About Romania
Basic information about Romania
Capital: Bucharest
Government: Republic with two Houses of Parliament
Currency: leu
Location: the country is located around the 45 parallel of latitude in the Northern hemisphere, in South Eastern Europe, in the Northern part of the Balkans Peninsula, inside the Danube river basin opening on the Black Sea.
Romania is a country of Latin origin, mostly surrounded by Slavic neighbours.
Climate: temperate-continental with small temperature variations due to the relief (average teperatures+30 - -4 C)
Neighbours: Moldova Republic (East) and the Ukraine (North), two ex-Soviet Republics, Hungary (North-West), Serbia (South-West) and Bulgaria (South). Romania also has 242 km of marine border to the Black Sea.
Surface: 238. 391 km² (4,8% of Europe surface)
Relief:extreme geographical diversity – mountains (Carpathians), hills, tablelands, depressions, plains, seaside, delta (the Danube Delta, a unique ecosystem, nowhere to be found across Europe), all within few hours drive
Population: 21.698.181 inhabitants (2002), of which Romanians: 19.409.400 (89,5%); other nationalities: Magyars, Germans, Rroms, Ukrainians, Russians, Turks, Tartars, Serbs, Croatians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Jews
Official language: Romanian; other languages used by minorities: Hungarian, German (mainly)
Languages of international circulation, such as English, French, German, are also used in Romania.
Religion: Orthodox: 18.806.428 inhabitants (86,7%); other denominations: Roman-Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Pentecostal, Greek-Catholic, Baptist, Evangelic, Lutheran, Mosaic.
Administrative: The surface of Romania is divided into 41 administrative units, 40 of them counties. Bucharest city is a distinct unit.
Legal Holidays: January 1 and 2; Easter (regardless of cult); December 1 – the National Day; December 25 and 26 (Christmas); May 1.
Since January 2007 Romania is a member of the European Union.
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