1990 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1990 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
Coastline
225 km
Comparative area
slightly smaller than Oregon
Continental shelf
200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Disputes
Transylvania question with Hungary; Bessarabia question with USSR
Environment
frequent earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides, air pollution in south
Extended economic zone
200 nm;
Land boundaries
2,904 km total; Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, USSR 1,307 km, Yugoslavia 546 km
Land use
43% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 28% forest and woodland; 7% other; includes 11% irrigated
Natural resources
crude oil (reserves being exhausted), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt
Note
controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans and western USSR
Terrain
central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
237,500 km2; land area: 230,340 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
16 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
89.1% Romanian; 7.8% Hungarian; 1.5% German; 1.6% Ukrainian, Serb, Croat, Russian, Turk, and Gypsy
Infant mortality rate
19 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
10,690,000; 34% industry, 28% agriculture, 38% other (1987)
Language
Romanian, Hungarian, German
Life expectancy at birth
69 years male, 75 years female (1990)
Literacy
98%
Nationality
noun--Romanian(s); adjective--Romanian
Net migration rate
- 1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Organized labor
until December 1989, a single trade union system organized by the General Confederation of Romanian Trade Unions (UGSR) under control of the Communist Party; since Ceausescu's overthrow, newly-created trade and professional trade unions are joining two rival umbrella organizations--Organization of Free Trade Unions and Fratia
Population
23,273,285 (July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)
Religion
80% Romanian Orthodox; 6% Roman Catholic; 4% Calvinist, Lutheran, Jewish, Baptist
Total fertility rate
2.2 children born/woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
40 counties (judete, singular--judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu); Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Bucuresti*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea
Capital
Bucharest
Communists
3,400,000 (November 1984); Communist Party has ceased to exist
Constitution
21 August 1965; new constitution being drafted
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Virgil CONSTANTINESCU; Chancery at 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-4747; US--Ambassador Alan GREEN, Jr., recalled to Washington May 1990; Embassy at Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest (mailing address is APO New York 09213); telephone [40] (0) 10-40-40
Elections
Senate--elections for the new upper house to be held 20 May 1990; House of Deputies--elections for the new lower house to be held 20 May 1990
Executive branch
president, vice president, prime minister, and Council of Ministers (cabinet) appointed by provisional government
Flag
three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the national coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band, has been removed; now similar to the flags of Andorra and Chad
Independence
1881 (from Turkey); republic proclaimed 30 December 1947
Judicial branch
Supreme Court of Justice
Leaders
Chief of State--President of Provisional Council of National Unity Ion ILIESCU (since 23 December 1989); Head of Government--Prime Minister of Council of Ministers Petre ROMAN (since 23 December 1989)
Legal system
former mixture of civil law system and Communist legal theory that increasingly reflected Romanian traditions is being revised; Communist regime had not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; Provisional Council of National Unity will probably accept ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or House of Deputies
Long-form name
none
Member of
CCC, CEMA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
Liberation Day, 23 August (1944); new national day to commemorate popular anti-Ceausescu uprising under discussion
Political parties and leaders
Social Democratic Party, Sergiu Cunescu; National Liberal Party, Radu Cimpeanu; National Christian Peasants Party, Corneliu Coposu; Free Democratic Social Justice Party, Gheorghe Susana; several others being formed; Communist Party has ceased to exist; formation of left-wing parties is uncertain
Suffrage
universal at age 18
Type
former Communist state; current multiparty provisional government has scheduled a general democratic election for 20 May 1990
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 15% of GNP and 28% of labor force; major wheat and corn producer; other products--sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, milk, eggs, meat, grapes
Aid
donor--$4.3 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-88)
Budget
revenues $26 billion; expenditures $21.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $13.6 billion (1987)
Currency
leu (plural--lei); 1 leu (L) = 100 bani
Electricity
22,640,000 kW capacity; 80,000 million kWh produced, 3,440 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
lei (L) per US$1--20.96 (February 1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988), 14.557 (1987), 16.153 (1986), 17.141 (1985)
Exports
$11.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--machinery and equipment 34.7%, fuels, minerals and metals 24.7%, manufactured consumer goods 16.9%, agricultural materials and forestry products 11.9%, other 11.6% (1986); partners--USSR 27%, Eastern Europe 23%, EC 15%, US 5%, China 4% (1987)
External debt
none (mid-1989)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$79.8 billion, per capita $3,445; real growth rate - 1.5%
Imports
$8.75 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--fuels, minerals, and metals 51.0%, machinery and equipment 26.7%, agricultural and forestry products 11.0%, manufactured consumer goods 4.2% (1986); partners--Communist countries 60%, non-Communist countries 40% (1987)
Industrial production
growth rate 3.6% (1988)
Industries
mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, machine building, food processing, petroleum
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
0% (1987)
Overview
Industry, which accounts for one-third of the labor force and generates over half the GNP, suffers from an aging capital plant and persistent shortages of energy. In recent years the agricultural sector has had to contend with drought, mismanagement, and shortages of inputs. Favorable weather in 1989 helped produce a good harvest, although far below government claims. The new government is slowly loosening the tight central controls of Ceausescu's command economy. It has instituted moderate land reforms, with close to one-third of cropland now in private hands, and it has allowed changes in prices for private agricultural output. Also, the new regime is permitting the establishment of private enterprises of 20 or fewer employees in services, handicrafts, and small-scale industry. Furthermore, the government has halted the old policy of diverting food from domestic consumption to hard currency export markets. So far, the government does not seem willing to adopt a thorough-going market system.
Unemployment rate
NA%
Communications
Airports
165 total, 165 usable; 25 with permanent-surface runways; 15 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
70 major transport aircraft
Highways
72,799 km total; 15,762 km concrete, asphalt, stone block; 20,208 km asphalt treated; 27,729 km gravel, crushed stone, and other paved surfaces; 9,100 km unpaved roads (1985)
Inland waterways
1,724 km (1984)
Merchant marine
282 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,313,320 GRT/5,134,335 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 184 cargo, 1 container, 1 rail-car carrier, 14 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 livestock carrier, 10 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 69 bulk
Pipelines
2,800 km crude oil; 1,429 km refined products; 6,400 km natural gas
Ports
Constanta, Galati, Braila, Mangalia; inland ports are Giurgiu, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Orsova
Railroads
11,221 km total; 10,755 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 421 km narrow gauge, 45 km broad gauge; 3,328 km electrified, 3,060 km double track; government owned (1986)
Telecommunications
stations--39 AM, 30 FM, 38 TV; 3,910,000 TV sets; 3,225,000 radio receivers; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
Military and Security
Branches
Romanian Army, Security Troops, Air and Air Defense Forces, Romanian Navy
Defense expenditures
11.8 billion lei, 2.8% of total budget (1989); note--conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results
Military manpower
males 15-49, 5,736,783; 4,860,427 fit for military service; 193,537 reach military age (20) annually