Romania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Romania

Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Deşteaptă-te, române!
Awaken, Romanian!


Capital
(and largest city) Bucharest (Bucureşti)
26°06′E / 44.417°N 26.1°E / 44.417; 26.1
Official language(s) Romanian¹
Ethnic groups  89.5% Romanians, 6.6% Hungarians, 2.5% Roma, 1.4% other minority groups
Demonym Romanian
Government Unitary semi-presidential republic
 -  President Traian Băsescu (PD-L)
 -  Prime Minister Emil Boc (PD-L)
 -  Pres of Senate Mircea Geoană (PSD)
 -  House Speaker Roberta Anastase (PD-L)
 -  Chief Justice Lidia Bărbulescu
Formation
 -  Transylvania 1003 
 -  Wallachia 1290 
 -  Moldavia 1346 
 -  First Unification 1599 
 -  Reunification of Wallachia and Moldavia January 24, 1859 
 -  Officially recognised independence from the Ottoman Empire July 13, 1878 
 -  Unification with Transylvania December 1, 1918 
EU accession January 1, 2007
Area
 -  Total 238,391 km² (82nd)
92,043 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 3
Population
 -  July 2009 estimate &0000000022215421.00000022,215,421[1] (51nd)
 -  2002 census 21,680,974 
 -  Density 90/km² (104th)
233/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $270.772 billion[2] (39th)
 -  Per capita $12,600[2] (65th)
GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $200.074 billion[2] (43rd)
 -  Per capita $9,310[2] (61st)
Gini (2005) 31 (low) (21^st)
HDI (2009) ▲ 0.837 (high) (63rd)
Currency Leu (L)² (RON)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 -  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .ro .eu
Calling code 40
¹ Other languages, such as Hungarian, German, Turkish, Crimean Tatar, Greek, Romani, Croatian, Macedonian, Ukrainian and Serbian, are official at various local levels.
² Romanian War of Independence.
³ Treaty of Berlin.

Romania (pronounced /roʊˈmeɪniə/ ( listen) roe-MAY-nee-ə; archaic: Rumania, Roumania; Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a]  ( listen)) is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea.[3] Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south.

Romania emerged as a personal union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia under prince Alexander John Cuza in 1859 and as the Kingdom of Romania under the Hohenzollern monarchy, it gained recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878. In 1918, at the end of the World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. At the end of World War II, parts of its territories (roughly the present day Republic of Moldova) were occupied by the USSR and Romania became a socialist republic, member of the Warsaw Pact.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Romania started a series of political and economic reforms. After a decade of post-revolution economic problems, Romania made economic reforms such as low flat tax rates in 2005 and joined the European Union on January 1, 2007. While Romania's income level remains one of the lowest in the European Union, reforms have increased the growth speed. Romania is now an upper-middle income country economy with high human development.[4]

Romania has the 9th largest territory and the 7th largest population (with 21.5 million people)[5] among the European Union member states. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest (Romanian: Bucureşti [bukuˈreʃtʲ]  ( listen)), the 6th largest city in the EU with 1.9 million people. In 2007, Sibiu, a city in Transylvania, was chosen as a European Capital of Culture.[6] Romania also joined NATO on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie, of the OSCE and of the United Nations, as well as an associate member of the CPLP. Romania is a semi-presidential unitary state.

Etymology

The name of Romania (Romanian: România) comes from Romanian: român which is a derivative of the Latin: Romanus (Roman).[7] The fact that Romanians call themselves a derivative of Romanus (Romanian: Român/Rumân) is first mentioned in the 16th century by many authors, including Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia.[8][9][10][11] The oldest surviving document written in the Romanian language is a 1521 letter known as "Neacşu's Letter from Câmpulung".[12] This document is also notable for having the first occurrence of "Rumanian" in a Romanian written text, Wallachia being here named The Rumanian Land – Ţeara Rumânească (Ţeara from the Latin: Terra land).