiversity. The country's most significant rivers are the Danube, which marks part of the border between Romania and Bulgaria, the Siret, running vertically through Moldavia, the Olt, running from the oriental Carpathian Mountains to Oltenia, the Tisa, marking a part of the border between Romania and Hungary, and the Someş.

Romania's terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountainous, hilly and lowland territories. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the centre of Romania, with fourteen of its peaks reaching above the altitude of 2,000 metres. The highest mountain in Romania is Moldoveanu Peak (2544 m). In south-central Romania, the Carpathians sweeten into hills, towards the Bărăgan Plains. Romania's geographical diversity has led to an accompanying diversity of flora and fauna. The country has the largest brown bear population in Europe, while chamois are also known to live in the Carpathian Mountains, which dominate the centre of Romania

The three highest mountains in Romania are:

See also:

• Rivers of Romania
• Lakes of Romania
• Mountains of Romania

Economy

With a GDP per capita (PPP) of $9,446 in 2006 Romania is an upper-middle-income economy that is among the most developed in Southeastern Europe and will become part of the European Union in 2007. After the Communist regime was overthrown in late 1989, the country experienced a decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base and a lack of structural reform. From 2000 onwards, however, the Romanian economy was transformed into one of relative macroeconomic stability, characterised by high growth and low unemployment. In 2004, GDP growth was 8.4%, one of the highest in Europe, even though this rate was halved in 2005, to 4.1%, mainly due to floods in significant agricultural areas. In 2006, growth is expected to exceed 7%. Unemployment in Romania was at 5.1% in July 2006 which is very low compared to other middle-sized or large European countries such as Poland, France, Germany and Spain. Foreign debt is also comparatively low, at 20.3% of GDP. However, high growth and global inflationary pressures have led to Romania having a relatively high inflation rate, recorded at 8.1% in 2005 and expected to fall below 5% by the end of 2007.

Another challenge for the Romanian economy is a persistently-high current account deficit, valued at 8.7% of GDP in 2005. Despite this, exports have increased substantially in the past few years, with a 24.8% year-on-year rise in exports in the first quarter of 2006. Romania's main exports are clothing and textiles, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metallurgic products, raw materials, cars, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centred on the member states of the European Union, with Germany and Italy being the country's single largest trading partners.

After a series of privatisations and reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, government intervention in the Romanian economy is somewhat lower than in other European economies. In 2005, the liberal-democrat Tăriceanu government replaced Romania's progressive tax system with a flat tax of 16% for both personal income and corporate profit, resulting in the country having one of the lowest fiscal burdens in Europe, a factor which has contributed to the growth of the private sector. The economy is predominantly based on services, which account for 54.9% of GDP, even though industry and agriculture also have significant contributions, making up 35.0% and 10.1% of GDP, respectively. Additionally, 31.6% of the Romanian population is employed in agriculture and primary production, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Since 2000, Romania has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment, becoming the single largest investment destination in Southeastern Europe. Foreign direct investment was valued at €5.2 billion in 2005, an increase of 26.8% over 2004. According to a 2006 World Bank report, Romania is currently ranked 49th out of 175 economies in the ease of doing business, scoring higher than other countries in the region such as Hungary, Poland and Czechia. Additionally, the same study judged it to be the world's second-fastest economic reformer in 2006. The average gross wage per month in Romania is 1122 lei as of July 2006, equating to €318.33 based on international exchange rates and €930 based on purchasing power parity.

National holidays

The Christian holidays of Christmas and (Orthodox) Easter are celebrated (they are official, non-working, holidays). Unlike some other Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on 25 December; however, they follow the usual Eastern Orthodox practice for the date of Easter. Other official holidays (non-working) are New Year's Day (January 1), Labour Day (May 1), and the National Day of Romania (December 1, the Union Day). For Christmas and for Labour Day, it is common for businesses to shut down more than a single day.

Minor, but widely observed, holidays include Mărţişor (March 1), marking the start of spring, and International Women's Day (March 8). Many businesses give women employees the day off for International Women's Day. Some holidays celebrated in the United States or in other parts of Europe have recently been gaining some currency in Romania, for example Valentine's Day (February 14).

Tourism

Main article: Tourism in Romania

Romanian tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its history, from medieval and Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania to hot Black Sea shores and the heights of the Carpathian Mountains.

Annually, more than 7 million tourists from all over the world, most of them from Western Europe and United States, spend their holiday in Romania. Many of the major touristic sites are part of World Heritage Sites.

Sports in Romania

Romania is internationally successful in a number of sports. See List of Romanians (sport section).

The gymnast Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect "ten" in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze - all at the age of fifteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Moscow Olympics when she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals.

Ilie Năstase, the tennis player, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments; he also was a successful doubles player. Romania has also reached the Davis Cup finals three times.

Football (soccer) is popular in Romania with international football players such as Adrian Mutu who played for Chelsea FC and is currently captain of the national team, as well as Gheorghe Hagi who played for Steaua Bucuresti (Romania), Real Madrid, FC Barcelona (Spain) and Galatasaray (Turkey) among others. The Romanian soccer club Steaua Bucureşti was the first Eastern European club to ever win the prestigious European Champions Cup title (1986).

Rugby union is also traditional. (See Romania national rugby union team).

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, Romania has a population of 21,680,974 and, similarly to other countries in the region, is expected to gently decline in the coming years as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates. Romanians, which are a Latin people, make up 89.5% of the population. The largest ethnic minorities are Hungarians, who make up 6.6% of the population and are mainly found in Transylvania, as well as Roma, who make up 2.5% of the population. Hungarians, who are a sizeable minority in Transylvania, constitute a majority in the counties of Harghita and Covasna. Ukrainians, Germans, Russians, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks and Poles, as well as other ethnic groups, account for the remaning 1.4% of the population.

The official language of Romania is Romanian, an Eastern Romance language related to French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91% of the population, with Hungarian and Romani being the most important minority languages, spoken by 6.7% and 1.1% of the population, respectively. Until the 1990s, there was also a substantial number of German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons, even though many have since emigrated to Germany, leaving only 45,000 native German speakers in Romania. In localities where a given ethnic minority makes up more than 20% of the population, that minority's language can be used in the public administration and justice system, while native-language education and signage is also provided.

The Romanian education system places a strong emphasis on foreign language, with French and English being the most spoken languages. English is spoken by 5 million Romanians, French is spoken by 4-5 million, and German, Italian and Spanish are each spoken by 1-2 million people. Historically, French was the predominant foreign language spoken in Romania, even though English has since superceded it. Consequently, Romanian English-speakers tend to be younger than Romanian French-speakers. Romania is, however, a full member of La Francophonie, and will host the Francophonie Summit in 2006.

Romania is a secular state, thus having no national religion. The dominant relgious body is the Romanian Orthodox Church, its members making up 86.7% of the population according to the 2002 census. Other important religions include Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism (3.7%), Pentecostal denominations (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church (0.9%). Romania also has a small but historically significant Muslim minority, concentrated in Dobrogea, who are mostly of Turkish ethnicity and number 67,500 people (see Islam in Romania). Based on the 2002 census data, there are also approximately 6,000 Jews and 2,300 people who are of no religion and/or atheist.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Romania

Romanian culture is diverse.

Romanians are very proud of their inventions and discoveries. These include the Coanda Effect (Henri Coanda is the parent of the modern jet aircraft) and insulin (discovered by Nicolae Paulescu).

Romanian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of Romania (mostly through translations into German, French and English). Some modern Romanian authors became increasingly popular in Germany, France and Italy especially Eugen Ionescu, Mircea Eliade and Mircea Cartarescu.

The older classics of Romanian literature and Romanian poetry remained very known outside Romania. Traditionally Romanians appreciate poetry more than Romanian prose. Mihai Eminescu, a famous 19th century Romanian poet is still very much loved in Romania (especially his collection of Poems), among several other "true classics" like George Coşbuc. The revolutionary year 1848 had its echoes in the Romanian principalities and in Transylvania, and a new elite from the middle of the 19th century emerged from the revolutions: Mihail Kogălniceanu (writer, politician and the first prime minister of Romania), Vasile Alecsandri (politician, playwright and poet), Andrei Mureşanu (publicist and the writer of the current Romanian National Anthem) and Nicolae Bălcescu (historian, writer and revolutionary).

The works of George Enescu are well-known to Romanians, many of whom consider him their national musician. The symphony orchestra of Bucharest is named in Enescu's honor.

• Culture of Moldova
• Romanian culture
• Sibiu
• Cinema of Romania
• Literature of Romania
• Music of Romania
• National Theatre (Bucharest)
• List of Romanian language television channels
• Romanian cuisine

The 11th Summit Meeting of the Francophone World

The 11th Francophone Summit / XIe Sommet de la Francophonie will be held in Bucharest on September 28 and 29, 2006.

See also:

• Art of Romania
• Christmas customs in Romania
• List of Romanians
• Literature of Romania
• Music of Romania
• Romanian-American
• Romanian-Canadian
• Romanian-Australian
• Romanian-French
• Romanian poets
• Tourism in Romania

Media and Television

Main article: Romanian media

See also:

• List of Romanian newspapers
• List of Romanian language television channels

There are many TV stations in Romania like: TVR 1, TVR 2, TVR Cultural, TVR International, PRO TV, PRO Cinema, Acasa , Antena 1, Antena 3, Antena 4, Prima TV, Realitatea TV, The Money Channel, National TV, N24, B1 TV, TV Sport, Telesport, OTV, DDTV.

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Romania will host, on 2 December 2006, the international Junior Eurovision Song Contest. The Romanian broadcaster has been chosen by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for being the organizator of the 4th edition of the contest. For the first time, Romania will be the host of such an event and a show produced by TVR will be broadcasted live all over Europe, in the countries member of EBU.

Gallery

Miscellaneous topics

• List of Romania-related topics

International rankings

• A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: Globalization Index 2005, ranked 35 out of 62 countries
• Bertelsmann: Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, ranked 19th out of 119 countries
• IMD International: World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005, ranked 55 out of 60 economies (countries and regions)
• Reporters without borders: Annual worldwide press freedom index (2005), ranked 70 out of 167 countries
• The Wall Street Journal: 2006 Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 92 out of 157 countries
• The Economist: The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005, ranked 58 out of 111 countries
• Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2005, ranked 85 out of 158 countries (tied with Mongolia and Dominican Republic)
• World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking, ranked 67 out of 117 countries
• World Bank: Doing Business 2006, ranked 49th out of 175
• World Bank: , ranked 7th out of 175
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Foreign Direct Investment Performance Index 2004, ranked 35th out of 140

See also

References

• Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2006 and the 2005 U.S. Department of State website.
• CICERONE IONIŢOIU et al., Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestaţi, torturaţi, întemniţaţi, ucişi. Dicţionar. Editura Maşina de scris, Bucureşti, 2000

1. "World War II casualties". Retrieved 2006-09-09.
2. ^ Economic Indicators for Romania, 2004-2007, IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2006
3. World Bank Country Classification Groups, 2005
4. Romania's economy expected to grow by over 7 percent in 2006, International Herald Tribune, 8 September 2006
5. Template:Ro icon Main Macroeconomic Indicators, Q2 2006, National Institute of Statistics, Romania
6. ^ Romania, CIA World Factbook 2006
7. Romania, Index of Economic Freedom 2006
8. Inward FDI for 2005 according to the NBR statistics, Romanian Agency for Foreign Investment
9. Economy Rankings, Doing Business 2007 Report, World Bank
10. Top 10 Reformers, Doing Business 2007 Report, World Bank
11. Template:Ro icon Câştigul salarial mediu şi efectivul salariaţilor în luna iulie 2006 ("Average salary in July 2006"), National Institute of Statistics, Romania
12. ^ 2002 Census Results
13. Outsourcing IT în România, Asociaţia Patronală a Industrie de Software şi Servicii (Owners Association of the Software and Service Industry), retrieved 13 November 2005

External links

Official links

• Official site of the Romanian government
• Presidency of Romania
• The Romanian Senate
• The House of Deputies
• The Romanian Senate
• The Romanian Ministry of Defence
• Tourism Ministry
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• CIA World Factbook–Romania

Travel guides

• Romania - journals, stories, travel photography
• Template:Wikitravel
• Lonely Planet Guide - Romania
• Romania Travel
• www.turism.ro
• Travel photos from Romania (in German)
• Bucovina and Moldavia - Cultural Heritage and Religious Tourism Programmes
• Sibiu/Hermanstadt, European Cultural Capital in 2007
• Romania.org - travel portal
• Travel To Romania

Economy links

• Exchange Rates - from the National Bank of Romania
• Information about redenomination

Timelines links

• Chronology of Romania from the World History Database

Other Links

• A Contemporary Western Account of Life in Romania
• News from Romania - News agregator

Template:Romania tie

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See also: Potential enlargement and Former members

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• Romania
• Francophonie