Romania
Name
| Official name | Romania — România; no longer form |
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| Former names | The Socialist Republic of Romania (1965–89) and the Romanian People's Republic (1947–65); the Kingdom of Romania (1881–1947); the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (1859–81) and the Principality of Romania of 1866; the Danubian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia of the Ottoman suzerainty; the Principality of Transylvania of the Hungarian crown and the Habsburgs; Dacia of the Romans; Greater Romania of 1918–40 |
| Demonym | Romanian; român, româncă |
| Meaning of the name | From Rome — românus, the Roman, the name the Latin-speaking people of the Carpathians and the Danube gave themselves through the centuries without a state, "Rumânia" of the first written use of 1816, the "Vlachs" of the outsiders' name from the Germanic word for the Romance speakers; the "land of the Romans" the state took as its name in 1862 |
| Motto | None official — "Nihil sine Deo," nothing without God, the motto of the kingdom and of the royal arms the republic's eagle keeps in its crown since 2016 |
Quick facts
| Capital | Bucharest — București — the Wallachian seat of 1459 and the capital since 1862; about 1.7 million in the city and 2.3 million in the metropolis |
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| Largest cities | Bucharest; Cluj-Napoca, about 290,000, the capital of Transylvania and the IT of the "Silicon Valley of the East"; Iași of Moldavia and the oldest university; Constanța of the port and the sea; Timișoara of the revolution and the European Capital of Culture of 2023; Brașov of the Saxons and the mountains; Craiova of the Fords; Galați of the steel and the drone of 2026; Ploiești of the oil; Oradea of Bolojan's Art Nouveau; Brăila of the bridge; Arad; Pitești of the Dacias; Sibiu of Iohannis; Bacău; Târgu Mureș of the Hungarians |
| Official language | Romanian — the Romance language of the Latin of Dacia with its Slavic tenth, the closest living language to Latin by the count of the grammarians, the mother tongue of 91%, written in the Latin alphabet since 1860 after the Cyrillic centuries, the language of Eminescu, Caragiale, Eliade, Cioran and the Nobel of Herta Müller in German; the Moldovan of Chișinău the same language by the law of 2023; Hungarian by 6%, official in the communes of a fifth, the Székely of the "Szeklerland"; Romani, German of the Saxons and Swabians, Ukrainian, Russian of the Lipovans, Turkish and Tatar of Dobruja, Serbian, Slovak, Bulgarian, the 20 minorities of the law; English by the young and the IT, French of the Francophonie |
| Currency | Romanian leu — RON, lei; 100 bani; since 1867, redenominated 1 July 2005; about 5.1 to the euro and 4.6 to the U.S. dollar; the euro the obligation put off |
| Time zone | Eastern European Time, UTC+2; summer time UTC+3 |
| Calling code | +40 |
| Internet domain | .ro |
| ISO 3166 codes | RO · ROU · 642 |
| Vehicle registration code | RO |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | 9 May 1877, from the Ottoman Empire, proclaimed by the parliament at Bucharest as the Russian war began, won at Plevna and recognized by the Congress of Berlin of 13 July 1878; the union of 24 January 1859; the kingdom of 10 May 1881; the Great Union of 1 December 1918 at Alba Iulia; the revolution of 22 December 1989 |
| National days | 1 December, the Great Union Day, the parade of the Arch of Triumph since 1990; 24 January, the Union of the Principalities; 10 May, the Independence and the Kingdom, restored as a holiday in 2015; 9 May, Europe Day and the independence; 29 July, the Anthem Day; 26 June, the Flag Day; 1 May; 1 June, Children's Day; the Orthodox Easter and the Pentecost; 15 August, the Assumption and the Navy; 30 November, Saint Andrew; 25 and 26 December; 1 and 2 January; the 1 March of the Mărțișor; the 24 June of the blouse, the ie; the 16–22 December of the revolution |
| Constitution | 8 December 1991 — the Constitution of Romania, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 21 November 1991 and approved by the referendum of 8 December with 77%, the charter of the semi-presidential republic: the president elected by the people for five years and two terms, the head of state who names the prime minister, may dissolve the Parliament after two failed investitures in sixty days and is suspended by the Parliament and removed by referendum, the government responsible to the Parliament, the bicameral Parliament of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the Constitutional Court of nine that annulled a presidential election on 6 December 2024, the first in the Union; the revision of 29 October 2003 for the Union and NATO that lengthened the presidency to five years; the referendums of 2009 and 2018 that failed; the annulment of 2024 the constitution's test |
| Population | 19,053,815 at the census of 2021, from 20,121,641 in 2011 and 23 million in 1990; about 18.9 million (INS, 2026 est.) — falling by 100,000 a year |
| Area | 238,391 km² (92,043 sq mi) — land 229,891 km², water 8,500 km²; the twelfth-largest of Europe and the ninth of the Union; the Carpathians a third, the hills a third, the plains a third |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Three vertical bands of blue, yellow and red — the colors of the Wallachian and the Moldavian arms joined by the revolutionaries of 1848 and adopted by Cuza's united principalities in 1862 in the vertical form of the French tricolor of 1867, the blue for liberty, the yellow for justice and the red for fraternity by the readings of 1848; the flag of the kingdom, the flag the communists stamped with their emblem and the flag the crowds of December 1989 cut the emblem out of, the "flag with the hole" of the revolution, restored plain by the decree of 27 December 1989 and the law of 1994; the same three bands as Chad's, the difference of a shade of blue the two states have argued over at the United Nations since 2004.Flag of Romania |
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| Coat of arms | A golden eagle, the aquila of the Romans, holding a cross in its beak and a sword and a scepter in its talons on a blue shield, bearing on its breast the arms of the five lands — the eagle of Wallachia, the aurochs of Moldavia, the lions and the bridge of Oltenia and the Banat, the eagle, the sun, the moon and the seven towers of Transylvania, the dolphins of Dobruja — adopted by the law of 10 September 1992 and crowned with the Steel Crown of Carol I by the amendment of 2016; the royal arms of 1921 the model |
| National anthem | "Deșteaptă-te, române!" ("Awaken, Romanian!") — the poem of Andrei Mureșanu of the revolution of 1848 at Brașov set to the melody of Anton Pann's "From my breast," sung first on 29 June 1848 at Râmnicu Vâlcea, the "Marseillaise of the Romanians" sung by the crowds of December 1989 and made the anthem by the decree of 24 January 1990 in place of the Ceaușescu hymn; the eleven verses of which two are sung, "awaken, Romanian, from the sleep of death"; the Anthem Day of 29 July; the anthem of Moldova too in 1991–94 |
| National motto | None official |
| National colors | Blue, yellow and red |
| National animal | The lynx, the Carpathian lynx of the 2,000, the national animal by the usage; the brown bear of the 8,000 of the Carpathians, the largest population of the Union, the bears of the Transfăgărășan roadside and the culling law of 2025; the aurochs of Moldavia's arms, the zimbru, the bison brought back to the Țarcu mountains; the golden eagle of the arms; the white pelican of the Delta; the Dalmatian pelican; the wolf; widely cited |
| National flower | The peony, the bujor, declared the national flower by the law of 2022, the wild peony of the Dobruja hills; the dog rose of the hedges, the edelweiss of the Carpathians, the floarea de colț, protected; the oak the national tree of the usage, the Carpathian beech forests of the World Heritage; widely cited |
| National dish | Sarmale — the cabbage or vine leaves rolled around the minced pork and rice and simmered for hours, the dish of Christmas, Easter and the weddings, served with mămăligă, the polenta of the corn that fed the peasants for three centuries, and the smântână sour cream; the mici of the grilled meat rolls of the summer and the 1 May, the ciorbă sour soups of the tripe and the beans, the cozonac of the holidays, the papanași of the cheese doughnuts; the țuică plum brandy and the pălincă of Transylvania, the wines of Dealu Mare and Murfatlar, the Ursus beer; widely cited |
| National sport | Oină, the bat-and-ball game of the shepherds of the 1300s, the national sport by the law of 2014; football the passion, the Steaua of the European Cup of 1986, the only from the East, the "Generation of Gold" of Hagi of the World Cup quarterfinal of 1994, Euro 2024's round of 16, Hagi the coach since 20 April 2026, Lucescu dead on 7 April; gymnastics of Nadia Comăneci's perfect 10 of 18 July 1976, the first, decorated for its fiftieth on 30 May 2026, the 25 Olympic golds of the women; tennis of Năstase, Țiriac and Simona Halep's two Grand Slams; handball of the women's four world titles and Cristina Neagu; rowing of the three golds of Paris 2024; swimming of David Popovici's 200 freestyle gold of 2024 and his world records; the canoeing of Patzaichin; the fencing; the rugby of the Stejarii; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag by the law of 1994; the arms by the laws of 1992 and 2016; the anthem by the decree of 1990; oină by the law of 2014; the peony by the law of 2022; the animals, other plants, dishes and sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | Southeastern Europe on the Black Sea — Ukraine to the north and east, Moldova to the east across the Prut, Bulgaria to the south across the Danube, Serbia to the southwest, Hungary to the west; the Carpathians curving through the center and Transylvania within them; the Danube from the Iron Gates to the delta; the eastern flank of NATO and the Union, the Ukrainian border of the war |
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| Land borders | 2,844 km (1,767 mi) with five neighbors — Moldova 683 along the Prut, the "two Romanian states" of the Bessarabia lost in 1940, the Moldovans of the Romanian passports; Bulgaria 605 along the Danube and the Dobruja line, the Giurgiu–Ruse and Calafat–Vidin bridges, the Schengen of 1 January 2025 that ended the controls; Ukraine 601 of the north and the Maramureș and the Bukovina, the Siret of the refugees of 2022 and the drones; Serbia 531 along the Danube of the Iron Gates and the Banat; Hungary 424 of the Transylvanian plain, the Nădlac motorway crossing; the Snake Island of Ukraine off the delta the court awarded the waters of in 2009 |
| Coastline | 225 km (140 mi) on the Black Sea — the Dobruja coast from the Danube Delta and the Sulina mouth south past the lagoons of Razim and Sinoe, Constanța of the port and the casino, the Mamaia beach and the resorts of Eforie, Neptun and Mangalia to the Bulgarian border at Vama Veche; the Constanța port of the Ukrainian grain of 2022–26 and the naval drone of 5 June 2026; the offshore gas of Neptun Deep; the Mihail Kogălniceanu base |
| Highest point | Moldoveanu, 2,544 m (8,346 ft), in the Făgăraș of the Southern Carpathians |
| Lowest point | The Black Sea, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 414 m (1,358 ft) |
| Rivers | The Danube, 1,075 km of its 2,850 in or along Romania, more than any other country, from the Iron Gates gorge of the dam of 1972 with Yugoslavia past Calafat, Giurgiu, Cernavodă and Galați to the delta of the three arms of Chilia, Sulina and Sfântu Gheorghe, the 4,000 km² of the largest wetland of Europe of the pelicans and the 300 species of birds, the World Heritage of 1991; the Mureș, 761 km, the longest within the country, through Transylvania to the Tisza; the Prut of the Moldovan border, the Olt of 615 km through the Carpathians, the Siret of the floods, the Ialomița, the Someș, the Argeș of Bucharest's water, the Jiu of the coal valley, the Bistrița of the Bicaz dam, the Dâmbovița of the capital; the Danube–Black Sea Canal of 1984 of the forced labor of the 1950s; the floods of 2005, 2010, 2024 of the storm Boris of Galați and the Praid salt mine of May 2025 |
| Lakes | Razim, 415 km², the lagoon of the Dobruja south of the delta and Sinoe beside it, the largest; the delta's lakes of Fortuna and Roșu; the glacial lakes of the Carpathians, the 80 of the Retezat, the Bâlea and Capra of the Făgăraș, the Bucura; the Red Lake, Lacul Roșu, of the Bicaz gorge made by the landslide of 1837 with its drowned firs; Saint Anne of Harghita, the only crater lake; the reservoirs of the Iron Gates, Bicaz, Vidraru of the Argeș and the Stânca of the Prut; the salt lakes of Sovata and Ocna Sibiului; the Snagov of the tomb of Vlad |
| Terrain | Three thirds — the Carpathians of the arc, the Eastern of Maramureș and the Bukovina, the Southern of the Făgăraș, Bucegi, Retezat and Parâng of the "Transylvanian Alps," the Western of the Apuseni of the caves and the gold; the Transylvanian plateau inside the arc of the Saxon towns and the Székely; the hills of the Subcarpathians of the oil, the wine and the salt; the plains of Wallachia and the Bărăgan of the grain, of the Banat and the Crișana of the west, of Moldavia of the east; the Dobruja plateau of the Măcin, the oldest mountains of the country worn to hills, and the delta; the Danube; the Iron Gates; the Turda gorge and salt mine, the Scărișoara ice cave, the Bigăr falls, the Sphinx of the Bucegi, the "living fire" of Lopătari |
| Climate | Temperate continental — the winters cold at −3°C in Bucharest and −10 in the Moldavian plain with the crivăț wind, the summers hot at 23°C and the heat waves of 40, the record 44.5°C at Ion Sion of 1951; the rain of 600 mm on the plain and 1,400 in the mountains, the snow of the Carpathians from November to April; the droughts of the Bărăgan of 2020 and 2022, the floods of the spring; the Black Sea coast of the summer resorts; the warming of the two degrees since 1900 |
| Natural hazards | Earthquakes of the Vrancea zone of the Carpathian bend, the deepest of Europe — the earthquake of 4 March 1977, magnitude 7.2, with 1,578 dead and 33 buildings of Bucharest collapsed, the 1940 of 7.7 with 1,000 dead, the 1986 and 1990, the "red dot" buildings of the capital that wait for the next; floods — the Danube of 2006, the Siret and the Prut of 2008 and 2010, the storm Boris of 14 September 2024 of Galați with seven dead and 5,000 houses, the Praid salt mine drowned by the Târnava in May 2025; the landslides of the Subcarpathians; the fires of the Delta; the Colectiv nightclub fire of Bucharest of 30 October 2015 with 65 dead that toppled the government; the Russian drone that hit a block of flats at Galați on 29 May 2026 and injured two, the consul expelled, the stray Ukrainian naval drone that exploded at Constanța on 5 June 2026 with 1,300 evacuated, the drone fragments of the delta villages of 2023–26; the bears of the roads |
| Natural resources | Oil and gas — the Ploiești fields of the world's first refinery of 1857, the Black Sea gas of Neptun Deep of OMV Petrom and Romgaz of 100 billion cubic meters for 2027 that will make the country the largest gas producer of the Union, the onshore gas of Transylvania; coal of the Jiu Valley and the lignite of Oltenia phased out; gold of Roșia Montană, the largest deposit of Europe, refused to the Canadian mine by the protests of 2013 and listed as World Heritage in danger in 2021, the arbitration won in 2024; the salt of Slănic, Praid and Turda; the timber of the Carpathians and the illegal logging of the "wood mafia"; the farmland of 14 million hectares, the Union's largest corn and sunflower; the water and the hydropower; the Delta; the mineral springs of the 3,000 spas; the uranium of Bihor; the Cernavodă nuclear |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 60%, the arable of 39% of the country, the fourth of the Union; forest about 29%, the Carpathian beech and spruce, the old-growth of the Union's largest and the logging of the 2010s; the Delta, the pastures of the shepherds |
| National parks | 14 national parks and 16 natural parks on about 5% of the land, the Natura 2000 on 23% — Retezat of 1935, the first, of the 80 lakes and the chamois; Rodna of the Eastern Carpathians; Piatra Craiului; the Domogled–Valea Cernei, the largest; the Cheile Nerei–Beușnița of the Banat; Cozia of the Olt; Semenic; the Munții Măcinului; the Buila-Vânturarița; the Călimani; the Ceahlău of the Moldavian sacred mountain; the Cheile Bicazului–Hășmaș; the Defileul Jiului; the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve of 5,800 km² of 1990, the largest; the Apuseni, the Bucegi, the Iron Gates and the Comana natural parks; the Făgăraș foundation's "European Yellowstone" of the private rewilding |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 11 — the Danube Delta (1991); the Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (1993, extended 1999), the seven Saxon villages of Biertan, Viscri and the rest; the Monastery of Horezu (1993), the Brâncovenesc masterpiece of 1690; the Churches of Moldavia (1993, extended 2010), the eight painted monasteries of the Bukovina of Voroneț's blue; the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains (1999), Sarmizegetusa Regia of Decebalus; the Historic Centre of Sighișoara (1999), the Saxon citadel of Vlad's birth; the Wooden Churches of Maramureș (1999), the eight of the spires; the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians (2017 extension, shared); Roșia Montană Mining Landscape (2021), on the danger list from its inscription; the Brâncuși Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu (2024), the Endless Column, the Gate of the Kiss and the Table of Silence; the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia (2024), the limes of the province; the Călușul ritual (2008), the Doina (2009), the Horezu ceramics (2012), the lad's dances of the Feciorescu (2015), the Mărțișor (2017, shared), the transhumance (2023, shared) and the Ie blouse's nomination on the intangible list |
| Administrative divisions | 41 counties — județe — and the Municipality of Bucharest, the counties of 1968 that replaced the regions of the Soviet model, each with an elected county council and president and a prefect of the government, Alba, Arad, Argeș, Bacău, Bihor of Bolojan, Bistrița-Năsăud, Botoșani, Brașov of Veștea, Brăila, Buzău, Caraș-Severin, Călărași, Cluj, Constanța, Covasna and Harghita of the Székely, Dâmbovița, Dolj, Galați, Giurgiu, Gorj, Hunedoara, Ialomița, Iași, Ilfov, Maramureș, Mehedinți, Mureș, Neamț, Olt, Prahova, Satu Mare, Sălaj, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timiș, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vâlcea and Vrancea; 103 municipalities, 217 towns and 2,861 communes with mayors and councils elected 9 June 2024 for four years, the next in 2028; the 8 development regions of the statistics without governments; the historic regions of Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, the Banat, Crișana, Maramureș, Bukovina and Dobruja the identities |
People
| Population | 19,053,815 (census of 2021); about 18.9 million (2026 est.) |
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| Population density | About 80 per km² (207 per sq mi) — Bucharest at 8,000, Ilfov at 400, Tulcea of the delta at 25 |
| Population growth | About −0.6% a year — 100,000 more deaths than births and the emigration, the 23 million of 1990 to the 19 of 2021, the projections of 15 million by 2050; the Ukrainians of 2022 who passed through, 100,000 who stayed, and the Asian workers of the 2020s, the Nepalis and the Sri Lankans of the building sites and the delivery bikes |
| Median age | About 43 years |
| Life expectancy | About 76 years — 72 for men, 80 for women, among the lowest of the Union |
| Fertility rate | About 1.7 births per woman — the highest of the Union's east, the Roma and the rural births |
| Urban population | About 55% |
| Adult literacy | About 99%; the functional illiteracy of 40% of the 15-year-olds by the PISA tests the worry |
| Ethnic groups | Romanian 89.3% by the census of 2021 among those who answered, the Latin nation of the Carpathians and the Danube; Hungarian 6.0%, about a million, the Magyars of Transylvania of the Székely of Harghita, Covasna and Mureș where they are the majority and of Cluj, Oradea and the Banat, the UDMR of every government since 1996, the Trianon of 1920 the wound of Budapest and the autonomy the demand; Roma 3.4%, 569,000 declared and 1.5 to 2 million by the estimates, the largest Roma population of the European Union, the slaves of the boyars and the monasteries until 1856, the poverty and the mahalas of the cities and the "Gypsy palaces" of the returned; Ukrainian 0.2% of Maramureș and the Delta; German 0.1%, the 22,000 left of the 800,000 Transylvanian Saxons and Banat Swabians of 1930 whom Ceaușescu sold to West Germany, the president Iohannis their son; Turkish and Tatar of Dobruja, Russian Lipovans of the Old Belief of the Delta, Serb of the Banat, Slovak, Bulgarian, Croat, Czech, Greek, Italian, Armenian, Jewish of the 3,000 of the 800,000 of 1930; the 14% who did not answer |
| Languages | Romanian by 91% as the mother tongue; Hungarian by 6%, the second language of the Székelyland's schools, the courts and the signs of the communes above 20%; Romani by 1.2% and by more who hide it; German of the Saxon lycées the Romanians fill; Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, Tatar, Serbian, Slovak, Bulgarian, Croatian of the minorities' schools and the 19 seats of the Chamber; English by 40% and the call centers and the IT, French of the old elite and the Francophonie, Italian and Spanish of the returned emigrants; the Aromanian of the Balkans' cousins; the Romanian Sign Language |
| Religion | Orthodox 85.3% by the census of 2021 among the answers, the Romanian Orthodox Church of the Patriarch Daniel since 2007, the church of the Cathedral of the Nation of Bucharest consecrated on 26 October 2025 after fifteen years of building at €270 million of the state's money, the largest Orthodox church in the world by its interior, the monasteries of the Bukovina and the Athos of the Prislop, the icons and the Easter of the whole country; Roman Catholic 4.5%, the Hungarians of the west and the Csángó of Bacău; Reformed 3.0%, the Hungarians of the Calvinist Transylvania; Pentecostal 2.5% and rising of the Roma and the villages; Greek Catholic 0.7%, the Uniates of Transylvania the communists banned in 1948 and the Union restored; Baptist 0.6%, Adventist, Unitarian of the Székely, Lutheran of the Saxons; Muslim 0.4% of the Dobruja Turks and Tatars of the Constanța mosque; none 0.9% and rising; the Church of the Pope's visit of 2019 and of the "family referendum" of 2018 that failed for the turnout |
| Human Development Index | 0.845 (2023 data, 2025 report) — very high; about 50th of 193 |
| The four million abroad | The emigration of the Union years, the largest of any member state by the share of the population — the 2 million who left in the decade after 2007 and the 4 to 6 million of the estimates of the Romanians abroad, the Italians' Romanians of 1.1 million, the Spaniards' of 1.1 million, the Germans' of a million, the Britons' of 500,000 of the Brexit vote's "Romanian plumber," the French, the Belgians, the Dutch, the Americans of 500,000, the Canadians; the doctors and the nurses of the Western hospitals, the "brain drain" of the 20,000 doctors; the villages of the grandparents and the "orphans of the emigration"; the diaspora that votes, the Georgescu and Simion of the 2024–25 elections' diaspora vote of the disappointed and the Dan of the Moldovans' vote; the returned of the pandemic; the remittances of €7 billion a year; the Moldovans of a million with the Romanian passports |
| Sport | Football — the Euro 2024 of Germany with the round of 16 and the "we are a nation" of the fans, the World Cup of 2026 missed, Hagi appointed the national coach on 20 April 2026 on a four-year contract, "nobody's place is guaranteed," Lucescu the coach of Shakhtar and the national team dead on 7 April 2026 at 80, FCSB and Dinamo, Steaua's 1986; gymnastics of Comăneci's 10 and Bărbosu's bronze of 2024 by the court; the rowing of Paris 2024's three golds, the women's eight; Popovici's 200 free gold of 2024, the world records of 2022, the "Popovici of the world"; the tennis of Halep, retired in 2025, and the Davis Cup of Năstase; the handball of Neagu; the kayak of Patzaichin and the fencing of the sabre; the Eurovision of 16 May 2026 at Vienna, Alexandra Căpitănescu third with "Choke Me," the country's best since 2010; the men's European volleyball championship co-hosted 9–26 September 2026; the women's European handball championship of December 2026; the Tour of Romania of 2026 announced with Moldova |
| Diaspora | About 4 to 6 million Romanians and their descendants abroad — Italy 1.1 million, Spain 1.1 million, Germany 1 million, Britain 500,000, France, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, the United States 500,000, Canada, Australia, Israel of the 400,000 of the emigration of the 1950s–80s Ceaușescu sold; the four seats of the diaspora in the Chamber and two in the Senate; the Ministry for Romanians Abroad; the "double-voting" of the Moldovans; the remittances of €7 billion; the return the state courts |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary semi-presidential republic under the Constitution of 1991 — the president elected by the people for five years as head of state with the nomination of the prime minister, the foreign policy and the defense, the suspension by the Parliament and the removal by referendum tried against Băsescu in 2007 and 2012 and failed; the prime minister of the Parliament's confidence; the bicameral Parliament of 331 deputies and 134 senators; the Constitutional Court of nine that annulled the election of 2024; the 41 counties; the coalitions of the four or five parties and the "rotation" of the prime ministers; "free" by Freedom House, the "flawed democracy" of the index, the corruption of the "PSD state" and the anti-corruption directorate of the 2010s; the annulment of December 2024, "a coup" to the far right and "the defense of democracy" to the court |
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| President | Nicușor Dan (independent), since 26 May 2025 — the sixth president since 1989; born 20 December 1969 at Făgăraș, the mathematician of the two gold medals of the International Mathematical Olympiad of 1987 and 1988 and the doctorate of the École Normale Supérieure of Paris, the civic activist of the "Save Bucharest" association of 2006 against the demolitions and the developers, the founder of the Save Romania Union of 2016 who left it in 2017 over the family referendum, the mayor of Bucharest of 29 October 2020 to 26 May 2025; the candidate of the rerun of 2025 after the Constitutional Court annulled the election of November 2024 on 6 December 2024 for the "foreign interference" of the TikTok campaign that had put the pro-Russian Călin Georgescu first, Georgescu barred on 9 March 2025 and charged with the "coup" and the fascist propaganda; the first round of 4 May 2025 at 20.99% behind George Simion's 40.96%, the runoff of 18 May 2025 won by 53.60% and 6,168,642 votes to Simion's 46.40% on the turnout of 64.7%, the votes of the Hungarians, the Moldovans and the cities; sworn 26 May 2025; the president who named Bolojan, mediated the coalition's quarrel of April 2026 and failed, refused the early elections "for the risk of instability" with the far right at 37%, nominated his adviser Eugen Tomac on 4 June 2026 for a technocratic cabinet the parties refused and the Liberal Adrian Veștea on 14 June without consulting the Liberals, "a stab in the back," Bolojan, "he does not care about the constitution," Simion, and saw Veștea rejected on 22 June by 189 votes to 23 with 233 needed; the Jurata summit of the eastern flank of 27 June 2026 with Nawrocki and the Balts; the awarder of Nadia's Grand Cross of 30 May 2026; "the guarantor of stability" of the reading and "the presidency of the impasse" of the other; his term to May 2030 |
| Prime Minister | Ilie Bolojan (National Liberal Party — PNL), since 23 June 2025, the caretaker since 5 May 2026 — the prime minister of the Bolojan cabinet, the 135th government; born 17 March 1969 at Vadu Crișului in Bihor, the mathematics graduate of the Cluj university, the prefect of Bihor, the mayor of Oradea of 2008–20 who made the "Oradea model" of the restored Art Nouveau city and the Union's money, the president of the Bihor county council of 2020–24, the senator since December 2024, the president of the National Liberal Party since 25 November 2024, the president of the Senate of 23 December 2024 to 24 June 2025 and the acting president of the republic of 12 February to 26 May 2025 after Iohannis resigned; named by Dan and sworn 23 June 2025 at the head of the four-party coalition of the PNL, the PSD, the USR and the UDMR with the minorities, the rotation to a Social Democrat due in April 2027, the mission the deficit; the austerity — the VAT from 19% to 21% on 1 August 2025, the wages and the pensions frozen, the public jobs cut, the magistrates' pensions fought at the Constitutional Court, the deficit from 9.3% of GDP in 2024 to 7.9% in 2025, "the trust of the markets regained"; the PSD's withdrawal of its support on 20 April 2026 and of its ministers on 23 April, the no-confidence motion of the PSD, AUR and PACE, "Stop the Bolojan Plan of destroying the economy, impoverishing the population and the fraudulent sale of the state's wealth," passed 5 May 2026 by 281 votes to 4, "cynical and artificial," "I assumed the position being aware that I would not receive applause," "I chose to do what was urgent and necessary"; the caretaker of the limited powers, the Veștea nomination he called a stab in the back and the minority-government pact of six months he proposed, "I will not seek the premiership"; the deputy prime ministers Predoiu, Tánczos, Gheorghiu and Miruță |
| The government crisis | The fall and the impasse of 2026 — the Social Democrats, the largest party, "at loggerheads" with the austerity and the "sale of the state's assets," their exit of 23 April 2026 that left the government a minority and their motion with the far right of 5 May; the president's consultations and the refusal of early elections; the first nomination of 4 June 2026 of Eugen Tomac, the presidential adviser and MEP of the technocratic cabinet the Liberals, the USR and the UDMR would not back, the mandate returned on 14 June; the second nomination the same morning of Adrian Veștea, the Brașov county council president and former development minister of the Liberals' dissident faction, named without the Liberals' consent, "more than 240 votes," his assurance, the program of Bolojan kept, the Chamber's rejection of 22 June 2026 by 189 for and 23 against with more than half abstaining, the far right refusing him, "47 days without a government are costing us: European funds, trust and time," Veștea, "backstage games and betrayals," Bolojan, the Liberals' exclusion of Veștea and his supporters; the Constitution's sixty days of two failed investitures that opens the dissolution the president will not use; the Parliament's recess of July and the extraordinary session of the recovery plan's deadline of 31 August; the Liberals' six-month "national pact" for a minority government and the Social Democrats' refusal of a PNL–USR–UDMR minority, Grindeanu "avoiding the prime ministership"; "the crisis has lasted 55 days from the withdrawal and 40 from the fall" by 14 June, the summer without a cabinet, the credit rating and the €10 billion of recovery money the stake, AUR at 37% waiting; the outcome of the autumn session the next chapter |
| The 2024 and 2025 elections | The parliamentary election of 1 December 2024: the Social Democrats 22% and 86 deputies, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians of Simion 18% and 63, the far right's breakthrough, the National Liberals 13.2% and 49, the Save Romania Union 12.4% and 40, S.O.S. Romania of Diana Șoșoacă 7.4% and 28, the Party of Young People of Anamaria Gavrilă 6.4% and 24, the Hungarians' UDMR 6.3% and 22, the minorities 19; the presidential election of 24 November 2024 won in the first round by Călin Georgescu with 22.9% from nothing in the polls on the TikTok campaign, Elena Lasconi of the USR 19.2% and Ciolacu third, the runoff of 8 December canceled, the annulment of 6 December 2024 by the Constitutional Court on the intelligence services' files of the Russian-style interference and the illegal financing, the first annulled national election of the Union; the rerun of 4 and 18 May 2025, Simion 40.96% and Dan 20.99% in the first round of eleven with Crin Antonescu of the coalition 20.07% and Victor Ponta 13%, the runoff of Dan's 53.60%, "a victory of the Romania that wants to stay in Europe" and "stolen" of Simion's first night withdrawn; the local elections of 9 June 2024 |
| Parliament | The Parliament of Romania — Parlamentul României — of the Chamber of Deputies of 331 and the Senate of 134, elected for four years by proportional lists in the 41 counties, the capital and the diaspora with the 5% threshold, the Palace of the Parliament of Ceaușescu; the president of the Chamber Sorin Grindeanu (PSD) since 24 June 2025, the leader of the Social Democrats since 7 November 2025 and the prime minister of 2017 removed by his own party, the president of the Senate Mircea Abrudean (PNL) since 24 June 2025; the PSD 86, AUR 63, the PNL 49, the USR 40, S.O.S. 28, POT 24, the UDMR 22, the minorities 19 of the Chamber and the Senate's 36, 28, 22, 19, 12, 7, 10; the no-confidence vote of 5 May 2026 of 281 to 4 in the joint sitting and the investiture vote of 22 June of 189 for; the PACE group of the AUR's orbit |
| The next election | The parliamentary election of 2028, the four years from December 2024, or the early election the president refuses; the presidential of 2030; the local of 2028; the European of June 2029 |
| AUR and the right | The Alliance for the Union of Romanians — AUR — of George Simion of 2019, the party of the "unionist" street protests of the Moldova march and the anti-vaccine of 2021, the 9% of 2020 and the 18% of December 2024, the second party of the Parliament with 63 deputies and 28 senators, the 40.96% of Simion of the first round of May 2025 and the 46.40% of the runoff, the 37% of the polls of 2026 that made every other party fear an election; Simion the "MAGA" of Bucharest banned from Moldova and Ukraine, the Trump-family friend, the no-confidence partner of the Social Democrats; Călin Georgescu, the agronomist of the mystical nationalism and the Iron Guard's praise, the winner of November 2024 the court erased, charged in February 2025 with the plot against the constitutional order and the propaganda of the Legion, the trial the far right calls the proof; S.O.S. Romania of Diana Șoșoacă of the Kremlin's speeches and the Party of Young People of Gavrilă, the Georgescu vessels; the PACE of the Parliament; the "sovereignists" of a third of the country by the votes and the pro-Europeans of the two-thirds who cannot agree on a government |
| The war next door | The eastern flank — the Ukrainian border of 601 km and the Danube of the drones, the Russian drones that fell on the delta villages of Plauru and Ceatalchioi from 2023 and the Russian drone that flew across the border in the strike on Izmail of 29 May 2026 and hit a block of flats at Galați, two injured, the Russian consul at Constanța expelled and the consulate closed; the stray Ukrainian naval drone that exploded in the port of Constanța on 5 June 2026 with 1,300 evacuated; the F-16s of the Ukrainian pilots trained at Fetești, the Patriot given to Kyiv, the grain of Ukraine through Constanța, 30 million tons in the war's years; the strategic partnership with Ukraine signed at Bucharest on 12 March 2026 with Zelenskyy for the defense and the energy; the Mihail Kogălniceanu base of Constanța rebuilt at €2.5 billion to be the largest NATO base of Europe by 2030, the Americans of the rotations, the French of the battle group; the air bases opened to the Americans for the Iran war on 11 March 2026 by the Parliament and the Supreme Council of Defense; Moldova across the Prut of the PAS government of Sandu re-elected in September 2025 and the "unification" of the AUR's dream; the Transnistria of the Russian troops 100 km from the border |
| Legal system | Civil law of the French and the Napoleonic codes with the new codes of 2011 and 2014 — the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the Constitutional Court of nine of the annulment of 2024 and of the magistrates' pensions, the National Anticorruption Directorate of the 2010s that jailed the ministers and the mayors and that the PSD emasculated in 2017 with the decree that filled University Square, the "OUG 13" of the 500,000 in the streets; the death penalty abolished 7 January 1990 after Ceaușescu's; the "Section for the Investigation of Offenses in Justice" of 2018 abolished in 2022; the Colectiv trial; the Dragnea sentence of 2019 and the Băsescu of the Securitate collaboration of 2022; the Georgescu charges of February 2025; the same-sex marriage banned and the civil partnership petition of 100,000 of 27 May 2026, the transgender ruling of the Bucharest courts of 31 March 2026; the Venice Commission's watching; the Union's cooperation and verification mechanism of 2007 ended in 2023 |
| Local government | 41 county councils and Bucharest's General Council with the six sectors, the mayors of the 3,181 localities elected 9 June 2024 for four years, the PSD the most, Ciprian Ciucu of the PNL the mayor of Bucharest since the by-election of December 2025 that replaced Dan, Emil Boc of Cluj since 2004; the prefects of the government; the "local barons" of the counties of the PSD and the PNL of the money and the votes; the county of Bihor of the Oradea model; the Székely councils of the autonomy the state refuses |
| Defense | The Romanian Armed Forces of about 80,000 — the land forces of the Piranha and the Abrams of the order, the navy of the Black Sea of the frigates of the British hand-me-downs and the minehunters, the air force of the F-16s of Portugal and Norway and the 32 F-35s of the order of 2024, the Patriots, the HIMARS; NATO since 29 March 2004, the defense spending of 2.5% of GDP in 2025 and the 3.5% pledge of 2035, the Mihail Kogălniceanu base, the Deveselu Aegis Ashore of 2016 of the American missile shield, the Câmpia Turzii of the American drones, the French battle group of Cincu; the drones that fall; the Iran war's bases of March 2026; the conscription ended 2007 and the voluntary service of 2025; the 1989 revolution's army that turned; the peacekeepers of Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and the Sahel; the intelligence services of the SRI of the annulment files |
| Foreign policy | The European Union of 1 January 2007, the Schengen of the air and sea of 31 March 2024 and of the land of 1 January 2025 after the thirteen years of the Austrian and Dutch vetoes, the euro postponed, the funds of €80 billion and the recovery plan of €28 billion of the deadline; NATO of 2004 and the flank; the United States of the strategic partnership of 1997, the missile shield, the visa waiver granted in 2025 and the bases of the Iran war, the Trump-family ties of Simion; Moldova of the "two Romanian states," the passports, the gas and the electricity of the winter of 2025, the unification of the far right; Ukraine of the partnership and the grain; Hungary of Orbán and the Székely, the "Romanian Hungarians" of the UDMR in every government; Bulgaria of the Schengen twins; Russia of the consul expelled and the interference of the election; the Francophonie of Bucharest; the Black Sea of the Three Seas Initiative; the Georgescu that the American vice president defended at Munich in February 2025, "the annulment of an election on flimsy suspicions" |
| United Nations | Member since 14 December 1955 in the package of sixteen; the Security Council seats of 1962, 1976–77, 1990–91 and 2004–05; the peacekeepers of Angola, Somalia, Kosovo and Mali; the UNESCO of the eleven; the flag quarrel with Chad of 2004; the drones of 2026 reported |
| Other memberships | NATO (2004); the European Union (2007) and the Schengen Area (2024–25); the Council of Europe (1993); the OSCE; the WTO (1995); the Francophonie (1993), the summit of Bucharest of 2006; the Three Seas Initiative (2016), the Bucharest Nine of 2015, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation of 1992 founded at Istanbul; the OECD candidate since 2022 in the accession talks; the Central European Initiative; the Danube Commission at Budapest |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$400 billion (2025, IMF) — the largest economy of the Balkans and the fourteenth of the European Union |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$21,000 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$50,000 (2025) — about 78% of the Union's average, from 40% in 2007, the fastest catch-up of the east |
| GDP growth | About 0.8% in 2024, about 1% in 2025 and about 1.5% expected for 2026 by the Commission's spring forecast, the technical recession of the winter of 2025–26 and the austerity the drag, the government crisis the summer's cost; inflation about 9% in 2025 after the VAT and the energy price caps ended, the highest of the Union, easing in 2026; the leu at 5.1 to the euro; the deficit of 9.3% of GDP in 2024, the Union's widest, cut to 7.9% in 2025 and the 6.4% target of 2026 the markets watch; the public debt toward 60%; the ratings at BBB− with the negative outlooks turned stable by the package and the crisis that threatens the junk; unemployment about 5%; the minimum wage of 4,050 lei; the poverty of 28% at risk, the Union's highest |
| Economy by sector | Services about 60%, the trade, the IT of the 6% of GDP, the transport and the state; industry about 30%, the cars, the machinery, the oil, the steel, the chemicals, the textiles and the construction; agriculture about 4% and a fifth of the workers on the small farms and the giant estates |
| Currency | Romanian leu (RON) |
| Cars, IT and the exports | The Dacia of Renault at Mioveni of the Logan, the Sandero and the Duster, the best-selling brand of the Union's buyers, 350,000 cars a year, and the Ford Otosan of Craiova of the Puma; the car parts of the Continental, Bosch and Draexlmaier of Transylvania and the Banat, the largest industry; the IT of Cluj, Bucharest, Iași and Timișoara, the 200,000 programmers of the tax exemption ended in 2025, UiPath the unicorn of Bucharest, Bitdefender; the steel of Galați of the Liberty, the aluminum of Slatina, the chemicals, the furniture, the textiles of the "lohn"; exports of about US$110 billion of the cars, the parts, the machinery, the electrical equipment, the wheat and the corn, to Germany at 20%, Italy, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland and Turkey; imports of about US$140 billion and the deficit the Union's largest by the share; the Petrom of the OMV, the Hidroelectrica of the exchange, the Banca Transilvania the largest bank, the Digi of the telecoms, the Dedeman |
| Farming | The largest producer of corn and sunflower of the European Union and the second of wheat, the plains of the Bărăgan and the Banat of the 14 million hectares, the estates of the foreign funds of the "land grabbing" and the 3 million farms of the average 3 hectares of the peasants, the largest number of the Union; the wine of the sixth producer of Europe, Dealu Mare, Murfatlar, Cotnari and the Recaș; the plums of the țuică, the second producer of the world; the sheep of the transhumance, the cheese of the Sibiu; the honey; the Common Agricultural Policy's money of €20 billion; the droughts of the Bărăgan and the irrigation the communists built and let die; the Delta's fish; the bears' damage |
| Energy and the gas | Electricity from the hydropower of the Iron Gates and the Carpathian dams for a third, the nuclear of Cernavodă's two CANDU reactors of 1996 and 2007 for a fifth with the units 3 and 4 for the 2030s and the small modular reactors of Doicești of the American plan, the coal of Oltenia phased out by 2032, the gas, the wind of Fântânele of the Dobruja, the largest onshore farm of Europe, and the solar; the gas of Neptun Deep of the Black Sea of OMV Petrom and Romgaz, the first gas of 2027 of 100 billion cubic meters that will make Romania the largest producer of the Union and an exporter; the Ploiești refineries of Petrobrazi and Petrotel; the energy price caps of 2022–25 and the bills of 2025 that fed the inflation; the interconnector of Moldova; the Hidroelectrica IPO of 2023, the largest of the exchange |
| The European money and the deficit | The Union's funds of €80 billion net since 2007 and the recovery plan of €28 billion of 2021–26, the €10 billion of the reforms unmet the government fell over, the deadline of 31 August 2026 of the extraordinary session; the deficit of the pensions doubled in 2024 by the election year of Ciolacu, the wages of the state, the "special pensions" of the magistrates the court protects; the austerity package of July 2025 of the VAT, the excises, the property taxes, the frozen wages and pensions and the 40,000 jobs; the excessive deficit procedure of the Union since 2020 and the plan of seven years; the ratings a notch above junk; the Bolojan of the "trust regained" and the PSD of the "impoverishment"; the 2026 without a budget author |
| Public finances | Public debt about 58% of GDP and rising toward the 60%, the doubling since 2019; the deficit of 9.3% of 2024, 7.9% of 2025 and the 6.4% of 2026 of the plan; the budget of about 900 billion lei of the interest costs of the Union's highest yields; the taxes of 28% of GDP, the lowest of the Union, the flat tax of 10% on the income and 16% on the profit, the VAT of 21%; the pensions of 5 million; the recovery plan; the "fiscal-budgetary" law of the crisis of 2025 |
| Income classification | High income (World Bank) since 2020 |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport at Otopeni, about 17 million passengers, the hub of the low-cost and of TAROM, the Schengen of 31 March 2024; Cluj-Napoca Avram Iancu, about 3 million, the second; Timișoara Traian Vuia, Iași, Sibiu, Bacău, Craiova, Constanța Mihail Kogălniceanu of the shared runway with the base; the Brașov-Ghimbav airport of 2023, the first built since 1989; the 16 airports; the Băneasa of the business jets |
|---|---|
| Airline | TAROM, the Romanian Air Transport of 1954, the state carrier of the losses of two decades and the restructuring of 2024–26 under the Union's state-aid rules, the Boeing 737s and the ATRs to the European capitals and the Middle East; Wizz Air the largest carrier of the country by far, the Cluj and the Bucharest bases, Ryanair; HiSky of the Moldovan founders; Blue Air of 2004 that collapsed in 2022; Animawings of the charters |
| Main ports | Constanța, the largest port of the Black Sea and the fourth of Europe by the cargo, 90 million tons, the Ukrainian grain of 2022–26 that made it the granary's door, the container terminal of the DP World, the naval drone of 5 June 2026 and the mines of the war; the Danube ports of Galați of the steel, Brăila, Tulcea of the delta and Giurgiu, the Sulina channel of the ships; the Danube–Black Sea Canal of 1984 of 64 km from Cernavodă to Agigea, the "canal of death" of the 1950s labor camps; the Mangalia shipyard of Damen; the naval base of Constanța |
| Railways | About 10,750 km (6,680 mi) of the standard gauge, a third electrified, the fourth network of the Union and among the slowest, the average of 45 km/h of the CFR of the strikes and the delays — the Bucharest–Constanța of 160 km/h of the Union's money, the Bucharest–Brașov of the mountains rebuilt in the 2020s, the Craiova–Caransebeș, the lines to Cluj and Iași of the hours; the Bucharest Metro of 16 November 1979, the five lines and the M6 to the airport of the works for 2027, the Cluj metro of the plans; the airport rail link of 2020; the trams of the cities; the CFR Marfă of the freight of the coal; the Iron Gates railway of the Danube; the narrow-gauge Mocănița of Maramureș |
| Roads | About 86,000 km (53,400 mi), most paved, the motorways of about 1,300 km, the fewest of the large states of the Union — the A1 of Bucharest to Pitești, Sibiu and the Hungarian border at Nădlac with the Sibiu–Pitești mountain section of the 2020s, the A2 "Sun Motorway" to Constanța, the A3 of Transylvania half built, the A7 "Moldova Motorway" of Ploiești to Pașcani of the recovery plan building 2023–26, the A0 ring of Bucharest; the Transfăgărășan of Ceaușescu of 1974 across the Făgăraș at 2,042 m, "the best road in the world" of the television, open in the summer, the Transalpina of the Parâng; the DN1 of the Prahova valley jams; the Brăila bridge over the Danube of 6 July 2023, 1,974 m, the longest suspension bridge of the Union and the third of Europe; the Giurgiu–Ruse Friendship Bridge of 1954 and the Calafat–Vidin of 2013; the driving on the right; the 1,500 road deaths a year, the Union's worst rate |
| The Danube and the mountains | The Danube of the cruise ships from Vienna to the delta, the Iron Gates boats, the delta of the pelicans by the barge from Tulcea to Sulina and the villages of Mila 23; the Transfăgărășan and the Transalpina of the summer; the Bran of the Dracula castle and the Peleș of the kings at Sinaia; the Turda salt mine; the Merry Cemetery of Săpânța; the painted monasteries; the mountain huts of the Bucegi and the Retezat; the bears of the roadside |
History in dates
| c. 40,000 BC | The Oase cave — the oldest modern humans of Europe |
|---|---|
| c. 5500 BC | The Cucuteni culture |
| 82 BC | Burebista's Dacia |
| 106 | Trajan conquers Dacia; the Romans leave, 271 |
| 1330 | Posada — Wallachia's independence, Basarab |
| 1359 | Moldavia founded — Bogdan |
| 1456 | Vlad the Impaler, to 1462 |
| 1457 | Stephen the Great of Moldavia, to 1504 |
| 1600 | Michael the Brave unites the three, killed 1601 |
| 1859 | The Union of the Principalities, 24 January — Cuza |
| 1866 | Carol I |
| 1877 | Independence, 9 May; Plevna |
| 1881 | The Kingdom, 10 May |
| 1918 | The Great Union, 1 December — Alba Iulia |
| 1940 | Bessarabia lost, 28 June; Northern Transylvania, 30 August; Antonescu |
| 1944 | The coup of 23 August — Michael |
| 1947 | Michael abdicates, 30 December — the People's Republic |
| 1965 | Ceaușescu, 22 March |
| 1977 | The earthquake, 4 March — 1,578 dead |
| 1989 | Timișoara, 16 December; Bucharest, 21–22 December; Ceaușescu shot, 25 December |
| 1991 | The Constitution, 8 December |
| 2004 | NATO, 29 March |
| 2007 | The European Union, 1 January |
| 2015 | Colectiv, 30 October — 65 dead |
| 2017 | The protests of the OUG 13, January–February |
| 2024 | Schengen by air, 31 March; Georgescu wins, 24 November; the Parliament, 1 December; the election annulled, 6 December |
| 2025 | Schengen by land, 1 January; Iohannis resigns, 12 February; Georgescu barred, 9 March; Simion first, 4 May; Dan wins, 18 May; sworn, 26 May; Bolojan, 23 June; the VAT, 1 August; the Cathedral, 26 October |
| 2026 | The bases, 11 March; Ukraine's partnership, 12 March; Lucescu dies, 7 April; Hagi, 20 April; the PSD leaves, 23 April; the government falls, 5 May; Eurovision third, 16 May; the Galați drone, 29 May; Nadia's fiftieth, 30 May; Tomac named, 4 June; Constanța, 5 June; Veștea named, 14 June; rejected, 22 June |
Records & firsts
| The heaviest building on earth | The Palace of the Parliament |
|---|---|
| The largest Orthodox church | The Cathedral of the Nation, 2025 |
| The largest wetland of Europe | The Danube Delta |
| The most bears of the European Union | About 8,000 |
| The largest gold deposit of Europe | Roșia Montană |
| The oldest modern humans of Europe | Oase, 40,000 years |
| The first refinery | Ploiești, 1857 |
| The first perfect 10 | Comăneci, 1976 |
| The largest Roma population of the EU | About two million |
| The largest corn and sunflower crops of the EU | The Bărăgan |
| The largest suspension bridge of the EU | Brăila, 1,974 m |
| The widest deficit of the EU | 9.3% of GDP, 2024 |
| The first annulled national election of the EU | 6 December 2024 |
| The only bloody revolution of 1989 | About 1,100 dead |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Romania?
Romania — România, the state has no longer form since the People's Republic and the Socialist Republic of the communist years were dropped by the Constitution of 1991 — the country of the union of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia under Alexandru Ioan Cuza on 24 January 1859, independent of the Ottomans by the war of 1877, a kingdom under the Hohenzollern Carol I from 1881, made whole by the Great Union of 1 December 1918 that brought Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia to it, and freed from Ceaușescu by the revolution of December 1989, the only one of that year with blood. The name is Rome's: the Romanians are the heirs of the Roman province of Dacia of 106 to 271 and of the Latin their language keeps, "Român" the word the shepherds called themselves through a thousand years without a state.
What is the capital of Romania?
Bucharest — București, the town of the shepherd Bucur of the legend on the Dâmbovița, the seat of the Wallachian princes from 1459 under Vlad the Impaler and the capital of the united principalities from 1862, the "Little Paris" of the boulevards of the 1900s and the city Ceaușescu tore open for the Palace of the Parliament, the heaviest building on earth and the largest administrative building after the Pentagon — about 1.7 million people in the city and 2.3 million in the metropolis, the Athenaeum, the Old Town of Lipscani, the Cathedral of the Nation consecrated in October 2025 as the largest Orthodox church in the world by its interior, the University Square of the revolution and the protests, the Cotroceni Palace of a president who cannot find a prime minister. Cluj-Napoca of Transylvania, the second city and the tech hub, Timișoara where the revolution began, Iași of Moldavia, Constanța of the sea, Craiova and Brașov follow.
How big is Romania, and how many people live there?
About 238,391 km² (92,043 sq mi) — the size of Oregon, the twelfth-largest country of Europe and the ninth of the European Union — the Carpathians curving through the middle of it and Transylvania inside the curve, the Danube along the south and through the delta to the Black Sea, Hungary and Serbia to the west, Bulgaria across the river, Ukraine to the north and Moldova, the other Romania, across the Prut. The census of 2021 counted 19,053,815 people, down from 23 million in 1990, and the statistics institute estimates about 18.9 million in 2026, falling by 100,000 a year on the deaths above the births and the emigration of the four million who left for Italy, Spain, Germany and Britain after the Union opened — 89 percent Romanian, 6 percent Hungarian, and the Roma, half a million by the census and two million by the estimates, the largest Roma population of the Union.
What are the highest and lowest points of Romania?
Moldoveanu, 2,544 m (8,346 ft), in the Făgăraș range of the Southern Carpathians, the "Transylvanian Alps," above the Transfăgărășan road that climbs to the Bâlea lake, with Negoiu beside it a few meters lower; and the Black Sea at Constanța. The Carpathians are a third of the country and hold half the range's length and the largest old-growth forests and the largest bear population of the European Union, 8,000 brown bears; the Danube runs 1,075 km along and through Romania, more than in any other country, through the Iron Gates gorge and past Giurgiu and Galați to the delta of 4,000 km², the largest wetland of Europe and a World Heritage site of the pelicans; the Retezat has 80 glacial lakes, the Turda salt mine a theme park in its galleries, and the plain of Wallachia and the Bărăgan the grain of the Union's largest corn and sunflower crops.
What currency does Romania use?
The leu (ISO code RON, lei), "the lion," of 100 bani, the currency of 1867 that the inflation of the 1990s reduced to tens of thousands to the dollar until the redenomination of 1 July 2005 cut four zeros from it, issued by the National Bank of Romania and floating against the euro at about 5.1 lei in 2026, weakened by the deficit and the crisis, about 4.6 to the U.S. dollar; the euro that the treaty of accession obliges the country to adopt is put off from target to target, the criteria unmet by the largest deficit of the Union. Clocks keep Eastern European Time, UTC+2, with summer time; Romania drives on the right, on the motorways the Union's money is still building.
Who governs Romania?
President Nicușor Dan, the mathematician and civic activist who was mayor of Bucharest, head of state since 26 May 2025 after the strangest election of the Union's history — the first round of November 2024 won by the pro-Russian mystic Călin Georgescu and annulled by the Constitutional Court for the foreign interference, the rerun of May 2025 won by Dan in the runoff against the nationalist George Simion with 53.6 percent; and, as of the autumn of 2026, a caretaker prime minister: Ilie Bolojan of the National Liberals, appointed on 23 June 2025 at the head of a four-party pro-European coalition to cut the largest deficit of the Union, who raised the VAT, froze the wages and the pensions and cut the state until the Social Democrats walked out in April 2026 and joined the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians to topple him on 5 May 2026 by 281 votes to 4. The president then refused early elections, with the far right at 37 percent in the polls, nominated an adviser who could not form a cabinet and a Liberal who lost the confidence vote on 22 June, and the country entered the autumn without a government, the recovery money and the credit rating on the line. The parliamentary election is due in 2028.
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