OFFICIAL NAME
Romania
LOCATION
Country located in the southeast of Europe, in the northern part of the Balkanic peninsula, inside the Danube river basin opening on the Black Sea. Romania is positioned almost equidistant (from 2,700 to 2,900 km) of the Atlantic Ocean (towards the west), Arctic Ocean (towards the north), and Ural Mountains (towards the east). It is located 1,050 km north of the Mediterranean Sea.
POPULATION
21,698,181 inhabitants (2002). Romanians: 19,409,400 (89.5%); Magyars: 1,434,377 (6.6%); Rroms (gypsies): 535,250 (2.5%); Germans: 60,088 (0.3%); Ukrainians («Ruteni»): 61,353 (0.3%); Russians («Lipoveni»): 36.397 (0.2%); Turks: 32,596 (0.2%); Tartars: 24,137 (0.1%); Serbians: 22,518 (0.1%); Slovaks: 17,199 (0.1%).
Other nationalities such as Bulgarians: 8,092; Croatians: 6,786; Greeks: 6,513; Jews: 5,870; Czechs: 3,938; Poles: 3,671; Italians: 3,331; Armenians: 1,780 (each of them under 0.05%).
CAPITAL
Bucharest
GOVERNMENT
Republic with two Houses of Parliament. The President, Senators and Deputies are elected through universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed vote.
NATIONAL FLAG
Romania’s flag is tricolour, with the colours positioned vertically, starting from the spear in the following order: blue, yellow, and red.
SURFACE
238,391 sq. km (4.8% of Europe), 11th place in Europe, and 79th in the world. Total length of the borders: 3,149.9 km. The terrestrial border is 1,085.5 km in length, while the river and marine borders are 2,064.4 km in length. The surface of Romania is divided into 41 administrative units, 40 of them counties. Bucharest city is a distinct unit.
RELIGION
(2002) Orthodox: 18,806,428 (86.7%); Roman Catholic: 1,028,401 (4.7%); Greek Catholic: 195,481 (0.9%); Protestant: 698,550 (3.2%); Pentecostal: 330,486 (1.5%); Baptist: 129,937 (0.6%); the 7th-day Adventists: 97,041 (0.4%); Unitarian: 66,846 (0.3%); Muslim: 67,566 (0.3%); Christians by Gospel: 46,029 (0.2%); Old-rite Christians: 39,485 (0.2%); Evangelist, Lutheran, Presbyterian: 26,194 (0.1%); Mosaic: 6,197.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Romanian. Other languages used by minorities: Magyar, German (mainly). Languages of international circulation, such as English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, are also used in Romania.
OFFICIAL HOUR
Summertime, GMT + 3 hours (from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October); wintertime, GMT + 2 hours.
LEGAL HOLIDAYS
January 1 and 2; Easter (regardless of cult); December 1 – the National Day; December 25 and 26 (Christmas).
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