Overview
Romania,
located in SE Central Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, is an emerging
European
democracy.
Romania's neighbours are: the Republic of Moldavia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria,
the former
Yugoslavia
and Hungary, while in the south-east it borders on the Black Sea. The country
lies midway
between
the Atlantic coast and the Urals, between the Equator and the North Pole.
The climate is mild, temperate-continental, with mean temperatures of -3 C in winter and 22-24 C in summer.
Nature has been generous with Romania: its relief is harmoniously distributed, with the mountains, hills and plains each covering about one-third of the country's area. Forests still cover 28% of the area, and the fauna is one of the richest and most varied in Europe. The Danube Delta, a UNESCO protected biosphere reservation, is unique in Europe. The Carpathian Mountains, the Lower Danube (1,075 km), the Black Sea Coast (234 km), have influenced in the course of history the life of both the Romanians' ancestors (the Indo-European Geto-Dacians who had populated this space as early as the 2nd millennium BC and the victorious Romans of the 2nd-3rd centuries AD) and of the Romanian people, born, like other Romanic peoples - the French, the Spanish, the Italians - during the 1st millennium AD.
Orthodox
Christians, the Romanian lived from the Middle Ages to the modern times
in three neighbouring
self-dependent
principalities - Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania - which preserved
their state entity, faith and civilization, despite the expansionist tendencies
of the big neighbouring powers - the Hungarian and Polish kingdoms, the
Ottoman Empire, later Russia and the Habsburg Empire.
The Romanian nation-state was born in 1859, by the union of Wallachia and Moldavia, and in 1918, at the end of World War I, all the territories inhabited by the Romanians united and formed Greater Romania. After World War II, together with the other Central and East European states, Romania came into the Soviet Union's sphere of influence and experienced the harshness and constraints of the communist rgime.
December 1989 opened a new page in Romania's history, paving the way for the restoration of democracy and a market economy.
Geography and Population
With
an area of 238,391 square kilometers (91,780 square miles) and a population
of 22.6 million (95.3
inh./sq.
km), Romania is a medium-size European country. It is slightly smaller
in area than Great Britain
and
its population is smaller than that of Canada, but bigger than the population
of Venezuela. At present,
Romania
is the most densely populated country in SE Europe and the second most
densely populated
country
in Central Europe. More than half of the population (55 %) lives in towns.
There
are 25 towns in the country whose population exceeds 100,000 inhabitants,
and there are 8 cities
whose
population exceeds 300,000. The capital of the country, Bucharest,
dates from the 15th century. It is situated in the south of Romania and
its population counts 2,037,000 inhabitants. Major Romanian
population centres are: Bucharest - capital (2,037,000 inhabitants); Constanta
(346,000); Iasi (346,000); Timisoara (332,000); Galati (327,000); Cluj-Napoca
(332,000); Brasov (319,000); Craiova (310,000); Ploiesti (253,000), Braila
(235,000).
The
population of the country is predominantly Romanian. A breakdown of the
ethnic structure of the
population
is: Romanian (89.4%); Hungarian (7.1%); German (0.5%); Others (3.0%).
The percentage of people belonging to the major religious denominations
is the following: Orthodox (86.8%); Roman-Catholic (5.0%); Reformed (3.5%);
Greek-Catholic (1.0%);
From
an administrative point of view, Romania is divided into 41 counties, while
Bucharest, the capital, is
also
a separate administrative unit with a county status. There are 262 towns
and 2,686 communes in the
country.
The major ports are: Constanta, Mangalia and Sulina on the Black Sea, Tulcea,
Galati, Braila, Giurgiu and Drobeta-Turnu Severin on the Danube.
After the opening of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in 1992, the Danube-Black
Sea Canal provides direct connection between the Black Sea and the North
Sea. Bucharest-Otopeni and Bucharest-Baneasa are the main airports of the
capital; other 16 towns are connected to the capital by regular flights.
Standard time is East European Time (GMT + 2 hours), and between March
and September - Daylight Saving Time (GMT + 2 hours during Official Summer
Time).
The metric system has been in force since 1866. The official language is Romanian, the easternmost representative of the family of Romance languages. It derives from the Latin spoken in the Roman provinces of Dacia and Moesia in ancient times.
Government
The Constitution, voted by Parliament on November 21, 1991 and validated by a referendum on December 8, 1991, proclaims Romania a parliamentary democracy. The two houses of the Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate) are elected by universal vote for a four-year term. The President, also elected by universal vote for a four-year term (with the right to be re-elected only once), is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Chairman of the Supreme Defense Council. He nominates a candidate for the office of Prime-Minister, while the Cabinet members have to be endorsed by the Parliament's confidence vote.
Public administration in the territorial administrative units is grounded on the principles of local autonomy and decentralization of public services. Local councils (at the level of counties, towns and villages) and mayors are elected by direct vote. The Government appoints a prefect at the head of each county. The judicial authority comprises the law courts, the Public Ministry and the Higher Council of Magistracy.
Economy
Romania
is rich in natural resources: oil (in 1938 it was the second biggest producer
in Europe and the
seventh
in the world), methane gas (the fifth biggest world producer in 1975),
coal, nonferrous ores, gold,
silver,
salt etc. Farmland accounts for 40% of the country's territory, while forests
represent 28% and
pastures
and hayfields 20%. The major industrial branches are machine-building,
food industry, metallurgy, chemistry, light industry, wood processing.
Romanian agriculture produces mainly cereals (wheat, maize), sunflower,
sugar beet, potatoes, grapes. Livestock is represented by cattle,
pigs, sheep and goats.
Transport: the country's railway network totals 11,374 km of which 3,866 km electrified track. The public road network totals 72,828 km of which 17,248 modernized roads. There is an active sea, river-borne and air traffic. The Bucharest Underground is constantly extending its network.
Prior to December 1989, the economy was based on socialist (state and co-operative) ownership, as private ownership was practically not allowed and it was characterized by excessive centralization and rigid planning. In 1990 a strategy of transition was adopted, which combined a carefully paced reform process in state enterprises (by turning them into autonomous administrations - rgies autonomous and commercial companies) with a phased approach to price liberalization, in a steady effort to keep inflationary pressures under control and to stop the decline in production and the displacement of labour, as well as to ease the attendant social costs. In this respect, measures were adopted aimed at dismantling the command economy, passing the privatization law, encouraging foreign investment etc.
Privatization
legislation passed since 1991 provides for the transfer of most state enterprises
to the private
sector.
Certificates of ownership were issued to all eligible Romanian citizens
and can be exchanged for
either
shares in a Romanian company or units in one of the five Private Ownership
Funds. Pursuant to Law 55/1995, the Mass Privatization Program has
been launched. This program includes over 3,000 enterprises with majority
state-owned capital. Over December 1992 - February 1996, 1,553 companies
were
privatized, with a nominal capital worth 3,988 billion lei and 591,062
employees. The private sector's contribution to GDP was estimated
at 45% at the end of 1995, up from 16% in 1990, 26% in 1992, 32% in 1993
and 39% in 1995.
Structure of economic operators (1995): 84 rgies autonomous of national interest, 399 rgies autonomous of local interest, 13,076 commercial companies with mostly state capital, 466,438 private capital commercial companies, and 226,407 family associations. In 1995 the volume of foreign trade was of 7,492 million USD for exports and 8,685 million USD for imports in FOB prices. Private companies accounted for about 30% of all foreign trade operations. Romania's major trading partners are: Germany, Italy, Russia, France, USA. Over 45% of Romania's trade was conducted with European Union Member States.
Major European and International Membership
Romania has diplomatic and consular relations with 175 states.
Romania is a member of the following organizations: The United Nations Organization (UN); The International Monetary Fund (IMF); The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank); International Finance Corporation (IFC); Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Bank for International Settlements (BIS); World Trade Organization (WTO) - former GATT.
In 1993, Romania signed an association with the European Community (EC) and a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). In 1993 Romania was also granted membership in the Council of Europe and the same year it received the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Status in its trade with the United States.
On
January 26, 1994 Romania was the first Eastern European state to sign in
Brussels the NATO
Partnership
for Peace. On February 1, 1995 Romania became an associate member of the
European Union.
