ROMANIA
Romania is situated in
Southeastern Europe extending approximately 480 km
North to South and 640 km east to West. Soviet occupation following
World War II led to the formation of a communist "peoples republic" in
1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of President
Nicolae CEAUSESCU became increasingly draconian through the 1980s. He
was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former communists dominated
the government until 1996 when they were swept from power. Much economic
restructuring remains to be carried out before Romania can achieve its
hope of joining the EU. Romania is
bordered to the North and East by Moldavia and Ukraine, to the Southeast
by the Black Sea, to the South by Bulgaria, to the Southwest by
Yugoslavia and to the West by Hungary. The country has an area of
237,750 sq. km and a population of over 23,000,000, composed of
Romanians, Hungarians and
small minorities of Germans, Slovaks, Turks,
Russians, Bulgarians, Croats, Tartars... The official language is
Romanian, of Latin origin. Some
Hungarian and German are spoken in Transylvania and in the border areas,
while mainly English and some French are spoken by those connected with
the tourist industry.
The country is divided into three geographical areas.
Transylvania and
Moldavia compose the Northern half of
the country, which is divided down the middle by the North-South strip
of the Carpathian Mountains. South of the East-West line of the
Carpathians lies Tara Romaneasca
with Romania's capital: Bucharest. The
Carpathians Mountains are located in the center of the
country, bordered on both sides by hills and plateaux; finally you
discover the great plains of the outer rim. Forests cover over a quarter
of the country and the fauna is one of the richest in Europe.
The capital of
Romania is the city of Bucharest . It is divided into six
administrative districts, with a population of 2,066,723 and it lies in
the south-eastern part of
the country, in the Romanian Plain (altitude
85 m). Bucharest is a living city with monumental buildings, with
outstanding architectural values, big and interesting museums, theatres,
opera house, exhibition halls, memorial houses, universities, central
public and administrative offices. The Palace of Parliament, for
instance, is the second building in the world in point of size, after
the Pentagon. The capital is also the largest industrial center of
Romania, with numerous factories and plants of all kinds
(iron-and-steel, engineering, fine mechanics, tanning yards, food
industry).
Bucharest dates back to the 14th century and is recorded in writing for
the first time in 1459 as residence of prince
Vlad the Impaler. Capital of Wallachia in the 17th-19th
centuries and then of Romania since 1862, Bucharest is the most
important political, economic, cultural and scientific center of the
country. It is crossed by the river Dâmbovita and is bordered by
picturesque lakes on the valley of Colentina. Bucharest is a city
featuring a rich vegetation, wide parks, which has inspired the name of
"garden-city".