OFFICIAL NAME:

Romania

Geography
Area: 237,499 sq. km. (91,699 sq. mi.); somewhat smaller than New York and Pennsylvania combined.
Cities: Capital--Bucharest (pop. 2.02 million). Other cities--Iasi (350,000), Constanta (344,000), Timisoara (327,000), Cluj-Napoca (334,000), Galati (331,000), Brasov (316,000).
Terrain: Consists mainly of rolling, fertile plains; hilly in the eastern regions of the middle Danube basin; and major mountain ranges running north and west in the center of the country, which collectively are known as the Carpathians.
Climate: Moderate.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Romanian(s).
Population (December 2007): 21.55 million.
Annual population growth rate: -0.3%.
Ethnic groups: Romanians 89%, Hungarians 7.1%, Germans 0.5%, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Russians, Turks, and Roma 2.5%.
Religions: Orthodox 86.8%, Roman Catholic 5%, Reformed Protestant, Baptist, and Pentecostal 5%, Greek Catholic (Uniate) 1 to 3%, Muslim 0.2%, Jewish less than 0.1%.
Languages: Romanian (official). Other languages--Hungarian, German.
Education: Years compulsory--10. Attendance--98%. Literacy--98%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--19/1,000 (2005); 18/1,000 (2006). Life expectancy--men 67.61 yrs., women 74.9 yrs.
Work force (June 2007): 9.4 million. Agriculture--3.0 million, industry and construction--2.8 million, services--3.3 million, other--0.3 million.

Government
Type: Republic.
Constitution: December 8, 1991, amended by referendum October 18-19, 2003.
Branches: Executive--president (head of state), prime minister (head of government), Council of Ministers. Legislative--bicameral Parliament. Judicial--Constitutional Court, High Court of Cassation and Justice, and lower courts.
Subdivisions: 41 counties plus the city of Bucharest.
Political parties: Political parties represented in the Parliament are the Social Democratic Party (PSD); the National Liberal Party (PNL); the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L); the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR); the Conservative Party (PC); the Greater Romania Party (PRM). Other political parties include National Democratic Christian Peasant Party (PNTCD), the New Generation Party (PNG), National Initiative Party (PIN) as well as political organizations of minorities.
Suffrage: Universal from age 18.
Defense: 1.8% of GDP.

[Source: U.S. Department of State. Available ONLINE. www.state.gov]

For more information about Romania, visit the U.S. Department of State site by clicking here.