Background: The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured their autonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 and a few years later adopted the new name of Romania. The country gained recognition of its independence in 1878. It joined the Allied Powers in World War I and acquired new territories - most notably Transylvania - following the conflict. In 1940 Romania allied with the Axis powers and participated in the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Three years later overrun by the Soviets Romania signed an armistice. The post-war Soviet occupation led to the formation of a Communist 'people's republic' in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae CEAUSESCU who took power in 1965 and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. CEAUSESCU was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept from power. Romania joined NATO in March of 2004 and completed accession talks with the European Union (EU) in December 2004; it is scheduled to accede to the EU in 2007.

Geographic coordinates: 46 00 N 25 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 237,500 km²
Land: 230,340 km²
Water: 7,160 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries
Total: 2,508 km
Border countries: (5) Bulgaria 608 km; , Hungary 443 km; , Moldova 450 km; , Serbia 476 km; , Ukraine (north) 362 km; , Ukraine (east) 169 km

Coastline: 225 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

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
Extremes highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m

Natural resources: petroleum (reserves declining) timber natural gas coal iron ore salt arable land: hydropower

Land use
Arable land: 39.49%
Permanent crops: 1.92%
Other: 58.59% (2005)

Irrigated land: 30,770 km² (2003)

Natural hazards: earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides

Geography
Note: controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans Moldova and Ukraine

Population: 22,303,552 (July 2006 est.)
Growth rate: -0.12% (2006 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Romanian
Adjective: Romanian

Ethnic groups: Romanian 89.5% Hungarian 6.6% Roma 2.5% Ukrainian 0.3% German 0.3% Russian 0.2% Turkish 0.2% other 0.4% (2002 census)

Languages: Romanian (official) Hungarian German

Religions: Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 86.8% Protestant (various denominations including Reformate and Pentecostal) 7.5% Roman Catholic 4.7% other (mostly Muslim) and unspecified 0.9% none 0.1% (2002 census)

Age structure
0-14 years: 15.7% (male 1,799,072/female 1,708,030)
15-64 years: 69.6% (male 7,724,368/female 7,797,065)
65 years and over: 14.7% (male 1,347,392/female 1,927,625) (2006 est.)

Median age
Total: 36.6 years
Male: 35.3 years
Female: 37.9 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.12% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 10.7 births/1000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 11.77 deaths/1000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.13 migrant(s)/1000 population (2006 est.)

Environment
Current issues: soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 25.5 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 28.64 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 22.16 deaths/1000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 71.63 years
Male: 68.14 years
Female: 75.34 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.37 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 6,500 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 350 (2001 est.)

Agriculture products: wheat corn barley sugar beets sunflower seed potatoes grapes; eggs sheep

Industries: textiles and footwear light machinery and auto assembly mining timber construction materials metallurgy chemicals food processing petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate: 1.9% (2005 est.)

Budget
Revenues: $29.97 billion
Expenditures: $31.37 billion; including capital expenditures of $2.2 billion (2005 est.)

Public debt: 20.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance: $-8.2 billion (2005)

Exports: $31.2 billion f.o.b. (2005)
Commodities: textiles and footwear metals and metal products machinery and equipment minerals and fuels chemicals agricultural products
Partners: Italy 19.4% Germany 14% Turkey 7.9% France 7.4% UK 5.5% Hungary 4.1% US 4.1% (2005)

Imports: $41 billion f.o.b. (2005)
Commodities: machinery and equipment fuels and minerals chemicals textile and products basic metals agricultural products
Partners: Italy 15.5% Germany 14% Russia 8.3% France 6.8% Turkey 4.9% China 4.1% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $21.6 billion (2005 est.)

Debt external: $35.68 billion (2005 est.)

Exchange rates: lei per US dollar - 3 (2005) 3 (2004) 3 (2003) 3 (2002) 3 (2001)

Electricity
Production: 57 billion kWh (2004)
Consumption: 37.5 billion kWh (2003)
Exports: 3.3 billion kWh (2003)
Imports: 380 million kWh (2003)

Natural gas
Production: 13.2 billion m³ (2004 est.)
Consumption: 18.8 billion m³ (2004 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2003 est.)
Imports: 5.9 billion m³ (2004 est.)
Proven reserves: 300 billion m³ (yearend 2004)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 4.391 million (2005)
Mobile cellular: 13.354 million (2005)

Telephone system
General assessment: rapidly improving domestic and international service, especially in wireless telephony
Domestic: 90% of telephone network is automatic; liberalization in 2003 is transforming telecommunications; there has been 20% growth in fixed lines with a penetration rate of 58% of households; nation-wide wireless service is growing even faster with four major providers and a penetration rate of 32%
International: country code - 40; satellite earth station - 10 (Intelsat 4); digital, international, direct-dial exchanges operate in Bucharest (2005)

Internet
Country code: .ro
Hosts: 57,470 (2006)
Users: 4.94 million (2005)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 2.47% (2002)

Military service age and obligation: all military inductees (including women) are volunteers who contract for an initial five-year term of service; subsequent voluntary service contracts are for successive three-year terms until the age of 36; minimum age for voluntary military service is 18 (2006)

Airports: 61 (2006)
With paved runways total: 25
With paved runways over 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 12 (2006)
With unpaved runways total: 36
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 11
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 23 (2006)

Heliports: 1 (2006)

Pipelines: gas 3,508 km; oil 2,427 km (2006)

Railways
Total: 11,385 km
Standard gauge: 10,898 km 1.435-m gauge (3,888 km electrified)
Broad gauge: 60 km 1.524-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 427 km 0.760-m gauge (2005)

Roadways
Total: 198,817 km
Paved: 60,043 km (including 228 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 138,774 km (2003)

Waterways
Note: includes 1,075 km on Danube River, 524 km on secondary branches, and 132 km on canals (2005)

Merchant marine
Total: 23 ships (1000 GRT or over) 198,767 GRT/246,732 DWT
By type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 15, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1
Foreign owned: 1 (Italy 1)
Registered in other countries: 48 (Georgia 11, North Korea 11, Malta 9, Panama 9, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Syria 3, unknown 4) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Braila Constanta Galati Tulcea

Disputes international: Romania and Ukraine have taken their dispute over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary to the ICJ for adjudication; Romania also opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea; Hungary amended the status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Romania to which Romania had objected

Illicit drugs: major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route and small amounts of Latin American cocaine bound for Western Europe; although not a significant financial center role as a narcotics conduit leaves it vulnerable to laundering which occurs via the banking system currency exchange houses and casinos