*Romania, Geography

Location:
  Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea between Bulgaria and the
  Ukraine
Map references:
  Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  237,500 km2
 land area:
  230,340 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries:
  total 2,508 km, Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and
  Montenegro 476 km (all with Serbia), Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (south)
  169 km
Coastline:
  225 km
Maritime claims:
 contiguous zone:
  24 nm
 continental shelf:
  200 m depth or to depth of exploitation
 exclusive economic zone:
  200 nm
 territorial sea:
  12 nm
International disputes:
  none
Climate:
  temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers
  with frequent showers and thunderstorms
Terrain:
  central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the plain of Moldavia on the
  east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on
  the south by the Transylvanian Alps
Natural resources:
  petroleum (reserves being exhausted), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore,
  salt
Land use:
 arable land:
  43%
 permanent crops:   3%
 meadows and pastures:
  19%
 forest and woodland:
  28%
 other:
  7%
Irrigated land:
  34,500 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
  frequent earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure
  and climate promote landslides; air pollution in south
Note:
  controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova,
  and Ukraine

*Romania, People

Population:
  23,172,362 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  0.02% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  13.66 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  10.17 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -3.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  21.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  71.25 years
 male:
  68.32 years
 female:
  74.34 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  1.83 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Romanian(s)
 adjective:
  Romanian
Ethnic divisions:
  Romanian 89.1%, Hungarian 8.9%, German 0.4%, Ukrainian, Serb, Croat,
  Russian, Turk, and Gypsy 1.6%
Religions:
  Romanian Orthodox 70%, Roman Catholic 6% (of which 3% are Uniate),
  Protestant 6%, unaffiliated 18%
Languages:
  Romanian, Hungarian, German
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1978)
 total population:
  98%
 male:
  NA%
 female:
  NA%
Labor force:
  10,945,700
 by occupation:
  industry 38%, agriculture 28%, other 34% (1989)

*Romania, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  none
 conventional short form:
  Romania
 local long form:
  none
 local short form:
  Romania
Digraph:
  RO
Type:
  republic
Capital:
  Bucharest
Administrative divisions:
  40 counties (judete, singular - judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu);,   Alba, Arad, Arges,
Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov,
  Bucuresti*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna,,   Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati,
Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi,
  Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu,
  Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea
Independence:
  1881 (from Turkey; republic proclaimed 30 December 1947)
Constitution:
  8 December 1991
Legal system:
  former mixture of civil law system and Communist legal theory that
  increasingly reflected Romanian traditions is being revised
National holiday:
  National Day of Romania, 1 December (1990)
Political parties and leaders:
  National Salvation Front (FSN), Petre ROMAN; Democratic National Salvation
  Front (DNSF), Oliviu GHERMAN; Magyar Democratic Union (UDMR), Geza DOMOKOS;
  National Liberal Party (PNL), Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS; National Peasants'
  Christian and Democratic Party (PNTCD), Corneliu COPOSU; Romanian National
  Unity Party (PUNR), Gheorghe FUNAR; Socialist Labor Party (PSM), Ilie
  VERDET; Agrarian Democratic Party of Romania (PDAR), Victor SURDU; The
  Democratic Convention (CDR), Emil CONSTANTINESCU; Romania Mare Party (PRM),
  Corneliu Vadim TUDOR
 note:   there are dozens of smaller parties; although the Communist Party has ceased
  to exist, small proto-Communist parties, notably the Socialist Labor Party,
  have been formed
Other political or pressure groups:
  various human right and professional associations
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:
 President:
  last held 27 September 1992 - with runoff between top two candidates on 11
  October 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - Ion ILIESCU 61.4%, Emil
  CONSTANTINESCU 38.6%
 Senate:
  last held 27 September 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - DFSN 27.5%,
  CDR 22.5%, FSN 11%, others 39%; seats - (143 total) DFSN 49, CDR 34, FSN 18,
  PUNR 14, UDMR 12, PRM 6, PDAR 5, PSM 5

*Romania, Government

 House of Deputies:
  last held 27 September 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - DFSN 27.5%,
  CDR 22.5%, FSN 11%, others 38.5%; seats - (341 total) DFSN 117, CDR 82, FSN
  43, PUNR 30, UDMR 27, PRM 16, PSM 13, other 13
Executive branch:
  president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
  bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a
  lower house or House of Deputies (Adunarea Deputatilor)
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Ion ILIESCU (since 20 June 1990, previously President of
  Provisional Council of National Unity since 23 December 1989)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Nicolae VACAROIU (since November 1992)
Member of:
  BIS, BSEC, CCC, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, G-9, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
  IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer),
  ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM,
  UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Aurel-Dragos MUNTEANU
 chancery:
  1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
 telephone:
  (202) 232-4747, 6634, 5693
 FAX:
  (202) 232-4748
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador John R. DAVIS, Jr.
 embassy:   Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest
 mailing address:
  AmConGen (Buch), Unit 25402, APO AE 09213-5260
 telephone:
  [40] (0) 10-40-40
 FAX:
  [40] (0) 12-03-95
Flag:
  three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the
  national coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band has been
  removed; now similar to the flags of Andorra and Chad

*Romania, Economy

Overview:
  Industry, which accounts for about one-third of the labor force and
  generates over half the GDP, suffers from an aging capital plant and
  persistent shortages of energy. The year 1991 witnessed a 17% drop in
  industrial production because of energy and input shortages and labor
  unrest. In recent years the agricultural sector has had to contend with
  flooding, mismanagement, shortages of inputs, and disarray caused by the
  dismantling of cooperatives. A shortage of inputs and a severe drought in
  1991 contributed to a poor harvest, a problem compounded by corruption and
  an obsolete distribution system. The new government has instituted moderate
  land reforms, with more than one-half of cropland now in private hands, and
  it has liberalized private agricultural output. Private enterprises form an
  increasingly important portion of the economy largely in services,
  handicrafts, and small-scale industry. Little progress on large scale
  privatization has been made since a law providing for the privatization of
  large state firms was passed in August 1991. Most of the large state firms
  have been converted into joint-stock companies, but the selling of shares
  and assets to private owners has been delayed. While the government has
  halted the old policy of diverting food from domestic consumption to hard
  currency export markets, supplies remain scarce in some areas. The new
  government continues to impose price ceilings on key consumer items. In 1992
  the economy muddled along toward the new, more open system, yet output and
  living standards continued to fall.
National product:
  GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $63.4 billion (1992 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  -15% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
  $2,700 (1992 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  200% (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  9% (January 1993)
Budget:
  revenues $19 billion; expenditures $20 billion, including capital
  expenditures of $2.1 billion (1991 est.)
Exports:
  $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
 commodities:
  machinery and equipment 29.3%, fuels, minerals and metals 32.1%,
  manufactured consumer goods 18.1%, agricultural materials and forestry
  products 9.0%, other 11.5% (1989)
 partners:
  USSR 27%, Eastern Europe 23%, EC 15%, US 5%, China 4% (1987)
Imports:
  $5.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
 commodities:
  fuels, minerals, and metals 56.0%, machinery and equipment 25.5%,
  agricultural and forestry products 8.6%, manufactured consumer goods 3.4%,
  other 6.5% (1989)
 partners:
  Communist countries 60%, non-Communist countries 40% (1987)
External debt:
  $3 billion (1992)
Industrial production:
  growth rate -17% (1991 est.); accounts for 48% of GDP
Electricity:
  22,500,000 kW capacity; 59,000 million kWh produced, 2,540 kWh per capita
  (1992)

*Romania, Economy

Industries:
  mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, machine
  building, food processing, petroleum production and refining
Agriculture:
  accounts for 18% of GDP and 28% of labor force; major wheat and corn
  producer; other products - sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, milk,
  eggs, meat, grapes
Illicit drugs:
  transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route
Economic aid:
  donor - $4.4 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed
  countries (1956-89)
Currency:
  1 leu (L) = 100 bani
Exchange rates:
  lei (L) per US$1 - 470.10 (January 1993), 307.95 (1992), 76.39 (1991),
  22.432 (1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

*Romania, Communications

Railroads:
  11,275 km total; 10,860 km 1.435-meter gauge, 370 km narrow gauge, 45 km
  broad gauge; 3,411 km electrified, 3,060 km double track; government owned
  (1987)
Highways:
  72,799 km total; 35,970 km paved; 27,729 km gravel, crushed stone, and other
  stabilized surfaces; 9,100 km unsurfaced roads (1985)
Inland waterways:   1,724 km (1984)
Pipelines:
  crude oil 2,800 km, petroleum products 1,429 km, natural gas 6,400 km (1992)
Ports:
  Constanta, Galati, Braila, Mangalia; inland ports are Giurgiu, Drobeta-Turnu
  Severin, Orsova
Merchant marine:
  249 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,882,727 GRT/4,463,879 DWT; includes
  1 passenger-cargo, 170 cargo, 2 container, 1 rail-car carrier, 9
  roll-on/roll-off cargo, 15 oil tanker, 51 bulk
Airports:
 total:
  158
 usable:
  158
 with permanent-surface runways:
  27
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  21
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  26
Telecommunications:
  poor service; about 2.3 million telephone customers; 89% of phone network is
  automatic; cable and open wire; trunk network is microwave; present phone
  density is 9.85 per 100 residents; roughly 3,300 villages with no service
  (February 1990); broadcast stations - 12 AM, 5 FM, 13 TV (1990); 1 satellite
  ground station using INTELSAT

*Romania, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 5,846,332; fit for military service 4,942,746; reach
  military age (20) annually 185,714 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  137 billion lei, 3% of GDP (1993); note - conversion of defense expenditures
  into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading
  results