Eric Cartman and Romania: Difference between pages

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{{South Park character|
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image=[[Image:Eric.svg|200px|Eric Cartman]]|
{{Infobox Country
name=Eric Cartman |
|native_name = ''România''
gender=[[Male]]|
|conventional_long_name = Romania
hair=Brown|
|common_name = Romania
age=9|
|image_flag = Flag of Romania.svg
job=Student|
|image_coat = Coat of arms of Romania.svg
religion= [[Roman Catholic]]<!-- NOTE TO EDITORS - Please stop adding or deleting Cartman's religion. In a few episodes he attended Roman Catholic church, but that's it. Adding "none" doesn't help either. Thank you! -->|
|image_map = EU location ROM.png
start=''[[The Spirit of Christmas]]''|
|map_caption = {{map_caption|country=[[Romania]]|region=[[Europe]]|subregion=the [[European Union]]|legend=European location legend en.png}}
voice=[[Trey Parker]]
|national_anthem = <span style="line-height:1.25em;">''[[Deşteaptă-te, române!]]''<small><br/>''Awaken, Romanian!''</small></span>
|official_languages = [[Romanian language|Romanian]]<sup>1</sup>
|ethnic_groups = 89.5% [[Romanians]], 6.6% [[Hungarians]], 2.5% [[Roma people|Roma]], 1.4% other minority groups
|demonym = [[Romanians|Romanian]]
|government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] [[republic]]
|capital = [[Bucharest]]&nbsp;(''Bucureşti'')
|latd=44|latm=25|latNS=N|longd=26|longm=06|longEW=E
|largest_city = capital
|leader_title1 = [[President of Romania|President]]
|leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of Romania|Prime Minister]]
|leader_name1 = [[Traian Băsescu]]
|leader_name2 = [[Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu]] <br> ([[National Liberal Party (Romania)|PNL]])
|area_rank = 82nd
|area_magnitude = 1_E+11
|area_km2 = 238,391
|area_sq_mi = 92,043 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|percent_water = 3
|population_estimate_year = July 2008
|population_estimate = 22,246,862
|population_estimate_rank = 50th
|population_census_year = 2002
|population_census = 21,680,974
|population_density_km2 = 93
|population_density_sq_mi = 236 <!--Do not remove per [[WP:MOSNUM]]-->
|population_density_rank = 104th
|GDP_PPP_year = 2007
|GDP_PPP = $245.847 billion<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2004&ey=2008&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=968&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=54&pr.y=5|title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref>
|GDP_PPP_rank = 41st
|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $11,400<ref name="autogenerated1" /> (IMF)
|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 64th
|GDP_nominal = $165.983 billion<ref name="autogenerated1" />
|GDP_nominal_rank = 38th
|GDP_nominal_year = 2007
|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $7,697<ref name="autogenerated1" /> (IMF)
|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 58th
|HDI_year = 2005
|HDI = {{increase}} 0.813
|HDI_rank = 60th
|HDI_category = <font color="green">high</font>
|Gini = 31
|Gini_year = 2003
|Gini_category = <font color="#ffcc00">medium</font>
|sovereignty_type = [[Formation]]
|sovereignty_note
|established_event1 = [[Transylvania]]
|established_date1 = 10th century
|established_event2 = [[Wallachia]]
|established_date2 = 1290
|established_event3 = [[Moldavia]]
|established_date3 = 1346
|established_event4 = [[Mihai Viteazu|First Unification]]
|established_date4 = 1599
|established_event5 = Reunification of [[Alexander Ioan Cuza|Wallachia and Moldavia]]
|established_date5 = January 24, 1859
|established_event6 = Officially recognized independence
|established_date6 = July 13, 1878
|established_event7 = Reunification with [[Union of Transylvania with Romania|Transylvania]]
|established_date7 = December 1, 1918
|accessionEUdate = January 1, 2007
|currency = [[Romanian leu|Leu]]
|currency_code = RON
|time_zone = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
|utc_offset = +2
|time_zone_DST = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
|utc_offset_DST = +3
|cctld = [[.ro]]
|calling_code = 40
|footnotes = <sup>1</sup> Other languages, such as [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[German language|German]], [[Romani language|Romani]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]], are official at various local levels.<br/><sup>2</sup> [[Romanian War of Independence]].<br/><sup>3</sup> [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Treaty of Berlin]].
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'''Romania''' {{Audio-IPA|en-us-Romania.ogg|[ɹoʊˈmeɪniə]}} ([[wiktionary:dated|dated]]: '''Rumania''', '''Roumania'''<!-- Do not remove, as this was added through consensus, discussion, and a poll done from January 10, 2008 to January 17, 2008. Please see talk page archives for details -->; {{lang-ro|România}}, {{IPA2|ro.mɨˈni.a}}) is a country located in South-East [[Central Europe]], North of the [[Balkan Peninsula]], on the Lower [[Danube]], within and outside the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathian arch]], bordering on the [[Black Sea]].<ref>{{cite report|url= http://www.nato.int/invitees2004/romania/glance.htm|title=North Atlantic Treaty Organization|publisher=NATO|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Almost all of the [[Danube Delta]] is located within its territory. It shares a border with [[Hungary]] and [[Serbia]] to the west, [[Ukraine]] and the [[Republic of Moldova]] to the northeast, and [[Bulgaria]] to the south.


The territory's recorded history encompasses such eras as the [[Dacians]], [[Roman Empire]] (later leading to the appearance of [[Romanian language]]), [[Kingdom of Hungary]], and [[Ottoman Empire]]. As a nation-state, the country was formed by the merging of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] in 1859 and it gained recognition of its [[Romanian War of Independence|independence]] in [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|1878]]. Later, in 1918, they were joined by [[Transylvania]], [[Bukovina]] and [[Bessarabia]]. At the end of [[World War II]], parts of its territories (roughly the present day [[Moldova]]) were occupied by USSR and Romania became a member of the [[Warsaw Pact]]. With the fall of the [[Iron Curtain]] in [[Romanian Revolution of 1989|1989]], Romania started a series of political and economic reforms. After a decade of post-independence economic problems, Romania made economic reforms such as low [[flat tax]] rates in 2005 and [[Accession of Romania to the European Union|joined the European Union]] in January 1, 2007. While Romania's income level remains one of the lowest in the European Union, reforms have increased the growth speed. Romania is now an upper-middle income country economy.
'''Eric Theodore Cartman''', commonly referred to by his [[family name]], '''Cartman''', is one of the four main [[fictional character]]s in the [[list of animated television series|animated series]] ''[[South Park]]'', which also includes [[Stan Marsh|Stan]], [[Kyle Broflovski|Kyle]], and [[Kenny McCormick|Kenny]]. He is voiced by the series co-creator [[Trey Parker]]. In the original "The Spirit of Christmas (Jesus vs. Frosty)" short, he is referred to as "Kenny."


Romania has the [[List of European Union member states by area|9th largest territory]] and the [[List of European Union member states by population|7th largest population]] (with 22 million people)<ref name=population>{{Citeweb|publisher=Romanian National Institute of Statistics|title=Romanian Statistical Yearbook|year=2007|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/pdf/en/cp2.pdf|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> among the [[European Union member state]]s. Its capital and largest city is [[Bucharest]] ({{lang-ro|Bucureşti}} {{Audio-IPA|Ro-Bucureşti.ogg|/bu.kuˈreʃtʲ/}}), the [[Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits|6th largest city in the EU]] with 1.9 million people. In 2007, [[Sibiu]], a city in Transylvania, was chosen as a [[European Capital of Culture]].<ref>{{citeweb|publisher=The Selection Panel for the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) 2007|title=Report on the Nominations from Luxembourg and Romania for the European Capital of Culture 2007|date=2004-04-05|url=http://ec.europa.eu/culture/pdf/doc670_en.pdf|format=pdf|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Romania also joined [[NATO]] on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the [[Latin Union]], of the [[Francophonie]] and of [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]]. Romania is a [[semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] [[unitary state]].
==Characterization==
Cartman is portrayed as both the "fat kid"<ref name="anim">{{cite url | url=http://animatedtv.about.com/cs/southpark/a/spbios.htm | title=Eric Cartman Profile from "South Park"| first=Nancy |last=Basile | publisher=[[About.com]] |accessdate=2007-12-20}}</ref> and the [[antihero]] of the South Park gang.<ref name="pop">{{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=b1ruwF6xYNIC&pg=PA144&dq=eric+cartman&hl=es&sig=sQ_ZLrbRwlS-oexJtwRI_8jGytk | title=From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th | location=[[Kansas City, Missouri]] | publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC]] | year=2005 | isbn=0740751182 | oclc=57316726 | first=David|last=Mansour}}</ref> His personality has noticeably changed over the course of the series. While always [[egocentrism|self-centered]] and [[bigot]]ed,<ref name="drawn">{{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oCJ1ExPYikQC&pg=PA129&dq=eric+cartman&hl=es&sig=Reis5pgK6xEsvpuv7_iCQEqFPIQ#PPA129,M1 | title=Drawn to television : Prime-time Animation from the Flintstones to Family Guy | author=M. Keith Booker | isbn=0275990192 | oclc=69734569 |location=[[Westport]] | publisher= [[Greenwood Press]] | year=2006}}</ref> he was more of a mean-spirited characterization of adolescence in the earlier seasons, with little psychological (in logic) or ethical grounding in life. {{Fact|date=August 2008}} As the series progressed his personality became more aggressive and cunning, evolving into [[conduct disorder]], that would likely be categorized as [[antisocial personality disorder]] were he over the age of 18, by the fifth season; in the premiere episode, Cartman masterminds the murder of a boy's parents in order to feed them to the boy.<ref>[http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season5/E501script.htm ''Scott Tenorman Must Die'' Transcript]. Accessed 15 June 08.</ref><ref>[http://www.ofparole.com/2008/04/feminist-south-park-spears-and.html ''A Feminist South Park: Spears and Subjection''], Henry M. Bowles, Parole. Accessed 15 June 08.</ref> His bigotry visibly morphs into racial hatred and theorizing,<ref name="imbd">{{cite url | url=http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003542/bio | title=Eric Cartman (character) Biography | publisher=[[IMDB]]| accessdate=2007-12-20}}</ref> and, while it is not presented as being overtly fascist,<ref>[http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season3/E306script.htm ''Sexual Harassment Panda'' Transcript]. Accessed 15 June 08.</ref> the ''[[Hippy|dirty hippy]]'' and evangelical attitudes to capitalism are taken as corruptions of the racial ideal, and hence open to exploitation.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} His abilities to manipulate other people into doing what he wants have become keener, along with his overall intelligence. His descent into sadism{{vague}} is usually accepted{{Fact|date=August 2008}} as being brought about in the famous and very dark episode "[[Scott Tenorman Must Die]]", in which he develops a fierce obsession with - and later exacts revenge upon - a 9th grader who cheated him out of $16.12. The episode was ranked by fans as the greatest of his top twenty-five moments in a [[Range voting|range vote]] on [[Comedy Central]]'s website.<ref name="cartman25">{{cite web| url=http://www.comedycentral.com/events/south_park/cartman_25/index.jhtml| title=Comedy Central voting page for Cartman's 25 Greatest South Park Moments| accessdate=2007-12-20}}</ref>


==Etymology==
Cartman has a rivalry with Kyle, whom he views as inferior because Kyle is Jewish. His [[laziness|lazy]] and rude, [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] behavior towards Kyle often provokes a large argument, to which in the earlier seasons Cartman replied "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"; later his comeback to Kyle's criticisms was "Shut up you Jew!!" or similar invective. Though fights between the two have become a centerpiece of the show, their default relationship is "friend", however uncomfortable they may be with that. Cartman is nearly always the aggressor, yet he rarely brings the matter to fisticuffs, something which Kyle is more apt to do. It is also notable that both Cartman and Kyle have saved the other's life, Kyle in the episode [[Trapper Keeper (South Park episode)|Trapper Keeper]] after Cartman's title item turns him into a monstrous blob similar to [[Tetsuo Shima|Tetsuo]] in ''[[Akira (film)|Akira]]'' and in [[ManBearPig]] when he pulls Cartman (who has been incapacitated by consuming a large amount of treasure) to safety from a flooding cave. Cartman has also saved Kyle's life on two occasions: once in [[Smug Alert]], when Kyle is incapacitated both by [[LSD]] and the titular smug and Cartman transports him and his family to safety. The other is in the [[Imaginationland]] series, when he revives Kyle after it appears Kyle has lost his [[heart beat]]. Though the reasons behind his rescues are selfish - in Smug Alert because he realizes he needs Kyle around to mock, and in Imaginationland because he desperately wishes Kyle to uphold his end of a bet - Cartman's rescues are arguably more noble. In Smug Alert, he urges Butters, the only other person to know of Cartman's heroism, to keep quiet.
{{main|Etymology of Romania}}
The name of ''Romania'' (''[[Rumania]]'' or ''[[România]]'') comes from ''Român'' (Romanian) which is a derivative of the word ''Romanus'' ("[[Ancient Rome|Roman]]") from [[Latin]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Decadence, Rome and Romania, the Emperors Who Weren't, and Other Reflections on Roman History|journal=The Proceedings of the [http://www.friesian.com/ Friesian School]|author= Kelley L. Ross|year=2003|quote=Note: The Vlach Connection|url=http://www.friesian.com/decdenc2.htm|accessdate=2008-01-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Speculum|publisher=Medieval Academy of America|title=Romania: The Latin Empire of Constantinople|first=Robert Lee|last=Wolff|volume=23|issue=1|year=1948| month=January|pages=1–34|doi=10.2307/2853672}}</ref> The fact that Romanians have said the name is a derivative of ''Romanus'' ({{lang-ro|Român/Rumân}}) is mentioned as early as the 16th century by many authors, including Italian Humanists travelling in [[Transylvania]], [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]].<ref>{{citebook|quote="nunc se Romanos vocant"|author=Andréas Verres|title=Acta et Epistolae|volume=I|pages=243}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|quote="...si dimandano in lingua loro Romei...se alcuno dimanda se sano parlare in la lingua valacca, dicono a questo in questo modo: Sti Rominest ? Che vol dire: Sai tu Romano,..."|author=Cl. Isopescu|title=Notizie intorno ai romeni nella letteratura geografica italiana del Cinquecento|journal=Bulletin de la Section Historique|volume=XVI|year=1929|pages=p. 1- 90}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|quote=“Anzi essi si chiamano romanesci, e vogliono molti che erano mandati quì quei che erano dannati a cavar metalli...”|author=Maria Holban|title=Călători străini despre Ţările Române|language=Romanian|publisher=Ed. Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică|year=1983|volume=II|pages=158&ndash;161}}</ref><ref>{{citebook|quote="Tout ce pays la Wallachie et Moldavie et la plus part de la Transivanie a esté peuplé des colonie romaines du temps de Traian l’empereur…Ceux du pays se disent vrais successeurs des Romains et nomment leur parler romanechte, c'est-à-dire romain … "|title=Voyage fait par moy, Pierre Lescalopier l’an 1574 de Venise a Constantinople, fol 48|author=Paul Cernovodeanu|journal=Studii si materiale de istorie medievala|volume=IV|year=1960|pages=444|language=Romanian}}</ref> The oldest surviving document written in the [[Romanian language]] is a 1521 letter known as "[[Neacşu's Letter]] from [[Câmpulung]]".<ref> {{Cite book|last =Iorga|first =N.|title =Neacsu's Letter from Campulung|editor-last =Hurmuzachi|editor-first =Apud|volume = Documente, XI|url = http://cimec.ro/Istorie/neacsu/rom/scrisoare.htm|pages = 843|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> This document is also notable for having the first occurrence of "Rumanian" in a Romanian written text, [[Wallachia]] being here named The Rumanian Land - ''Ţeara Rumânească'' (''Ţeara'' from the {{lang-la|Terra}} land). In the following centuries, Romanian documents use interchangeably two spelling forms: ''Român'' and ''Rumân''.<ref group=note>''"am scris aceste sfente cǎrţi de învăţături, sǎ fie popilor rumânesti... sǎ înţeleagǎ toţi oamenii cine-s rumâni creştini"'' "Întrebare creştineascǎ" (1559), Bibliografia româneascǎ veche, IV, 1944, p. 6. <br>''"...că văzum cum toate limbile au şi înfluresc întru cuvintele slǎvite a lui Dumnezeu numai noi românii pre limbă nu avem. Pentru aceia cu mare muncǎ scoasem de limba jidoveascǎ si greceascǎ si srâbeascǎ pre limba româneascǎ 5 cărţi ale lui Moisi prorocul si patru cărţi şi le dăruim voo fraţi rumâni şi le-au scris în cheltuială multǎ... şi le-au dăruit voo fraţilor români,... şi le-au scris voo fraţilor români"'' Palia de la Orǎştie (1581&ndash;1582), Bucureşti, 1968. <br>''În Ţara Ardealului nu lăcuiesc numai unguri, ce şi saşi peste seamă de mulţi şi români peste tot locul...'', Grigore Ureche, Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei, p. 133-134.</ref> Socio-linguistic evolutions in the late 17th century led to a process of semantic differentiation: the form ''"rumân"'', presumably usual among lower classes, got the meaning of "bondsman", while the form ''[[român]]'' kept an ethno-linguistic meaning.<ref> {{cite book|last = Brezeanu|first = Stelian|title =Romanitatea Orientalǎ în Evul Mediu|publisher =Editura All Educational|date=1999|location =Bucharest|pages =229-246 }}</ref> After the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the form "rumân" gradually disappears and the spelling definitively stabilises to the form ''"român", "românesc"''.<ref group=note> In his well known literary testament [[Ienăchiţă Văcărescu]] writes: "Urmaşilor mei Văcăreşti!/Las vouă moştenire:/Creşterea limbei româneşti/Ş-a patriei cinstire." <br>In the ''"Istoria faptelor lui Mavroghene-Vodă şi a răzmeriţei din timpul lui pe la 1790"'' a Pitar Hristache writes: "Încep după-a mea ideie/Cu vreo câteva condeie/Povestea mavroghenească/Dela Ţara Românească.</ref> The name "[[România]]" as common homeland of all Romanians is documented in the early 19th century.<ref group=note> The first known mention of the term "Romania" in its modern denotation dates from 1816, as the Greek scholar [[Dimitrie Daniel Philippide]] published in [[Leipzig]] his work "The History of Romania", followed by "The Geography of Romania". <br>On the [[Headstone|tombstone]] of [[Gheorghe Lazăr]] in [[Avrig]] (built in 1823) there is the inscription: "Precum Hristos pe Lazăr din morţi a înviat/Aşa tu România din somn ai deşteptat."</ref> This name has been officially in use since December 11, 1861.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.fotw.net/flags/ro-wm.html|title=Wallachia and Moldavia, 1859-61|accessdate=2008-01-05}}</ref>


English-language sources still used the term "Rumania", borrowed from the French spelling "''Roumania''", as recently as [[World War II]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/s_approaches_1942-1945.jpg|title=Map of Southern Europe, 1942-1945|publisher=United States Army Center of Military History via the [[University of Texas at Austin]] Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> but since then the term has largely disappeared.
He is generally abrasive to Stan and Kenny - Kenny for being poor and Stan for being a "pussy" - though the two of them are far more tolerant of the anti-social side of his personality. It has been suggested that Kenny and Cartman are best friends. This seems to be confirmed in episodes like [[Kenny Dies]] and [[Best Friends Forever]], though in the latter Kenny says in his will that he never liked Cartman and believes he will die "alone" and friendless. Still, the two can be seen alone together without Stan and Kyle, and Kenny is often the only one to laugh at Cartman's jokes. Stan is typically tolerant of Cartman, even on occasions when he is making fun of Kyle. In an apparent show of affection, Cartman tells him that he "still hates him less than Kyle" in the episode [[Trapped in the Closet (South Park)|Trapped in the Closet]].


==History==
Overall Cartman only ever incurs his friend's wrath after saying something completely inappropriate or extremely cruel/outrageous, such as when he screamed at [[Token Black|Token]] for being black when he formed the Christian rock band Faith+1. Other times he has always screamed "I thought you guys were my friends! I guess I thought wrong!", only to receive "Yeah dude, you ''were'' wrong." from Kyle. Nonetheless, Cartman's friendships with many of the South Park children seem to have not wavered. However, it seems at the beginning of each new episode Cartman has healed the rift from the previous episode, as his friends are seen to talk with him without Cartman having to start the conversation himself.
{{main|History of Romania}}
===Prehistory and Antiquity===
{{main|Prehistoric Romania|Dacia|Roman Dacia}}
The oldest modern human remains in Europe were discovered in the "[[Peştera cu Oase|Cave With Bones]]" in present day Romania.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Trinkaus|first =E.|title=Early Modern Human Cranial remains from the Peştera cu Oase|journal =Journal of Human Evolution|volume=45|pages=245–253|year=2003| accessdate=2008-01-10|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.08.003}}</ref> The remains are approximately 42,000 years old and as Europe’s oldest remains of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', they may represent the first such people to have entered the continent.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zilhão|first=João|title=Neanderthals and Moderns Mixed and It Matters|journal=Evolutionary Anthropology|volume =15|pages=183–195|date=|year=2006|accessdate=2008-01-10|doi=10.1002/evan.20110}}</ref> But the earliest written evidence of people living in the territory of the present-day Romania comes from [[Herodotus]] in book IV of his [[Histories (Herodotus)]] written 440 BCE, where he writes about the [[Getae]] tribes.<ref>{{Cite book|last =Herodotus|author-link =Herodotus|translation = William Beloe|title =The Ancient History of Herodotus By Herodotus|digitized =Google Book Search|pages =213–217|publisher = Derby & Jackson|year =1859|url =http://books.google.com/books?id=sfHsgNIZum0C&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=herodotus+dacians+darius&source=web&ots=G4uX7Mnsqb&sig=kYPtXH157JEzuk7V618EreDadqY&hl=en|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>
[[Image:Roman Dacia 1.1.svg|left|thumb|right|The province of Roman Dacia]]


[[Dacians]], considered a part of these Getae, were a branch of [[Thracians]] that inhabited [[Dacia]] (corresponding to modern Romania, [[Moldova]] and northern [[Bulgaria]]). The [[List of Dacian kings|Dacian kingdom]] reached its maximum expansion during King [[Burebista]], around 82 BC, and soon came under the scrutiny of the neighboring [[Roman Empire]]. After an attack by the Dacians on the [[Roman province]] of [[Moesia]] in 87 AD, the Romans led a series of wars ([[Dacian Wars]]) which eventually led to the victory of Emperor [[Trajan]] in 106&nbsp;AD, and transformed the core of the kingdom into the province of [[Roman Dacia]].<ref>{{Citeweb|title =Assorted Imperial Battle Descriptions|publisher =De Imperatoribus Romanis, An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors|url =http://www.roman-emperors.org/assobd.htm#s-inx|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>
Hate is often used loosely to describe others' feelings towards Cartman. Kyle, along with several more minor characters typically refuse if Cartman asks them a favor, responding with the simple line, "Because I hate you," or a similar variation when Cartman asks them why, a reason that he typically accepts.


Rich ore deposits were found in the province, and especially gold and silver were plentiful.<ref>{{citeweb|title=Dacia-Province of the Roman Empire|publisher =United Nations of Roma Victor|url =http://www.unrv.com/provinces/dacia.php|text="and were found in great quantities in the [[Western Carpathians]]. After Trajan's conquest, he brought back to Rome over 165 tons of gold and 330 tons of silver"|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> which led to Rome heavily colonizing the province.<ref>{{citebook|last=Deletant|first=Dennis|title=Colloquial Romanian|publisher=Routledge|date=1995|location=New York|pages =1|isbn=9780415129008}}</ref> This brought the [[Vulgar Latin]] and started a period of intense [[romanization]], that would give birth to the proto-[[Romanian language|Romanian]].<ref>{{citebook|last=Matley|first=Ian| title=Romania; a Profile |publisher=Praeger|date=1970|pages=85}}</ref><ref>{{citebook|last=Giurescu|first=Constantin C.|title=The Making of the Romanian People and Language|publisher=Meridiane Publishing House|date=1972|location=Bucharest|pages=43, 98-101,141}}</ref> Nevertheless, in the 3rd century AD, with the invasions of migratory populations such as [[Goths]], the [[Roman Empire]] was forced to pull out of Dacia around 271 AD, thus making it the first province to be abandoned.<ref>{{citebook|last =Eutropius|authorlink=Eutropius|coauthors=Justin, Cornelius Nepos|title=Eutropius, Abridgment of Roman History|publisher=George Bell and Sons|date=1886|location=London|url=http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/eutropius_breviarium_2_text.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb|last=Watkins|first=Thayer|title=The Economic History of the Western Roman Empire|url=http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/barbarians.htm|quote="The Emperor Aurelian recognized the realities of the military situation in Dacia and around 271 A.D. withdrew Roman troops from Dacia leaving it to the Goths. The Danube once again became the northern frontier of the Roman Empire in eastern Europe"|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>
==Concept and creation==
According to creators [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]], they thought it might be impossible to put a character like [[Archie Bunker]] on late-20th century [[television]] but decided that it might be allowed if he was an animated nine-year-old boy. Thus, Cartman was born.<ref>{{cite interview|url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?id=12881|title=Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript |accessdate=2007-02-08|date=[[2002-03-01]]|subject=Trey Parker|subject2=Matt Stone}}</ref>


Several competing theories have been generated to explain the [[Origin of Romanians|origin of modern Romanians]]. Linguistic and geo-historical analysis tend to indicate that [[Romanians]] have coalesced as a major ethnic group both South and North of the [[Danube]].<ref>{{citeweb|last=Ghyka|first=Matila |title=A Documented Chronology of Roumanian History|place=Oxford|publisher =B. H. Blackwell Ltd.|year=1841| url=http://www.vlachophiles.net/ghika.htm| archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070125091613/http://www.vlachophiles.net/ghika.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31|archivedate=2007-01-25}}</ref> ''For further discussion, see [[Origin of Romanians]].''
===Friendship with Stan===
Out of Stan Kyle and Kenny, Stan would be Cartmans best friend out of the lot but always while Kyles not around, Stan never seems to bother Cartman that much at all, but while theres a brawl from him and Kyle, it pisses him off when Stan takes Kyles side. It seems to Cartman that he seems to tease Stan the least, only sometimes when he acts like a pussy.


== Catchphrases ==
===Middle Ages ===
{{Main|Romania in the Early Middle Ages|Romania in the Middle Ages}}
Aside from Cartman's recurring antisemetic comments towards [[Jew|Jews]], one of his favorite catch phrases is "Screw you guys, I'm going home". When opposed to ideas by the other boys, to Kyle he often says "Shut your Jew mouth". Upon winning or beating somebody in a challenge Cartman will give a signature laugh "Nah nah nah nah ''naah'' nah, heh heh heh heh ''hehh'' heh!" One of Cartman's most famous phrases <ref>{{cite broadcast|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695|title=NPR article on Eric Cartman|accessdate=9/12/2008|date=9/12/2008}}</ref>, when he is attempting to exert his will upon others, is to say, "Respect my authority", pronounced "mah authoritah", in his [[American South|southern]] [[accent]]. When called fat, he often replies by stating, "I'm not fat, I'm big boned!"<ref>{{cite broadcast|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89375695|title=NPR article on Eric Cartman|accessdate=9/12/2008|date=9/12/2008}}</ref> Additionally, whenever he asks his mom to do something for him, in many cases an outrageous request such as signing him up for the Special Olympics despite his lack of a disability, he will try to put a thin sugar-coat on the request, and after being denied, say, "But, Mooooom!"
After the Roman army and administration left Dacia, the territory was invaded by the [[Goths]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Jordanes|authorlink=Jordanes|title = Getica, sive, De Origine Actibusque Gothorum|year =551 A.D.|location =Constantinople|url=http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedrich/Goths/Goths1.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> then, in the 4th century by [[Huns]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Iliescu| first=Vl.|last2=Paschale| first2=Chronicon| title=Fontes Historiae Daco-Romanae|volume=II|pages=363, 587|place=Bucureşti|year=1970}}</ref> They were followed by more nomads including [[Gepids]],<ref name=gepids/><ref>{{Cite web|first=István|last=Bóna|editor-last=Köpeczi|editor-first = Béla|title=History of Transylvania: II.3. The Kingdom of the Gepids|volume=1|publisher=Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences| distributor=[[Columbia University Press]]|place=New York|year=2001|url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/33.html|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> [[Eurasian Avars|Avars]],<ref>{{Cite web| first=István | last=Bóna| editor-last = Köpeczi| editor-first = Béla | title = History of Transylvania: II.4. The Period of the Avar Rule| volume = 1| publisher = Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences| distributor = Columbia University Press| place = New York| year = 2001| url = http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/41.html|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> [[Bulgars]],<ref name=gepids>{{cite book|last=Teodor|first=Dan Gh.|title=Istoria României de la începuturi până în secolul al VIII-lea|year =1995|location =Bucureşti|pages=294-325 |volume=2}}</ref> [[Pechenegs]],<ref>{{cite book| last =Constantine VII| first =Porphyrogenitus| authorlink =Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus| title =Constantine Porphyrogenitus De Administrando Imperio|date=950| location =Constantinople| url =http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/rus/texts/constp.html|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> and [[Cumans]].<ref>{{Cite book|last =Xenopol|first =Alexandru D.|title =Histoire des Roumains|place=Paris|year =1896|volume =i|pages=168}}</ref>


[[Image:Bran Castle.jpg|thumb|[[Bran Castle]] was built in 1212, and became commonly known as ''Dracula's Castle'' after the myths that it the home of [[Vlad III Dracula]].]]
==In popular culture==
In the [[Middle Ages]], Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: [[Wallachia]] ([[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''Ţara Românească''—"Romanian Land"), [[Moldavia]] ([[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''Moldova'') and [[Transylvania]]. By the 11th century, Transylvania became a largely autonomous part of the [[Kingdom of Hungary]],<ref>{{Cite web|first=László|last=Makkai|editor-last = Köpeczi|editor-first = Béla |title = History of Transylvania: III. Transylvania in the Medieval Hungarian Kingdom (896–1526)|volume = 1|publisher = Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences|distributor = Columbia University Press|place = New York|year = 2001|url = http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/57.html|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> and became the independent as [[Principality of Transylvania]] from the 16th century,<ref>{{Cite web|editor-last = Köpeczi|editor-first = Béla|title = History of Transylvania: IV. The First Period of the Principality of Transylvania (1526–1606) |volume = 1|publisher = Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences|distributor = Columbia University Press|place = New York|year = 2001|url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/97.html|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> until 1711.<ref>{{citebook|first=Ágnes R.|last=Várkonyi|editor-last = Köpeczi|editor-first = Béla |title = History of Transylvania: VI. The Last Decades of the Independent Principality (1660–1711)|volume = 2|publisher = Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences|distributor = Columbia University Press|place = New York|year = 2001|url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/221.html|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> In the other [[Romanian principalities]], many small local states with varying degrees of independence developed, but only in the 14th century the larger principalities Wallachia (1310) and Moldavia (around 1352) emerged to fight a threat of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book|last =Ştefănescu|first =Ştefan |title =Istoria medie a României|year =1991|location =Bucharest|volume =I|pages=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last =Predescu|first =Lucian |title =Enciclopedia Cugetarea|year =1940}}</ref>
*Cartman was placed tenth on [[TV Guide]]'s 2002 list of the "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/30/cartoon.characters.list/|title=TV Guide's 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time|accessdate=2007-08-25|date=[[2002-07-30]]|publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref> In 2003, he was chosen as one of "[[VH1]]'s 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons", at number 198.<ref name="pop"/>


By 1541, the entire [[Balkan peninsula]] and most of [[Hungary]] became Ottoman provinces. In contrast, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, came under Ottoman [[suzerainty]], but conserved fully internal autonomy and, until the 18th century, some external independence. During this period the Romanian lands were characterised by the slow disappearance of the [[feudalism|feudal]] system; the distinguishment of some rulers like [[Stephen III of Moldavia|Stephen the Great]], [[Vasile Lupu]], and [[Dimitrie Cantemir]] in Moldavia, [[Matei Basarab]], [[Vlad III the Impaler]], and [[Constantin Brâncoveanu]] in Wallachia, [[Gabriel Bethlen]] in [[Principality of Transylvania|Transylvania]]; the [[Phanariot|Phanariot Epoch]]; and the appearance of the [[Russian Empire]] as a political and military influence.
*In 2005, Cartman was ranked number nineteen on [[Bravo (television network)|Bravo]]'s 100 Greatest TV Characters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters//index.shtml|title=The 100 Greatest TV Characters|publisher=[[Bravo (television network)|Bravo]]|accessdate=2007-08-25}}</ref>


[[Image:Mihai 1600.png|thumb|left|Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania at the end of the 16th century]]
*Between late 1998 and early 1999, [[World Wrestling Entertainment|World Wrestling Federation]] wrestler [[John Tenta]] was given the [[List of professional wrestling slang#G|gimmick]] and name "Golga" which involved him wearing South Park t-shirts and carrying a Cartman doll to the ring.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/j/john-tenta.html |title=John Tenta |accessdate=2008-03-08 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/o/oddities.html |title=Oddities |accessdate=2008-03-08 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling}}</ref>
In 1600, the principalities of Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania were simultaneously headed by the [[prince of Wallachia|Wallachian prince]] [[Mihai Viteazul|Michael the Brave]] (''Mihai Viteazul''), [[Ban (title)|Ban]] of [[Oltenia]], but the chance for a unity dissolved after Mihai was killed, only one year later, by the soldiers of an [[Habsburg Monarchy|Austrian]] army general [[Giorgio Basta]]. Mihai Viteazul, who was prince of Transylvania for less than one year, intended for the first time to unite the three principalities and to lay down foundations of a single state in a territory comparable to today's Romania.<ref>{{cite journal|language=Romanian|last =Rezachevici|first =Constantin|title =Mihai Viteazul: itinerariul moldovean|year =2000|journal=Magazin istoric|issue =5 |url =http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi2000/current5/mi5.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>


After his death, as vassal tributary states, [[Moldova]] and [[Wallachia]] had complete internal autonomy and an external independence, which was finally lost in the 18th century. In 1699, Transylvania became a territory of the [[Habsburg Monarchy|Habsburgs']] Austrian empire, following the Austrian victory over the Turks. The Austrians, in their turn, rapidly expanded their empire: in 1718 an important part of Wallachia, called [[Oltenia]], was incorporated to the Austrian monarchy and was only returned in 1739. In 1775, the Austrian empire occupied the north-western part of Moldavia, later called [[Bukovina]], while the eastern half of the principality (called [[Bessarabia]]) was occupied in 1812 by Russia.
*Cartman's "[http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=150368&title=you-will-respect-my-authoritah You Will Respect My Authoritah!]" scene in the "[[Chickenlover]]" episode [http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/203/ May 20, 1998.] appeared on [[The Daily Show]] with [[Jon Stewart]].


===Independence and monarchy===
*[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] used Cartman to introduce the starting line-ups of a [[Colorado Buffaloes]] game on November 24, 2007. Cartman also appears on screen between play at [[Los Angeles Kings]] games.
{{main|Early Modern Romania|National awakening of Romania|Romanian War of Independence|Kingdom of Romania}}
During the period of [[Austro-Hungarian Empire|Austro-Hungarian]] rule in [[Transylvania]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] suzerainty over [[Wallachia]] and [[Moldavia]], most [[Romanians]] were in the situation of being [[Supplex Libellus Valachorum|second-class citizens]] (or even non-citizens)<ref>{{citeweb|publisher =GenealogyRO Group|title =The Magyarization Process|url= http://www.genealogy.ro/cont/13.htm |accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> in a territory where they formed the majority of the population.<ref>{{citebook|last =Kocsis |first =Karoly |last2 =Kocsis-Hodosi |first2 =Eszter| year =1999 |title =Ethnic structure of the population on the present territory of Transylvania (1880-1992)|url =http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/hmcb/Tab14.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kocsis |first =Karoly|last2 =Kocsis-Hodosi |first2 =Eszter|title =Ethnic Geography of the Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin|year =2001|pages =102|publisher =Simon Publications|isbn =193131375X}}</ref> In some Transylvanian cities, such as [[Braşov]] (at that time the [[Transylvanian Saxons|Transylvanian Saxon]] citadel of Kronstadt), Romanians were [[Transylvanian Memorandum|not even allowed]] to reside within the city walls.<ref>{{Cite book|last =Prodan|first =David |title =Supplex Libellus Valachorum= Or, The Politicle Struggle of Romanians in Transylvania During the 18th Century|publisher=Academy of Social Republic of Romania|year =1971|location =Bucharest}}</ref>


After the failed [[Revolutions of 1848|1848 Revolution]], the [[Great Powers]] did not support the Romanians' expressed desire to officially unite in a single state, forcing Romania to proceed alone against the [[Ottoman]]s. The electors in both [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] chose in 1859 the same person&ndash;[[Alexander John Cuza|Alexandru Ioan Cuza]] &ndash; as [[Romanian heads of state|prince]] (''[[Domnitor]]'' in [[Romanian language|Romanian]]).<ref>{{Cite book|last =Bobango|first =Gerald J|title =The emergence of the Romanian national State|publisher =Boulder|year =1979|location =New York|isbn = 9780914710516}}</ref> Thus, Romania was created as a personal union, albeit a Romania that did not include Transylvania. Here, the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly Hungarian, and the Romanian nationalism inevitably ran up against Hungarian one in the late 19th century. As in the previous 900 years, Austria-Hungary, especially under the [[History of Hungary|Dual Monarchy]] of 1867, kept the Hungarians firmly in control even in parts of Transylvania where Romanians constituted a local majority.
*In the [[Powerpuff Girls]] episode "Imaginary Fiend", when [[Blossom]] was tripped and landed in the coat rack, she ended up dressed like Cartman. She also said "Uh he tripped me, seriously".
*Cartman's head can be seen in the Head Museum in ''[[Futurama: Bender's Big Score]]'' and on a T-shirt worn by Bart Simpson in [[The Bart Book]].


In a 1866 ''coup d'état'', [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza|Cuza]] was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of [[Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]], who became known as [[Prince Carol of Romania]]. During the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78|Russo-Turkish War]] Romania fought on the Russian side,<ref>{{Citeweb|language|Russian|title =San Stefano Preliminary Treaty|year =1878|url =http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/FOREIGN/stefano.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> in and in the [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|1878 Treaty of Berlin]], Romania was recognized as an [[Romanian War of Independence|independent]] state by the [[Great Powers]].<ref>{{Cite book|work=Internet Modern History Sourcebook|title=The Treaty of Berlin, 1878 - Excerpts on the Balkans|date=July 13, 1878|place=Berlin|url =http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1878berlin.html|accessdate=2008-08-31|publisher=Fordham University}}</ref><ref> {{Cite journal|last =Patterson|first =Michelle|title =The Road to Romanian Independence|journal =Canadian Journal of History|date=August 1996|url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3686/is_199608/ai_n8755098|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> In return, Romania ceded three southern districts of [[Bessarabia]] to Russia and acquired [[Dobruja]]. In 1881, the [[principality]] was raised to a [[monarchy|kingdom]] and Prince Carol became [[Monarch|King]] [[Carol I]].
*The morning radio comedy duet [[Walton and Johnson]] often include Cartman sound clips in their bumper music.
[[Image:Romanians before WW1.jpg|thumb|Territories inhabited by Romanians before WWI]]

The 1878-1914 period was one of [[Kingdom of Romania|stability and progress]] for Romania. During the [[Second Balkan War]], Romania joined [[Greece]], [[Serbia]], [[Montenegro]] and [[Turkey]] against [[Bulgaria]], and in the peace [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)]] Romania gained [[Southern Dobrudja]].<ref>{{Cite book|last =Anderson|first =Frank Maloy|last2 =Hershey|first2 =Amos Shartle|title =Handbook for the Diplomatic History of Europe, Asia, and Africa 1870-1914|publisher =Government Printing Office|year =1918|location =Washington D.C.}}</ref>

===World Wars and Greater Romania===
;(1916-1947)
{{main article|Romanian Campaign (World War I)|Greater Romania|Romania during World War II}}

In August 1914, when [[World War I]] broke out, Romania declared [[Neutral country|neutrality]]. Two years later, under the pressure of Allies (especially France desperate to open a new front), on August 14/27 1916 it joined the Allies, for which they were promised support for the accomplishment of national unity, Romania declared war on [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref>{{Cite web|last =Horne|first =Charles F.|year =Horne|title =Ion Bratianu's Declaration of War Delivered to the Austrian Minister in Romania on August 28, 1916|volume =V|publisher =Source Records of the Great War|url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/romaniawardeclaration.htm|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

The [[Romanian Campaign (World War I)|Romanian military campaign]] ended in disaster for Romania as the [[Central Powers]] conquered two-thirds of the country and captured or killed the majority of its [[Romanian Army|army]] within four months. Nevertheless, [[Moldova]] remained in Romanian hands after the invading forces were stopped in 1917 and since by the war's end, Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had collapsed, [[Bessarabia]], [[Bukovina]] and [[Transylvania]] were allowed to unite with the [[Kingdom of Romania]] in 1918. By the 1920 [[Treaty of Trianon]], [[Hungary]] renounced in favour of Romania all the claims of the [[Austro-Hungarian Monarchy]] over [[Transylvania]].<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Trianon|title=Text of the Treaty of Trianon|publisher=World War I Document Archive|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The union of Romania with [[Bukovina]] was ratified in 1919 in the [[Treaty of Saint Germain]],<ref>{{citebook||title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia|author=Bernard Anthony Cook|page=162|isbn=0815340575|year=2001|publisher=Taylor&Francis|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> and with [[Bessarabia]] in 1920 by the [[Treaty of Paris (1920)|Treaty of Paris]].<ref>{{citejournal|title=The Legal Status of the Bukovina and Bessarabia|author=Malbone W. Graham|journal=The American Journal of International Law|date=October 1944|volume=38|issue=4|publisher=American Society of International Law|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2192802|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

The Romanian expression [[România Mare]] (literal translation "Great Romania", but more commonly rendered "Greater Romania") generally refers to the Romanian state in the [[interwar period]], and by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time (see map). Romania achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent (almost {{convert|300000|km2|sqmi|disp=s|abbr=on}}),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.ici.ro/history/ist08.htm|language=Romanian|title=Statul National Unitar (România Mare 1919 - 1940)publisher=ici.ro|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> managing to unite all the historic Romanian lands.

[[Image:Romania territory during 20th century.gif|thumb|left|Romanian territory during the 20th century: purple indicates the Old Kingdom before 1913, orange indicates Greater Romania areas that joined or were annexed after the [[Second Balkan War]] and [[World War I|WWI]] but were lost after [[World War II|WWII]], and pink indicates areas that joined Romania after WWI and remained so after WWII.]]

During the Second World War, Romania tried again to remain neutral, but on June 28, 1940, it received a [[June 1940 Soviet Ultimatum|Soviet ultimatum]] with an implied threat of [[invasion]] in the event of non-compliance.<ref name="ultimatum">{{cite book|url=http://www.unibuc.ro/eBooks/istorie/istorie1918-1940/13-4.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071113170140/http://www.unibuc.ro/eBooks/istorie/istorie1918-1940/13-4.htm|language=Romanian| archivedate=2007-11-13|title= Soviet Ultimata and Replies of the Romanian Government|author= Ioan Scurtu, Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu, Georgiana Margareta Scurtu|title=Istoria Românilor între anii 1918-1940|language=Romanian|publisher=University of Bucharest|year=2002}}</ref> Under pressure from [[Moscow]] and [[Berlin]], the Romanian administration and the army were forced to retreat from [[Bessarabia]] as well from [[Northern Bukovina]] to avoid war.<ref>{{cite book|last=Goma|first=Paul|title=Săptămâna Roşie|date=2006|page=23|url=http://paulgoma.free.fr/dl_links/publicistica/saptamana_rosie.php|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nagy-Talavera|first=Nicolas M.|title=Green Shirts and Others: a History of Fascism in Hungary and Romania|publisher=Hoover Institution Press|date=1970|page=305}}</ref> This, in combination with other factors, prompted the government to join the [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis]]. Thereafter, southern [[Dobruja]] was awarded to Bulgaria, while Hungary received [[Northern Transylvania]] as result of an [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis]] arbitration.<ref>{{citejournal|author=M. Broszat|language=German|title=Deutschland — Ungarn — Rumänien. Entwicklung und Grundfaktoren nationalsozialistischer Hegemonial- und Bündnispolitik 1938-1941|journal=[[Historische Zeitschrift]]|issue=206|year=1968|pages=552–553}}</ref> The authoritarian [[Carol II of Romania|King Carol II]] [[abdicated]] in 1940, succeeded by the [[National Legionary State]], in which power was shared by [[Ion Antonescu]] and the [[Iron Guard]]. Within months, Antonescu had crushed the [[Iron Guard]], and the subsequent year Romania entered the war on the side of the [[Axis powers of World War II|Axis powers]]. During the war, Romania was the most important source of oil for [[Nazi Germany]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2worldwar2.com/mistakes.htm#ploesti|title=The Biggest Mistakes In World War 2:Ploesti - the most important target|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> which attracted [[Operation Tidal Wave|multiple bombing raids]] by the [[Allies]]. By means of the [[Operation Barbarossa|Axis invasion of the Soviet Union]], Romania recovered Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from the Soviet Russia, under the leadership of general [[Ion Antonescu]]. The Antonescu regime played a major role in the [[Holocaust]],<ref>''Note: follow the World War II link'':
{{cite report||editor=Ronald D. Bachman||title=Romania:World War II|accessdate=2008-08-31|edition=2|publisher=Library of Congress.Federal Research Division|location=Washington D.C.|oclc=DR205.R613 1990|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rotoc.html|date=2005-11-09|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> following to a lesser extent the [[Nazi]] policy of oppression and massacre of the [[Jew]]s, and [[Roma people|Roma]]s, primarily in the Eastern territories Romania recovered or occupied from the Soviet Union ([[Transnistria (World War II)|Transnistria]]) and in [[Moldavia]].<ref>{{citeweb|quote=“no country, besides Germany, was involved in massacres of Jews on such a scale.”|author=[[Raul Hilberg]]|publisher=International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania|title=Executive Summary: Historical Findings and Recommendations|coauthors=Yad Vashem|year=2004|url=http://yad-vashem.org.il/about_yad/what_new/data_whats_new/pdf/english/EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

In August 1944, Antonescu was toppled and arrested by King [[Michael I of Romania]]. Romania changed sides and joined the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], but its role in the defeat of [[Nazi Germany]] was not recognized by the [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|Paris Peace Conference]] of 1947.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/5/38D4D252-BE7E-4943-A6A9-4E3C1B32A05F.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070930033400/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/5/38D4D252-BE7E-4943-A6A9-4E3C1B32A05F.html|archivedate=2007-09-30|title=World War II &ndash; 60 Years After: Former Romanian Monarch Remembers Decision To Switch Sides|author=Eugen Tomiuc|date=May 6, 2005|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> With the [[Red Army]] forces still stationed in the country and exerting ''de facto'' control, [[communism|Communists]] and their allied parties claimed 80% of the vote, through a combination of vote manipulation,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rotoc.html#ro0037|publisher=Federal research Division, Library of Congress|title=Romania: Country studies - Chapter 1.7.1 "Petru Groza's Premiership"|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> elimination, and forced mergers of competing parties, thus establishing themselves as the dominant force. By the end of the war, the Romanian army had suffered about 300,000 casualties.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Clodfelter|title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts- A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500-2000|edition=2|year=2002|pages=582|isbn=0-7864-1204-6}}</ref>

===Communism===
; (1947&ndash;1989)
{{main|Communist Romania}}
In 1947, [[Michael I of Romania|King Michael I]] was forced by the Communists to abdicate and leave the country, Romania was proclaimed a [[republic]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html|publisher=CIA - The World Factbook|title=Romania|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ed-u.com/ro.html|title=Romania - Country Background and Profile|publisher=ed-u.com|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> and remained under direct military and economic control of the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's resources were drained by the "[[SovRom]]" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established to mask the looting of Romania by the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Carmen|last=Rîjnoveanu|title=Romania's Policy of Autonomy in the Context of the Sino-Soviet Conflict|year=2003|pages=1|publisher=Czech Republic Military History Institute, Militärgeschichtliches Forscheungamt|url= http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/07autredossiers/groupetravailhistoiremilitaire/pdfs/2003-gthm.pdf|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{Citebook|last=Roper|first=Stephen D.|title=Romania: The Unfinished Revolution|place=London|publisher=Routledge|year=2000|isbn=9058230279|pages=18}}</ref><ref>{{Citebook|last=Cioroianu|first=Adrian|author-link=Adrian Cioroianu|title="On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism"|language=Romanian|publisher=Editura Curtea Veche|year =2005|location=Bucharest|pages=68–73|isbn=9736691756}}</ref>

After the negotiated retreat of Soviet troops in 1958, Romania, under the new leadership of [[Nicolae Ceauşescu]], started to pursue independent policies such as: being the only [[Warsaw Pact]] country to condemn the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of [[Czechoslovakia]], and to continue diplomatic relations with [[Israel]] after the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967; establishing economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the [[Federal Republic of Germany]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/75.htm|publisher=countrystudies.us|title=Romania: Soviet Union and Eastern Europe|publisher=Country Studies.us|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Also, close ties with the [[Arab]] countries (and the [[PLO]]) allowed Romania to play a key role in the [[Israel]]-[[Egypt]] and Israel-[[PLO]] peace processes.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/80.htm |publisher=countrystudies.us| title=Middle East policies in Communist Romania|publisher=Country Studies.us|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> But as Romania's foreign debt sharply increased between 1977 and 1981 (from 3 to 10 billion US dollars),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Deletant|first =Dennis|title=New Evidence on Romania and the Warsaw Pact, 1955-1989|publisher=Cold War International History Project e-Dossier Series|url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=16367&group_id=13349|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> the influence of international financial organisations such as the [[IMF]] or the [[World Bank]] grew, conflicting with [[Nicolae Ceauşescu]]'s [[autarky|autarchic]] policies. He eventually initiated a project of total reimbursement of the foreign debt by imposing policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy, while also greatly extending the authority [[Securitate|police state]], and imposing a [[cult of personality]]. These led to a dramatic decrease in Ceauşescu-popularity and culminated in his overthrow and execution in the bloody [[Romanian Revolution of 1989]].

During the 1947&ndash;1962 period, many people were arbitrarily killed or imprisoned for political, economic or unknown reasons:<ref>{{Citebook|last =Caraza|first =Grigore|title =Aiud însângerat|publisher =Editura Vremea XXI|year=2004|volume=Chapter IV|isbn=9736450503|language=Romanian}}</ref> detainees in prisons or camps, deported, persons under house arrest, and administrative detainees. There were hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a large range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens.<ref>{{cite book|author=Cicerone Ioniţoiu|title=Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestaţi, torturaţi, întemniţaţi, ucişi. Dicţionar|publisher=Editura Maşina de scris|location=Bucharest|year=2000 |isbn= 973-99994-2-5|language=Romanian}}</ref> Between 60,000 and 80,000 political prisoners were detained as psychiatric patients and treated in some of the most sadistic ways by doctors.<ref>{{citebook|publisher=[[S.R.I.]]|title="Cartea albă a Securităţii"|volume=2|year=1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej|title=Speech at the Plenary session of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party'|date=1961-09-30}}</ref> It is estimated that, it total, two million people were direct victims of the communism repression.<ref>{{cite report|title=Recensământul populaţiei concentraţionare din România în anii 1945-1989|publisher=Centrul Internaţional de Studii asupra Comunismului|location=Sighet|year=2004|language=Romanian}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|title=Raportul Comisiei Prezidenţiale pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România|publisher=Comisia Prezidenţială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România|date=2006-12-15}}</ref>

===Present-day democracy===
{{main|Romania since 1989}}
After the revolution, the [[National Salvation Front]], led by [[Ion Iliescu]], took partial multi-party democratic and free market measures.<ref>{{cite web| last=Carothers| first= Thomas |title= Romania: The Political Background |url= http://www.idea.int/publications/country/upload/Romania,%20The%20Political%20Background.pdf |quote= "This seven-year period can be characterized as a gradualistic, often ambiguous transition away from communist rule towards democracy."|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last=Hellman| first=Joel| title= Winners Take All: The Politics of Partial Reform in Postcommunist | journal=Transitions World Politics|volume=50|issue=2|date=January 1998|pages=203–234}}</ref> Several major political parties of the pre-war era, such as the [[Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (Romania)|Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party]], the [[National Liberal Party (Romania)|National Liberal Party]] and the [[Romanian Social Democrat Party]] were resurrected. After several major political rallies, in April 1990, a sit-in protest contesting the results of the recently held parliamentary elections began in [[University Square, Bucharest]] accusing the Front of being made up of former Communists and members of the [[Securitate]]. The protesters did not recognize the results of the election, deeming them undemocratic, and asked for the exclusion from the political life of the former high-ranking Communist Party members. The protest rapidly grew to become an ongoing mass demonstration (known as the [[Golaniad]]). The peaceful demonstrations degenerated into violence, and the violent intervention of coal miners from the [[Jiu River|Jiu Valley]]led to what is remembered as the [[June 1990 Mineriad]].<ref>{{cite web| last=Bohlen | first=Celestine |title = Evolution in Europe; Romanian miners invade Bucharest|url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D6113DF936A25755C0A966958260|text= "Responding to an emergency appeal by President Ion Iliescu, thousands of miners from northern Romania descended on the capital city today"|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

The subsequent disintegration of the Front produced several political parties including the Romanian Democrat Social Party (later [[Social Democratic Party (Romania)|Social Democratic Party]]), the [[Democratic Party (Romania)|Democratic Party]] and the ([[List of political parties in Romania#Other post-1989 parties|Alliance for Romania]]). The first governed Romania from 1990 until 1996 through several coalitions and governments and with Ion Iliescu as head of state. Since then there have been three democratic changes of government: in 1996, the democratic-liberal opposition and its leader [[Emil Constantinescu]] acceded to power; in 2000 the Social Democrats returned to power, with Iliescu once again president; and in 2004 [[Traian Băsescu]] was elected president, with an electoral coalition called [[Justice and Truth|Justice and Truth Alliance]]. The government was formed by a larger coalition which also includes the [[Conservative Party (Romania)|Conservative Party]] and the [[UDMR|ethnic Hungarian party]].

Post-[[Cold War]] Romania developed closer ties with [[Western Europe]], eventually joining [[NATO]] in 2004, and hosting in Bucharest the [[2008 Bucharest summit|2008 summit]].<ref>{{Cite news|title =NATO update: NATO welcomes seven new members|url =http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/04-april/e0402a.htm|publisher=NATO|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The country applied in June 1993 for membership in the [[European Union]] and became an Associated State of the EU in 1995, an Acceding Country in 2004, and a member on January 1, 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|title=EU approves Bulgaria and Romania|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5380024.stm|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

Following the free travel agreement and politic of the post-Cold War period, as well as hardship of the life in the post 1990s economic depression, Romania has an [[Romanian diaspora|increasingly large diaspora]], estimated at over 2 million people. The main emigration targets are Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, UK, Canada and the USA.<ref name=diaspora>{{cite web|url= http://www.focus-migration.de/index.php?id=2515&L=1| title=Romania|accessdate=2008-08-28| publisher= [[focus Migration]].de}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{main|Geography of Romania}}
[[Image:Physical map of Romania.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Topographic map of Romania.]]

With a surface area of {{convert|238391|km2|sqmi|}}, Romania is the largest country in [[southeastern Europe]] and the [[List of European countries in order of geographical area|twelfth-largest]] in Europe. A large part of Romania's border with [[Serbia]] and [[Bulgaria]] is formed by the [[Danube]]. The [[Danube]] is joined by the [[Prut River]], which forms the border with the [[Republic of Moldova]]. The Danube flows into the [[Black Sea]] within Romania's territory forming the [[Danube Delta]], the second largest and the best preserved delta in Europe, and a biosphere reserve and a biodiversity [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/588|title=Danube Delta|publisher=UNESCO's World Heritage Center|accessdate=2008-01-09}}</ref> Other important rivers are the [[Siret River|Siret]], running north-south through [[Moldavia]], the [[Olt River|Olt]], running from the oriental Carpathian Mountains to [[Oltenia]], and the [[Mureş River|Mureş]], running through [[Transylvania]] from East to West.

Romania's terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountainous, hilly and lowland territories. The [[Carpathian Mountains]] dominate the center of Romania, with [[List of mountain peaks in Romania|fourteen of its mountain ranges]] reaching above the altitude of 2,000 meters. The highest mountain in Romania is [[Moldoveanu Peak]] ({{convert|2544|m|ft|disp=s|abbr=on}}). In south-central Romania, the Carpathians sweeten into hills, towards the [[Bărăgan Plain]]s. Romania's geographical diversity has led to an accompanying diversity of flora and fauna.
[[Image:Retezat near camp Bucura.JPG|thumb|left|200px|[[Lake Bucura]] in the [[Retezat Mountains]]]]

===Environment===
{{main|Protected areas of Romania}}
A high percentage of natural ecosystems (47% of the land area of the country) is covered with natural and semi-natural ecosystems.<ref name=biodiversity>{{citeweb|url=http://enrin.grida.no/biodiv/biodiv/national/romania/robiodiv.htm|title=Romania's Biodiversity|publisher=Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection of Romania|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> Since almost half of all forests in Romania (13% of the country) have been managed for watershed conservation rather than production, Romania has one of the largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe.<ref name=biodiversity/> The integrity of Romanian forest ecosystems is indicated by the presence of the full range of European forest fauna, including 60% and 40% of all European brown bears and wolves, respectively.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.envir.ee/programmid/pharecd/soes/romania/html/biodiversity/index.htm|title=State of the Environment in Romania 1998: Biodiversity|publisher=Romanian Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> There are also almost 400 unique species of mammals (of which Carpathian [[chamois]] are best known), birds, reptiles and amphibians in Romania.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/bio_cou_642.pdf|title=EarthTrends:Biodiversity and Protected Areas - Romania|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>

There are almost {{convert|10000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} (almost 5% of the total area) of protected areas in Romania.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.envir.ee/programmid/pharecd/soes/romania/html/biodiversity/ariiprot/protarea.htm|title=Protected Areas in Romania|publisher=Romanian Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> Of these, [[Danube Delta|Danube Delta Reserve Biosphere]] is the largest and least damaged wetland complex in Europe, covering a total area of {{convert|5800|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.envir.ee/programmid/pharecd/soes/romania/html/biodiversity/ariiprot/delta.htm|title=Danube Delta Reserve Biosphere|publisher=Romanian Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>
The significance of the biodiversity of the Danube Delta has been internationally recognised. It was declared a Biosphere Reserve in September 1990, a Ramsar site in May 1991, and over 50% of its area was placed on the [[World Heritage List]] in December 1991.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/588|title=Danube Delta|publisher=UNESCO's World Heritage Center|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> Within its boundaries is one of the most extensive [[reed bed]] systems in the world.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/588/video|title=NHK World Heritage 100 Series|publisher=UNESCO's World Heritage Center|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> There are two other biosphera reserves: [[Retezat National Park]] and [[Rodna Mountains|Rodna National Park]].

===Climate===
[[Image:Delta Dunarii 500.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Landscape in the [[Danube Delta]]]]
{{main|Climate of Romania}}
Owing to its distance from the open sea and position on the southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is transitional between [[temperate climate|temperate]] and [[continental climate|continental]] with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11°C (52°F) in the south and {{convert|8|°C}} in the north.<ref name=climate>{{citeweb|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/34.htm|title=Romania: Climate|publisher=U.S. Library of Congress|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> The [[Temperature extremes|extreme recorded temperatures]] are {{convert|44.5|°C}} in [[Ion Sion]] 1951 and {{convert|-38.5|°C}} in [[Bod]] 1942.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.romaniatourism.com/climate.html|title=Romania: climate|publisher=Climate|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>

Spring is pleasant with cool mornings and nights and warm days. Summers are generally very warm to hot, with summer (June to August) average maximum temperatures in Bucharest being around {{convert|28|°C}},<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Countries/Romania/Climate/|title=The monthly average climate parameters in Bucharest|publisher=WorldTravels|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> with temperatures over {{convert|35|°C}} fairly common in the lower-lying areas of the country.
Minima in Bucharest and other lower-lying areas are around {{convert|16|°C}}, but at higher altitudes both maxima and minima decline considerably. Autumn is dry and cool, with fields and trees producing colorful foliage. Winters can be cold, with average maxima even in lower-lying areas being no more than {{convert|2|°C}} and below {{convert|-15|°C}} in the highest mountains, where some areas of [[permafrost]] occur on the highest peaks.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://clic.npolar.no/disc/disc_datasets_metadata.php?s=0&desc=1&table=Datasets&id=DISC_GCMD_GGD30&tag=All&Category=&WCRP=&Location=All&stype=phrase&limit=10&q=|title=Permafrost Monitoring and Prediction in Southern Carpathians, Romania|publisher=CliC International Project Office (CIPO)|date=2004-12-22|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

Precipitation is average with over {{convert|750|mm|in|abbr=on}} per year only on the highest western mountains &mdash; much of it falling as [[snow]] which allows for an extensive skiing industry. In the south-centern parts of the country (around Bucharest) the level of precipitation drops to around {{convert|600|mm|in|abbr=on}},<ref>{{cite web|language=Romanian|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/pdf/ro/cap1.pdf|title= The 2004 Yearbook|publisher=Romanian National Institute of Statistics|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> while in the Danube Delta, rainfall levels are very low, and average only around 370 mm.

== Demographics ==
{{main|Demographics of Romania}}
According to the 2002 census, Romania has a population of 21,698,181 and, similarly to other countries in the region, is expected to gently decline in the coming years as a result of [[sub-replacement fertility rate]]s. [[Romanians]] make up 89.5% of the population. The largest [[Minorities of Romania|ethnic minorities]] are [[Hungarian minority in Romania|Hungarians]], who make up 6.6% of the population and [[Roma minority in Romania|Roma]], or Gypsies, who make up 2.46% of the population. By the official census 535,250 [[Romani people|Roma]] live in Romania.<ref group=note>2002 census data, based on [http://www.recensamant.ro/pagini/tabele/t47.pdf Population by ethnicity], gives a total of 535,250 Roma in Romania. This figure is disputed by other sources, because at the local level, many Roma declare a different ethnicity (mostly Romanian, but also Hungarian in the West and Turkish in Dobruja) for fear of discrimination. Many are not recorded at all, since they [http://www.edrc.ro/docs/docs/Romii_din_Romania.pdf do not have ID cards]. International sources give higher figures than the official census([http://europeandcis.undp.org/uploads/public/File/rbec_web/vgr/chapter1.1.pdf [[UNDP]]'s Regional Bureau for Europe], [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/EXTROMA/0,,contentMDK:20333806~menuPK:615999~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:615987,00.html World Bank], {{cite web|url=http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/publications/msd/journal/issue25/25-pages154-164.pdf |title=International Association for Official Statistics|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080226202154/http://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/publications/msd/journal/issue25/25-pages154-164.pdf|archivedate=2008-02-26}}.</ref><ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-02-01-roma-europe_x.htm|publisher=usatoday|title=European effort spotlights plight of the Roma|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Hungarians, who are a sizeable minority in [[Transylvania]], constitute a majority in the counties of [[Harghita County|Harghita]] and [[Covasna County|Covasna]]. [[Ukrainians of Romania|Ukrainians]], [[Germans of Romania|Germans]], [[Lipovans]], [[Turks of Romania|Turks]], [[Tatars of Romania|Tatars]], [[Serbs of Romania|Serbs]], [[Slovaks of Romania|Slovaks]], [[Banat Bulgarians|Bulgarians]], [[Croats of Romania|Croats]], [[Greeks of Romania|Greeks]], [[Russians]], [[History of the Jews in Romania|Jews]], [[Czechs of Romania|Czechs]], [[Polish minority in Romania|Poles]], [[Italians of Romania|Italians]], [[Armenians in Romania|Armenians]], as well as other ethnic groups, account for the remaining 1.4% of the population.<ref name="census">{{cite report|url=http://www.recensamant.ro/pagini/rezultate.html|title=Official site of the results of the 2002 Census|language=Romanian|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The number of Romanians and individuals with ancestors born in Romania living abroad is estimated at around 12 million.<ref name=diaspora/>

The official language of Romania is [[Romanian language|Romanian]], an [[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance language]] related to [[Italian language|Italian]], [[French language|French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Catalan language|Catalan]]. Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91% of the population, with [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] and [[Rroma minority in Romania|Rroma]], being the most important minority languages, spoken by 6.7% and 1.1% of the population, respectively.<ref name="census" /> Until the 1990s, there was also a substantial number of German-speaking [[Transylvanian Saxons]], even though many have since emigrated to Germany, leaving only 45,000 native German speakers in Romania. In localities where a given ethnic minority makes up more than 20% of the population, that minority's language can be used in the public administration and justice system, while native-language education and signage is also provided. [[English language|English]] and [[French language|French]] are the main foreign languages taught in schools. English is spoken by 5 million Romanians, French is spoken by 4-5 million, and German, Italian and Spanish are each spoken by 1-2 million people.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.anis.ro/index.php?page=afaceri&sec=afaceri_avantaje&lang=ro|title=Outsourcing IT în România|language=Romanian|publisher=Owners Association of the Software and Service Industry|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Historically, French was the predominant foreign language spoken in Romania, even though English has since superseded it. Consequently, Romanian English-speakers tend to be younger than Romanian French-speakers. Romania is, however, a full member of [[La Francophonie]], and hosted the Francophonie Summit in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.francophonie.org/doc/doc-historique/chronologie-oif.pdf|language=French|format=pfd|title=Chronology of the International Organization La Francophonie|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> German has been taught predominantly in Transylvania, due to traditions tracing back to the Austro-Hungarian rule in this province.

=== Religion ===
[[Image:Putna Monastery.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Putna Monastery]]]]
{{main|Religion in Romania|Romanian Orthodox Church}}
Romania is a [[secular state]], thus having no [[state religion|national religion]]. The dominant religious body is the [[Romanian Orthodox Church]], an [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] church within the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[full communion|communion]]; its members make up 86.7% of the population according to the 2002 census. Other important [[Christian denomination]]s include [[Roman Catholicism in Romania|Roman Catholicism]] (4.7%), [[Protestantism]] (3.7%), [[Pentecostalism]] (1.5%) and the [[Romanian Greek-Catholic Church]] (0.9%).<ref name="census" /> Romania also has a historically significant [[Islam in Romania|Muslim]] minority concentrated in [[Dobruja|Dobrogea]], mostly of Turkish ethnicity and numbering 67,500 people.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.recensamant.ro/datepr/tbl6.html|title=Romanian Census Website with population by religion|publisher=Recensamant.ro|accessdate=2008-01-01}}</ref> Based on the 2002 census data, there are also 6,179 [[History of the Jews in Romania|Jews]], 23,105 people who are of no religion and/or [[atheism|atheist]], and 11,734 who refused to answer. On December 27, 2006, a new Law on Religion was approved under which religious denominations can only receive official registration if they have at least 20,000 members, or about 0.1 percent of Romania's total population.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.bosnewslife.com/europe/romania/2674-romania-president-approves-europes-worst/|title=Romania President Approves Europe's "Worst Religion Law"|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

=== Largest cities ===
[[Image:Cluj center.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Cluj-Napoca]]]]
{{main|Metropolitan areas in Romania}}
[[Bucharest]] is the capital and the largest city in Romania. At the census in 2002, its population was over 1.9 million.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1186654811&men=gcis&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-182&srt=pnan&col=aohdqcfbeimg&pt=c&va=&srt=1pnan| |publisher=World Gazetteer|title=Population of the largest cities and towns in Romania|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The [[List of Metropolitan Areas in Romania|metropolitan area]] of [[Metropolitan Zone of Bucharest|Bucharest]] has a population of about 2.2 million. There are several plans to increase further its metropolitan area to about 20 times the area of the [[city proper]].<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.romanialibera.ro/a94321/zona-metropolitana-bucuresti-va-fi-gata-peste-10-ani.html|title=Metropolitan Zone of Bucharest will be ready in 10 years|publisher=''Romania Libera''|language=Romanian|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb|language=Romanian|url=http://www.zmb.ro/main.php|title=Official site of Metropolitan Zone of Bucharest Project|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

There are 5 more cities in Romania, with a population of around 300,000, that are also present in [[Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits|EU top 100 most populous cities]]. These are: [[Iaşi]], [[Cluj-Napoca]], [[Timişoara]], [[Constanţa]], and [[Craiova]]. The other cities with populations over 200,000 are [[Galaţi]], [[Braşov]], [[Ploieşti]], [[Brăila]] and [[Oradea]]. Another 13 cities have populations over 100,000.<ref name=population/>

At present, several of the largest cities have a [[Metropolitan areas in Romania|metropolitan area]]: [[Constanţa metropolitan area|Constanţa]] (550,000 people), [[Braşov metropolitan area|Braşov]], [[Iaşi metropolitan area|Iaşi]] (both with around 400,000) and [[Oradea metropolitan area|Oradea]] (260,000) and several others are planned: [[Timişoara metropolitan area|Timişoara]] (400,000), [[Cluj-Napoca metropolitan area|Cluj-Napoca]] (400,000), [[Cantemir metropolitan area|Brăila-Galaţi]] (600,000), [[Craiova]] (370,000), [[Bacău]] and [[Ploieşti]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zmi.ro/de/zmi_context_romania.html|title=Map of Romanian municipalities that can have metorpolitan areas in maroon|zmi.com|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

=== Education ===
[[Image:The University of Bucharest Library.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The library of [[University of Bucharest]]]]
{{main|Romanian Educational System}}
Since the [[Romanian Revolution of 1989]], the Romanian education system has been in a continuous process of [[reform]]ation that has been both praised and criticized.<ref>{{cite report|publisher=UNESCO|url=http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/romania/rapport_1.html|title=The Romanian Educational Policy in Transition|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> According to the Law on Education adopted in 1995, the Educational System is regulated by the [[Ministry of Education and Research of Romania|Ministry of Education and Research]]. Each level has its own form of organization and is subject to different legislations. [[Kindergarten]] is optional between 3 and 6 years old. [[School]]ing starts at age 7 (sometimes 6), and is compulsory until the 10th grade (which usually corresponds to the age of 17 or 16).<ref>{{cite report|publisher=UNESCO|url=http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/romania/rapport_2.html|title=The Romanian Educational Policy in Transition|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> [[Primary school|Primary]] and [[Secondary school|secondary]] education are divided in 12 or 13 grades. [[Higher education]] is aligned onto the [[European higher education area]].

Aside from the official schooling system, and the recently-added private equivalents, there exists a semi-legal, informal, fully [[Tutoring#Private tutoring|private tutoring]] system (''meditaţii''). Tutoring is mostly used during [[Secondary school|secondary]] as a preparation for the various examinations, which are notoriously difficult. Tutoring is wide-spread, and it can be considered a part of the Education System. It has subsisted and even prospered during the Communist regime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genderomania.ro/book_gender_post/part1/Anca_Gheaus.pdf| title=LIMITED RELEVANCE. WHAT FEMINISTS CAN LEARN FROM THE EASTERN EXPERIENCE|format=pdf|accessdate=2008-08-25|publisher=genderomania.ro}}</ref>

In 2004, some 4.4 million of the population was enrolled in school. Out of these, 650,000 in kindergarten, 3.11 million (14% of population) in primary and secondary level, and 650,000 (3% of population) in tertiary level (universities).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/pdf/ro/cap8.pdf|title=Romanian Institute of Statistics Yearbook - Chapter 8|language=Romanian|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> In the same year, the adult literacy rate was 97.3% (45th worldwide), while the combined gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools was 75% (52nd worldwide).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf |title= UN Human Development Report 2006|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070202212856/http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf |format=pdf|archivedate=2007-02-02}}</ref> The results of the [[PISA]] assessment study in schools for the year 2000 placed Romania on the 34th rank out of 42 participant countries with a general weighted score of 432 representing 85% of the mean [[OECD]] score.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.edu.ro/index.php?module=uploads&func=download&fileId=1958|title=OECD International Program for Evaluation of Students, National Report|location=Bucureşti|year=2002|pages=10—15|publisher=Romanian Ministry of Education|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> According to the [[Academic Ranking of World Universities]], in 2006 no Romanian university was included in the first 500 top universities world wide.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006FULLLIST-BY%20RANK%20(PDF).pdf|format=pdf|title=Academic Ranking World University 2006: Top 500 World University|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Using similar methodology to these rankings, it was reported that the best placed Romanian university, [[Bucharest University]], attained the half score of the last university in the world top 500.<ref>{{cite report|publisher=Asociaţia Ad Astra a cercetătorilor rom
âni|author=Răzvan Florian|url=http://www.ad-astra.ro/journal/8/florian_shanghai_romania.pdf|format=pdf|title=Romanian Universities and the Shanghai rankings|location=Cluj-Napoca, România|pages=7-9|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

Romanian high school curricula have recently been [[censorship|censored]] and restructured, owing to a growing trend of religious conservatism. In 2006, the [[theory of evolution]], which has been taught since the country's Communist era, has been dropped from the compulsory curriculum nationwide. Philosophical writers critical of religion, such as [[Voltaire]] and [[Camus]] have also been removed from the philosophy curriculum. Instead, students are taught [[Creation according to Genesis|7-day Creationism]] in Orthodox religion classes, which under new proposals could become compulsory.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.thediplomat.ro/reports_1207.php|title=Romania removes theory of evolution from school curriculum|publisher=''The Diplomat''|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{main|Economy of Romania}}
[[Image:Wiki btcn.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Tower Center International]] in Bucharest is the tallest building in Romania]]
With a [[List of countries by GDP|GDP]] of around $264 billion and a [[List of countries by GDP per capita (PPP)|GDP per capita]] ([[purchasing power parity|PPP]]) of $12,285<ref>{{citeweb|url= http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2013&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=968&s=NGDP_RPCH%2CNGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CPCPIPCH&grp=0&a=&pr1.x=87&pr1.y=12 |title=IMF World Economic Outlook April 2008 - Central and Eastern Europe|date=April 2008|publisher=IMF|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> estimated for 2008, Romania is an upper-middle income country economy<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/DATASTATISTICS/0,,contentMDK:20421402~pagePK:64133150~piPK:64133175~theSitePK:239419,00.html#Upper_middle_income|publisher=World Bank|title=Country Classification Groups|year=2005|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> and has been part of the [[European Union]] since January 1, 2007. After the [[Communist Romania|Communist regime]] was [[Romanian Revolution of 1989|overthrown in late 1989]], the country experienced a decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base and a lack of structural reform. From 2000 onwards, however, the Romanian economy was transformed into one of relative [[macroeconomic]] stability, characterised by high growth, low [[unemployment]] and declining [[inflation]]. In 2006, according to the [[National Institute of Statistics (Romania)|Romanian Statistics Office]], GDP growth in real terms was recorded at 7.7%, one of the highest rates in Europe.<ref>{{citeweb|language=Romanian|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/statistici/comunicate/pib/pibr06.pdf|title=GDP in 2006|publisher=Romanian National Institute of Statistics|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> The growth dampened to 6.1% in 2007,<ref>{{citeweb|language=Romanian|title=World Bank: In 2008 Romania will have an economic growth of 5.9%|url=http://www.romanialibera.ro/a115093/banca-mondiala-in-2008-romania-va-avea-o-crestere-economica-de-5-9.html|accessdate=2008-01-13}}</ref> and is expected to exceed 8% in 2008 because of a high production forecast in agriculture (30-50% higher then in 2007). The GDP grew by 8.8% in the first half of 2008.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://easterneuropeeconomy.blogspot.com/2008/06/romania-gdp-q1-2008-preliminary.html|title=Romania GDP Q1 2008 (Preliminary)|date=June 2008|publisher=blogspot.com|accessdate=2008-10-01}}</ref> Unemployment in Romania was at 3.9% in September 2007<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/statistici/comunicate/lunar_indicatori/a07/sic09r07.pdf|title=Main Macroeconomic Indicators, September 2007|publisher=National Institute of Statistics of Romania|language=Romanian|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> which is very low compared to other middle-sized or large European countries such as [[Poland]], France, Germany and Spain. Foreign debt is also comparatively low, at 20.3% of GDP.<ref name="CIA">{{citeweb|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html|title=Romania|publisher=CIA World Factbook|year=2006|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Exports have increased substantially in the past few years, with a 25% year-on-year rise in exports in the first quarter of 2006. Romania's main exports are clothing and textiles, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metallurgic products, raw materials, cars, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centred on the member states of the European Union, with Germany and Italy being the country's single largest trading partners. The country, however, maintains a large trade deficit, which increased sharply during 2007 by 50%, to €15 billon.<ref name=economywatch>{{citeweb|url=http://romaniaeconomywatch.blogspot.com/2007/11/romania-trade-balance-september-2007.html|title=Romania at A Glance - January 2008|publisher=Romania Economy Watch|year=2008|month=January|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>

After a series of privatisations and reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, government intervention in the Romanian economy is somewhat lower than in other European economies.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Romania|title=Index of Economic Freedom: Romania|publisher=heritage.org|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> In 2005, the government replaced Romania's [[progressive tax]] system with a [[flat tax]] of 16% for both personal income and corporate profit, resulting in the country having the lowest fiscal burden in the European Union,<ref>{{cite report|url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2007/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2007_MONTH_06/2-26062007-EN-AP.PDF|format=pdf|title=Taxation trends in the EU|publisher=[[Eurostat]]|date=2007-06-26|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> a factor which has contributed to the growth of the private sector. The economy is predominantly based on services, which account for 55% of GDP, even though industry and agriculture also have significant contributions, making up 35% and 10% of GDP, respectively. Additionally, 32% of the Romanian population is employed in agriculture and primary production, one of the highest rates in Europe.<ref name="CIA" /> Since 2000, Romania has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment, becoming the single largest investment destination in Southeastern and Central Europe. [[Foreign direct investment]] was valued at €8.3 billion in 2006.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.portalino.it/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20346 |title=Romania: FDI reached over EUR 8.3 bn|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> According to a 2006 [[World Bank]] report, Romania currently ranks 49th out of 175 economies in the ease of doing business, scoring higher than other countries in the region such as [[Hungary]] and the [[Czech Republic]].<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.doingbusiness.org/EconomyRankings/|title=Economy Ranking|work=Doing Business|year=2007|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Additionally, the same study judged it to be the world's second-fastest economic reformer (after [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) in 2006.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21041782~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html|title=Doing Business 2007 Report|publisher=World Bank|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The average gross wage per month in Romania was 1769 lei in July 2008,<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/statistici/comunicate/castiguri/a08/cs07r08.pdf|title=Average wage in July 2008|publisher=National Institute of Statistics, Romania|language=Romanian|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> equating to €498.75 (US$724.33) based on international exchange rates, and $986.94 based on purchasing power parity.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=30&pr.y=8&sy=2006&ey=2013&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=968&s=PPPEX&grp=0&a=|title=Implied PPP conversion rate for Romania|publisher=IMF|date=April 2008|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>
[[Image:Romania-drumuri.svg|thumb|300px|right|[[Roads in Romania|Romania's road network]]]]

===Transportation===
{{main|Transport in Romania}}
Due to its location, Romania is a major crossroad for International economic exchange in [[Europe]]. However, because of insufficient investment, maintenance and repair, the transport infrastructure does not meet the current needs of a [[market economy]] and lags behind [[Western Europe]]. Nevertheless, these conditions are rapidly improving and catching up with the standards of [[Trans-European transport networks]]. Several projects have been started with funding from grants from [[Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession|ISPA]] and several loans from [[International Financial Institutions]] ([[World Bank]], [[IMF]], etc.) guaranteed by the state, to upgrade the [[Pan-European corridors|main road corridors]]. Also, the Government is actively pursuing new external financing or public-private partnerships to further upgrade the main roads, and especially the country's [[Roads in Romania|motorway network]].

[[World Bank]] estimates that the railway network in Romania comprised in 2004 {{convert|22298|km}} of track, which would make it the fourth largest railroad network in Europe.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.rad.com/Article/0,6583,19847,00.html|title=Romanian Railways Purchases More Than $1 Million in RAD’s MAP and Last Mile Products|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The [[Căile Ferate Române|railway transport]] experienced a dramatic fall in freight and passenger volumes from the peak volumes recorded in 1989 mainly due to the decline in GDP and competition from road transport. In 2004, the railways carried 8.64 billion passenger-km in 99 million passenger journeys, and 73 million metric tonnes, or 17 billion ton-km of freight.<ref name="Europaworld">{{cite book|encyclopedia=The Europa World Year Book|year=2007|volume=2|edition=48|publisher=Routledge|location=London and New York|title=Romania|pages=3734-3759|isbn=9781857434125}}</ref> The combined total transportation by rail constituted around 45% of all passenger and freight movement in the country.<ref name="Europaworld"/>

[[Bucharest]] is the only city in Romania which has an [[rapid transit|underground]] railway system. The [[Bucharest Metro]] was only opened in 1979. Now is one of the most accessed systems of the [[Transport in Bucharest|Bucharest public transport network]] with an average ridership of 600,000 passengers during the workweek.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.sfin.ro/articol_8634/transferul_metrorex_la_primaria_capitalei_a_incins_spiritele.html|title=Metrorex ridership|language=Romanian|publisher=Financial Week newspaper|date=April 23, 2007|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

===Tourism===
{{main|Tourism in Romania}}
[[Image:RoMania.gif|thumb|left|150px|The official logo of [[Romania]], used to promote the tourist attractions in the country]]

Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its rich history and is a significant contributor to the Romania's economy. In 2006, the domestic and international [[tourism]] generated about 4.8% of gross domestic product and 5.8% of the total jobs (about half a million jobs).<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.weforum.org/pdf/tourism/Romania.pdf|publisher=World Economic Forum|title=Country/Economy Profiles: Romania, Travel&Tourism|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref> Following commerce, tourism is the second largest component of the services sector. Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing sectors of the economy of Romania and characterized by a huge potential for development. According to the [[World Travel and Tourism Council]] Romania is the fourth fastest growing country in the world in terms of travel and tourism total demand with a yearly potential growth of 8% from 2007-2016.<ref>{{citeweb|title=WTTC spells out policy recommendations for Romania to tap travel and tourism potential|publisher=WTTC|url=http://www.wttc.travel/eng/News_and_Events/Press/Press_Releases_2006/WTTC_spells_out_recommendations_for_Romania/index.php|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref> Number of tourists grew from 4.8 million in 2002 to 6.6 million in 2004.<ref name="Europaworld"/> Similarly, the revenues grew from 400 million in 2002 to 607 in 2004.<ref name="Europaworld"/> In 2006, Romania registered 20 million overnight stays by international tourists, an all-time record,<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://aktirom.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=2|title=20 million overnight stays by international tourists|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref> but the number for 2007 is expected to increase even more.<ref name=turism>{{cite report|url= http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/statistici/comunicate/turism/a07/turism09e07.pdf |title=Report from Romanian National Institute of Statistics|quote=for the first 9 months of 2007 an increase from the previous year of 8.7% to 16.5 million tourists; of these 94.0% came from European countries and 61.7% from EU|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref> Tourism in Romania attracted €400 million in investments in 2005.<ref>{{citeweb|language=ro|url= http://www.gandul.info/social/turismul-atras-2005-investitii-400-milioane-euro.html?3932;255059|publisher=''Gandul'' Newspaper|title=Tourism attracted in 2005 investments worth €400 million|accessdate=2008-01-11 }}</ref>

[[Image:Mamaia above.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Mamaia]], at the [[Black Sea]] shore]]

Over the last years, Romania has emerged as a popular tourist destination for many Europeans (more than 60% of the foreign visitors were from EU countries),<ref name=turism/> thus attempting to compete with [[Bulgaria]], [[Greece]], Italy and Spain. Romania destinations such as [[Mangalia]], [[Saturn, Romania|Saturn]], [[Venus, Romania|Venus]], [[Neptun, Romania|Neptun]], [[Olimp]], [[Constanta]] and [[Mamaia]] (sometimes called the ''[[Romanian Black Sea resorts|Romanian Riviera]]'') and are among the most popular attraction during summer.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.unseenromania.com/places-to-go-romania/tan-and-fun-at-the-black-sea.html|title=Tan and fun at the Black Sea|publisher=UnseenRomania|accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref> During winter, the skiing resorts along the [[Valea Prahovei]] and [[Poiana Braşov]] are booming with visitors. For their medieval atmosphere and [[Castles of Transylvania|castles]], [[Transylvania]]n cities such as [[Sibiu]], [[Braşov]], [[Sighişoara]], [[Cluj-Napoca]], [[Târgu Mureş]] have become important touristic attractions for foreigners. Rural tourism focused on folklore and traditions, has become an important alternative recently,<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Romania Libera|language=Romanian|date=2008-07-05|title= Turismul renaste la tara|url=http://www.romanialibera.ro/a128995/turismul-renaste-la-tara.html| accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref> and is targeted to promote such sites as [[Bran, Braşov|Bran]] and its [[Bran Castle|Dracula's Castle]], the [[Painted churches of Northern Moldavia]], the [[Wooden churches of Maramureş]], or the [[Merry Cemetery]] in [[Maramureş County]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ruraltourism.ro/|language=Romanian|publisher=RuralTourism.ro|title=Bine ati venit pe site-ul de promovare a pensiunilor agroturistice din Romania !!!|accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref> Other major natural attractions in Romania such as [[Danube Delta]],<ref name="Europaworld"/> [[Iron Gates]] ([[Danube]] Gorge), [[Scărişoara Cave]] and several other caves in the [[Apuseni Mountains]] have yet to receive great attention<!-- from the authorities -->.

==Culture==
[[Image:Sibiuphoto.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Saxon medieval city of [[Sibiu]], [[European Capital of Culture]] in 2007]]
[[Image:Iasi cultural palace.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Palace of Culture (Iaşi)|Palace of Culture]] in [[Iaşi]] was built between 1906-1925 and hosts several museums]]
{{main|Culture of Romania}}

Romania has its unique culture, which is the product of its geography and of its distinct historical evolution. Like Romanians themselves, it is fundamentally defined as the meeting point of three regions: [[Central Europe]], [[Eastern Europe]], and the [[Balkans]], but cannot be truly included in any of them.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.itcnet.ro/folk_festival/culture.htm|title=Romania - Culture|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The Romanian identity formed on a substratum of mixed [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] and quite possibly [[Dacia]]n elements,<ref name=influences/> with many other influences. During late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the major influences came from the [[Slavic peoples]] who migrated and settled in near Romania;<ref name=influences>{{cite book|title=Romania: Borderland of Europe|author=Lucian Boia, James Christian Brown|publisher=Reaktion Books|year=2001|isbn=9781861891037|pages=13, 36-40}}</ref> from medieval [[Greece|Greeks]],<ref name=influences/> and the [[Byzantine Empire]];<ref name=iciculture/> from a long domination by the [[Ottoman Empire]];<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.missionfrontiers.org/1994/1112/nd9416.htm|title=Romania Prepares for GCOWE September 20, 1994|author=Luis Bush|publisher=Mission Frontiers|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> from the [[Hungarian people|Hungarians]];<ref name=influences/> and from the [[Transylvanian Saxons|Germans]] living in Transylvania. Modern Romanian culture emerged and developed over roughly the last 250 years under a strong influence from [[Western culture]], particularly [[French Culture|French]],<ref name=iciculture/> and [[German Culture|German]] culture.<ref name=iciculture>{{cite web|url=http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/cultura/cultural_aspects.html|title=Cultural aspects|publisher=NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATICS, Romania|accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref>

===Arts===
[[Image:Ateneul Roman b.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Romanian Athenaeum]] in Bucharest was opened in 1888]]
{{main|Literature of Romania|Music of Romania|Arts in Romania|Cinematography in Romania|Romanian philosophy}}

The Romanian literature began to truly evolve with the [[Wallachian Revolution of 1848|revolutions of 1848]] and the union of the two [[Danubian Principalities]] in 1856. The [[Origin of the Romanians]] began to be discussed and [[Şcoala Ardeleană|in Transylvania]] and Romanian scholars began studying in France, Italy and Germany.<ref name=iciculture/> The German philosophy and French culture were integrated into modern Romanian literature and a new elite of artists lead to the appearance of some of the classics of the Romanian literature such as [[Mihai Eminescu]], [[George Coşbuc]], [[Ioan Slavici]]. Although they remain little known outside Romania, they are very appreciated within Romania for giving birth to a true Romanian literature by creating modern lyrics with inspiration from the [[Folklore in Romania|old folklore tales]]. Of them, Eminescu is considered the most important and influential Romanian poet, and is still very much loved for his creations, and especially the poem ''[[Luceafărul]]''.<ref>{{citeweb|language=Romanian|url=http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/cultura/l_eminescu.html|title=Mihai Eminescu|publisher=NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATICS , Romania|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> Among other writers that made large contributions around the second half of 19th century are [[Mihail Kogălniceanu]] (also the first prime minister of Romania), [[Vasile Alecsandri]], [[Nicolae Bălcescu]], [[Ion Luca Caragiale]], and [[Ion Creangă]].
[[Image:Eminescu.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Mihai Eminescu]], [[national poet]] of Romania and [[Moldova]]]]

The first half of the 20th century is regarded by many Romanian scholars as the ''Golden Age'' of Romanian culture and it is the period when it reached its main level of international affirmation and a strong connection to the [[Culture of Europe|European cultural]] trends.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/romanian/articles/TheRomanianCulturalDebateOfTheSummer.html|title= Romanian Cultural Debate of the Summer: Romanian Intellectuals and Their Status Groups|publisher=Romanian Club @ Columbia University|author=Mona Momescu|accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref> The most important artist who had a great influence on the world culture was the [[sculptor]] [[Constantin Brâncuşi]], a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction, the innovator of world sculpture by immersion in the primordial sources of folk creation. His sculptures blend simplicity and sophistication that led the way for [[modern art|modernist]] sculptors.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.brancusi.com/bio.html|title=Constantin Brâncuşi's bio|publisher=Brancusi.com|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> As a testimony to his skill, one of his pieces, ''"[[Bird in Space]]"'' , was sold in an auction for $27.5 million in 2005, a record for any sculpture.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://antiquesandthearts.com/AW-2005-05-10-12-15-39p1.htm|publisher=Antiques and the Arts Online|title=Brancusi's 'Bird in Space' Sets World Auction Record for Sculpture at $27,456,000|publisher=Antiques and the Arts Online|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb|url=http://crib.mae.ro/index.php?lang=en&id=31&s=15441&arhiva=true|publisher=Romanian Information Center in Brussels|title=November 9, The price record for a Brancusi masterpiece was set up in 2005 when “Bird in Space” was sold for USD 27.5 M|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> In the period between the two world wars, authors like [[Tudor Arghezi]], [[Lucian Blaga]], [[Eugen Lovinescu]], [[Ion Barbu]], [[Liviu Rebreanu]] made efforts to synchronize Romanian literature with the European literature of the time. From this period comes also [[George Enescu]], probably the best known Romanian musician.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.enescusociety.org/georgeenescu.php|title=George Enescu, the composer|publisher=International Enescu Society|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> He is a [[composer]], [[violinist]], [[pianist]], [[conducting|conductor]], teacher, and one of the greatest performers of his time,<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/cultura/m_enescu.html|title=George Enescu (1881 - 1955)|publisher=NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATICS, Romania|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref> in whose honor is held the annually in Bucharest, the classical music [[George Enescu Festival]].
[[Image:Romania 20060512 - Tirgu Jiu - Coloana fara sfarsit.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Brâncuşi's ''[[Endless Column]]'' in [[Targu Jiu]]]]

After the world wars, communism brought heavy censorship and used the cultural world as a means to better control the population. The freedom of expression was constantly restricted in various ways, but the likes of [[Gellu Naum]], [[Nichita Stănescu]], [[Marin Sorescu]] or [[Marin Preda]] managed to escape censorship, broke with "[[socialist realism]]" and were the leaders of a small "Renaissance" in Romanian literature.<ref>{{citebook|last=Ştefănescu|first=Alex.|title=Nichita Stănescu, The Angel With A Book In His Hands|language=Romanian|publisher=Maşina de scris|year=1999|pages=8|isbn=9789739929745}}</ref> While not many of them managed to obtain international acclaim due to the censorship, some like [[Constantin Noica]], [[Tristan Tzara]] and [[Mircea Cărtărescu]] had their works published abroad even though they got jailed for various political reasons.

Some artists chose to leave the country entirely, and continued to make contributions in exile. Among them [[Eugen Ionescu]], [[Mircea Eliade]] and [[Emil Cioran]] became renown worldwide for their works. Other literary figures who enjoy acclaim outside of the country include the poet [[Paul Celan]] and Nobel laureate [[Elie Wiesel]], both survivors of the Holocaust. Some famous Romanian artists musicians are the folk artist [[Tudor Gheorghe]], and the virtuoso of the [[pan flute]] [[Gheorghe Zamfir]] - who is reported to have sold over 120 million albums worldwide.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.cbc.ca/insite/SOUNDS_LIKE_CANADA/2006/1/17.html|date=2006-01-17|pubisher=CBC Radio|title=Sounds Like Canada feat. Gheorghe Zamfir|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.gheorghe-zamfir.com/English/diskographie-e.htm|publisher=Gheorghe Zamfir, Official Homepage|title=Gheorghe Zamfir, master of the pan pipe|accessdate=2008-01-20}}</ref>

Romanian cinema has recently achieved worldwide acclaim with the appearance of such films as ''[[The Death of Mr. Lazarescu]]'', directed by [[Cristi Puiu]], ([[2005 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes 2005]] [[Prix un certain regard]] winner), and ''[[4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days]]'', directed by [[Cristian Mungiu]] ([[2007 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes 2007]] ''[[Palme d'Or]]'' winner).<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.altfg.com/blog/film-festivals/cannes-2007-winners/|title=Cannes 2007 Winners|publisher=Alternative Film Guide|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The latter, according to ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', is "further proof of Romania's new prominence in the film world."<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=cannes2007&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117933650|title=4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days|accessdate=2008-08-31|author=Jay Weissberg|date=2007-05-17|publisher=''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''}}</ref>

[[Image:Hunyadi Castle, Hunedoara, front view.jpg|thumb|left| [[Hunyadi Castle]], 1419, with its impressive size and architectural beauty sets it among the most precious monuments of medieval art.]]
[[Image:Sighisoara-Tower-Clock.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Saxons|Saxon]] city of [[Sighişoara]] first attested in the 12th century, is nowadays famous for its Medieval Festival]]

===Monuments===
{{see also|List of castles in Romania|List of museums in Romania|UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Romania}}
The [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site|List of World Heritage Sites]]<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/?search=&searchSites=&search_by_country=romania&type=&media=&region=&order=&criteria_restrication=&x=0&y=0|title=Official list of WHS within Romania|publisher=UNESCO|accessdate=2008-01-31}}</ref> includes Romanian sites such as the [[Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania]], the [[Painted churches of northern Moldavia]] with their fine exterior and interior frescoes, the [[Wooden Churches of Maramures]] unique examples that combine Gothic style with traditional timber construction, the [[Monastery of Horezu]], the citadel of [[Sighişoara]], and the [[Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains]].<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.cimec.ro/Monumente/unesco/UNESCOen/fastvers.htm|title=World Heritage List from Romania|publisher=UNESCO|accessdate=2008-01-31}}</ref> Romania's contribution to the World Heritage List stands out because it consists of some groups of monuments scattered around the country, rather than one or two special landmarks.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.worldheritagesite.org/countries/romania.html|title=World Heritage Site - Romania|accessdate=2008-01-31}}</ref> Also, in 2007, the city of [[Sibiu]] famous for its [[Brukenthal National Museum]] is the [[European Capital of Culture]] alongside the city of [[Luxembourg]].

===National Flag===
Romania's national flag is identical to that of [[Chad]].

==Government==
===Politics===
{{main|Politics of Romania}}
The ''Constitution of Romania'' is based on the [[Constitution of France|Constitution of France's Fifth Republic]]<ref name="Europaworld"/> and was approved in a national referendum on December 8, 1991.<ref name="Europaworld"/> A plebiscite held in October 2003 approved 79 amendments to the Constitution, bringing it into conformity with the European Union legislation.<ref name="Europaworld"/> Romania is governed on the basis of multi-party democratic system and of the segregation of the legal, executive and judicial powers.<ref name="Europaworld"/> The Constitution states that Romania is a [[semi-presidential]] democratic republic where executive functions are shared between the [[presidents of Romania|president]] and the [[Prime ministers of Romania|prime minister]]. [[President of Romania|The President]] is elected by popular vote for maximum two terms, and since the amendments in 2003, the terms are five years.<ref name="Europaworld"/> The President appoints the [[Prime ministers of Romania|Prime Minister]], who in turn appoints the [[Romanian Cabinet|Council of Ministers]].<ref name="Europaworld"/> While the president resides at [[Cotroceni Palace]], the Prime Minister with the [[Government of Romania|Romanian Government]] is based at [[Victoria Palace]].
[[Image:Palace of Parliament.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Palace of the Parliament]] the seat of Romania's bicameral parliament. Built in 1984, it is the largest building in Europe and the world's second [[world's largest buildings|largest administrative building]] behind [[the Pentagon]]<ref>[http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=27 The Palace of the Parliament]</ref> and 10% larger by volume than the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]].<ref>[http://www.kvi.nl/~eps_np/EuNP/Romania/EUNP_Bucharest.pdf The building of Parliament Bucharest International Conference Center - Description]</ref>]]

The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the [[Parliament of Romania|Parliament]] (''Parlamentul României''), consists of [[Bicameralism|two chambers]] &ndash; the [[Senate of Romania|Senate]] (''Senat''), which has 140 members, and the [[Chamber of Deputies of Romania|Chamber of Deputies]] (''Camera Deputaţilor''), which has 346 members.<ref name="Europaworld"/> The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of [[party-list proportional representation]].<ref name="Europaworld"/>

The justice system is independent of the other branches of government, and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the [[High Court of Cassation and Justice]], which is the supreme court of Romania.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.scj.ro/monogr_en.asp|publisher=High Court of Cassation and Justice - —Romania|title=Presentation|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the [[French law|French model]],<ref name="Europaworld"/><ref>{{citeweb|url=http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps35389/2000//legal_system.html|title=Romanian Legal system|publisher=CIA Factbook|year=2000|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref> considering that it is based on [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] and is [[inquisitorial system|inquisitorial]] in nature. The [[Curtea Constituţională|Constitutional Court]] (''Curtea Constituţională'') is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations to the [[Romanian Constitution]], which is the fundamental law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended by a public referendum, the last one being in 2003. Since this amendment, the court's decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.

The country's entry into the [[European Union]] in 2007 has been a significant influence on its domestic policy. As part of the process, Romania has instituted reforms including [[judicial reform]], increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to combat corruption. Nevertheless, in 2006 Brussels report, Romania and [[Bulgaria]] were described as the two most corrupt countries in the EU.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.bbj.hu/main/news_18741_romania+will+be+eus+most+corrupt+new+member.html|title=Romania will be EU's most corrupt new member|accessdate=2008-01-11}}</ref>

===Administrative divisions===
{{main|Administrative divisions of Romania}}
Romania is divided into forty-one [[Counties of Romania|counties]] (judeţe), as well as the municipality of [[Bucharest]] (Bucureşti) - which is its own administrative unit. Each county is administered by a county council (''consiliu judeţean''), responsible for local affairs, as well as a prefect, who is appointed by the central government but cannot be a member of any political party.

The country is further subdivided into 319 [[cities in Romania|cities]] and 2686 [[Communes of Romania|communes]] (rural localities).<ref>{{cite report|language=ro|url=http://www.insse.ro/cms/files/pdf/ro/cap1.pdf|chapter=1.8|title=Administrative Organisation of Romanian Territory, on December 31, 2005|publisher=Romanian National Institute of Statistics|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Each of these have their own local councils and are headed by a mayor (''primar''). 103 of the larger and more urbanised cities have the status of [[Municipalities of Romania|municipality]], which gives them greater administrative power over local affairs.
[[Image:Regiuni de dezvoltare.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map of the [[Development regions of Romania|8 development regions]]. The 41 local administrative units are also highlighted.]]

Alongside the county structure, Romania is also divided into four [[Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics|NUTS]]-1 level divisions (Romanian:''Macroregiunea'') and eight [[development regions of Romania|development regions]] corresponding to NUTS-2 divisions in the European Union.<ref name=nuts>{{citeweb|url=http://ec.europa.eu/comm/eurostat/ramon/nuts/codelist_en.cfm?list=nuts|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080118234301/http://ec.europa.eu/comm/eurostat/ramon/nuts/codelist_en.cfm?list=nuts|archivedate=2008-01-18|title=Hierarchical list of the Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics - NUTS and the Statistical regions of Europe|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> These divisions have no administrative capacity and are instead used for co-ordinating regional development projects and statistical purposes. The NUTS-3 level divisions reflect Romania's administrative-territorial structure, and correspond to the 41 [[counties]] and the [[Bucharest]] municipality.<ref name=nuts/>
*Macroregiunea 1:
**[[Nord-Vest (development region)|Nord-Vest]] (6 counties)
**[[Centru (development region)|Centru]] (6 counties)
*Macroregiunea 2:
**[[Nord-Est (development region)|Nord-Est]] (6 counties)
**[[Sud-Est (development region)|Sud-Est]] (6 counties)
*Macroregiunea 3:
**[[Sud (development region)|Sud-Muntenia]] (7 counties)
**[[Bucureşti-Ilfov (development region)|Bucureşti-Ilfov]] (1 county and Bucharest)
*Macroregiunea 4:
**[[Sud-Vest (development region)|Sud-Vest Oltenia]] (5 counties)
**[[Vest (development region)|Vest]] (4 counties)

===Foreign relations===
{{main|Foreign relations of Romania}}
Since December 1989, Romania has pursued a policy of strengthening relations with the West in general, more specifically with the United States and the [[European Union]]. It joined the [[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]] (NATO) on March 29, 2004, the [[European Union]] (EU) on January 1, 2007, and the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the [[World Bank]] in 1972, and is a member of the [[World Trade Organization]].

The current government has stated its goal of strengthening ties with and helping other [[Eastern Europe]]an countries (in particular [[Moldova]], [[Ukraine]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) with the process of integration with the West.<ref name=mae>{{cite web|title=Foreign Policy Priorities of Romania for 2008|language=Romanian|url=http://www.mae.ro/index.php?unde=doc&id=35181&idlnk=1&cat=3|publisher=Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs|accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref> Romania has also made clear since the late 1990s that it supports NATO and EU membership for the democratic former Soviet republics in Eastern Europe and the [[Caucasus]].<ref name=mae/> Romania also declared its public support for [[Turkey]], [[Croatia]] and [[Moldova]] joining the European Union.<ref name=mae/> With Turkey, Romania shares a privileged economic relation.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.thenewanatolian.com/ek6.pdf|publisher=The New Anatolian, February 1, 2006|title= Turkey & Romania hand in hand for a better tomorrow.}}</ref> Because it has a large Hungarian minority, Romania has also developed strong relations with [[Hungary]] - the latter supported Romania's bid to join the EU.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Headline: Meeting with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Ferenc Gyurcsány|publisher=Government of Romania|accessdate=2008-08-31|date=2006-03-24|url=http://www.guv.ro/engleza/presa/afis-doc.php?idpresa=6372&idrubricapresa=&idrubricaprimm=&idtema=&tip=&pag=&dr=}}</ref>

In December 2005, President [[Traian Băsescu]] and U.S. [[Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] signed an agreement that would allow a U.S. military presence at several Romanian facilities primarily in the eastern part of the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35722.htm|publisher=U.S. Department of State|title=Background Note: Romania - U.S.-Romanian Relactions}}</ref>

[[Romanian-Moldovan relations|Relations with Moldova]] are special,<ref name=mae/> considering that the two countries practically share the same language, and a [[History of Moldavia|fairly common historical background]]. A [[movement for unification of Romania and Moldova]] appreared in the early 1990s after both countries achieved emancipation from communist rule,<ref name=cfis>{{cite journal|url=http://studint.ong.ro/moldova.htm|title=Romania'S Relations With The Republic Of Moldova|author=Gabriel ANDREESCU, Valentin STAN, Renate WEBER|journal= International Studies|publisher= Center for International Studies|date=1994-10-30|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> but quickly faded away with the new Moldovan government that had an agenda to preserve a Moldovan republic independent of Romania.<ref name=Ihrig>{{cite web|url=http://www.desk.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/download/es_5_Ihrig.pdf|title=Rediscovering History, Rediscovering Ultimate Truth|author=Stefan Ihrig|accessdate=2008-09-17}}</ref> Romania remains interested in Moldovan affairs and has officially rejected the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]],<ref name=cfis/> but the two countries have been unable even to reach agreement on a basic bilateral treaty.<ref>{{cite news|http://www.romanianewswatch.com/2007/12/moldova-urging-romania-to-sign-basic.html|title=Moldova urging Romania to sign basic political treaty|publisher=Romania News Watch|accessdate=2008-08-28|date=2007-12-16}}</ref>

===Armed Forces===
{{main|Romanian Armed Forces}}
The Romanian Armed Forces constitute of [[Romanian Land Forces|Land]], [[Romanian Air Force|Air]], and [[Romanian Naval Forces|Naval Forces]], and are lead by a [[Commander-in-chief]] who is managed by the [[Ministry of Defense (Romania)|Ministry of Defense]]. The [[President of Romania|president]] is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces during [[war]]time. Of the 90,000 men and women which comprise the Armed Forces, 15,000 are civilians and 75,000 are military personnel—45,800 for Land, 13,250 for Air, 6,800 for Naval Forces, and 8,800 in other fields.<ref>{{cite press release|publisher=Ministry of National Defense of Romania|url=http://www.mapn.ro/briefing/030122/030121conf.htm|title=Press conference|date=2003-01-21|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref>

The total defence spending currently accounts for 2.05% of total national [[GDP]], which represents aproximately 2,9 billion [[dollars]] ([[List of countries and federations by military expenditures|ranked 39th]]). However, the Romanian Armed Forces will spend about 11 billion dollars between 2006 and 2011, for modernization and acquirement of new equipment.<ref name="ZF">{{citeweb|url= http://www.zf.ro/articol_99920/bugetul_mapn__2_05__din_pib__in_2007.html |title=MoND Budget as of 2007|publisher=''[[Ziarul Financiar]]''|date=2006-10-30|language=Romanian|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> The Land Forces have overhauled their equipment in the past few years, and today are an [[army]] with multiple [[NATO]] capabilities, participating in NATO peacekeeping missions in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq]]. The Air Force currently operates modernized [[Soviet]] [[MiG-21|MiG-21LanceR]] fighters which are due to be replaced by new advanced [[4th generation jet fighter|4.5 generation]] Western jet fighters, such as the [[F-16 Fighting Falcon]], [[Eurofighter Typhoon]] or [[JAS 39 Gripen]].<ref>{{cite news|http://www.cotidianul.ro/index.php?id=45&art=25285&nr=3&cHash=b2e1d334a5|title=SUA şi UE se intrec să ne doboare MiG-urile|publisher=''[[Cotidianul]]''|date=January 2007|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Also, in order to replace the bulk of the old transport force, the Air Force ordered 7 new [[C-27J Spartan]] [[tactical airlift]] aircrafts which are to be delivered starting with late-2008.<ref "awst_20061211">{{cite news|title=Spartan Order|publisher=''[[Aviation Week & Space Technology]]''|date=2006-12-11}}</ref> Two modernized ex-[[Royal Navy]] [[Type 22 frigate]]s were acquired by the Naval Forces in 2004, and a further four modern missile corvettes will be commissioned until 2010.

==Sports==
{{main|Sport in Romania}}
[[Football (soccer)]] is by far the most popular sport in Romania.<ref name=EYb2007>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Europa World Year Book|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|volume=2|title=Romania}}</ref> The governing body is the [[Romanian Football Federation]], which belongs to [[UEFA]]. The top division of the [[Romanian Professional Football League]] attracted an average of 5417 spectators per game in the 2006-07 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn.htm european-football-statistics.co.uk | title=EFS Attendances| work=European Football Statistics|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> At international level, the [[Romania national football team|Romanian National Football Team]] has taken part 7 times in the [[FIFA World Cup|Football World Cup]], and it had the most successful period throughout the 1990s, when during the [[1994 World Cup]] in the [[United States]], Romania reached the quarter-finals and was ranked by [[FIFA]] on the 6th place. The core player of this "[[Golden Generation]]"<ref>{{citenews|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2002/1677201.stm|title=Hagi leaves Romania post|date=2001-11-26|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=2008-08-31|quote=Hagi enjoyed legendary status in Romania where he spearheaded the 'Golden Generation' of players...|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> and perhaps the best known Romanian player internationally is [[Gheorghe Hagi]] (nicknamed ''the Maradona of the Carpathians'').<ref>{{citenews|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/football/europe/1264097.stm|title=Hagi snubs Maradona|publisher=BBC Sport Online|date=2001-04-06|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Famous currently active players are [[Adrian Mutu]] and [[Cristian Chivu]]. The most famous football club is [[Steaua Bucureşti]], who in [[European Cup 1985-86|1986 became the first Eastern European club ever to win]] the prestigious [[European Champions Cup]] title, and who [[European Cup 1988-89|played the final again in 1989]]. Another successful Romanian team [[Dinamo Bucureşti]] played a semifinal in the [[European Champions Cup]] in 1984 and a [[Cup Winners Cup]] semifinal in the 1990. Other important Romanian football clubs are [[Rapid Bucureşti]], [[CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca]] and [[FC Universitatea Craiova]].

Tennis is the second most popular sport in terms of registered sportsmen.<ref name=EYb2007/> Romania reached the [[Davis Cup]] finals three times (1969, 1971, 1972). The tennis player [[Ilie Năstase]] won several [[Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam]] titles and dozens of other tournaments, and was the first player to be [[List of ATP number 1 ranked players|ranked as number 1]] by [[Association of Tennis Professionals|ATP]] from 1973 to 1974. The [[Romanian Open]] is held every fall in Bucharest since 1993.

Popular [[team sport]]s are [[rugby union]] ([[Romania national rugby union team|national rugby team]] has [[National team appearances in the Rugby World Cup|so far competed at every]] [[Rugby World Cup]]), [[basketball]] and [[team handball|handball]].<ref name=EYb2007/> Some popular [[individual sport]]s are: athletics, chess, sport dance, and martial arts and other fighting sports.<ref name=EYb2007/>

Romanian [[gymnastics]] has had a large number of successes - for which the country became known worldwide.<ref>Romanians were for example stereotyped as gymnasts, as in the [[South Park]] episode [[Quintuplets 2000]]</ref> In the [[1976 Summer Olympics]], the gymnast [[Nadia Comăneci]] became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect "ten". She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen.<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.gymn-forum.net/Articles/NYT-1976_AmCup2.html|title=Gymnast Posts Perfect Mark|author=Robin Herman|publisher=[[New York Times]]|date=1976-03-28|accessdate=2008-08-13}}</ref> Her success continued in the [[1980 Summer Olympics]], where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals.

Romania participated in for the first time in the [[Olympic Games]] in 1900 and has taken part in 18 of the 24 summer games. Romania has been one of the more successful countries [[Summer Olympic Games]] ([[All-time Olympic Games medal count|15th overall]]) with a total of 283 medals won throughout the years, 82 of which are gold medals.<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0115108.html|title=All-Time Medal Standings, 1896-2004|accessdate=2008-08-31}}</ref> Winter sports have received little investments and thus only a single bronze medal was won by Romanian sportsmen in the [[Winter Olympic Games]].

== Notes ==
<references group=note/>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{sisterlinks|Romania}}
* [http://www.southparkstudios.com South Park Studios] - Official site
{{portal|Romania|Flag of Romania.svg}}
* {{imdb character|0003542}}

* [http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Cartman Eric Cartman] Article on South Park wiki
'''Overviews'''
* [http://www.cartoonskickass.com/dminor.html Lyrics to Cartman's songs ]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1057466.stm BBC News Country Profile - ''Romania'']
*[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html CIA World Factbook - ''Romania'']
*[http://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/ro/ US Department of State - ''Romania'']
*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rotoc.html Federal Research Division, Library of Congress -''Romania : a country study'']

'''Economy and law links'''
*[http://www.bnro.ro/En/Info/curs_ext.asp Exchange Rates] - from the [[National Bank of Romania]]
*[http://www.dreptonline.ro/resurse/resource.php Romanian Law and Miscellaneous - English]

'''Culture and history links'''
*[http://www.badley.info/history/Romania.index.html Chronology of Romania from the World History Database]
*[http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/index.html ICI.ro - A comprehensive site about Romania]
*[http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/libraries/Libraries.php?launch=1&language=en&page=Treasures&country=Romania Treasures of the national library of Romania]

{{Romanian topics|Topics related}}
{{Template group
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{{EU members}}
{{Council of Europe members}}
{{NATO}}
{{OSCE}}
{{Latin Union}}
{{La Francophonie|state=collapsed}}
{{Black Sea Naval Co-operation Task Group (BLACKSEAFOR)}}
{{Black Sea Economic Cooperation countries}}
}}


[[Category:Romania| ]]
{{South Park characters}}
[[Category:Liberal democracies]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:Romanian speaking countries and territories]]


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[[kn:ರೊಮಾನಿಯ]]
[[ka:რუმინეთი]]
[[ks:रोमानिया]]
[[csb:Rumùńskô]]
[[kk:Румыния]]
[[kw:Roumani]]
[[sw:Romania]]
[[kv:Румыния]]
[[ht:Woumani]]
[[ku:Romanya]]
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[[lv:Rumānija]]
[[lb:Rumänien]]
[[lt:Rumunija]]
[[lij:Romania]]
[[li:Roemenië]]
[[ln:Rumania]]
[[jbo:la'o zoi România zoi]]
[[hu:Románia]]
[[mk:Романија]]
[[ml:റൊമാനിയ]]
[[mt:Rumanija]]
[[mr:रोमेनिया]]
[[ms:Romania]]
[[nah:Rōmantlān]]
[[na:Romania]]
[[nl:Roemenië]]
[[nds-nl:Roemenië]]
[[ne:रोमानिया]]
[[new:रोमानिया]]
[[ja:ルーマニア]]
[[ce:Румыни]]
[[no:Romania]]
[[nn:Romania]]
[[nrm:Roumanie]]
[[nov:Rumania]]
[[oc:Romania]]
[[uz:Ruminiya]]
[[ps:رومانيا]]
[[pms:Romanìa]]
[[nds:Rumänien]]
[[pl:Rumunia]]
[[pt:Roménia]]
[[crh:Romaniya]]
[[ro:România]]
[[rmy:Rumuniya]]
[[rm:Rumenia]]
[[qu:Rumanya]]
[[ru:Румыния]]
[[se:Románia]]
[[sq:Rumania]]
[[scn:Rumanìa]]
[[simple:Romania]]
[[sk:Rumunsko]]
[[sl:Romunija]]
[[szl:Růmůńijo]]
[[sr:Румунија]]
[[sh:Rumunija]]
[[fi:Romania]]
[[sv:Rumänien]]
[[tl:Rumanya]]
[[ta:ருமேனியா]]
[[tet:Roménia]]
[[th:ประเทศโรมาเนีย]]
[[vi:Romania]]
[[tg:Руминия]]
[[chr:ᎶᎹᏂᏯ]]
[[tr:Romanya]]
[[tk:Rumyniýa]]
[[udm:Румыния]]
[[uk:Румунія]]
[[ur:رومانیہ]]
[[vec:Romanìa]]
[[vo:Rumän]]
[[fiu-vro:Rumeeniä]]
[[wa:Roumaneye]]
[[war:Rumania]]
[[wo:Romaani]]
[[wuu:罗马尼亚]]
[[yi:רומעניע]]
[[zh-yue:羅馬尼亞]]
[[diq:Romanya]]
[[bat-smg:Romonėjė]]
[[zh:羅馬尼亞]]

Revision as of 06:19, 11 October 2008

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Romania
România
Anthem: Deşteaptă-te, române!
Awaken, Romanian!
Location of Romania (orange) – in Europe (tan & white) – in the European Union (tan)  [Legend]
Location of Romania (orange)

– in Europe (tan & white)
– in the European Union (tan)  [Legend]

Capital
and largest city
Bucharest (Bucureşti)
Official languagesRomanian1
Ethnic groups
89.5% Romanians, 6.6% Hungarians, 2.5% Roma, 1.4% other minority groups
Demonym(s)Romanian
GovernmentUnitary semi-presidential republic
• President
Traian Băsescu
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
(PNL)
Formation
10th century
• Wallachia
1290
• Moldavia
1346
1599
• Reunification of Wallachia and Moldavia
January 24, 1859
• Officially recognized independence
July 13, 1878
• Reunification with Transylvania
December 1, 1918
Area
• Total
238,391 km2 (92,043 sq mi) (82nd)
• Water (%)
3
Population
• July 2008 estimate
22,246,862 (50th)
• 2002 census
21,680,974
• Density
93/km2 (240.9/sq mi) (104th)
GDP (PPP)2007 estimate
• Total
$245.847 billion[1] (41st)
• Per capita
$11,400[1] (IMF) (64th)
GDP (nominal)2007 estimate
• Total
$165.983 billion[1] (38th)
• Per capita
$7,697[1] (IMF) (58th)
Gini (2003)31
medium
HDI (2005)Increase 0.813
Error: Invalid HDI value (60th)
CurrencyLeu (RON)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+3 (EEST)
Calling code40
ISO 3166 codeRO
Internet TLD.ro
1 Other languages, such as Hungarian, German, Romani, Croatian, Ukrainian and Serbian, are official at various local levels.
2 Romanian War of Independence.
3 Treaty of Berlin.

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Romania [ɹoʊˈmeɪniə] (dated: Rumania, Roumania; Romanian: România, IPA: [ro.mɨˈni.a]) is a country located in South-East Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea.[2] Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory. It shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south.

The territory's recorded history encompasses such eras as the Dacians, Roman Empire (later leading to the appearance of Romanian language), Kingdom of Hungary, and Ottoman Empire. As a nation-state, the country was formed by the merging of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and it gained recognition of its independence in 1878. Later, in 1918, they were joined by Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia. At the end of World War II, parts of its territories (roughly the present day Moldova) were occupied by USSR and Romania became a member of the Warsaw Pact. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Romania started a series of political and economic reforms. After a decade of post-independence economic problems, Romania made economic reforms such as low flat tax rates in 2005 and joined the European Union in January 1, 2007. While Romania's income level remains one of the lowest in the European Union, reforms have increased the growth speed. Romania is now an upper-middle income country economy.

Romania has the 9th largest territory and the 7th largest population (with 22 million people)[3] among the European Union member states. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest (Romanian: Bucureşti /bu.kuˈreʃtʲ/), the 6th largest city in the EU with 1.9 million people. In 2007, Sibiu, a city in Transylvania, was chosen as a European Capital of Culture.[4] Romania also joined NATO on March 29, 2004, and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie and of OSCE. Romania is a semi-presidential unitary state.

Etymology

The name of Romania (Rumania or România) comes from Român (Romanian) which is a derivative of the word Romanus ("Roman") from Latin.[5][6] The fact that Romanians have said the name is a derivative of Romanus (Romanian: Român/Rumân) is mentioned as early as the 16th century by many authors, including Italian Humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia.[7][8][9][10] The oldest surviving document written in the Romanian language is a 1521 letter known as "Neacşu's Letter from Câmpulung".[11] This document is also notable for having the first occurrence of "Rumanian" in a Romanian written text, Wallachia being here named The Rumanian Land - Ţeara Rumânească (Ţeara from the Latin: Terra land). In the following centuries, Romanian documents use interchangeably two spelling forms: Român and Rumân.[note 1] Socio-linguistic evolutions in the late 17th century led to a process of semantic differentiation: the form "rumân", presumably usual among lower classes, got the meaning of "bondsman", while the form român kept an ethno-linguistic meaning.[12] After the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the form "rumân" gradually disappears and the spelling definitively stabilises to the form "român", "românesc".[note 2] The name "România" as common homeland of all Romanians is documented in the early 19th century.[note 3] This name has been officially in use since December 11, 1861.[13]

English-language sources still used the term "Rumania", borrowed from the French spelling "Roumania", as recently as World War II,[14] but since then the term has largely disappeared.

History

Prehistory and Antiquity

The oldest modern human remains in Europe were discovered in the "Cave With Bones" in present day Romania.[15] The remains are approximately 42,000 years old and as Europe’s oldest remains of Homo sapiens, they may represent the first such people to have entered the continent.[16] But the earliest written evidence of people living in the territory of the present-day Romania comes from Herodotus in book IV of his Histories (Herodotus) written 440 BCE, where he writes about the Getae tribes.[17]

File:Roman Dacia 1.1.svg
The province of Roman Dacia

Dacians, considered a part of these Getae, were a branch of Thracians that inhabited Dacia (corresponding to modern Romania, Moldova and northern Bulgaria). The Dacian kingdom reached its maximum expansion during King Burebista, around 82 BC, and soon came under the scrutiny of the neighboring Roman Empire. After an attack by the Dacians on the Roman province of Moesia in 87 AD, the Romans led a series of wars (Dacian Wars) which eventually led to the victory of Emperor Trajan in 106 AD, and transformed the core of the kingdom into the province of Roman Dacia.[18]

Rich ore deposits were found in the province, and especially gold and silver were plentiful.[19] which led to Rome heavily colonizing the province.[20] This brought the Vulgar Latin and started a period of intense romanization, that would give birth to the proto-Romanian.[21][22] Nevertheless, in the 3rd century AD, with the invasions of migratory populations such as Goths, the Roman Empire was forced to pull out of Dacia around 271 AD, thus making it the first province to be abandoned.[23][24]

Several competing theories have been generated to explain the origin of modern Romanians. Linguistic and geo-historical analysis tend to indicate that Romanians have coalesced as a major ethnic group both South and North of the Danube.[25] For further discussion, see Origin of Romanians.

Middle Ages

After the Roman army and administration left Dacia, the territory was invaded by the Goths,[26] then, in the 4th century by Huns.[27] They were followed by more nomads including Gepids,[28][29] Avars,[30] Bulgars,[28] Pechenegs,[31] and Cumans.[32]

Bran Castle was built in 1212, and became commonly known as Dracula's Castle after the myths that it the home of Vlad III Dracula.

In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia (Romanian: Ţara Românească—"Romanian Land"), Moldavia (Romanian: Moldova) and Transylvania. By the 11th century, Transylvania became a largely autonomous part of the Kingdom of Hungary,[33] and became the independent as Principality of Transylvania from the 16th century,[34] until 1711.[35] In the other Romanian principalities, many small local states with varying degrees of independence developed, but only in the 14th century the larger principalities Wallachia (1310) and Moldavia (around 1352) emerged to fight a threat of the Ottoman Empire.[36][37]

By 1541, the entire Balkan peninsula and most of Hungary became Ottoman provinces. In contrast, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, came under Ottoman suzerainty, but conserved fully internal autonomy and, until the 18th century, some external independence. During this period the Romanian lands were characterised by the slow disappearance of the feudal system; the distinguishment of some rulers like Stephen the Great, Vasile Lupu, and Dimitrie Cantemir in Moldavia, Matei Basarab, Vlad III the Impaler, and Constantin Brâncoveanu in Wallachia, Gabriel Bethlen in Transylvania; the Phanariot Epoch; and the appearance of the Russian Empire as a political and military influence.

Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania at the end of the 16th century

In 1600, the principalities of Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania were simultaneously headed by the Wallachian prince Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazul), Ban of Oltenia, but the chance for a unity dissolved after Mihai was killed, only one year later, by the soldiers of an Austrian army general Giorgio Basta. Mihai Viteazul, who was prince of Transylvania for less than one year, intended for the first time to unite the three principalities and to lay down foundations of a single state in a territory comparable to today's Romania.[38]

After his death, as vassal tributary states, Moldova and Wallachia had complete internal autonomy and an external independence, which was finally lost in the 18th century. In 1699, Transylvania became a territory of the Habsburgs' Austrian empire, following the Austrian victory over the Turks. The Austrians, in their turn, rapidly expanded their empire: in 1718 an important part of Wallachia, called Oltenia, was incorporated to the Austrian monarchy and was only returned in 1739. In 1775, the Austrian empire occupied the north-western part of Moldavia, later called Bukovina, while the eastern half of the principality (called Bessarabia) was occupied in 1812 by Russia.

Independence and monarchy

During the period of Austro-Hungarian rule in Transylvania, and Ottoman suzerainty over Wallachia and Moldavia, most Romanians were in the situation of being second-class citizens (or even non-citizens)[39] in a territory where they formed the majority of the population.[40][41] In some Transylvanian cities, such as Braşov (at that time the Transylvanian Saxon citadel of Kronstadt), Romanians were not even allowed to reside within the city walls.[42]

After the failed 1848 Revolution, the Great Powers did not support the Romanians' expressed desire to officially unite in a single state, forcing Romania to proceed alone against the Ottomans. The electors in both Moldavia and Wallachia chose in 1859 the same person–Alexandru Ioan Cuza – as prince (Domnitor in Romanian).[43] Thus, Romania was created as a personal union, albeit a Romania that did not include Transylvania. Here, the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly Hungarian, and the Romanian nationalism inevitably ran up against Hungarian one in the late 19th century. As in the previous 900 years, Austria-Hungary, especially under the Dual Monarchy of 1867, kept the Hungarians firmly in control even in parts of Transylvania where Romanians constituted a local majority.

In a 1866 coup d'état, Cuza was exiled and replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who became known as Prince Carol of Romania. During the Russo-Turkish War Romania fought on the Russian side,[44] in and in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, Romania was recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers.[45][46] In return, Romania ceded three southern districts of Bessarabia to Russia and acquired Dobruja. In 1881, the principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol became King Carol I.

Territories inhabited by Romanians before WWI

The 1878-1914 period was one of stability and progress for Romania. During the Second Balkan War, Romania joined Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey against Bulgaria, and in the peace Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Romania gained Southern Dobrudja.[47]

World Wars and Greater Romania

(1916-1947)

In August 1914, when World War I broke out, Romania declared neutrality. Two years later, under the pressure of Allies (especially France desperate to open a new front), on August 14/27 1916 it joined the Allies, for which they were promised support for the accomplishment of national unity, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary.[48]

The Romanian military campaign ended in disaster for Romania as the Central Powers conquered two-thirds of the country and captured or killed the majority of its army within four months. Nevertheless, Moldova remained in Romanian hands after the invading forces were stopped in 1917 and since by the war's end, Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had collapsed, Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania were allowed to unite with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918. By the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, Hungary renounced in favour of Romania all the claims of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy over Transylvania.[49] The union of Romania with Bukovina was ratified in 1919 in the Treaty of Saint Germain,[50] and with Bessarabia in 1920 by the Treaty of Paris.[51]

The Romanian expression România Mare (literal translation "Great Romania", but more commonly rendered "Greater Romania") generally refers to the Romanian state in the interwar period, and by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time (see map). Romania achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent (almost 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi)*),[52] managing to unite all the historic Romanian lands.

Romanian territory during the 20th century: purple indicates the Old Kingdom before 1913, orange indicates Greater Romania areas that joined or were annexed after the Second Balkan War and WWI but were lost after WWII, and pink indicates areas that joined Romania after WWI and remained so after WWII.

During the Second World War, Romania tried again to remain neutral, but on June 28, 1940, it received a Soviet ultimatum with an implied threat of invasion in the event of non-compliance.[53] Under pressure from Moscow and Berlin, the Romanian administration and the army were forced to retreat from Bessarabia as well from Northern Bukovina to avoid war.[54][55] This, in combination with other factors, prompted the government to join the Axis. Thereafter, southern Dobruja was awarded to Bulgaria, while Hungary received Northern Transylvania as result of an Axis arbitration.[56] The authoritarian King Carol II abdicated in 1940, succeeded by the National Legionary State, in which power was shared by Ion Antonescu and the Iron Guard. Within months, Antonescu had crushed the Iron Guard, and the subsequent year Romania entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. During the war, Romania was the most important source of oil for Nazi Germany,[57] which attracted multiple bombing raids by the Allies. By means of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Romania recovered Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from the Soviet Russia, under the leadership of general Ion Antonescu. The Antonescu regime played a major role in the Holocaust,[58] following to a lesser extent the Nazi policy of oppression and massacre of the Jews, and Romas, primarily in the Eastern territories Romania recovered or occupied from the Soviet Union (Transnistria) and in Moldavia.[59]

In August 1944, Antonescu was toppled and arrested by King Michael I of Romania. Romania changed sides and joined the Allies, but its role in the defeat of Nazi Germany was not recognized by the Paris Peace Conference of 1947.[60] With the Red Army forces still stationed in the country and exerting de facto control, Communists and their allied parties claimed 80% of the vote, through a combination of vote manipulation,[61] elimination, and forced mergers of competing parties, thus establishing themselves as the dominant force. By the end of the war, the Romanian army had suffered about 300,000 casualties.[62]

Communism

(1947–1989)

In 1947, King Michael I was forced by the Communists to abdicate and leave the country, Romania was proclaimed a republic,[63][64] and remained under direct military and economic control of the USSR until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's resources were drained by the "SovRom" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established to mask the looting of Romania by the Soviet Union.[65][66][67]

After the negotiated retreat of Soviet troops in 1958, Romania, under the new leadership of Nicolae Ceauşescu, started to pursue independent policies such as: being the only Warsaw Pact country to condemn the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, and to continue diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War of 1967; establishing economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany.[68] Also, close ties with the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed Romania to play a key role in the Israel-Egypt and Israel-PLO peace processes.[69] But as Romania's foreign debt sharply increased between 1977 and 1981 (from 3 to 10 billion US dollars),[70] the influence of international financial organisations such as the IMF or the World Bank grew, conflicting with Nicolae Ceauşescu's autarchic policies. He eventually initiated a project of total reimbursement of the foreign debt by imposing policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy, while also greatly extending the authority police state, and imposing a cult of personality. These led to a dramatic decrease in Ceauşescu-popularity and culminated in his overthrow and execution in the bloody Romanian Revolution of 1989.

During the 1947–1962 period, many people were arbitrarily killed or imprisoned for political, economic or unknown reasons:[71] detainees in prisons or camps, deported, persons under house arrest, and administrative detainees. There were hundreds of thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a large range of people, from political opponents to ordinary citizens.[72] Between 60,000 and 80,000 political prisoners were detained as psychiatric patients and treated in some of the most sadistic ways by doctors.[73][74] It is estimated that, it total, two million people were direct victims of the communism repression.[75][76]

Present-day democracy

After the revolution, the National Salvation Front, led by Ion Iliescu, took partial multi-party democratic and free market measures.[77][78] Several major political parties of the pre-war era, such as the Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party, the National Liberal Party and the Romanian Social Democrat Party were resurrected. After several major political rallies, in April 1990, a sit-in protest contesting the results of the recently held parliamentary elections began in University Square, Bucharest accusing the Front of being made up of former Communists and members of the Securitate. The protesters did not recognize the results of the election, deeming them undemocratic, and asked for the exclusion from the political life of the former high-ranking Communist Party members. The protest rapidly grew to become an ongoing mass demonstration (known as the Golaniad). The peaceful demonstrations degenerated into violence, and the violent intervention of coal miners from the Jiu Valleyled to what is remembered as the June 1990 Mineriad.[79]

The subsequent disintegration of the Front produced several political parties including the Romanian Democrat Social Party (later Social Democratic Party), the Democratic Party and the (Alliance for Romania). The first governed Romania from 1990 until 1996 through several coalitions and governments and with Ion Iliescu as head of state. Since then there have been three democratic changes of government: in 1996, the democratic-liberal opposition and its leader Emil Constantinescu acceded to power; in 2000 the Social Democrats returned to power, with Iliescu once again president; and in 2004 Traian Băsescu was elected president, with an electoral coalition called Justice and Truth Alliance. The government was formed by a larger coalition which also includes the Conservative Party and the ethnic Hungarian party.

Post-Cold War Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, eventually joining NATO in 2004, and hosting in Bucharest the 2008 summit.[80] The country applied in June 1993 for membership in the European Union and became an Associated State of the EU in 1995, an Acceding Country in 2004, and a member on January 1, 2007.[81]

Following the free travel agreement and politic of the post-Cold War period, as well as hardship of the life in the post 1990s economic depression, Romania has an increasingly large diaspora, estimated at over 2 million people. The main emigration targets are Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, UK, Canada and the USA.[82]

Geography

Topographic map of Romania.

With a surface area of 238,391 square kilometres (92,043 sq mi), Romania is the largest country in southeastern Europe and the twelfth-largest in Europe. A large part of Romania's border with Serbia and Bulgaria is formed by the Danube. The Danube is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border with the Republic of Moldova. The Danube flows into the Black Sea within Romania's territory forming the Danube Delta, the second largest and the best preserved delta in Europe, and a biosphere reserve and a biodiversity World Heritage Site.[83] Other important rivers are the Siret, running north-south through Moldavia, the Olt, running from the oriental Carpathian Mountains to Oltenia, and the Mureş, running through Transylvania from East to West.

Romania's terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountainous, hilly and lowland territories. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the center of Romania, with fourteen of its mountain ranges reaching above the altitude of 2,000 meters. The highest mountain in Romania is Moldoveanu Peak (2,544 m (8,346 ft)*). In south-central Romania, the Carpathians sweeten into hills, towards the Bărăgan Plains. Romania's geographical diversity has led to an accompanying diversity of flora and fauna.

Lake Bucura in the Retezat Mountains

Environment

A high percentage of natural ecosystems (47% of the land area of the country) is covered with natural and semi-natural ecosystems.[84] Since almost half of all forests in Romania (13% of the country) have been managed for watershed conservation rather than production, Romania has one of the largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe.[84] The integrity of Romanian forest ecosystems is indicated by the presence of the full range of European forest fauna, including 60% and 40% of all European brown bears and wolves, respectively.[85] There are also almost 400 unique species of mammals (of which Carpathian chamois are best known), birds, reptiles and amphibians in Romania.[86]

There are almost 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) (almost 5% of the total area) of protected areas in Romania.[87] Of these, Danube Delta Reserve Biosphere is the largest and least damaged wetland complex in Europe, covering a total area of 5,800 km2 (2,200 sq mi).[88] The significance of the biodiversity of the Danube Delta has been internationally recognised. It was declared a Biosphere Reserve in September 1990, a Ramsar site in May 1991, and over 50% of its area was placed on the World Heritage List in December 1991.[89] Within its boundaries is one of the most extensive reed bed systems in the world.[90] There are two other biosphera reserves: Retezat National Park and Rodna National Park.

Climate

Landscape in the Danube Delta

Owing to its distance from the open sea and position on the southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is transitional between temperate and continental with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11°C (52°F) in the south and 8 °C (46 °F) in the north.[91] The extreme recorded temperatures are 44.5 °C (112.1 °F) in Ion Sion 1951 and −38.5 °C (−37.3 °F) in Bod 1942.[92]

Spring is pleasant with cool mornings and nights and warm days. Summers are generally very warm to hot, with summer (June to August) average maximum temperatures in Bucharest being around 28 °C (82 °F),[93] with temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) fairly common in the lower-lying areas of the country. Minima in Bucharest and other lower-lying areas are around 16 °C (61 °F), but at higher altitudes both maxima and minima decline considerably. Autumn is dry and cool, with fields and trees producing colorful foliage. Winters can be cold, with average maxima even in lower-lying areas being no more than 2 °C (36 °F) and below −15 °C (5 °F) in the highest mountains, where some areas of permafrost occur on the highest peaks.[94]

Precipitation is average with over 750 mm (30 in) per year only on the highest western mountains — much of it falling as snow which allows for an extensive skiing industry. In the south-centern parts of the country (around Bucharest) the level of precipitation drops to around 600 mm (24 in),[95] while in the Danube Delta, rainfall levels are very low, and average only around 370 mm.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census, Romania has a population of 21,698,181 and, similarly to other countries in the region, is expected to gently decline in the coming years as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates. Romanians make up 89.5% of the population. The largest ethnic minorities are Hungarians, who make up 6.6% of the population and Roma, or Gypsies, who make up 2.46% of the population. By the official census 535,250 Roma live in Romania.[note 4][96] Hungarians, who are a sizeable minority in Transylvania, constitute a majority in the counties of Harghita and Covasna. Ukrainians, Germans, Lipovans, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Russians, Jews, Czechs, Poles, Italians, Armenians, as well as other ethnic groups, account for the remaining 1.4% of the population.[97] The number of Romanians and individuals with ancestors born in Romania living abroad is estimated at around 12 million.[82]

The official language of Romania is Romanian, an Eastern Romance language related to Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan. Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91% of the population, with Hungarian and Rroma, being the most important minority languages, spoken by 6.7% and 1.1% of the population, respectively.[97] Until the 1990s, there was also a substantial number of German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons, even though many have since emigrated to Germany, leaving only 45,000 native German speakers in Romania. In localities where a given ethnic minority makes up more than 20% of the population, that minority's language can be used in the public administration and justice system, while native-language education and signage is also provided. English and French are the main foreign languages taught in schools. English is spoken by 5 million Romanians, French is spoken by 4-5 million, and German, Italian and Spanish are each spoken by 1-2 million people.[98] Historically, French was the predominant foreign language spoken in Romania, even though English has since superseded it. Consequently, Romanian English-speakers tend to be younger than Romanian French-speakers. Romania is, however, a full member of La Francophonie, and hosted the Francophonie Summit in 2006.[99] German has been taught predominantly in Transylvania, due to traditions tracing back to the Austro-Hungarian rule in this province.

Religion

File:Putna Monastery.jpg
Putna Monastery

Romania is a secular state, thus having no national religion. The dominant religious body is the Romanian Orthodox Church, an autocephalous church within the Eastern Orthodox communion; its members make up 86.7% of the population according to the 2002 census. Other important Christian denominations include Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism (3.7%), Pentecostalism (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church (0.9%).[97] Romania also has a historically significant Muslim minority concentrated in Dobrogea, mostly of Turkish ethnicity and numbering 67,500 people.[100] Based on the 2002 census data, there are also 6,179 Jews, 23,105 people who are of no religion and/or atheist, and 11,734 who refused to answer. On December 27, 2006, a new Law on Religion was approved under which religious denominations can only receive official registration if they have at least 20,000 members, or about 0.1 percent of Romania's total population.[101]

Largest cities

Cluj-Napoca

Bucharest is the capital and the largest city in Romania. At the census in 2002, its population was over 1.9 million.[102] The metropolitan area of Bucharest has a population of about 2.2 million. There are several plans to increase further its metropolitan area to about 20 times the area of the city proper.[103][104]

There are 5 more cities in Romania, with a population of around 300,000, that are also present in EU top 100 most populous cities. These are: Iaşi, Cluj-Napoca, Timişoara, Constanţa, and Craiova. The other cities with populations over 200,000 are Galaţi, Braşov, Ploieşti, Brăila and Oradea. Another 13 cities have populations over 100,000.[3]

At present, several of the largest cities have a metropolitan area: Constanţa (550,000 people), Braşov, Iaşi (both with around 400,000) and Oradea (260,000) and several others are planned: Timişoara (400,000), Cluj-Napoca (400,000), Brăila-Galaţi (600,000), Craiova (370,000), Bacău and Ploieşti.[105]

Education

File:The University of Bucharest Library.jpg
The library of University of Bucharest

Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Romanian education system has been in a continuous process of reformation that has been both praised and criticized.[106] According to the Law on Education adopted in 1995, the Educational System is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Research. Each level has its own form of organization and is subject to different legislations. Kindergarten is optional between 3 and 6 years old. Schooling starts at age 7 (sometimes 6), and is compulsory until the 10th grade (which usually corresponds to the age of 17 or 16).[107] Primary and secondary education are divided in 12 or 13 grades. Higher education is aligned onto the European higher education area.

Aside from the official schooling system, and the recently-added private equivalents, there exists a semi-legal, informal, fully private tutoring system (meditaţii). Tutoring is mostly used during secondary as a preparation for the various examinations, which are notoriously difficult. Tutoring is wide-spread, and it can be considered a part of the Education System. It has subsisted and even prospered during the Communist regime.[108]

In 2004, some 4.4 million of the population was enrolled in school. Out of these, 650,000 in kindergarten, 3.11 million (14% of population) in primary and secondary level, and 650,000 (3% of population) in tertiary level (universities).[109] In the same year, the adult literacy rate was 97.3% (45th worldwide), while the combined gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools was 75% (52nd worldwide).[110] The results of the PISA assessment study in schools for the year 2000 placed Romania on the 34th rank out of 42 participant countries with a general weighted score of 432 representing 85% of the mean OECD score.[111] According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, in 2006 no Romanian university was included in the first 500 top universities world wide.[112] Using similar methodology to these rankings, it was reported that the best placed Romanian university, Bucharest University, attained the half score of the last university in the world top 500.[113]

Romanian high school curricula have recently been censored and restructured, owing to a growing trend of religious conservatism. In 2006, the theory of evolution, which has been taught since the country's Communist era, has been dropped from the compulsory curriculum nationwide. Philosophical writers critical of religion, such as Voltaire and Camus have also been removed from the philosophy curriculum. Instead, students are taught 7-day Creationism in Orthodox religion classes, which under new proposals could become compulsory.[114]

Economy

Tower Center International in Bucharest is the tallest building in Romania

With a GDP of around $264 billion and a GDP per capita (PPP) of $12,285[115] estimated for 2008, Romania is an upper-middle income country economy[116] and has been part of the European Union since January 1, 2007. After the Communist regime was overthrown in late 1989, the country experienced a decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base and a lack of structural reform. From 2000 onwards, however, the Romanian economy was transformed into one of relative macroeconomic stability, characterised by high growth, low unemployment and declining inflation. In 2006, according to the Romanian Statistics Office, GDP growth in real terms was recorded at 7.7%, one of the highest rates in Europe.[117] The growth dampened to 6.1% in 2007,[118] and is expected to exceed 8% in 2008 because of a high production forecast in agriculture (30-50% higher then in 2007). The GDP grew by 8.8% in the first half of 2008.[119] Unemployment in Romania was at 3.9% in September 2007[120] which is very low compared to other middle-sized or large European countries such as Poland, France, Germany and Spain. Foreign debt is also comparatively low, at 20.3% of GDP.[121] Exports have increased substantially in the past few years, with a 25% year-on-year rise in exports in the first quarter of 2006. Romania's main exports are clothing and textiles, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, metallurgic products, raw materials, cars, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centred on the member states of the European Union, with Germany and Italy being the country's single largest trading partners. The country, however, maintains a large trade deficit, which increased sharply during 2007 by 50%, to €15 billon.[122]

After a series of privatisations and reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, government intervention in the Romanian economy is somewhat lower than in other European economies.[123] In 2005, the government replaced Romania's progressive tax system with a flat tax of 16% for both personal income and corporate profit, resulting in the country having the lowest fiscal burden in the European Union,[124] a factor which has contributed to the growth of the private sector. The economy is predominantly based on services, which account for 55% of GDP, even though industry and agriculture also have significant contributions, making up 35% and 10% of GDP, respectively. Additionally, 32% of the Romanian population is employed in agriculture and primary production, one of the highest rates in Europe.[121] Since 2000, Romania has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment, becoming the single largest investment destination in Southeastern and Central Europe. Foreign direct investment was valued at €8.3 billion in 2006.[125] According to a 2006 World Bank report, Romania currently ranks 49th out of 175 economies in the ease of doing business, scoring higher than other countries in the region such as Hungary and the Czech Republic.[126] Additionally, the same study judged it to be the world's second-fastest economic reformer (after Georgia) in 2006.[127] The average gross wage per month in Romania was 1769 lei in July 2008,[128] equating to €498.75 (US$724.33) based on international exchange rates, and $986.94 based on purchasing power parity.[129]

Romania's road network

Transportation

Due to its location, Romania is a major crossroad for International economic exchange in Europe. However, because of insufficient investment, maintenance and repair, the transport infrastructure does not meet the current needs of a market economy and lags behind Western Europe. Nevertheless, these conditions are rapidly improving and catching up with the standards of Trans-European transport networks. Several projects have been started with funding from grants from ISPA and several loans from International Financial Institutions (World Bank, IMF, etc.) guaranteed by the state, to upgrade the main road corridors. Also, the Government is actively pursuing new external financing or public-private partnerships to further upgrade the main roads, and especially the country's motorway network.

World Bank estimates that the railway network in Romania comprised in 2004 22,298 kilometres (13,855 mi) of track, which would make it the fourth largest railroad network in Europe.[130] The railway transport experienced a dramatic fall in freight and passenger volumes from the peak volumes recorded in 1989 mainly due to the decline in GDP and competition from road transport. In 2004, the railways carried 8.64 billion passenger-km in 99 million passenger journeys, and 73 million metric tonnes, or 17 billion ton-km of freight.[131] The combined total transportation by rail constituted around 45% of all passenger and freight movement in the country.[131]

Bucharest is the only city in Romania which has an underground railway system. The Bucharest Metro was only opened in 1979. Now is one of the most accessed systems of the Bucharest public transport network with an average ridership of 600,000 passengers during the workweek.[132]

Tourism

File:RoMania.gif
The official logo of Romania, used to promote the tourist attractions in the country

Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its rich history and is a significant contributor to the Romania's economy. In 2006, the domestic and international tourism generated about 4.8% of gross domestic product and 5.8% of the total jobs (about half a million jobs).[133] Following commerce, tourism is the second largest component of the services sector. Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing sectors of the economy of Romania and characterized by a huge potential for development. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council Romania is the fourth fastest growing country in the world in terms of travel and tourism total demand with a yearly potential growth of 8% from 2007-2016.[134] Number of tourists grew from 4.8 million in 2002 to 6.6 million in 2004.[131] Similarly, the revenues grew from 400 million in 2002 to 607 in 2004.[131] In 2006, Romania registered 20 million overnight stays by international tourists, an all-time record,[135] but the number for 2007 is expected to increase even more.[136] Tourism in Romania attracted €400 million in investments in 2005.[137]

File:Mamaia above.jpg
Mamaia, at the Black Sea shore

Over the last years, Romania has emerged as a popular tourist destination for many Europeans (more than 60% of the foreign visitors were from EU countries),[136] thus attempting to compete with Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Spain. Romania destinations such as Mangalia, Saturn, Venus, Neptun, Olimp, Constanta and Mamaia (sometimes called the Romanian Riviera) and are among the most popular attraction during summer.[138] During winter, the skiing resorts along the Valea Prahovei and Poiana Braşov are booming with visitors. For their medieval atmosphere and castles, Transylvanian cities such as Sibiu, Braşov, Sighişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureş have become important touristic attractions for foreigners. Rural tourism focused on folklore and traditions, has become an important alternative recently,[139] and is targeted to promote such sites as Bran and its Dracula's Castle, the Painted churches of Northern Moldavia, the Wooden churches of Maramureş, or the Merry Cemetery in Maramureş County.[140] Other major natural attractions in Romania such as Danube Delta,[131] Iron Gates (Danube Gorge), Scărişoara Cave and several other caves in the Apuseni Mountains have yet to receive great attention.

Culture

Saxon medieval city of Sibiu, European Capital of Culture in 2007
The Palace of Culture in Iaşi was built between 1906-1925 and hosts several museums

Romania has its unique culture, which is the product of its geography and of its distinct historical evolution. Like Romanians themselves, it is fundamentally defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be truly included in any of them.[141] The Romanian identity formed on a substratum of mixed Roman and quite possibly Dacian elements,[142] with many other influences. During late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the major influences came from the Slavic peoples who migrated and settled in near Romania;[142] from medieval Greeks,[142] and the Byzantine Empire;[143] from a long domination by the Ottoman Empire;[144] from the Hungarians;[142] and from the Germans living in Transylvania. Modern Romanian culture emerged and developed over roughly the last 250 years under a strong influence from Western culture, particularly French,[143] and German culture.[143]

Arts

Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest was opened in 1888

The Romanian literature began to truly evolve with the revolutions of 1848 and the union of the two Danubian Principalities in 1856. The Origin of the Romanians began to be discussed and in Transylvania and Romanian scholars began studying in France, Italy and Germany.[143] The German philosophy and French culture were integrated into modern Romanian literature and a new elite of artists lead to the appearance of some of the classics of the Romanian literature such as Mihai Eminescu, George Coşbuc, Ioan Slavici. Although they remain little known outside Romania, they are very appreciated within Romania for giving birth to a true Romanian literature by creating modern lyrics with inspiration from the old folklore tales. Of them, Eminescu is considered the most important and influential Romanian poet, and is still very much loved for his creations, and especially the poem Luceafărul.[145] Among other writers that made large contributions around the second half of 19th century are Mihail Kogălniceanu (also the first prime minister of Romania), Vasile Alecsandri, Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, and Ion Creangă.

Mihai Eminescu, national poet of Romania and Moldova

The first half of the 20th century is regarded by many Romanian scholars as the Golden Age of Romanian culture and it is the period when it reached its main level of international affirmation and a strong connection to the European cultural trends.[146] The most important artist who had a great influence on the world culture was the sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, a central figure of the modern movement and a pioneer of abstraction, the innovator of world sculpture by immersion in the primordial sources of folk creation. His sculptures blend simplicity and sophistication that led the way for modernist sculptors.[147] As a testimony to his skill, one of his pieces, "Bird in Space" , was sold in an auction for $27.5 million in 2005, a record for any sculpture.[148][149] In the period between the two world wars, authors like Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga, Eugen Lovinescu, Ion Barbu, Liviu Rebreanu made efforts to synchronize Romanian literature with the European literature of the time. From this period comes also George Enescu, probably the best known Romanian musician.[150] He is a composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher, and one of the greatest performers of his time,[151] in whose honor is held the annually in Bucharest, the classical music George Enescu Festival.

File:Romania 20060512 - Tirgu Jiu - Coloana fara sfarsit.jpg
Brâncuşi's Endless Column in Targu Jiu

After the world wars, communism brought heavy censorship and used the cultural world as a means to better control the population. The freedom of expression was constantly restricted in various ways, but the likes of Gellu Naum, Nichita Stănescu, Marin Sorescu or Marin Preda managed to escape censorship, broke with "socialist realism" and were the leaders of a small "Renaissance" in Romanian literature.[152] While not many of them managed to obtain international acclaim due to the censorship, some like Constantin Noica, Tristan Tzara and Mircea Cărtărescu had their works published abroad even though they got jailed for various political reasons.

Some artists chose to leave the country entirely, and continued to make contributions in exile. Among them Eugen Ionescu, Mircea Eliade and Emil Cioran became renown worldwide for their works. Other literary figures who enjoy acclaim outside of the country include the poet Paul Celan and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, both survivors of the Holocaust. Some famous Romanian artists musicians are the folk artist Tudor Gheorghe, and the virtuoso of the pan flute Gheorghe Zamfir - who is reported to have sold over 120 million albums worldwide.[153][154]

Romanian cinema has recently achieved worldwide acclaim with the appearance of such films as The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, directed by Cristi Puiu, (Cannes 2005 Prix un certain regard winner), and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, directed by Cristian Mungiu (Cannes 2007 Palme d'Or winner).[155] The latter, according to Variety, is "further proof of Romania's new prominence in the film world."[156]

Hunyadi Castle, 1419, with its impressive size and architectural beauty sets it among the most precious monuments of medieval art.
File:Sighisoara-Tower-Clock.jpg
The Saxon city of Sighişoara first attested in the 12th century, is nowadays famous for its Medieval Festival

Monuments

The UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites[157] includes Romanian sites such as the Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Painted churches of northern Moldavia with their fine exterior and interior frescoes, the Wooden Churches of Maramures unique examples that combine Gothic style with traditional timber construction, the Monastery of Horezu, the citadel of Sighişoara, and the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie Mountains.[158] Romania's contribution to the World Heritage List stands out because it consists of some groups of monuments scattered around the country, rather than one or two special landmarks.[159] Also, in 2007, the city of Sibiu famous for its Brukenthal National Museum is the European Capital of Culture alongside the city of Luxembourg.

National Flag

Romania's national flag is identical to that of Chad.

Government

Politics

The Constitution of Romania is based on the Constitution of France's Fifth Republic[131] and was approved in a national referendum on December 8, 1991.[131] A plebiscite held in October 2003 approved 79 amendments to the Constitution, bringing it into conformity with the European Union legislation.[131] Romania is governed on the basis of multi-party democratic system and of the segregation of the legal, executive and judicial powers.[131] The Constitution states that Romania is a semi-presidential democratic republic where executive functions are shared between the president and the prime minister. The President is elected by popular vote for maximum two terms, and since the amendments in 2003, the terms are five years.[131] The President appoints the Prime Minister, who in turn appoints the Council of Ministers.[131] While the president resides at Cotroceni Palace, the Prime Minister with the Romanian Government is based at Victoria Palace.

File:Palace of Parliament.jpg
The Palace of the Parliament the seat of Romania's bicameral parliament. Built in 1984, it is the largest building in Europe and the world's second largest administrative building behind the Pentagon[160] and 10% larger by volume than the Great Pyramid of Giza.[161]

The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the Parliament (Parlamentul României), consists of two chambers – the Senate (Senat), which has 140 members, and the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaţilor), which has 346 members.[131] The members of both chambers are elected every four years under a system of party-list proportional representation.[131]

The justice system is independent of the other branches of government, and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts culminating in the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which is the supreme court of Romania.[162] There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the French model,[131][163] considering that it is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature. The Constitutional Court (Curtea Constituţională) is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations to the Romanian Constitution, which is the fundamental law of the country. The constitution, which was introduced in 1991, can only be amended by a public referendum, the last one being in 2003. Since this amendment, the court's decisions cannot be overruled by any majority of the parliament.

The country's entry into the European Union in 2007 has been a significant influence on its domestic policy. As part of the process, Romania has instituted reforms including judicial reform, increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to combat corruption. Nevertheless, in 2006 Brussels report, Romania and Bulgaria were described as the two most corrupt countries in the EU.[164]

Administrative divisions

Romania is divided into forty-one counties (judeţe), as well as the municipality of Bucharest (Bucureşti) - which is its own administrative unit. Each county is administered by a county council (consiliu judeţean), responsible for local affairs, as well as a prefect, who is appointed by the central government but cannot be a member of any political party.

The country is further subdivided into 319 cities and 2686 communes (rural localities).[165] Each of these have their own local councils and are headed by a mayor (primar). 103 of the larger and more urbanised cities have the status of municipality, which gives them greater administrative power over local affairs.

Map of the 8 development regions. The 41 local administrative units are also highlighted.

Alongside the county structure, Romania is also divided into four NUTS-1 level divisions (Romanian:Macroregiunea) and eight development regions corresponding to NUTS-2 divisions in the European Union.[166] These divisions have no administrative capacity and are instead used for co-ordinating regional development projects and statistical purposes. The NUTS-3 level divisions reflect Romania's administrative-territorial structure, and correspond to the 41 counties and the Bucharest municipality.[166]

Foreign relations

Since December 1989, Romania has pursued a policy of strengthening relations with the West in general, more specifically with the United States and the European Union. It joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on March 29, 2004, the European Union (EU) on January 1, 2007, and the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1972, and is a member of the World Trade Organization.

The current government has stated its goal of strengthening ties with and helping other Eastern European countries (in particular Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia) with the process of integration with the West.[167] Romania has also made clear since the late 1990s that it supports NATO and EU membership for the democratic former Soviet republics in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.[167] Romania also declared its public support for Turkey, Croatia and Moldova joining the European Union.[167] With Turkey, Romania shares a privileged economic relation.[168] Because it has a large Hungarian minority, Romania has also developed strong relations with Hungary - the latter supported Romania's bid to join the EU.[169]

In December 2005, President Traian Băsescu and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement that would allow a U.S. military presence at several Romanian facilities primarily in the eastern part of the country.[170]

Relations with Moldova are special,[167] considering that the two countries practically share the same language, and a fairly common historical background. A movement for unification of Romania and Moldova appreared in the early 1990s after both countries achieved emancipation from communist rule,[171] but quickly faded away with the new Moldovan government that had an agenda to preserve a Moldovan republic independent of Romania.[172] Romania remains interested in Moldovan affairs and has officially rejected the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact,[171] but the two countries have been unable even to reach agreement on a basic bilateral treaty.[173]

Armed Forces

The Romanian Armed Forces constitute of Land, Air, and Naval Forces, and are lead by a Commander-in-chief who is managed by the Ministry of Defense. The president is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces during wartime. Of the 90,000 men and women which comprise the Armed Forces, 15,000 are civilians and 75,000 are military personnel—45,800 for Land, 13,250 for Air, 6,800 for Naval Forces, and 8,800 in other fields.[174]

The total defence spending currently accounts for 2.05% of total national GDP, which represents aproximately 2,9 billion dollars (ranked 39th). However, the Romanian Armed Forces will spend about 11 billion dollars between 2006 and 2011, for modernization and acquirement of new equipment.[175] The Land Forces have overhauled their equipment in the past few years, and today are an army with multiple NATO capabilities, participating in NATO peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Air Force currently operates modernized Soviet MiG-21LanceR fighters which are due to be replaced by new advanced 4.5 generation Western jet fighters, such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon, Eurofighter Typhoon or JAS 39 Gripen.[176] Also, in order to replace the bulk of the old transport force, the Air Force ordered 7 new C-27J Spartan tactical airlift aircrafts which are to be delivered starting with late-2008.[177] Two modernized ex-Royal Navy Type 22 frigates were acquired by the Naval Forces in 2004, and a further four modern missile corvettes will be commissioned until 2010.

Sports

Football (soccer) is by far the most popular sport in Romania.[178] The governing body is the Romanian Football Federation, which belongs to UEFA. The top division of the Romanian Professional Football League attracted an average of 5417 spectators per game in the 2006-07 season.[179] At international level, the Romanian National Football Team has taken part 7 times in the Football World Cup, and it had the most successful period throughout the 1990s, when during the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Romania reached the quarter-finals and was ranked by FIFA on the 6th place. The core player of this "Golden Generation"[180] and perhaps the best known Romanian player internationally is Gheorghe Hagi (nicknamed the Maradona of the Carpathians).[181] Famous currently active players are Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu. The most famous football club is Steaua Bucureşti, who in 1986 became the first Eastern European club ever to win the prestigious European Champions Cup title, and who played the final again in 1989. Another successful Romanian team Dinamo Bucureşti played a semifinal in the European Champions Cup in 1984 and a Cup Winners Cup semifinal in the 1990. Other important Romanian football clubs are Rapid Bucureşti, CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca and FC Universitatea Craiova.

Tennis is the second most popular sport in terms of registered sportsmen.[178] Romania reached the Davis Cup finals three times (1969, 1971, 1972). The tennis player Ilie Năstase won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments, and was the first player to be ranked as number 1 by ATP from 1973 to 1974. The Romanian Open is held every fall in Bucharest since 1993.

Popular team sports are rugby union (national rugby team has so far competed at every Rugby World Cup), basketball and handball.[178] Some popular individual sports are: athletics, chess, sport dance, and martial arts and other fighting sports.[178]

Romanian gymnastics has had a large number of successes - for which the country became known worldwide.[182] In the 1976 Summer Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect "ten". She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen.[183] Her success continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals.

Romania participated in for the first time in the Olympic Games in 1900 and has taken part in 18 of the 24 summer games. Romania has been one of the more successful countries Summer Olympic Games (15th overall) with a total of 283 medals won throughout the years, 82 of which are gold medals.[184] Winter sports have received little investments and thus only a single bronze medal was won by Romanian sportsmen in the Winter Olympic Games.

Notes

  1. ^ "am scris aceste sfente cǎrţi de învăţături, sǎ fie popilor rumânesti... sǎ înţeleagǎ toţi oamenii cine-s rumâni creştini" "Întrebare creştineascǎ" (1559), Bibliografia româneascǎ veche, IV, 1944, p. 6.
    "...că văzum cum toate limbile au şi înfluresc întru cuvintele slǎvite a lui Dumnezeu numai noi românii pre limbă nu avem. Pentru aceia cu mare muncǎ scoasem de limba jidoveascǎ si greceascǎ si srâbeascǎ pre limba româneascǎ 5 cărţi ale lui Moisi prorocul si patru cărţi şi le dăruim voo fraţi rumâni şi le-au scris în cheltuială multǎ... şi le-au dăruit voo fraţilor români,... şi le-au scris voo fraţilor români" Palia de la Orǎştie (1581–1582), Bucureşti, 1968.
    În Ţara Ardealului nu lăcuiesc numai unguri, ce şi saşi peste seamă de mulţi şi români peste tot locul..., Grigore Ureche, Letopiseţul Ţării Moldovei, p. 133-134.
  2. ^ In his well known literary testament Ienăchiţă Văcărescu writes: "Urmaşilor mei Văcăreşti!/Las vouă moştenire:/Creşterea limbei româneşti/Ş-a patriei cinstire."
    In the "Istoria faptelor lui Mavroghene-Vodă şi a răzmeriţei din timpul lui pe la 1790" a Pitar Hristache writes: "Încep după-a mea ideie/Cu vreo câteva condeie/Povestea mavroghenească/Dela Ţara Românească.
  3. ^ The first known mention of the term "Romania" in its modern denotation dates from 1816, as the Greek scholar Dimitrie Daniel Philippide published in Leipzig his work "The History of Romania", followed by "The Geography of Romania".
    On the tombstone of Gheorghe Lazăr in Avrig (built in 1823) there is the inscription: "Precum Hristos pe Lazăr din morţi a înviat/Aşa tu România din somn ai deşteptat."
  4. ^ 2002 census data, based on Population by ethnicity, gives a total of 535,250 Roma in Romania. This figure is disputed by other sources, because at the local level, many Roma declare a different ethnicity (mostly Romanian, but also Hungarian in the West and Turkish in Dobruja) for fear of discrimination. Many are not recorded at all, since they do not have ID cards. International sources give higher figures than the official census(UNDP's Regional Bureau for Europe, World Bank, "International Association for Official Statistics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-26..

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  16. ^ Zilhão, João (2006). "Neanderthals and Moderns Mixed and It Matters". Evolutionary Anthropology. 15: 183–195. doi:10.1002/evan.20110. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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