România

Note: Following the February 6 resignation of the government of Prime Minister Emil Boc over austerity protests and accusations of corruption, Mihai Rãzvan Ungureanu was appointed prime minister designate by President Traian Bãsescu.

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: 22,101,441 (2012E—UN); 21,848,504 (2012E—U.S. Census).

Major Urban Centers (2005E): BUCHAREST (Bucuresti, 1,886,000), Cluj-Napoca (315,000), Iasi (314,000), Timisoara (313,000), Craiova (303,000), Constanta (299,000), Galati (291,000), Brasov (274,000).

Official Language: Romanian.

Monetary Unit: New Leu (market rate October 3, 2011: 3.25 new lei = $1US). The new leu was introduced on July 1, 2005, at ...