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Geography

Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine

Geographic coordinates:
46 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 237,500 sq km
land: 230,340 sq km
water: 7,160 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries:
total: 2,508 km
border countries: Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km (all with Serbia), Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (east) 169 km

Coastline:
225 km

Maritime claims:

contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m

Natural resources:
petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydro power

Land use:

arable land: 41%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 21%
forests and woodland: 29%
other: 6% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land:
31,020 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards:
earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides

Environment - current issues:
soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine

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Background: 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.

People

Population: 22,411,121 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 18% (male 2,111,320; female 2,015,347)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,597,958; female 7,707,498)
65 years and over: 14% (male 1,237,368; female 1,741,630) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate:
-0.21% (2000 est.)

Birth rate:
10.76 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate:
12.29 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
19.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 69.93 years
male: 66.1 years
female: 73.99 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.35 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Romanian(s)
adjective: Romanian

Ethnic groups:
Romanian 89.5%, Hungarian 7.1%, Roma 1.8%, German 0.5%, Ukrainian 0.3%, other 0.8% (1992)

Religions:
Romanian Orthodox 70%, Roman Catholic 6% (of which 3% are Uniate), Protestant 6%, unaffiliated 18%

Languages:
Romanian, Hungarian, German

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 98%
female: 95% (1992 est.)

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Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 3.84 million (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
52,000 (1999)

Telephone system:

domestic: poor service; 90% of telephone network is automatic; trunk network is mostly microwave radio relay, with some fiber-optic cable; about one-third of exchange capacity is digital; roughly 3,300 villages have no service
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat; new digital international direct-dial exchanges operate in Bucharest; note - Romania is an active participant in several international telecommunication network projects (1999)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 40, FM 202, shortwave 3 (1998)

Radios:
7.2 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
130 (plus about 400 low-power repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:
5.25 million (1997)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
30 (1999)

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Transportation

Railways:
total: 11,385 km (3,888 km electrified)
standard gauge: 10,898 km
narrow gauge: 487 km (1996)

Highways:

total: 153,359 km
paved: 103,671 km (including 133 km of expressways)
unpaved: 49,688 km (1998 est.)

Waterways:
1,724 km (1984)

Pipelines:
crude oil 2,800 km; petroleum products 1,429 km; natural gas 6,400 km (1992)

Ports and harbors:
Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina, Tulcea

Merchant marine:

total: 142 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,154,127 GRT/1,612,314 DWT
ships by type: bulk 15, cargo 110, container 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 5, rail car carrier 2, roll-on/roll-off 6, specialized tanker 1 (1999 est.)

Airports:
62 (1999 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 25
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 37
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 12
under 914 m: 23 (1999 est.)

Heliports:
1 (1999 est.)

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