Romania Facts
Government:
Country name: Romania
Government type: Republic
Capital: Bucharest
Administrative divisions:
41 counties (judete, singular - judet) and the municipality of Bucharest (Municipiul Bucuresti); Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Bucuresti (Bucharest), Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Ilfov, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Valcea, Vrancea
Independence:
9. May 1877 (independence proclaimed from the Ottoman Empire; independence recognized 13 July 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin; kingdom proclaimed 26 March 1881); 30 December 1947 (republic proclaimed)
National holiday:
Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania, Romanian: "Ziua Unirii"), 1 December (1918)
Constitution:
8. December 1991; revision effective 29 .October 2003
Legal system:
former mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; is now based on the constitution of France's Fifth Republic.
Flag description:
three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the national coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band has been removed; now similar to the flag of Chad, also resembles the flags of Andorra and Moldova.
Population
22,329,977 (July 2005 est.)
Languages
Romanian (official), Hungarian, German
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.4%
male: 99.1%
female: 97.7% (2003 est.)
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)
Life Expectancy
total population: 71.35 years
male: 67.86 years
female: 75.06 years (2005 est.)
Currency: leu (RON)
Geography
Location:
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine
Geographic coordinates:
46,00° N, 25,00° E
Area:
total: 237.500 km 2
land: 230.340 km2
water: 7.160 km2
Land boundaries:
total: 2.508 km
border countries: Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 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 Charpats
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2.544 m