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Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea,
between Bulgaria and Ukraine
Geographic coordinates: 46 00 N, 25 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 237,500 sq km
land: 230,340 sq km
water: 7,160 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries:
total: 2,508 km
border countries: Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova
450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km (all with Serbia), Ukraine
(north) 362 km, Ukraine (east) 169 km
Coastline: 225 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow
and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
Terrain: central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the
Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated
from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m
Natural resources: petroleum (reserves declining), timber,
natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydro power
Land use:
arable land: 41%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 21%
forests and woodland: 29%
other: 6% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 31,020 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: earthquakes most severe in south and southwest;
geologic structure and climate promote landslides
Environment - current issues: soil erosion and degradation;
water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents;
contamination of Danube delta wetlands
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol
Geography - note: controls most easily traversable land
route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine
Geography
Romania is situated in Central Europe, in the northern part of the
Balkan peninsula and its territory is marked by the Carpathian Mountains,
the Danube and the Black Sea. Romania lies between 43 37 07 and
48 15 06 Latitude North and 20 15 44 and 29 41 24 Longitude East.
Parallel 45 (midway between the Equator and the North Pole) crosses
Romania 70 km north of its capital and meridian 25 Longitude East
(midway between the Atlantic coast and the Urals) runs 90 km west
of Bucharest.
Climate
Romanian climate is temperate, cold, and cloudy winters with frequent
snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms.
Average annual precipitation is about 635 mm and ranges from more
than 1,270 mm in the mountainous areas to less than 400 mm in Dobruja
and the Danube Delta. Most rain falls in late spring and early summer,
late autumn and winter are the driest periods.
The average temperature is between -3º and -5ºC in January
and 22º to 24º C in July. Significantly cooler temperatures
prevail at all s easons in the mountains. The warmest areas in summer
are the Walachian plain and Dobruja in the south.
Background:
Romania, also spelled Rumania, is a country in eastern Europe. Its
name means land of the Romans.
The country is so called because it was part of the Roman Empire
during ancient times.
The Romanian people are the only eastern Europeans who trace their
ancestry and language back to the Romans. Bucharest is Romania's
capital and largest city.
Soviet occupation following World War II led to the formation of
a communist Peoples Republic in 1947 and the abdication of the king.
The decades-long rule of President Nicolae CEAUSESCU became increasingly
draconian through the 1980s. He was overthrown and executed in late
1989.
Former communists dominated the government until 1996 when they
were swept from power. Much economic restructuring remains to be
carried out before Romania can achieve its hope of joining the EU.
Romania, also spelled Rumania, is a country in eastern Europe.
Its name means land of the Romans. The country is so called because
it was part of the Roman Empire during ancient times.
The Romanian people are the only eastern Europeans who trace their
ancestry and language back to the Romans. Bucharest is Romania's
capital and largest city.
Romania
GEOGRAPHY
Area: 237,499 square kilometers.
Topography: Almost evenly divided among hills,
mountains, and plains; mountains dominate center and northwest;
plains cover south and east. Highest point, 2,544 meters.
Climate: Transitional from temperate in southwest
to continental in northeast. Average annual precipitation, 637 millimeters.
SOCIETY
Population: 23,153,475 (July 1989); average annual
growth rate 0.44 percent.
Ethnic Groups: 89.1 percent Romanian, 7.8 percent
Hungarian, 1.5 percent German, 1.6 percent Ukrainian, Serb, Croat,
Russian, Turk, and Gypsy.
Language: Romanian spoken in all regions; Hungarian
and German commonly used in Transylvania and Banat. Systematic discrimination
against minority languages.
Education: Mandatory attendance, ten years; literacy,
98 percent. Highly centralized. Marxist ideology and nationalistic
values stressed at all levels. In 1980s technical and vocational
education emphasized.
Religion: About 70 percent Romanian Orthodox,
6 percent Uniate, 6 percent Roman Catholic, 6 percent Protestant,
12 percent unaffiliated or other.
Health and Welfare: Free health care provided
by state. Most serious health threats cancer, cardiovascular disease,
alcoholism. Infant mortality rate, 25 per 1,000 live births (1989).
In 1989 life expectancy for men 67.0 and for women 72.6 years. Pensions
inadequate; health care for elderly generally poor. Rural areas
neglected.
Data as of July 1989
Romania
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Boundaries and Geographical Position
With an area of 237,499 square kilometers, Romania is slightly
smaller than the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and
is the twelfth largest country in Europe. Situated in the northeastern
portion of the Balkan Peninsula, the country is halfway between
the equator and the North Pole and equidistant from the westernmost
part of Europe--the Atlantic Coast--and the most easterly--the Ural
Mountains. Of its 3,195 kilometers of border, Romania shares 1,332
kilometers with the Soviet Union to the east and north. Bulgaria
lies to the south, Yugoslavia to the southwest, and Hungary to the
west. In the southeast, 245 kilometers of Black Sea coastline provide
an important outlet to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Traditionally Romania is divided into several historic regions
that no longer perform any administrative function. Dobruja
is the easternmost region, extending from the northward course of
the Danube to the shores of the Black Sea. Moldavia
stretches from the Eastern Carpathians to the Prut River on the
Soviet border. Walachia
reaches south from the Transylvanian Alps to the Bulgarian border
and is divided by the Olt River into Oltenia on the west and Muntenia
on the east. The Danube forms a natural border between Muntenia
and Dobruja. The west-central region, known as
Transylvania , is delimited by the arc of the Carpathians, which
separates it from the Maramures region in the northwest; by the
Crisana area, which borders Hungary in the west; and by the Banat
region of the southwest, which adjoins both Hungary and Yugoslavia.
It is these areas west of the Carpathians that contain the highest
concentrations of the nation's largest ethnic minorities-- Hungarians,
Germans, and Serbs.
Romania's exterior boundaries are a result of relatively recent
events . At the outbreak of World War I, the country's territory
included only the provinces of Walachia, Moldavia, and Dobruja.
This area, known as the Regat or the Old Kingdom, came into being
with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-nineteenth
century. At the end of World War I, Romania acquired Transylvania
and the Banat. Some of this territory was lost during World War
II, but negotiations returned it to Romania. Although this acquisition
united some 85 percent of the Romanian-speaking population of Eastern
Europe into one nation, it left a considerable number of ethnic
Hungarians under Romanian rule. Disputes between Hungary and Romania
regarding this territory would surface regularly, as both considered
the region part of their national heritage. Questions were also
periodically raised as to the historical validity of the Soviet-Romanian
border. Bukovina
and Bessarabia
, former Romanian provinces where significant percentages of the
population are Romanian-speaking, have been part of the Soviet Union
since the end of World War II. Despite ongoing and potential disputes,
however, it was unlikely in 1989 that Romania's borders would be
redrawn in the foreseeable future.
Data as of July 1989
Romania
Topography
Romania's natural landscape is almost evenly divided among mountains
(31 percent), hills (33 percent), and plains (36 percent). These
varied relief forms spread rather symmetrically from the Carpathian
Mountains, which reach elevations of more than 2,400 meters, to
the Danube Delta, which is just a few meters above sea level.
The arc of the Carpathians extends over 1,000 kilometers through
the center of the country, covering an area of 70,000 square kilometers.
These mountains are of low to medium altitude and are no wider than
100 kilometers. They are deeply fragmented by longitudinal and transverse
valleys and crossed by several major rivers. These features and
the fact that there are many summit passes--some at altitudes up
to 2,256 meters--have made the Carpathians less of a barrier to
movement than have other European ranges. Another distinguishing
feature is the many eroded platforms that provide tableland at relatively
high altitudes. There are permanent settlements here at above 1,200
meters.
Romania's Carpathians are differentiated into three ranges: the
Eastern Carpathians, the Southern Carpathians or Transylvanian Alps,
and the Western Carpathians. Each of these ranges has important
distinguishing features. The Eastern Carpathians are composed of
three parallel ridges that run from northwest to southeast. The
westernmost ridge is an extinct volcanic range with many preserved
cones and craters. The range has many large depressions, in the
largest of which the city of Brasov is situated. Important mining
and industrial centers as well as agricultural areas are found within
these depressions. The Eastern Carpathians are covered with forests--some
32 percent of the country's woodlands are there. They also contain
important ore deposits, including gold and silver, and their mineral
water springs feed numerous health resorts.
The Southern Carpathians offer the highest peaks at Moldoveanu
(2,544 meters) and Negoiu (2,535 meters) and more than 150 glacial
lakes. They have large grassland areas and some woodlands but few
large depressions and subsoil resources. The region was crisscrossed
by an ancient network of trans-Carpathian roads, and vestiges of
the old Roman Way are still visible. Numerous passes and the valleys
of the Olt, Jiu, and Danube rivers provide routes for roads and
railways through the mountains.
The Western Carpathians are the lowest of the three ranges and
are fragmented by many deep structural depressions. They have historically
functioned as "gates," which allow easy passage but can be readily
defended. The most famous of these is the Iron Gate on the Danube.
The Western Carpathians are the most densely settled, and it is
in the northernmost area of this range, the Apuseni Mountains, that
permanent settlements can be found at the highest altitudes.
Enclosed within the great arc of the Carpathians lie the undulating
plains and low hills of the Transylvanian Plateau--the largest tableland
in the country and the center of Romania. This important agricultural
region also contains large deposits of methane gas and salt. To
the south and east of the Carpathians, the Sub-Carpathians form
a fringe of rolling terrain ranging from 396 to 1,006 meters in
elevation. This terrain is matched in the west by the slightly lower
Western Hills. The symmetry of Romania's relief continues with the
Getic Tableland to the south of the SubCarpathians , the Moldavian
Tableland in the east between the SubCarpathians and the Prut River,
and the Dobrujan Tableland in the southeast between the Danube and
the Black Sea. The Sub-Carpathians and the tableland areas provide
good conditions for human settlement and are important areas for
fruit growing, viticulture, and other agricultural activity. They
also contain large deposits of brown coal and natural gas.
Beyond the Carpathian foothills and tablelands, the plains spread
south and west. In the southern parts of the country, the lower
Danube Plain is divided by the Olt River; east of the river lies
the Romanian Plain, and to the west is the Oltenian or Western Plain.
The land here is rich with chernozemic soils and forms Romania's
most important farming region. Irrigation is widely used, and marshlands
in the Danube's floodplain have been diked and drained to provide
additional tillable land.
Romania's lowest land is found on the northern edge of the Dobruja
region in the Danube Delta. The delta is a triangular swampy area
of marshes, floating reed islands, and sandbanks, where the Danube
ends its trek of almost 3,000 kilometers and divides into three
frayed branches before emptying into the Black Sea. The Danube Delta
provides a large part of the country's fish production, and its
reeds are used to manufacture cellulose. The region also serves
as a nature preserve for rare species of plant and animal life including
migratory birds.
After entering the country in the southwest at Bazias, the Danube
travels some 1,000 kilometers through or along Romanian territory,
forming the southern frontier with Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Virtually
all of the country's rivers are tributaries of the Danube, either
directly or indirectly, and by the time the Danube's course ends
in the Black Sea, they account for nearly 40 percent of the total
discharge. The most important of these rivers are the Mures, the
Olt, the Prut, the Siret, the Ialomita, the Somes, and the Arge
. Romania's rivers primarily flow east, west, and south from the
central crown of the Carpathians. They are fed by rainfall and melting
snow, which causes considerable fluctuation in discharge and occasionally
catastrophic flooding. In the east, river waters are collected by
the Siret and the Prut. In the south, the rivers flow directly into
the Danube, and in the west, waters are collected by the Tisza on
Hungarian territory.
The Danube is by far Romania's most important river, not only for
transportation, but also for the production of hydroelectric power.
One of Europe's largest hydroelectric stations is located at the
Iron Gate, where the Danube surges through the Carpathian gorges.
The Danube is an important water route for domestic shipping, as
well as international trade. It is navigable for river vessels along
its entire Romanian course and for seagoing ships as far as the
port of Braila. An obvious problem with the use of the Danube for
inland transportation is its remoteness from most of the major industrial
centers. Moreover, marshy banks and perennial flooding impede navigation
in some areas.
Data as of July 1989
Romania
Climate
Because of its position on the southeastern portion of the European
continent, Romania has a climate that is transitional between temperate
and continental. Climatic conditions are somewhat modified by the
country's varied relief. The Carpathians serve as a barrier to Atlantic
air masses, restricting their oceanic influences to the west and
center of the country, where they make for milder winters and heavier
rainfall. The mountains also block the continental influences of
the vast plain to the north in the Soviet Union, which bring frosty
winters and less rain to the south and southeast. In the extreme
southeast, Mediterranean influences offer a milder, maritime climate.
The average annual temperature is 11°C in the south and 8°C
in the north. In Bucharest, the temperature ranges from -29°C
in January to 29°C in July, with average temperatures of -3°C
in January and 23°C in July. Rainfall, although adequate throughout
the country, decreases from west to east and from mountains to plains.
Some mountainous areas receive more than 1,010 millimeters of precipitation
each year. Annual precipitation averages about 635 millimeters in
central Transylvania, 521 millimeters at Iasi in Moldavia, and only
381 millimeters at Constanta on the Black Sea.
Data as of July 1989
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