1993 Edition

Area

total area: 237,500 km2 land area: 230,340 km2 comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Climate

temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms

Coastline

225 km

Environment

frequent earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides; air pollution in south

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

34,500 km2 (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 2,508 km, Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km (all with Serbia), Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (south) 169 km

Land use

arable land: 43% permanent crops: 3% meadows and pastures: 19% forest and woodland: 28% other: 7%

Location

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

Map references

Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

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

Natural resources

petroleum (reserves being exhausted), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt

Note

controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine

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

Birth rate

13.66 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

10.17 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Romanian 89.1%, Hungarian 8.9%, German 0.4%, Ukrainian, Serb, Croat, Russian, Turk, and Gypsy 1.6%

Infant mortality rate

21.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

10,945,700 by occupation: industry 38%, agriculture 28%, other 34% (1989)

Languages

Romanian, Hungarian, German

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.25 years male: 68.32 years female: 74.34 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1978) total population: 98% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Romanian(s) adjective: Romanian

Net migration rate

-3.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

23,172,362 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

0.02% (1993 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

1.83 children born/woman (1993 est.)

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

Chief of State

President Ion ILIESCU (since 20 June 1990, previously President of Provisional Council of National Unity since 23 December 1989)

Constitution

8 December 1991

Digraph

RO

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Aurel-Dragos MUNTEANU chancery: 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 232-4747, 6634, 5693

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

FAX

(202) 232-4748

[40] (0) 12-03-95

Flag

three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the national coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band has been removed; now similar to the flags of Andorra and Chad

Head of Government

Prime Minister Nicolae VACAROIU (since November 1992)

House of Deputies

last held 27 September 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - DFSN 27.5%, CDR 22.5%, FSN 11%, others 38.5%; seats - (341 total) DFSN 117, CDR 82, FSN 43, PUNR 30, UDMR 27, PRM 16, PSM 13, other 13

Independence

1881 (from Turkey; republic proclaimed 30 December 1947)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court of Justice, Constitutional Court

Legal system

former mixture of civil law system and Communist legal theory that increasingly reflected Romanian traditions is being revised

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or House of Deputies (Adunarea Deputatilor)

Member of

BIS, BSEC, CCC, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, G-9, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, LORCS, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Names

conventional long form: none conventional short form: Romania local long form: none local short form: Romania

National holiday

National Day of Romania, 1 December (1990)

Other political or pressure groups

various human right and professional associations

Political parties and leaders

National Salvation Front (FSN), Petre ROMAN; Democratic National Salvation Front (DNSF), Oliviu GHERMAN; Magyar Democratic Union (UDMR), Geza DOMOKOS; National Liberal Party (PNL), Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS; National Peasants' Christian and Democratic Party (PNTCD), Corneliu COPOSU; Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR), Gheorghe FUNAR; Socialist Labor Party (PSM), Ilie VERDET; Agrarian Democratic Party of Romania (PDAR), Victor SURDU; The Democratic Convention (CDR), Emil CONSTANTINESCU; Romania Mare Party (PRM), Corneliu Vadim TUDOR note: there are dozens of smaller parties; although the Communist Party has ceased to exist, small proto-Communist parties, notably the Socialist Labor Party, have been formed

President

last held 27 September 1992 - with runoff between top two candidates on 11 October 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - Ion ILIESCU 61.4%, Emil CONSTANTINESCU 38.6%

Senate

last held 27 September 1992 (next to be held NA 1998); results - DFSN 27.5%, CDR 22.5%, FSN 11%, others 39%; seats - (143 total) DFSN 49, CDR 34, FSN 18, PUNR 14, UDMR 12, PRM 6, PDAR 5, PSM 5

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador John R. DAVIS, Jr. embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest mailing address: AmConGen (Buch), Unit 25402, APO AE 09213-5260 telephone: [40] (0) 10-40-40

Agriculture

accounts for 18% of GDP and 28% of labor force; major wheat and corn producer; other products - sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, milk, eggs, meat, grapes

Budget

revenues $19 billion; expenditures $20 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.1 billion (1991 est.)

Currency

1 leu (L) = 100 bani

Economic aid

donor - $4.4 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-89)

Electricity

22,500,000 kW capacity; 59,000 million kWh produced, 2,540 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

lei (L) per US$1 - 470.10 (January 1993), 307.95 (1992), 76.39 (1991), 22.432 (1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988)

Exports

$3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: machinery and equipment 29.3%, fuels, minerals and metals 32.1%, manufactured consumer goods 18.1%, agricultural materials and forestry products 9.0%, other 11.5% (1989) partners: USSR 27%, Eastern Europe 23%, EC 15%, US 5%, China 4% (1987)

External debt

$3 billion (1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route

Imports

$5.1 billion (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: fuels, minerals, and metals 56.0%, machinery and equipment 25.5%, agricultural and forestry products 8.6%, manufactured consumer goods 3.4%, other 6.5% (1989) partners: Communist countries 60%, non-Communist countries 40% (1987)

Industrial production

growth rate -17% (1991 est.); accounts for 48% of GDP

Industries

mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, machine building, food processing, petroleum production and refining

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

200% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $63.4 billion (1992 est.)

National product per capita

$2,700 (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate

-15% (1992 est.)

Overview

Industry, which accounts for about one-third of the labor force and generates over half the GDP, suffers from an aging capital plant and persistent shortages of energy. The year 1991 witnessed a 17% drop in industrial production because of energy and input shortages and labor unrest. In recent years the agricultural sector has had to contend with flooding, mismanagement, shortages of inputs, and disarray caused by the dismantling of cooperatives. A shortage of inputs and a severe drought in 1991 contributed to a poor harvest, a problem compounded by corruption and an obsolete distribution system. The new government has instituted moderate land reforms, with more than one-half of cropland now in private hands, and it has liberalized private agricultural output. Private enterprises form an increasingly important portion of the economy largely in services, handicrafts, and small-scale industry. Little progress on large scale privatization has been made since a law providing for the privatization of large state firms was passed in August 1991. Most of the large state firms have been converted into joint-stock companies, but the selling of shares and assets to private owners has been delayed. While the government has halted the old policy of diverting food from domestic consumption to hard currency export markets, supplies remain scarce in some areas. The new government continues to impose price ceilings on key consumer items. In 1992 the economy muddled along toward the new, more open system, yet output and living standards continued to fall.

Unemployment rate

9% (January 1993)

Airports

total: 158 usable: 158 with permanent-surface runways: 27 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 21 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 26

Highways

72,799 km total; 35,970 km paved; 27,729 km gravel, crushed stone, and other stabilized surfaces; 9,100 km unsurfaced roads (1985)

Inland waterways

1,724 km (1984)

Merchant marine

249 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,882,727 GRT/4,463,879 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 170 cargo, 2 container, 1 rail-car carrier, 9 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 15 oil tanker, 51 bulk

Pipelines

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

Ports

Constanta, Galati, Braila, Mangalia; inland ports are Giurgiu, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Orsova

Railroads

11,275 km total; 10,860 km 1.435-meter gauge, 370 km narrow gauge, 45 km broad gauge; 3,411 km electrified, 3,060 km double track; government owned (1987)

Telecommunications

poor service; about 2.3 million telephone customers; 89% of phone network is automatic; cable and open wire; trunk network is microwave; present phone density is 9.85 per 100 residents; roughly 3,300 villages with no service (February 1990); broadcast stations - 12 AM, 5 FM, 13 TV (1990); 1 satellite ground station using INTELSAT

Branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense

Defense expenditures

137 billion lei, 3% of GDP (1993); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 5,846,332; fit for military service 4,942,746; reach military age (20) annually 185,714 (1993 est.)