About Romania
Political and administrative organization
People, language, religion and education
Romania is situated in South Eastern Europe, at the northern end of the Balkan Peninsula. It is bounded to the east by the Black Sea, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, to the north by Ukraine, to the west by Hungary and Serbia and to the south by Bulgaria. Romania covers a total of 238,391 km2, a little less than half the size of France, or around five times the size of Switzerland.
Romania has a beautiful and diverse landscape, with mountains (the Carpathians rise to a maximum height of 2,543 meters), forested hills, fertile planes, the Black Sea Coast and the Danube Delta. The three main historical regions are Wallachia in the South, Moldova in the East, and Transylvania in the North Western part of the country.
Apart from the Danube, Romania's major rivers are the Mures in Transylvania, the Siret and Prut in the East, the latter of which forms much of the border with the Republic of Moldova, and the Jiu, Olt, Arges and Ialomita in the South.
Romania is situated in the Eastern European time zone, i.e. GMT+2 hours.
Romania has a typical continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. Average temperatures in the capital, Bucharest, are +23° C in July and -3° C in January. These can fluctuate greatly. Further north in the country, winters are usually much colder and summers somewhat cooler.
Political and administrative organization
Romania is a republic, with a new Constitution adopted by public referendum in 2003. A bi-cameral parliament and a president are democratically elected every four years. The president has specific attributions in matters of national security and foreign affairs. The system can be characterized as a semi-presidential one, with the president having somewhat less constitutional power than in the French model.
The parliament of Romania is formed of the chamber of deputies (345 members) and the senate (140 members). The internal structures of the two chambers of parliament consist of the presidents of the chambers, the standing bureaux, the parliamentary committees, and the parliamentary groups.
Accession to international organizations. Romania has been given its tickets to the EU. It hopes to be able to join the European Union in January 2007 as it has done with NATO becoming a member in 2004. With a little less luck the EU entry may be postponed until January 2008 but such unpleasant surprise isn't likely to happen.
Administrative structure. Romania is divided into forty administrative districts ("judet") and the Municipality of Bucharest. Each "judet" is administered by a Prefect (appointed by the Government) and a Judet Council. Mayors and local councils are elected in all towns and communes. The new Government took significant measures aimed at strengthening the role and effectiveness of local government throughout Romania, as part of a general decentralization drive. Bucharest is the capital of Romania, and the administrative and commercial center of the country, with a population over 2 million.
People, language, religion and education
The total population is 22,698,974 (in 2002), of which approximately 52.7% is urban. 89.5% of the population is ethnic Romanian, while the most important minorities are Hungarian, Gypsy/Rroma, German, Ukrainian, Turkish, Tatar, Serb, Russian and Jewish.
The official language of Romania is Romanian, a Latin-based language with close affinities to Italian. The most frequently used foreign languages in Romania are English and French, although in some parts of Transylvania German is also spoken. About 87% of the population are Orthodox Christians, belonging mostly to the Romanian Orthodox Church. The other most important churches are Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Calvinist. Romania's Muslim community is concentrated near the Black Sea coast, while synagogues in most large towns serve the country's dwindling Jewish population.
