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Romania (România) is a country of South-East Europe that has the particularity of possessing a Romance language based on Latin. It is surrounded by Slavic-speaking countries. Thus Romania is the only country of South-Eastern Europe, which has retained a language that originates from the ancient Roman colonization of Dacia.
Romania is a semi-presidential republic, which became a member of the European Union in 2007. Romania is a largely mountainous country. In the center of the country the mountain ranges of the Carpathians are to be found, but in its southern part the Danube river is crossing the country, flowing into the Black Sea on the border between Romania and Ukraine.
A MOUNTAIN TERRITORY WITH SOME LARGE PLAINS
Romania occupies the eastern section of the Carpatho-Danubian region. Only the extreme southern and eastern regions are flat. The rest of the country, excluding the western flat area between the cities of Arad and Timisoara, consists of the mountain range of the Carpathians.
The Carpathians in turn are divided into the Eastern Carpathians, Southern Carpathians and Western Carpathians. In the center of the country the Transylvanian plateau is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains. The Eastern Carpathians extend from the northern border with Ukraine to the area north of Bucharest. Their highest peak is Mount Pietrosu with 2,305 m.
The Western Carpathians are the lowest chain and are located in the western part of Romania, facing Hungary and Serbia. The Southern Carpathians are also called Transylvanian Alps, located north of the Danube valley and crossing the country from west to east. Here the inaccessible Fagaras Massif (Fagarasului) possesses through Mount Moldoveanu with 2,543 m the highest peak of Romania.
Along the border with Serbia and Hungary there are open plains, which are part of the Pannonian lowlands. To the south lies the valley of the Danube, called Wallachia, an arid steppe, and to the south-east the marshland of the Dobruja.
English text correction by Dietrich Köster.
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- Area: 238,391 sq km
- Population: 22,303,552: Romanians 89%, Hungarians 7.5%, Gipsies 1.9%, Germans, other 1.6%
- State Capital: Bucharest (București)
- Official Language: Romanian. In some areas German and Hungarian are spoken.
- Religion: Orthodox Christians 87%, Roman Catholics 5%, Protestants 5%, Jews and Muslims.
- Currency: Leu, plural: Lei
- Time Zone: GMT+2, Summer Daylight Saving Time UTC+3.
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