Country
Countries A-Z
Romania
România
Political Status: Independence established 1878; People's Republic proclaimed December 30, 1947; designated a Socialist Republic by constitution adopted August 21, 1965; redesignated as Romania in December 1989; presidential multiparty constitution approved in referendum of December 8, 1991.
Area: 91,699 sq. mi. (237,500 sq. km.).
Population: 21,680,974 (2002C); 21,354,000 (2005E).
Major Urban Centers (2005E): BUCHAREST (Bucureşti, 1,886,000), Cluj-Napoca (315,000), Iaşi (314,000), Timişoara (313,000), Craiova (303,000), Constanţa (299,000), Galaţi (291,000), Braşov (274,000).
Official Language: Romanian.
Monetary Unit: New Leu (market rate July 1, 2006: 2.80 new lei = $1US). (The new leu was introduced on July 1, 2005, at the rate of 1 new leu = 10,000 old lei.)
President: Traian BĂSESCU (formerly Democratic Party, currently independent [as constitutionally required]); elected (as the candidate of the Justice and Truth Alliance) in second-round ...