Romania is a country located in southeastern Europe, bordering the
Black Sea. It has a total area of 237,500 square kilometers, about the size of the state
of Oregon. Countries on its borders are Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and Bulgaria.
The government type is a republic headed by a president as chief of state and a prime minister who appoints the cabinet. There is a bicameral Parliament and a Supreme Court of Justice. The capital of the country is Bucharest.
From 1947 until 1989, Romania was a Communist “people’s republic.” During this period, Romania was ruled by the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who took power in 1965. He ruled Romania as a police state until he was overthrown and executed in 1989. Officials of the former Communist regime continued to exert influence on the government until 1996. Romania joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007.
The total population is 22,276,056 (estimated as of July 2007). The majority are Romanians (89.5 percent), but Hungarians (6.6 percent), and Roma (2.5 percent) are also represented. There are also Ukrainians, Germans, Russians, Turks, and other minority ethnic groups. A conscious effort is being made by the government to promote cultural understanding of these ethnic minority groups by sponsoring events and cultural education. Languages spoken include Romanian 91 percent (the official language), Hungarian (6.7 percent), Romany (Gypsy) (1.1 percent), and other languages. Romanian is not a Slavic language, as are the languages of Romania’s neighbors, but a Romance language like French, Italian and Spanish. Most of the people are Eastern Orthodox (86 percent), but Protestant, Roman Catholic, Muslim and other religions are also represented.
The Carpathian Mountains and the Transylvania Alps are significant geophysical features of Romania. Folklore and popular culture associate the region of Transylvania with the fictional figure of Dracula. This character was based on the actual person named Vlad Tepes, a former knight who lived in Sigisoara and on an estate in nearby Targoviste in Transylvania in the fifteenth century AD. His bloodthirsty practices became legendary during his lifetime and have been the subject of novels and movies for centuries after his death.
The Danube River forms the southern border between Romania and Bulgaria, emptying into the Black Sea in the Danube Delta. The Danube delta is known for its many species of migrating birds, in season.
Web Sites
- Center for Russian and East European Studies
- Library of Congress
- Romania Tourism
- For information about Vlad Tepes, the inspiration
for Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula,
see this website:
http://www.romaniatourism.com/sighisoara.html#landmarks
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Romania.