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Romania is a country in and . It lies on the lower course of the , north of the , and on the northwestern shore of the . It borders to the north and east, to the west, to the southwest, to the south, to the east, and the to the southeast. It is the twelfth-largest country in Europe by area, covering , and the sixth-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 20 million inhabitants. The capital, largest city and economic centre is . Other major cities include , Iași, Constanța, Timișoara, Brașov, and .

Romania was settled during the Lower Paleolithic, later becoming before Trajan's Dacian Wars and Romanisation. The modern Romanian state was formed in 1859 with the unification of and under Alexandru Ioan Cuza, becoming the Kingdom of Romania in 1881 under Carol I of Romania. Romania gained independence from the in 1877, formalised by the Treaty of Berlin. After World War I, , , , and joined the Old Kingdom, forming , which reached its largest territorial extent. In 1940, under pressure, Romania lost territories to Hungary, Bulgaria, and the . Following the Act of 23 August, Romania switched sides to join the Allies. After World War II, it regained Northern Transylvania through the Paris Peace Treaties. Under Soviet occupation, King Michael I was forced to abdicate, and Romania became a socialist republic and member. After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Romanian revolution in 1989, Romania transitioned to a liberal democracy.

Romania is a developed country with a high-income economy and is widely regarded as a in international relations. It is home to 11 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Romania is a net exporter of automotive and vehicle parts worldwide and has established a growing reputation as a technology centre, with some of the fastest internet speeds globally. Romania is a member of several international organisations, including the , , and the BSEC.

Etymology
Romania derives from the local name for (), which in turn derives from , meaning "" or "of ". This ethnonym for Romanians is first attested in the sixteenth century by Italian humanists travelling in , , and . The oldest known surviving document written in Romanian that can be precisely dated, a 1521 letter known as the "Letter of Neacșu from Câmpulung", is notable for including the first documented occurrence of Romanian in a country name: Wallachia is mentioned as Țara Rumânească.

History
Prehistory
Human remains found in Peștera cu Oase ("Cave with Bones"), radiocarbon date from circa 40,000 years ago, and represent the oldest known in Europe. agriculture spread after the arrival of a mixed group of people from in the 6th millennium BC. Excavations near a at Lunca yielded the earliest evidence for salt exploitation in Europe; here salt production began between the 5th and 4th millennium BC. The first permanent settlements developed into "proto-cities", which were larger than . The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture—the best known archaeological culture of Old Europe—flourished in , southeastern Transylvania and northeastern Moldavia in the 3rd millennium BC. The first fortified settlements appeared around 1800 BC, showing the militant character of societies.

Antiquity
Greek colonies established on the coast in the 7th century BC became important centres of commerce with the local tribes. Among the native peoples, listed the of the Lower Danube region, the of Transylvania and the of the plains along the river at the beginning of the 5th century BC. Centuries later, associated the Getae with the who dominated the lands along the southern Carpathian Mountains in the 1st century BC. was the first Dacian ruler to unite the local tribes. He also conquered the Greek colonies in and the neighbouring peoples as far as the Middle Danube and the between around 55 and 44 BC. After Burebista was murdered in 44 BC, his kingdom collapsed.

The Romans reached during Burebista's reign and conquered Dobruja in 46 AD. was again united under around 85 AD. He resisted the Romans for decades, but the Roman army defeated his troops in 106 AD. Emperor transformed , and the greater part of Transylvania into a new called , but Dacian, and tribes continued to dominate the lands along the Roman frontiers. The Romans pursued an organised colonisation policy, and the provincials enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity in the 2nd century. Scholars accepting the Daco-Roman continuity theory—one of the main theories about the origin of the Romanians—say that the cohabitation of the native Dacians and the Roman colonists in Roman Dacia was the first phase of the Romanians' . The , and other neighbouring tribes made regular raids against Dacia from the 210s. The Romans could not resist, and Emperor ordered the evacuation of the province in the 270s. Scholars supporting the continuity theory are convinced that most Latin-speaking commoners stayed behind when the army and civil administration was withdrawn. The Romans did not abandon their fortresses along the northern banks of the Lower Danube for decades, and Dobruja (known as Scythia Minor) remained an integral part of the Roman Empire until the early 7th century.

Middle Ages
The Goths were expanding towards the Lower Danube from the 230s, forcing the native peoples to flee to the Roman Empire or to accept their . The Goths' rule ended abruptly when the invaded their territory in 376, causing new waves of migrations. The Huns forced the remnants of the local population into submission, but their empire collapsed in 454. The took possession of the former Dacia province. Place names that are of origin abound in Romania, indicating that a significant Slavic-speaking population lived in the territory. The first groups settled in Moldavia and Wallachia in the 6th century, in Transylvania around 600. The nomadic defeated the Gepids and established a powerful empire around 570. The , who also came from the European , occupied the Lower Danube region in 680.

After the collapsed in the 790s, the First Bulgarian Empire became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river . The First Bulgarian Empire had a mixed population consisting of the Bulgar conquerors, and (or Romanians) but the of the Bulgar elite had already begun in the 9th century. Following the conquest of southern around 830, people from the Bulgar Empire mined salt at the local salt mines.

(2026). 9780880334792, Akadémiai Kiadó. .
The Council of Preslav declared Old Church Slavonic the language of liturgy in the country in 893. The Vlachs also adopted Old Church Slavonic as their liturgical language.

The (or Hungarians) took control of the steppes north of the Lower Danube in the 830s, but the Bulgarians and the jointly forced them to abandon this region for the lowlands along the Middle Danube around 894. Centuries later, the wrote of the invading Magyars' wars against three dukes—Glad, and the Vlach —for Banat, Crișana and Transylvania. The Gesta also listed many peoples—Slavs, Bulgarians, Vlachs, , and Székelys—inhabiting the same regions. The reliability of the Gesta is debated. Some scholars regard it as a basically accurate account, others describe it as a literary work filled with invented details. The Pechenegs seized the lowlands abandoned by the Hungarians to the east of the Carpathians.

missionaries proselytised in the lands east of the Tisa from the 940s and Byzantine troops occupied Dobruja in the 970s. The first king of Hungary, Stephen I, who supported Western European missionaries, defeated the local chieftains and established Roman Catholic bishoprics (office of a bishop) in Transylvania and Banat in the early 11th century. Significant Pecheneg groups fled to the Byzantine Empire in the 1040s; the followed them, and the nomadic became the dominant power of the steppes in the 1060s. Cooperation between the Cumans and the Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire is well documented from the end of the 11th century. Scholars who reject the Daco-Roman continuity theory say that the first Vlach groups left their homeland for the mountain pastures of the eastern and southern Carpathians in the 11th century, establishing the Romanians' presence in the lands to the north of the Lower Danube.

Exposed to nomadic incursions, Transylvania developed into an important border province of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Székelys—a community of free warriors—settled in central Transylvania around 1100 and moved to the easternmost regions around 1200. Colonists from the Holy Roman Empire—the Transylvanian Saxons' ancestors—came to the province in the 1150s. A high-ranking royal official, styled voivode, ruled the Transylvanian counties from the 1170s, but the Székely and Saxon seats (or districts) were not subject to the voivodes' authority. Royal charters wrote of the "' land" in southern Transylvania in the early 13th century, indicating the existence of autonomous Romanian communities. Papal correspondence mentions the activities of Orthodox prelates among the Romanians in Muntenia in the 1230s. Also in the 13th century, the Republic of Genoa started establishing on the Black Sea, including , and Constanța.

The Mongols destroyed large territories during their invasion of Eastern and Central Europe in 1241 and 1242. The Mongols' emerged as the dominant power of Eastern Europe, but Béla IV of Hungary's land grant to the Knights Hospitallers in Oltenia and Muntenia shows that the local rulers were subject to the king's authority in 1247. Basarab I of Wallachia united the Romanian polities between the southern Carpathians and the Lower Danube in the 1310s. He defeated the Hungarian royal army in the Battle of Posada and secured the independence of Wallachia in 1330. The second Romanian principality, Moldavia, achieved full autonomy during the reign of Bogdan I around 1360. A local dynasty ruled the Despotate of Dobruja in the second half of the 14th century, but the took possession of the territory after 1388.

Princes Mircea I and Vlad III of Wallachia, and Stephen III of Moldavia defended their countries' independence against the Ottomans. Most Wallachian and Moldavian princes paid a regular tribute to the Ottoman sultans from 1417 and 1456, respectively. , organised the defence of the Kingdom of Hungary and anti-Ottoman campaigns from 1440 until his death in 1456. Increasing taxes outraged the Transylvanian peasants, and they rose up in an open rebellion in 1437, but the Hungarian nobles and the heads of the Saxon and Székely communities jointly suppressed their revolt. The formal alliance of the Hungarian, Saxon, and Székely leaders, known as the Union of the Three Nations, became an important element of the self-government of Transylvania. The Orthodox Romanian knezes ("chiefs") were excluded from the Union.

Early modern times and national awakening
The Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, and the Ottomans occupied parts of and Crișana in 1541. Transylvania and Maramureș, along with the rest of Banat and Crișana, developed into a new state under Ottoman suzerainty, the Principality of Transylvania. The , initiated in Germany by in 1517, encouraged the spread of across the region; by 1568, the Edict of Torda formally granted local communities the right to choose their own preachers, sanctioning the existence of four "received" religions (, , Calvinism, and Unitarianism). The Romanians' Orthodox faith remained only tolerated, although they made up more than one-third of the population, according to 17th-century estimates. In June 1609, Gabriel Báthory freed the Romanian Orthodox clergy from both taxation and service demands.

The princes of Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia joined the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire in 1594. The Wallachian prince, Michael the Brave, united the three principalities under his rule in May 1600. The neighbouring powers forced him to abdicate in September, but he became a symbol of the unification of the Romanian lands in the 19th century. Although the rulers of the three principalities continued to pay tribute to the Ottomans, the most talented princes— of Transylvania, of Wallachia, and of Moldavia—strengthened their autonomy.

The united armies of the Holy League expelled the Ottoman troops from Central Europe between 1684 and 1699, and the Principality of Transylvania was integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. The Habsburgs supported the Catholic clergy and persuaded the Orthodox Romanian prelates to accept the in 1699. In the 18th century, and maintained their internal autonomy, but in 1711 and 1716, respectively, the period of the began, with rulers appointed directly by the Porte from among the noble families of origin in . With the signing of the in 1867, quickly lost its remaining political autonomy, being politically and administratively incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary.Anton Dörner, “Administrarea Transilvaniei în perioada anilor 1867–1876”, Institutul de Istorie „George Barițiu” din Cluj-Napoca – Accessed 02.05.2009. The Church Union strengthened the Romanian intellectuals' devotion to their Roman heritage. The Orthodox Church was restored in Transylvania only after Orthodox monks stirred up revolts in 1744 and 1759. The organisation of the Transylvanian Military Frontier caused further disturbances, .

Princes Dimitrie Cantemir of Moldavia and Constantin Brâncoveanu of Wallachia concluded alliances with the Habsburg Monarchy and Russia against the Ottomans, but they were dethroned in 1711 and 1714, respectively. The sultans lost confidence in the native princes and appointed Orthodox merchants from the district of Istanbul to rule Moldavia and Wallachia. The princes pursued oppressive fiscal policies and dissolved the army. The neighbouring powers took advantage of the situation: the Habsburg Monarchy annexed the northwestern part of Moldavia, or , in 1775, and the seized the eastern half of Moldavia, or , in 1812.

A census revealed that the Romanians were more numerous than any other ethnic group in Transylvania in 1733, but legislation continued to use contemptuous adjectives (such as "tolerated" and "admitted") when referring to them. The Uniate bishop, Inocențiu Micu-Klein, who demanded recognition of the Romanians as the fourth privileged nation, was forced into exile. Uniate and Orthodox clerics and laymen jointly signed a plea for the Transylvanian Romanians' emancipation in 1791, but the monarch and the local authorities refused to grant their requests.

The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca authorised the Russian ambassador in Istanbul to defend the autonomy of Moldavia and Wallachia (known as the Danubian Principalities) in 1774. Taking advantage of the Greek War of Independence, a Wallachian lesser nobleman, Tudor Vladimirescu, stirred up a revolt against the Ottomans in January 1821, but he was murdered in June by Phanariot Greeks. After a new Russo-Turkish War, the Treaty of Adrianople strengthened the autonomy of the Danubian Principalities in 1829, although it also acknowledged the sultan's right to confirm the election of the princes.

Mihail Kogălniceanu, Nicolae Bălcescu and other leaders of the 1848 revolutions in Moldavia and Wallachia demanded the emancipation of the peasants and the union of the two principalities, but Russian and Ottoman troops crushed their revolt. The Wallachian revolutionists were the first to adopt the blue, yellow and red tricolour as the national flag. In Transylvania, most Romanians supported the imperial government against the Hungarian revolutionaries after the Diet passed a law concerning the union of Transylvania and Hungary. Bishop Andrei Șaguna proposed the unification of the Romanians of the Habsburg Monarchy in a separate duchy, but the central government refused to change the internal borders.

Unification and the Kingdom of Romania
From the Little Union to the Great War
The modern Romanian state was created through the unification of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, accepted as a federative structure by the Great Powers following the of 1858, and later cemented by the simultaneous election as ruler of both states of the unionist Alexandru Ioan Cuza. 150 de ani de la Unirea Principatelor Române , 24 January 2009, Jurnalul Național, accessed 6 July 2012 National Museum of Romanian History – Unirea Principatelor Române, 150 de ani – Accessed 15 March 2009
(1979). 9780914710516, Boulder.
After carrying out numerous reforms that laid the foundations for the modernisation of the state, he was forced in 1866 by a broad coalition of the political parties of the time, also known as the "Monstrous coalition", to abdicate and leave the country.Constantiniu, Florin: A Sincere History of the Romanian People, Bucharest, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 1997 – ISBN 973-9243-07-X

The union was at one time in peril, but the political leaders of the era succeeded in placing on the princely throne Carol I of Romania, who accepted the Constitution and took the oath on 10 May 1866. Eleven years later, on 10 May 1877, Romania proclaimed its independence—achieved on the battlefield—and in 1881, on the same day of the year, Carol was crowned as King of Romania. In 1913, Romania entered the Second Balkan War against , at the end of which it obtained . Radio România Internațional – Romania in the Balkan Wars – Accessed 15 March 2009“On 27 June/10 July 1913, Romania summoned its ambassador from Sofia and, via an ultimative diplomatic note, announced to Bulgaria that, if it did not cease its aggressive actions against Greece and Serbia, the Romanian Army would take action.” – Lieutenant-Colonel drd. Rizescu Alexandru – Aspects of Romania’s Security Policy in Southeastern Europe at the Beginning of the 20th Century – Accessed 15 March 2009 In 1914, King Carol I died, and his nephew, Ferdinand I, succeeded him on the throne.

World War I and the Great Union
In 1916, Romania entered World War I on the side of the . Casa Română – The History of the Romanians – Accessed 15 March 2009 Although the Romanian forces did not perform well militarily, by the end of the war the Austrian and Russian Empires had disintegrated; the National Assembly in , and the Sfatul Țării in and proclaimed their union with Romania, and King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria were crowned sovereign of all Romanians in on 15 October 1922. The Romanian Royal Family – Ferdinand – Accessed 15 March 2009

After World War I, the union of with Romania was ratified in 1919 by the Treaty of Saint Germain. Most of the territories claimed by Romania from the Kingdom of Hungary—Crișana, and parts of and Maramureș—were annexed to the Kingdom of Romania. This act was ratified in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon, which defined the new border between Hungary and Romania.

Interwar period
After having left the country and renounced his claim to the throne in 1925, Carol II returned in 1930 and usurped his son’s throne; influenced by his inner circle—referred to by historians as the "Royal Camarilla"—he gradually undermined the democratic system, and in 1938 he assumed dictatorial powers. Although he was pro-Western (especially Anglophile), Carol attempted to appease extreme centrifugal forces by appointing nationalist governments that adopted anti-Semitic measures, such as the and the one led by the Orthodox Patriarch .

World War II
Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, in June 1940 Romania accepted the loss of , Northern Bukovina and the region in favour of the (as stipulated in the Soviet ultimatum of 28 June 1940). Unaware of the details of the Soviet–German pact, Carol attempted to secure an alliance with , and appointed Ion Gigurtu as President of the Council of Ministers, who declared that he would pursue a Nazi pro-Axis (Berlin–Rome) policy that was anti-Semitic and fascist-totalitarian in nature. Le Figaro, 6 July 1940, p. 2. Le Figaro, 9 July 1940, p. 1. New York Times, 5 July 1940; New York Times, 7 July 1940; New York Times, 30 July 1940; New York Times, 9 August 1940. Between 4 July and 4 September 1940, by accepting Hitler's arbitration over Transylvania (after Gigurtu declared on radio that Romania must make territorial sacrifices to justify its Nazi orientation and full adherence to the Berlin–Rome Axis), Romania ceded Northern Transylvania—including the city of —to Hungary. Le Figaro, 9 August 1940; New York Times, 9 August 1940.Constantiniu, Florin: Between Hitler and Stalin; Romania and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Bucharest, Editura Danubius, 1991.Constantiniu, Florin: Hitler, Stalin and Romania – Romania and the Genesis of Operation “Barbarossa”, Bucharest, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2002. The vast territories in Transylvania ceded by Ion Gigurtu to Hungary contained important natural resources, including gold mines. Le Figaro, 4 September 1940. Ion Gigurtu also initiated negotiations to cede 8,000 km2 of Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria, Le Figaro, 23 August 1940. these negotiations were interrupted by Antonescu's unconditional acceptance of the territorial cession.

In response to the chaotic withdrawal from Bessarabia, the territorial cessions, public discontent, and protests from political leaders, King Carol II suspended the 1938 Constitution of Romania and appointed General as Prime Minister. This measure, supported by the , demanded that the king abdicate in favour of his son, Mihai. Subsequently, Antonescu assumed dictatorial powers and became President of the Council of Ministers, as the self-titled "Leader" of the state.Constantiniu, Florin: Hitler, Stalin and Romania – Romania and the Genesis of Operation “Barbarossa”, Bucharest, Univers Enciclopedic, 2002“ History of Romania ”. Encarta. Accessed 14 March 2009.

In 1941, as an ally of , Romania entered World War II by declaring war on the . A shift in fortunes only became discernible after the defeat at Stalingrad and the subsequent change of the USSR from a defensive to an offensive posture. On 23 August 1944, with the Soviet army having been present in northern Moldova since March, King Mihai I forcibly removed Marshal from power, as he refused to sign an armistice with the Allies of World War II. Memoria, Eugen Denize. Accessed 15 March 2009. Following Antonescu's outright refusal, King Mihai I ordered the dismissal and arrest of the marshal, and Romania switched sides to join the Allies.

Socialist Romania (1947–1989)
Less than three years after the Soviet occupation of Romania, in 1947, King Michael I was forced to abdicate "The Abdication of King Michael I", Adevărul. Accessed 15 March 2009. and the People's Republic of Romania—a state of "popular democracy"—was proclaimed. The newly established communist regime, led by the Romanian Workers' Party, consolidated its power through a Stalinist-type policy aimed at suppressing any political opposition and transforming the economic and social structures of the old bourgeois regime. Final Report of the Presidential Commission for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania. Accessed 16 August 2010.
(2026). 9789738214521, Editura Fundației Academia Civică.

In the early 1960s, the Romanian government began asserting a certain degree of independence from the in its foreign policy, History, ICI. Accessed 15 March 2009. although it did not abandon its repressive policies (which it labeled "revolutionary conquests") in domestic affairs. In 1965, communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej died, ushering in a period of change in Romania. "History » Communist Romania", Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 15 March 2009. After a brief power struggle, Nicolae Ceaușescu emerged as the head of the communist party, becoming General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party in 1965, President of the State Council in 1967, and President of the Socialist Republic of Romania in 1974. Ceaușescu's rule from 1965 to 1989 grew increasingly authoritarian during the 1980s.

Romania since 1989
In the context of the fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe during the revolutions of 1989, a protest in support of Reformed pastor László Tőkés that began in December 1989 in Timișoara quickly escalated into a national uprising against the communist regime, ultimately resulting in the execution of Ceaușescu and his wife Elena on 25 December 1989. History of Romania – Learn Romanian – Accessed 15 March 2009

An interim council composed of figures from civil society and former communist officials assumed control of the government, and became the provisional president of the country. The new government reversed many of the authoritarian communist policies Info Ghid Romania – History – Accessed 15 March 2009 and dismissed several leaders of the former regime, although still influenced by members of the former regime (the basis for the , and ).

In May 1990, the first free elections in Romania since the 1937 elections were held, with Iliescu of the National Salvation Front winning the presidency with 85% of the vote. In 1992, he was reelected in the first election after the adoption of a permanent constitution via a referendum held the previous year. Illiescu lost the 1996 election to Emil Constantinescu, but returned to power in 2000. Traian Băsescu was elected president in 2004 and 2009, serving until 2014 at which point succeeded him, being re-elected in 2019 and serving until 2025. During these years several events occurred. In 2009, the country was bailed out by the International Monetary Fund as result of the Great Recession in Europe following the 2008 financial crisis.

The post-1989 period has been characterised by the privatisation and closure of several former industrial and economic enterprises from the communist period, while corruption has been a major issue in contemporary politics.

A National Anticorruption Directorate was formed in the country in 2002. During the 2000s, Romania had one of the highest economic growth rates in Europe and has been referred at times as "the Tiger of Eastern Europe". This has been accompanied by a significant improvement in living standards as the country successfully reduced domestic poverty and established a functional democratic state. Human Development Report 2009 – Country Fact Sheets – Romania . Hdrstats.undp.org. Retrieved on 21 August 2010. Tracking the Millennium Development Goal . MDG Monitor. Retrieved on 21 August 2010. However, Romania's development suffered a major setback during the leading to a large gross domestic product contraction and a budget deficit in 2009. This led to Romania borrowing from the International Monetary Fund. Worsening economic conditions led to unrest and triggered a political crisis in 2012.

Since 2014, Romania launched an anti-corruption effort that led to the prosecution of medium- and high-level political, judicial and administrative offenses by the National Anticorruption Directorate. In 2015, massive anti-corruption protests which developed in the wake of the Colectiv nightclub fire led to the resignation of prime minister ." Romania PM Ponta resigns over Bucharest nightclub fire ". . 4 November 2015. During 2017–2019, in response to measures which were perceived to weaken the fight against corruption, some of the biggest post-1989 protests took place in Romania, with over 500,000 people protesting nationwide.

The 2021 Romanian political crisis led to the ousting of Florin Cîțu's incumbent government. The Ciucă Cabinet then took power, with Romania since having experienced a shift towards and , as well as an increased corruption. Around this time, Romania was also hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2024 presidential election, Independent candidate Călin Georgescu achieved a surprise win in the first round. However, the Constitutional Court annulled the election results, citing Russian meddling. The cancellation led to far-right protests, criticism by the Trump administration, and becoming acting president in February 2025 as Iohannis resigned to political pressure. In the subsequent 2025 Romanian presidential election, Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan was elected president.

Geography
Romania is the largest country in and the twelfth-largest in Europe, having an area of . It lies between latitudes 43° and 49° N and longitudes 20° and 30° E. The terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountains, hills, and plains. The Carpathian Mountains dominate the centre of Romania, with 14 mountain ranges reaching above —the highest is at . They are surrounded by the Moldavian and Transylvanian plateaus, the and the plains.

Romania is home to six terrestrial ecoregions: Balkan mixed forests, Central European mixed forests, East European forest steppe, Pannonian mixed forests, Carpathian montane conifer forests, and . Natural and semi-natural ecosystems cover about 47% of the country's land area. There are almost (about 5% of the total area) of protected areas in Romania covering 13  and three reserves. The river forms a large part of the border with and , and flows into the Black Sea, forming the Danube Delta, which is the second-largest and best-preserved delta in Europe, and a biosphere reserve and a biodiversity World Heritage Site. At , the is the largest continuous marshland in Europe, and supports 1,688 different plant species alone.

(2026). 9780226904801, University of Chicago Press. .

Romania has one of the largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe, covering almost 27% of its territory. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.95/10, ranking it 90th globally out of 172 countries. Some 3,700 have been identified in the country, from which to date 23 have been declared , 74 extinct, 39 endangered, 171 vulnerable, and 1,253 rare.

The fauna of Romania consists of 33,792 species of animals, 33,085 and 707 , with almost 400 unique species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, including about 50% of Europe's (excluding Russia) and 20% of its .

Climate
Owing to its distance from open sea and its position on the southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is continental, with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is  in the south and  in the north. In summer, average maximum temperatures in Bucharest rise to , and temperatures over are fairly common in the lower-lying areas of the country. In winter, the average maximum temperature is below . Precipitation is average, with over per year only on the highest western mountains, while around Bucharest it drops to approximately . There are some regional differences: in western sections, such as Banat, the climate is milder and has some Mediterranean influences; the eastern part of the country has a more pronounced continental climate. In Dobruja, the Black Sea also exerts an influence over the region's climate.

Politics
Romania is a semi-presidential representative democratic with a structured system of governance and an active civil society. The President, elected by popular vote, serves as the head of state, representing the country in international affairs, safeguarding constitutional order, and acting as supreme commander of the Romanian Armed Forces. The Prime Minister, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Parliament, acts as the head of government, responsible for overseeing the executive branch, implementing domestic and foreign policies, and managing public administration. is vested in a Parliament, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, whose members are elected through a proportional representation system. The judiciary operates independently, with the High Court of Cassation and Justice as the highest court of appeal.

According to International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices and Democracy Tracker, Romania performs in the mid- range on overall democratic measures, with particular strengths in inclusive suffrage and elected government.

Government
Romania has a democratic, multi-party system, with vested in the government and the of the Parliament, more specifically the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The is independent of the executive and the legislature. The latter is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two terms of five years and appoints the prime minister who in turn appoints the . The legislative branch of the government, collectively known as the Parliament (residing at the Palace of the Parliament), consists of (Senate and Chamber of Deputies) whose members are elected every four years by simple plurality.

The justice system is independent of the other branches of government and is made up of a hierarchical system of courts with the High Court of Cassation and Justice being the supreme court of Romania. There are also courts of appeal, county courts and local courts. The Romanian judicial system is strongly influenced by the , is based on civil law and is inquisitorial in nature. The Constitutional Court ( Curtea Constituțională) is responsible for judging the compliance of laws and other state regulations with the constitution, which is the fundamental law of the country and can be amended only through a public referendum. Romania's 2007 entry into the EU has been a significant influence on its domestic policy, and including , increased judicial cooperation with other member states, and measures to combat corruption. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Romania as a "" in 2024.

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 EU, albeit with limited relations involving the Russian Federation. It joined NATO on 29 March 2004, the EU on 1 January 2007, while it joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1972, and is a founding member of the World Trade Organization. Romania is recognised as a for its military capabilities, as well as its active diplomatic engagement on the global stage.
(2026). 9780275972752, Greenwood Publishing Group. .

Recent governments have stated that their goals include strengthening ties with and helping other countries (in particular , , and Georgia) with better integration with the rest of the West. 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 .

Romania applied to join to the in 2007, acquiring full membership in 2025 along with Bulgaria. In December 2005, President Traian Băsescu and United States Secretary of State signed an agreement that would allow a U.S. military presence at several Romanian facilities primarily in the eastern part of the country. In 2009, US Secretary of State referred to Romania as "one of the most trustworthy and respectable" US allies". However, by 2025, relations had worsen, with US vice president in February scolding "flimsy suspicions" and "enormous pressure from its continental neighbours" for causing the annulment of the 2024 Romanian presidential election in which Călin Georgescu won the first round.

Relations with Moldova are a special case given that the two countries share the same language and a common history. A movement for unification of Moldova and Romania appeared in the early 1990s after both countries achieved emancipation from communist rule but lost ground in the mid-1990s when a new Moldovan government pursued an agenda towards preserving a Moldovan republic independent of Romania. After the 2009 protests in Moldova and the subsequent removal of Communists from power, relations between the two countries have improved considerably.

Military
The Romanian Armed Forces consist of land, air, and naval forces led by a Commander-in-chief under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defence, and by the president as the Supreme Commander during wartime. The Armed Forces consist of approximately 55,000 reservists and 71,500 active military personnel—35,800 for land, 10,700 for air, 6,600 for naval forces, and 16,500 in other fields.
(2022). 9781032279008, .
Total defence spending in 2023 accounted for 2.44% of total national GDP, or approximately US$8.48 billion, with a total of $9 billion intended to be spent until 2026 for modernisation and acquisition of new equipment. Conscription stopped in 2007, when Romania switched to a volunteer army.

The Air Force operates F-16AM/BM MLU fighters, C-27J Spartan and C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, as well as IAR 330 and IAR 316 helicopters. A procurement programme for F-35 fifth-generation fighters is also currently being carried out. The Naval Forces operate three frigates, of which two are Type 22 frigates acquired from the British , as well as four corvettes. The River Flotilla operates Mihail Kogălniceanu and Smârdan-class river monitors.

Romania contributed troops to the international coalition in Afghanistan beginning in 2002, with a peak deployment of 1,600 troops in 2010 (which was the 4th largest contribution according to the US). Its combat mission in the country concluded in 2014. Romanian troops participated in the occupation of Iraq, reaching a peak of 730 soldiers before being slowly drawn down to 350 soldiers. Romania terminated its mission in Iraq and withdrew its last troops on 24 July 2009, among the last countries to do so. The frigate the Regele Ferdinand participated in the 2011 military intervention in Libya.

In December 2011, the Romanian Senate unanimously adopted the draft law ratifying the Romania-United States agreement signed in September of the same year that would allow the establishment and operation of a US land-based ballistic missile defence system in Romania as part of NATO's efforts to build a continental missile shield. The missile system based at Deveslu became operational in 2016.

In 2024, construction work started on expanding the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base (RoAF 57th Air Base). The air base is set to become the largest NATO base in Europe after the implementation of a project spanning 20 years.

Administrative divisions
Romania is divided into 41 counties ( județe) and the municipality of . Each county is administered by a county council, responsible for local affairs, as well as a prefect responsible for the administration of national affairs at the county level. The prefect is appointed by the central government but cannot be a member of any political party. Each county is subdivided further into cities and communes, which have their own mayor and local council. There are a total of 320 cities and 2,861 communes in Romania. A total of 103 of the larger cities have municipality status, which gives them greater administrative power over local affairs. The municipality of Bucharest is a special case, as it enjoys a status on par to that of a county. It is further divided into six sectors and has a prefect, a general mayor ( primar general), and a general city council.

The NUTS-3 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) level divisions of the EU reflect Romania's administrative-territorial structure and correspond to the 41 counties plus Bucharest. The cities and communes correspond to the NUTS-5 level divisions, but there are no current NUTS-4 level divisions. The NUTS-1 (four macroregions) and NUTS-2 (eight development regions) divisions exist but have no administrative capacity and are used instead for coordinating regional development projects and statistical purposes.

Nord-Vest34,1522,521,793Cluj-Napoca (411,379)
Centru34,0972,271,067Brașov (369,896)
Nord-Est36,8533,226,436Iași (382,484)
Sud-Est35,7742,367,987Constanța (425,916)
Sud – Muntenia34,4692,864,339Ploiești (276,279)
București - Ilfov1,8032,259,665Bucharest (2,272,163)
Sud-Vest Oltenia29,2071,873,607Craiova (356,544)
Vest32,0421,668,921Timișoara (384,809)

Economy
In 2024, Romania had a GDP (PPP) of around $894 billion and a GDP per capita (PPP) of $47,203. According to the World Bank, Romania is a high-income economy. According to , Romania's GDP per capita (PPS) was 77% of the EU average (100%) in 2022, an increase from 44% in 2007 (the year of Romania's accession to the EU), making Romania one of the fastest growing economies in the EU.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) is the of Romania, located in . In 2024, the BVB boasted a $74 billion market capitalisation and a of $7.2 billion. As of 2024, 86 companies were listed on the exchange. In September 2020, upgraded the BVB from a to a .

After 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 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. However, the forced the government to borrow externally, including an €20 billion bailout programme. According to The World Bank, GDP per capita in purchasing power parity grew from $13,703 in 2007 to $47,903 in 2023.

Romania's main exports are , , and , , electrical and , , , military equipment, , , and (fruits, vegetables, and flowers). Trade is mostly centred on the member states of the EU, with Germany, Italy and France being the country's single largest trading partners.

In 2005, the government replaced Romania's system with a of 16% for both personal income and corporate profit, among the lowest rates in the EU. The economy is based predominantly on services, which account for 56.2% of the country's total GDP as of 2017, with industry and agriculture accounting for 30% and 4.4% respectively. Approximately 25.8% of the Romanian workforce is employed in agriculture, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Romania has attracted increasing amounts of foreign investment following the end of communism, with the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Romania rising to €83.8 billion in June 2019. Romania's FDI outward stock (an external or foreign business either investing in or purchasing the stock of a local economy) amounted to $745 million in December 2018, the lowest value among the 28 EU member states.

Since 1867 the official currency has been the ("lion"), which "was , with the exchange rate set at 1 new leu = 10,000 old lei" in 2005 according to the National Bank of Romania. As it joined the EU in 2007, Romania plans to adopt the in 2029.

Infrastructure
According to the Romania's National Institute of Statistics (INS), Romania's total road network was estimated in 2015 at . The World Bank estimates the railway network at of track, the fourth-largest railway network in Europe. Romania's rail transport experienced a dramatic decline after 1989 and was estimated at 99 million passenger journeys in 2004, but has experienced a recent (2013) revival due to infrastructure improvements and partial privatisation of lines, accounting for 45% of all passenger and freight movements in the country. , the only railway system, was opened in 1979 and measures with an average ridership in 2021 of 720,000 passengers during the workweek in the country. There are sixteen international commercial airports in service today. Over 12.8 million passengers flew through Bucharest's Henri Coandă International Airport in 2017.

Romania is a net exporter of electrical energy and is 52nd worldwide in terms of consumption of electric energy. Around a third of the produced energy comes from renewable sources, mostly as hydroelectric power. It has one of the largest refining capacities in Eastern Europe, even though oil and natural gas production has been decreasing for more than a decade. With one of the largest reserves of and in Europe it is among the most energy-independent countries in the EU, and is looking to expand its nuclear power plant at Cernavodă further.

There were almost 18.3 million connections to the Internet in June 2014. According to Bloomberg, in 2013 Romania ranked fifth in the world, and according to , it ranks number one in Europe at Internet speeds, with Timișoara ranked among the highest in the world.

Tourism
Tourism is a significant contributor to the Romanian economy, generating around 5% of GDP. The number of tourists has been rising steadily, reaching 9.33 million foreign tourists in 2016, according to the Worldbank. Tourism in Romania attracted €400 million in investments in 2005. More than 60% of the foreign visitors in 2007 were from other EU countries. The popular summer attractions of and other Black Sea Resorts attracted 1.3 million tourists in 2009. Criza ne strică vacanța The. , 9 July 2010, jurnalul.ro, accessed on 21 August 2010.

Most popular skiing resorts are along the and in Poiana Brașov. Castles, fortifications, or strongholds as well as preserved medieval Transylvanian cities or towns such as , , Brașov, , , Bistrița, Mediaș, Cisnădie, Sebeș, or Sighișoara also attract a large number of tourists. , near Brașov, is one of the most famous attractions in Romania, drawing hundreds of thousands of tourists every year as it is often (falsely) advertised as being Dracula's Castle. Other attractions include the Danube Delta or the Sculptural Ensemble of Constantin Brâncuși at Târgu Jiu.

, focusing on getting visitors acquainted with local and , has become an important alternative, and is targeted to promote such sites as Bran and its Dracula's Castle, the painted churches of northern Moldavia, and the wooden churches of Maramureș, or the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania. The Via Transilvanica long-distance and , which crosses 10 counties in the , and regions of the country further promotes rural .

In 2014, Romania had 32,500 companies active in the hotel and restaurant industry, with a total turnover of €2.6 billion. More than 1.9 million foreign tourists visited Romania in 2014, 12% more than in 2013. According to the country's National Statistics Institute, some 77% came from Europe (particularly from Germany, Italy, and France), 12% from Asia, and less than 7% from North America.

Science and technology
Historically, Romanian researchers and inventors have made notable contributions to several fields. In the history of flight, built the first to take off under its own power and built and flew some of the earliest successful aircraft, while Henri Coandă discovered the Coandă effect of fluidics. Victor Babeș discovered more than 50 types of bacteria; biologist developed an extract of the pancreas and showed that it lowers blood sugar in diabetic dogs, thus being significant in the history of insulin; while received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to . Lazăr Edeleanu was the first chemist to synthesise , and he also invented the procedure of separating valuable petroleum components with selective solvents.
(2014). 9780786480128, McFarland. .

During the 1990s and 2000s, the development of research was hampered by several factors, including corruption, low funding, and a considerable . In recent years, Romania has ranked the lowest or second-lowest in the EU by research and development spending as a percentage of GDP, standing at roughly 0.5% in 2016 and 2017, substantially below the EU average of just over 2%. The country joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2011, and in 2016. In 2018, however, Romania lost its voting rights in the ESA due to a failure to pay €56.8 million in membership contributions to the agency.

In the early 2010s, the situation for science in Romania was characterised as "rapidly improving" albeit from a low base. In January 2011, Parliament passed a law that enforces "strict quality control on universities and introduces tough rules for funding evaluation and peer review". Romania was ranked 49th in the Global Innovation Index in 2025.

(2026). 9789280537970, World Intellectual Property Organization. .

The facility of the EU's proposed Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) will be built in Romania. In early 2012, Romania launched its first from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana. Starting in December 2014, Romania became a co-owner of the International Space Station.

Demographics
According to the 2021 Romanian census, Romania's population was 19,053,815. Like other countries in the region, its population is expected to decline gradually as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates and negative net migration rate. According to the 2021 Romanian census, made up 89.33% of the population, 6.05% and the 3.44% of the population, but many ethnicities are not recorded, as they do not have ID cards. International sources give higher figures for Roma than the official census. According to the Council of Europe, the make up 8.32% of the population; this figure is difficult to verify due to the mobility of Roma and the reluctance of some of them to disclose their ethnicity. Hungarians constitute a majority in the counties of and . Other minorities include Ukrainians, Germans, Turks, , Aromanians, Tatars, and Serbs. In 1930, there were 745,421 Germans living in Romania, but only about 36,000 remained in the country to this day. , there were also approximately 133,000 immigrants living in Romania, primarily from Moldova and China.

The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2018 was estimated at 1.36 children born per woman, which is below the replacement rate of 2.1, and one of the lowest in the world; it remains considerably below the high of 5.82 children born per woman in 1912. In 2014, 31.2% of births were to unmarried women. The (9.49‰, 2012) is much lower than the (11.84‰, 2012), resulting in a shrinking (−0.26% per year, 2012) and aging population (median age: 41.6 years, 2018), one of the oldest populations in the world, with approximately 16.8% of total population aged 65 years and over. The life expectancy in 2015 was estimated at 74.92 years (71.46 years male, 78.59 years female). The number of Romanians and individuals with ancestors born in Romania living abroad is estimated at 12 million. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, a significant number of Romanians emigrated to other European countries, North America or Australia. For example, in 1990, 96,919 Romanians permanently settled abroad. MIGRATION AND ASYLUM IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE European Parliament

Languages
The official language is Romanian, a (the most widely spoken of the Eastern Romance branch), which presents a consistent degree of similarity to Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian, but shares many features equally with the rest of the Western Romance languages, specifically Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and . The Romanian alphabet contains the same 26 letters of the standard Latin alphabet, as well as five additional ones (namely ă, â, î, ț, and ș), totalling 31.

Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91.55% of the entire population, while Hungarian and are spoken by 6.28% and 1.20% of the population, respectively. There are also 40,861 native speakers of Ukrainian (concentrated in some compact regions near the border, where they form local majorities), 17,101 native speakers of , 15,943 native speakers of , and 14,414 native speakers of living in Romania.

According to the Constitution, local councils ensure linguistic rights to all minorities. In localities with ethnic minorities of over 20%, that minority's language can be used in the public administration, justice system, and education. Foreign citizens and stateless persons who live in Romania have access to justice and education in their own language. English and French are the main foreign languages taught in schools. In 2010, the italic=no identified 4,756,100 French speakers in the country. According to the 2012 , English is spoken by 31% of Romanians, French is spoken by 17%, and Italian and German, each by 7%.

Religion
Romania is a and has no . An overwhelming majority of the population identify themselves as Christians. At the country's 2021 census, 73.60% of respondents identified as Orthodox Christians, with 73.42% belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church. Other denominations include Protestantism (6.22%), Roman Catholicism (3.89%), and Greek Catholicism (0.61%). From the remaining population 128,291 people belong to other Christian denominations or have another religion, which includes 58,347 Muslims (mostly of Turkish and Tatar ethnicity) and 2,708 Jewish (Jews once constituted 4% of the Romanian population—728,115 persons in the 1930 census). Additionally, 71,430 people are , 57,229 are , 25,485 are , and 2,658,165 people chose to not declare their religion.

The Romanian Orthodox Church is an Eastern Orthodox Church in with other Orthodox churches, with a Patriarch as its leader. It is the third-largest Eastern Orthodox Church in the world, and unlike other Orthodox churches, it functions within a culture and uses a Romance liturgical language. Profiles of the Eastern Churches at cnewa.org Its canonical jurisdiction covers the territories of Romania and Moldova. Romania has the world's third-largest Eastern Orthodox population.

Urbanisation
Although 54.0% of the population lived in in 2011, this percentage has been declining since 1996. Counties with over urban population are , Brașov and Constanța, while those with less than a third are Dâmbovița (30.06%) and and . Bucharest is the capital and the largest city in Romania, with a population of over 1.7 million in 2021. Its larger urban zone has a population of almost 2.2 million, which are planned to be included into a metropolitan area up to 20 times the area of the .

Another 17 cities have a population of over 100,000, with Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Constanța and Timișoara having more than 250,000 inhabitants, and Craiova, Brașov and Galați with over 200,000 inhabitants. Metropolitan areas have been constituted for most of these cities.

Education
Since the Romanian revolution of 1989, the Romanian educational system has been in a continuous process of reform that has received mixed criticism. In 2004, some 4.4 million individuals were enrolled in school. Of these, 650,000 were in  (three-six years), 3.11 million in primary and secondary level, and 650,000 in tertiary level (universities). In 2018, the adult literacy rate was 98.8%. Kindergarten is optional between three and five years. Since 2020, compulsory schooling starts at age 5 with the last year of kindergarten (grupa mare) and is compulsory until twelfth grade. Primary and secondary education is divided into 12 or 13 grades. There is also a semi-legal, informal private tutoring system used mostly during secondary school, which prospered during the Communist regime.

As of 2025, Babeș-Bolyai University of and the University of Bucharest are included in the QS World University Rankings' top 800.

Romania ranks fifth in the all-time medal count at the International Mathematical Olympiad with 316 total medals, dating back to 1959. Ciprian Manolescu managed to write a perfect paper (42 points) for a gold medal more times than anybody else in the history of the competition, in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Romania has achieved the highest team score in the competition, after China, Russia, the United States and Hungary. Romania also ranks sixth in the all-time medal count at the International Olympiad in Informatics with 107 total medals, dating back to 1989.

Healthcare
Healthcare in Romania is mainly provided by the public sector, which runs most hospitals and offers national health insurance to nearly all citizens. In 2021, healthcare costs were US$16. 7 billion, or US$2,385 per person, making up 5.69€ of GDP. Government spending is higher than in markets like Bulgaria but lower than Hungary. Spending is expected to rise by 7. US$5 billion (+37. 68%) from 2024 to 2028, reaching 27. US$3 billion by 2028.

The Romanian National Institute of Statistics reports over 65,000 health units in Romania, with 53,000 in urban areas and 12,000 in rural areas. There are 543 hospitals, including 488 in urban and 55 in rural areas, along with 160 other hospital-like establishments. Nearly 50% of these are large facilities with over 100 beds, while 39% are small with fewer than 50 beds. The total number of inpatient beds is 135,085, allocated mainly to psychiatry, surgery, and internal medicine among other specialties.

Culture
Arts and monuments
Architecture was the 2007 European Capital of Culture and the 2019 European Region of Gastronomy.]]

The topic of the origin of Romanian culture began to be discussed by the end of the 18th century among the Transylvanian School scholars. Several writers rose to prominence in the 19th century, including: George Coșbuc, , Mihail Kogălniceanu, Vasile Alecsandri, Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, Ion Creangă, and , the later being considered the greatest and most influential Romanian poet, particularly for the poem Luceafărul.

In the 20th century, a number of Romanian artists and writers achieved international acclaim, including: , ,Tom Sandqvist, DADA EAST: The Romanians of Cabaret Voltaire, London , 2006. , Nicolae Grigorescu, , ,

(1999). 9789739929745, Mașina de scris.
Eugène Ionesco, , and Constantin Brâncuși. Brâncuși has a sculptural ensemble in Târgu Jiu, while his sculpture Bird in Space, was auctioned in 2005 for $27.5 million. Romanian-born Holocaust survivor received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, while writer Herta Müller received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Prominent Romanian painters include: Nicolae Grigorescu, Ștefan Luchian, , and . Notable Romanian classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries include: Ciprian Porumbescu, , , , , and especially . The annual George Enescu Festival is held in Bucharest in honour of the 20th-century composer.

Contemporary musicians like , , , , and many others have achieved various levels of international acclaim. From the late 2000s through the early 2010s, the Romanian popcorn music style had established itself in the international mainstream. At the Eurovision Song Contest Romanian singers achieved third place in 2005 and 2010.

In cinema, several movies of the Romanian New Wave have achieved international acclaim. At the Cannes Film Festival, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu by won the Prix Un Certain Regard in 2005, while 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by won the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, in 2007. At the Berlin International Film Festival, Child's Pose by Călin Peter Netzer won the in 2013.

The list of World Heritage Sites includes six cultural sites located within Romania, including eight painted churches of northern Moldavia, eight wooden churches of Maramureș, seven villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the , and the Historic Centre of Sighișoara. The city of Sibiu, with its Brukenthal National Museum, was selected as the 2007 European Capital of Culture and the 2019 European Region of Gastronomy. Multiple castles exist in Romania, including the popular tourist attractions of Peleș Castle, , and Bran Castle or "Dracula's Castle".

Holidays, traditions, and cuisine
There are 12 non-working public holidays, including the Great Union Day, celebrated on 1 December in commemoration of the 1918 union of Transylvania with Romania. "Public holidays enacted by labour code" , Labor code, 22 March 2017 Winter holidays include the and New Year festivities during which various unique folklore dances and games are common: plugușorul, , ursul, and capra. The traditional that otherwise has largely fallen out of use during the 20th century, is a popular ceremonial vestment worn on these festivities, especially in rural areas. There are sacrifices of live pigs during Christmas and lambs during Easter that has required a special exemption from EU law after 2007. In the Easter, traditions such as are very common. On 1 March mărțișor gifting is featured, which is a tradition whereby females are gifted with a type of talisman that is given for good luck.

Romanian cuisine has been influenced by and (especially in the historical regions that had been formerly administered by the Habsburg monarchy), but also shares some similarities with other cuisines in the such as , Bulgarian, and . Ciorbă includes a wide range of , while , mămăligă (similar to ), and sarmale are featured commonly in main courses.

Pork, chicken, and beef are the preferred types of meat, but lamb and fish are also quite popular. Certain traditional recipes are made in direct connection with the holidays: Kofta]], tobă and tochitură at ; , pască and at Easter and other Romanian holidays. Țuică is a strong plum reaching a 70% alcohol content which is the country's traditional alcoholic beverage, taking as much as 75% of the national crop (Romania is one of the largest plum producers in the world). Traditional alcoholic beverages also include , , palincă and vișinată, but beer consumption has increased dramatically over recent years.

Media
Sports
Football is the most popular sport in Romania with over 219,000 registered players . The market for professional football in Romania is roughly €740 million according to .

The governing body is the Romanian Football Federation, which belongs to UEFA. The Romania national football team played its first match in 1922 and is one of only four national teams to have taken part in the first three FIFA World Cups, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium. Overall, it has played in seven World Cups and had its most successful period during the 1990s, when it finished 6th at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, eventually being ranked 3rd by in 1997.

The most successful club is Steaua București, who were the first Eastern European team to win the UEFA Champions League in 1986, and were runners-up in 1989. Dinamo București reached the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 1984 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final in 1990. Other important Romanian football clubs are Rapid București, UTA Arad, Universitatea Craiova, Petrolul Ploiești, , Astra Giurgiu, and Viitorul Constanța (the latter having recently merged with FCV Farul Constanța).

Tennis is the second most popular sport. Romania reached the finals three times in 1969, 1971 and 1972. The second most popular is . The men's team won the handball world championship in 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974 making them the third most successful nation ever in the tournament. The women's team won the world championship in 1962 and have enjoyed more success than their male counterparts in recent years. In the club competition Romanian teams have won the EHF Champions League a total of three times, Steaua București won in 1968 as well as 1977 and Dinamo București won in 1965. In women's handball, powerhouse CSM București lifted the EHF Champions League trophy in 2016.

Popular include , , and swimming. In professional boxing, Romania has produced many world champions across the weight divisions internationally recognised by governing bodies. Another popular combat sport is , which has produced prominent practitioners including.

Romania's 306 all-time Summer Olympics medals would rank 12th most among all countries, while its 89 gold medals would be 14th most. The 1984 Summer Olympics was their most successful run, where they won 53 medals in total, 20 of them gold, ultimately placing 2nd to the hosts United States in the medal rankings. Amongst countries who have never hosted the event themselves, they are second in the total number of medals earned. Gymnastics is the country's major medal-producing sport.

See also
  • Outline of Romania

Notes
Sources

External links

Government

Culture and history links

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