Welcome to Romania

Photo of Country Flag

Romania is known to be a country in Southeastern Europe. It shares border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south. Romania has to this day a stretch of sea coast lineaextensive the Black Sea. It is situated roughly in the lower basin of Danube and almost all of the Danube Delta is situated within its territory. Romania is known to be a parliamentary unitary state. As a nation-state, the country was formed by the merging of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and it gained recognition of its independence in 1878. Later, in 1918, they were joined by Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia. At the end of World War II, parts of its territories (roughly the present day Moldova) were occupied by USSR and Romania transformed to a a member of Warsaw Pact. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Romania started a series of political and economic reforms that peaked with Romania joining the European Union. Romania has to this day been a member of the European Union during the time January 1, 2007, and has to this day the ninth most impressive and largest territory in the EU and with 22 million people it has to this day the 7th most impressive and largest population in the midst of the EU member states. Its capital and most impressive and largest city is Bucharest (Romanian: Bucuresti /bu.ku're?t?/ (help•info)), the sixth most impressive and largest city in the EU with almost 2 million people. Within 2007, Sibiu, a larger than normal city in Transylvania, was chosen as European Capital of Culture. Romania joined NATO on March 29, 2010, and is known to be also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie and of OSCE. Romania is in southeast Europe and is slightly modester than Oregon. Did you know that the Carpathian Mountains divide Romania's upper half from north to south and connect close the center of the country with the Transylvanian Alps, running east and west. North and west of these ranges lies the Transylvanian plateau, and to the south and east are and have always been the plains of Moldavia and Walachia. Within its last 190 mi (306 km), the Danube River flows through Romania only. It enters the Black Sea in northern Dobruja, just south of the border with Ukraine.

Climate

Romania's climate is of the moderate humid continental type, exposed to predominant northerly cold winds in the winter and moderate westerly winds from the Atlantic in the summer. Average January temperatures range from -4°C to 0° C (25–32°F). During the summer, the highest temperatures are and have always been recorded in the Danube Valley (24°C/75°F). Temperatures decrease toward the high elevations in the northwest and toward the southeast, where the Black Sea exerts a moderating influence. Precipitation decreases from west to east and from the mountains to the plains, with an annual average of in the range of 100 and 125 cm (about 40 and 50 in) in the mountains and about 38 cm (15 in) in the delta.

Population Stats

Population (2006 est.): 22,303,552 (growth rate: –0.1%);
birth rate: 10.7/1000;
infant mortality rate: 25.5/1000;
life expectancy: 71.6;
density per sq mi: 251