Romanian Orientation Identification. The name "Romania," which was first used when the three regions of the country were united in , reflects the influence of ancient Rome on the nation's language and culture. The three regions—Walachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania—are relatively culturally uniform.
An exception is the Hungarian community in Transylvania, which has its own language and traditions and considers itself Hungarian.
The Roma Gypsies , who are scattered throughout the country, mostly in small camps on the outskirts of towns and cities, are in many ways culturally unassimilated. Location and Geography. Romania is in southeastern Europe at the north end of the Balkan peninsula, bordering Ukraine and Moldova to the north, Hungary to the northwest, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, and the Black Sea to the east.
The land area is 91, square miles , square kilometers. The Carpathian Mountains cover about one-third of the country; they surround the Transylvanian Plateau and divide it from the other two main regions: Moldavia in the northeast and Walachia in the south.
The Transylvanian Alps in the central region contain the highest peak, Mount Moldoveanu. The eastern and southern regions are characterized by rolling plains. The Danube River stretches through the country for six hundred miles, forming its southern border with Serbia and Bulgaria and emptying into the Black Sea in the east. It is a source for irrigation and hydroelectric power. Serious environmental problems include soil erosion and water and air pollution from unregulated industrial development.
Because of economic hardship, the government has been slow to enforce laws that place restraints on industry. The population was estimated to be 22,, in Ninety percent of the people are Romanian, 7 percent are Hungarian, and 2 percent are Roma. The remainder is made up of Germans, Ukrainians, and others. Estimates of the Roma population range from , to one million; it is difficult to pinpoint because of the Roma's nomadic lifestyle. Before World War II, there was a large Jewish population, but almost , Jews were killed during the Nazi years, and many of the remaining Jews emigrated to Israel after the war.
Today the Jewish population is estimated at less than 10, The German population has also decreased significantly. In the s, Ceaucescu's government charged citizens large sums for permission to leave the country, a policy Germans felt was aimed specifically at them. Since Ceaucescu's regime fell in , many Germans have emigrated. Linguistic Affiliation. The official language is Romanian, which has Latin roots that date back to the Roman occupation of the area but also contains words from Greek, Slavic languages, and Turkish.
In the fourteenth century, the country adopted the Cyrillic alphabet, but it later reverted to Roman lettering. The language of the Roma population is Romany, although many Roma combine that language with Romanian. The flag consists of blue, yellow, and red vertical stripes that symbolize Transylvania, Moldavia, and Walachia, respectively. The coat of arms, adopted in , consists of a gold eagle against a blue background holding a cross in its beak, a sword in one claw, and a scepter in the other.
Emblazoned on the eagle's chest are the symbols of the five provinces: Walachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Banat, and Dobruja. The first known inhabitants of present-day Romania were called Dacians. They were conquered by the Roman Empire in C. Roman domination of the region lasted only until but had a formative and long-lasting influence.
Many Romans stayed and intermarried with the Dacians, helping to shape the customs and language of the region. From the s through the s, there was a series of invasions by various tribes from the north, including the Magyars and the Saxons.
The northern region developed into a principality called Transylvania, the south into a principality called Walachia, and the east into Moldavia. Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Walachia and Moldavia battled repeated invasions by the Ottoman Empire. They eventually succumbed around and spent more than three hundred years under Turkish rule. In , the principalities of Moldavia, Walachia, and Transylvania were united for the first time under Prince Michael the Brave.
During Michael's reign, Romania maintained a degree of sovereignty, but after his death, the Turks again dominated the region. They ruled through Greek officials who abused their power to exploit the peasants.
In the late s and early s, the Ottoman Empire was weakened by a series of defeats to the Russians. In , an uprising in Walachia against the Greek rulers ended in the execution of the Romanian leader Tudor Vladimirescu, which further fanned desires for independence.
The Treaty of Adrianpolie replaced Greek rule with Russian. In , the Russians withdrew. In , Prince Alexander Cuza was elected ruler of a united Moldavia and Walachia; three years later, the country was renamed Romania then spelled Rumania.
Cuza attempted to redistribute land and improve the living conditions of the poor, but those policies were unpopular with the upper class; in , Cuza was forced to resign and was replaced by Prince Carol. In , Carol led a successful joint revolt of Romanian and Russian troops against the Turks. The Congress of Berlin of marked the end of Turkish domination. Romania became a kingdom in , and Prince Carol was crowned king. Despite the nation's independence, the situation of the majority of the people remained unchanged.
In , increasing discontentment gave rise to a peasant revolt, in which the country estates of the nobility were burned. The army suppressed the uprising, killing ten thousand people. In , King Carol died and Ferdinand I took his place. After the war, the Trianon Treaty doubled the size of the country, uniting Moldavia and Walachia with Transylvania, Banat, Bessarabia present-day Moldova , and Bucovina today in southern Ukraine.
In the years after World War I, a fascist movement called the Iron Guard won a large following in response to threats from the communist Soviet Union and rising unemployment. Ferdinand died in and was succeeded by his son, Carol II, in Carol II resorted to military suppression of the opposition. In he outlawed political parties, and the head of the Iron Guard was executed. His son Michael took the throne in , but the real power fell to Marshal Ion Antonescu.
In an effort to recoup Soviet-occupied territories, the country aligned itself with the German forces, participating in the invasion of the Soviet Union in In August , King Michael took power back from Antonescu. Romania joined the Allied forces but was soon occupied by Russia. After the war ended in , most of the occupied territories were returned, but the Russian communists retained control. They abolished the monarchy in , replacing King Michael with a puppet government under the leadership of Petru Groza.
Business and industry were nationalized, and farmland was taken from the peasants and reorganized into government-run collectives. The communist leadership also imposed harsh penalties for expressing opposition to the government, imprisoning dissidents or putting them to work in extremely dangerous labor projects.
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej served as chief of state throughout the s and was responsible for many of the Stalinist policies. In the early s, he worked to distance Romania more from Soviet influence. In , Nicolae Ceausescu assumed the presidency and presented a new constitution. He initiated large-scale development projects, mainly with money borrowed from other countries.
Many of those projects failed, sinking the country into debt that Ceaucescu attempted to pay off by exporting virtually everything the country produced, leading to severe shortages of food and fuel. The secret police kept the people in line through terror while Ceaucescu and his family, who controlled most of the government, continued to plunder the country for personal gain. In the s, worsening food shortages, along with the toppling of other communist regimes in Eastern Europe, stirred unrest.
Protests in were put down with a combination of military force and extra food distribution. In December , protests in the city of Timisoara were met with gunfire, and hundreds of citizens died. Other protests broke out across the country, and the situation escalated until troops refused to follow orders and joined the protesters. Ceaucescu and his wife attempted to flee the country but were halted by the army and brought to trial. Both were found guilty of murder and put to death by firing squad on Christmas Day A party called the National Salvation Front assumed power, and in free elections were held.
Ion Iliescu, the leader of the National Salvation Front and a former Communist Party member, won the presidency, and a new constitution was adopted in Iliescu put down student protests against the government by calling in twenty thousand coal miners to create a counter demonstration and later used the same tactic to force Petre Roman, a liberal prime minister, from office.
Despite widespread dissatisfaction with Iliescu's leadership, he won reelection in October Four years later, voters replaced him with the reform-touting Emil Constantinescu of the Democratic Convention of Romania. Despite positive changes during his term, the December elections were a contest between Iliescu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor of the right-wing Greater Romania Party, who espoused a hard-line fascist ideology.
Iliescu won the vote of a disillusioned, bitter, and frightened populace. National Identity. The majority of residents share a common culture and history dating back to the Dacians.
National identity is informed by pride in the country's resilience and ability to withstand attacks from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Turks and later from the Soviet Union.
Many Hungarians living in Transylvania consider themselves more Hungarian than Romanian, and some consider the region a part of Hungary. Ethnic Relations. Transylvania was once under Hungarian control, and parts of the region still have an ethnic Hungarian majority. Relations between Hungarians and Romanians are tense and have resulted in political conflict and occasional violence.
In , the communist government outlawed the use of the Hungarian language in education and the media in what it claimed was an effort to assimilate minorities into the national culture. Since , the government has softened its stance, but discrimination still exists. Romania has one of the world's largest populations of Roma.
Medicine and Health Care The health care system improved under the communist government, which provided free medical services to all citizens. In the foreground is the traditional sweet dish known as colvia. Despite pledges to do so, the discrimination continued. The crowns are removed with a blessing from the priest, who then concludes the ceremony with a few words of advice for the couple. The population was estimated to be 22, in After the war, the Trianon Treaty doubled the size of the country, uniting Moldavia and Walachia with Transylvania, Banat, Bessarabia present-day Moldovaand Bucovina today in southern Ukraine. Romanian culture dating center of academic research is the Romanian Academy, Romanian culture dating. The Treaty of Adrianpolie replaced Greek rule with Russian. Other imported consumer goods and household appliances are also expensive and difficult to come by and represent another symbol of high economic standing. Gheorghe Zamfir was a virtuoso of the pan pipes and made this instrument known to a modern worldwide audience, Romanian culture dating, and was Romanian culture dating a composer or interpreter for a great number of movies.
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