Romania

Airports

165 total, 165 usable; 25 with permanent-surface runways; 15 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

59 major transport aircraft

Highways

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

Inland waterways

1,724 km (1984)

Merchant marine

262 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,320,373 GRT/5,207,580 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 174 cargo, 2 container, 1 rail-car carrier, 9 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 13 petroleum tanker, 60 bulk, 2 combination ore/oil

Pipelines

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

Ports

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

Railroads

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

Telecommunications

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

Branches

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

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - 50 billion lei (unofficial), NA% of GDP (1991); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 5,799,837; 4,909,642 fit for military service; 184,913 reach military age (20) annually

Agriculture

accounts for 15% of GDP and 28% of labor force; major wheat and corn producer; other products - sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, milk, eggs, meat, grapes

Budget

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

Currency

leu (plural - lei); 1 leu (L) = 100 bani

Economic aid

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

Electricity

22,700,000 kW capacity; 64,200 million kWh produced, 2,760 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

lei (L) per US$1 - 198.00 (March 1992), 76.39 (1991), 22.432 (1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988), 14.557 (1987)

Exports

$4.0 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.) commodities: machinery and equipment 29.3%, fuels, minerals and metals 32.1%, manufactured consumer goods 18.1%, agricultural materials and forestry products 9.0%, other 11.5% (1989) partners: USSR 27%, Eastern Europe 23%, EC 15%, US 5%, China 4% (1987)

External debt

$2 billion (1991)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

purchasing power equivalent - $71.9 billion, per capita $3,100; real growth rate - 12% (1991 est.)

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route

Imports

$5.4 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.) commodities: fuels, minerals, and metals 56.0%, machinery and equipment 25.5%, agricultural and forestry products 8.6%, manufactured consumer goods 3.4%, other 6.5% (1989) partners: Communist countries 60%, non-Communist countries 40% (1987)

Industrial production

growth rate -17% (1991 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

215% (1991 est.)

Overview

Industry, which accounts for about one-third of the labor force and generates over half the GDP, suffers from an aging capital plant and persistent shortages of energy. The year 1991 witnessed about a 17% drop in industrial production because of energy and input shortages and labor unrest. In recent years the agricultural sector has had to contend with flooding, mismanagement, shortages of inputs, and disarray caused by the dismantling of cooperatives. A shortage of fuel and equipment in 1991 contributed to a lackluster harvest, a problem compounded by corruption and a poor distribution system. The new government is loosening the tight central controls of CEAUSESCU'S command economy. It has instituted moderate land reforms, with more than one-half of cropland now in private hands, and it has liberalized private agricultural output. Also, the new regime is permitting the establishment of private enterprises, largely in services, handicrafts, and small-scale industry. A law providing for the privatization of large state firms has been passed. Most of the large state firms have been converted into joint-stock companies, but the selling of shares and assets to private owners has been delayed. While the government has halted the old policy of diverting food from domestic consumption to hard currency export markets, supplies remain scarce in some areas. Furthermore, real wages in Romania fell about 20% in 1991, contributing to the unrest which forced the resignation of ROMAN in September. The new government continues to impose price ceilings on key consumer items.

Unemployment rate

4% (1991 est.)

Climate

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

Coastline

225 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Oregon

Disputes

none

Environment

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

Land area

230,340 km2

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land 43%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures 19%; forest and woodland 28%; other 7%; includes irrigated 11%

Maritime claims

Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

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

Note

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

Terrain

central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps

Total area

237,500 km2

Administrative divisions

40 counties (judete, singular - judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu); Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Bucuresti*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea

Capital

Bucharest

Constitution

8 December 1991

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Aurel MUNTEANU; Chancery at 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-4747 US: Ambassador John R. DAVIS; Embassy at Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest (mailing address is APO AE 09213-5260); telephone [40] (0) 10-40-40; FAX [40] (0) 12-03-95

Elections

President: last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA 1992); results - Ion ILIESCU 85%, Radu CAMPEANU 10.5%, Ion RATIU 3.8% Senate: last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA 1992); results - FSN 67%, other 33%; seats - (118 total) FSN 92, UDMR 12, PNL 9, PUNR 2, PNTCD 1, MER 1, other 1 House of Deputies: last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA 1992); results - FSN 66%, UDMR 7%, PNL 6%, MER 2%, PNTCD 2%, PUNR 2%, other 15%; seats - (387 total) FSN 263, UDMR 29, PNL 29, PNTCD 12, MER 12, PUNR 9, other 33

Executive branch

*** No entry for this item *** president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag

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

Independence

1881 (from Turkey); republic proclaimed 30 December 1947

Judicial branch

Supreme Court of Justice

Leaders

Chief of State: President Ion ILIESCU (since 20 June 1990, previously President of Provisional Council of National Unity since 23 December 1989) Head of Government: Prime Minister Teodor STOLOJAN (since 2 October 1991)

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

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

Long-form name

none

Member of

BIS, CCC, CSCE, ECE, FAO, G-9, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, IFC, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM (guest), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

National Day of Romania, 1 December (1990)

Political parties and leaders

National Salvation Front (FSN), Petre ROMAN; Democratuc National Salvation Front (DNSF), Olivia GHERMAN; Magyar Democratic Union (UDMR), Geza DOMOKOS; National Liberal Party (PNL), Radu CAMPEANU; National Peasants' Christian and Democratic Party (PNTCD), Corneliu COPOSU; Ecology Movement (MER), Toma Gheorghe MAIORESCU; Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR), Radu CEONTEA; there are now more than 100 other parties; note - although the Communist Party has ceased to exist, small proto-Communist parties, notably the Socialist Labor Party, have been formed

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Type

republic

Birth rate

14 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

10 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

22 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

10,945,700; industry 38%, agriculture 28%, other 34% (1989)

Languages

Romanian, Hungarian, German

Life expectancy at birth

68 years male, 74 years female (1992)

Literacy

96% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1970 est.)

Nationality

noun - Romanian(s); adjective - Romanian

Net migration rate

-3 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

until December 1989, a single trade union system organized by the General Confederation of Romanian Trade Unions (UGSR) under control of the Communist Party; since CEAUSESCU'S overthrow, newly created trade and professional trade unions are joining umbrella organizations, including the Organization of Free Trade Unions, Fratia (Brotherhood), and the Alfa Cartel; many other trade unions have been formed

Population

23,169,914 (July 1992), growth rate 0.0% (1992)

Religions

Romanian Orthodox 70%, Roman Catholic 6%, Greek Catholic (Uniate) 3%, Protestant 6%, unaffiliated 15%

Total fertility rate

1.8 children born/woman (1992)