Romania

Romania (formerly and wrongly sometimes spelled Rumania and Roumania) is a
country in southeastern Europe. Romania is a Latin country. The name Romania
comes from Rome or Roman Empire and symbolizes the country's origin. The
Romanian language is a Latin language member of the Romance group of the
Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, which are also
called Romanic, and are spoken by about 670 million people in many parts of
the world, but mainly in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. Among the more
important Romance languages are Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese,
Occitan, Rhaeto-Romanic, Romanian, and Spanish.
Romania is bordered by Ukraine and Moldova in the northeast, Hungary and
Serbia in the west and Bulgaria to the south. Romania also has a small sea
coast on the Black Sea.

                                                 National motto: none
                                          Official
                                          language        Romanian

                                          Capital         Bucharest
                                          President       Ion Iliescu
                                          Area            Ranked 78th
                                          Ê- Total        238,391 km²
                                          Ê- % water      3.0%
History
                                          Population      Ranked 49th
                                          Ê- Total (2002) 21,698,181
                                          Ê- Density      91.3/km²
The Dacians were defeated by the Roman    Independence    May 9, 1877
Empire in 106, which marked the beginning Currency        Leu
of succession of invasions of Romania,
although the rulers usually allowed a     Time zone       UTC +2/+3
high degree of autonomy.
                                          National anthem De?teapt?-te,
                                                          Rom‰ne!
In the Middle Ages Romanians lived in
three distinct principalities: Wallachia, Internet TLD    .RO
Moldavia and Transylvania. The first two  Calling Code    40
would be under the influence of the
Ottoman Empire, but with internal autonomy, the third at first belonged to
Hungary, also having a large autonomy, then to Austria-Hungary.

The modern Romania was born when the principalities of Moldavia and
Wallachia merged in 1859, and became independent in 1881. The country was
expanded after World War I, when Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia were
included.

Parts of Romania were incorporated by the Soviet Union in 1940, mostly
comprising the present-day country of Moldova. After the Second World War,
Romania became a communist nation under pressure of the Soviet Union.

The decades-long reign of president Nicolae Ceau?escu was ended with an
uprising in late 1989, although ex-communists continue to be present in the
democratically elected government.

Politics

The legislative part of the Romanian government consists of two chambers,
the Senat (Senate), which has 143 members, and the Camera Deputa?ilor (House
of Deputies), which has 343 members. The members of both chambers are chosen
in elections held every four years.

The president, the head of the executive branch, is also elected by popular
vote, every four years. The president appoints a prime minister, who will
head the council of ministers, whom are in turn appointed by the prime
minister.

Counties

The counties are (in alphabetical order):
    * Alba               * Hunedoara
    * Arad               * Ialomi?a
    * Arge?              * Ia?i
    * Bac?u              * Ilfov
    * Bihor              * Maramure?
    * Bistri?a-N?s?ud    * Mehedin?i
    * Boto?ani           * Mure?
    * Bra?ov             * Neam?
    * Br?ila             * Olt
    * Buz?u              * Prahova
    * Cara?-Severin      * Satu Mare
    * C?l?ra?i           * S?laj
    * Cluj               * Sibiu
    * Constan?a          * Suceava
    * Covasna            * Teleorman
    * D‰mbovi?a          * Timi?
    * Dolj               * Tulcea
    * Gala?i             * Vaslui
    * Giurgiu            * V‰lcea
    * Gorj               * Vrancea
    * Harghita

Geography

A large part of Romania's borders with Yugoslavia and Bulgaria is formed by
the Danube. The Danube is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border
with Moldova.

The Carpathian Mountains dominate the western part of Romania, with peaks up
to 2,500 m, the highest, Moldoveanu, reaching 2,544 m.

Major cities are the capital Bucharest, Bra?ov, Timi?oara, Cluj-Napoca,
Constan?a, Craiova, and Ia?i (Jassy).

Economy

After the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989-91, Romania was left with an
obsolete industrial base and a pattern of industrial capacity wholly
unsuited to its needs. In February 1997, Romania embarked on a comprehensive
macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reform programme, but reform
subsequently has been a frustrating stop-and-go process. Restructuring
programs include liquidating large energy-intensive industries and major
agricultural and financial sector reforms. In 1999 Romania's economy
contracted for a third straight year - by an estimated 4.8%. Romania reached
an agreement with the IMF in August for a US $547 million loan, but release
of the second tranche was postponed in October because of unresolved private
sector lending requirements and differences over budgetary spending.
Bucharest avoided defaulting on mid-year lump-sum debt payments, but had to
significantly draw down reserves to do so; reserves rebounded to an
estimated $1.5 billion by yearend 1999. The government's priorities include:
obtaining renewed IMF lending, tightening fiscal policy, accelerating
privatisation, and restructuring unprofitable firms. Romania was invited by
the European Union in December 1999 to begin accession negotiations. It is
expected to join the EU in 2007 along with Bulgaria.

Demographics

The official language is Romanian, making Romania the only Eastern Bloc
country where a Romance language is spoken. Sizeable minorities of Hungarian
(about 8% of the population) and German descent, mostly in Transylvania,
also speak Hungarian and German. Other ethnic groups include Roma gypsies
and natives of Romania's neighbouring countries.

Most Romanians are members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is one of
the churches of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Catholicism is also
represented, mostly in the areas inhabited by population of Hungarian
descent, mostly in the western part of the country. In Dobrogea, the region
lying on the shore of the Black Sea, there is a small Islamic minority, a
remnant of the Ottoman colonization of that province in the past.


                                  Holidays

    Date        English Name   Local Name              Remarks
 January 1    New Year's Day   Anul nou
                                           Romanians celebrate the Orthodox
 April/May    Easter           Pa?tele     Easter. The holiday is three
                                           days long
 May 1        Labour Day       Ziua muncii International Labour day
              National Day                 Celebrating the unification of
 December 1   (Unification     Ziua Unirii Transylvania with Romania,
              Day)                         December 1, 1918
 December                                  Romanians celebrate two days of
 25/26        Christmas Day    Cr?ciunul   Christmas.

                      Unofficial, traditional holidays
  Date     Name                            Remarks
 March 1M?r?i?orul Spring festival (vaguely similar to St. Valentine's Day)