Having emerged from the dark days of communism, Romania has found a new lease of life. The country has become a favourite of tv and movie directors thanks to it's breath taking scenery. The lush green Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian Alps are mirrored by the beauty of the Black Sea coast. And with Count Dracula's castle amongst a host of other attractions the country has to offer, Romania will fast become a tourist hotspot.

Population: 22.655.554

Largest Cities (over 100,000 inhabitants):

Bucharest - 2.954.510, Iasi - 1.003.215, Cluj-Napoca - 502.027, Timisoara - 321.580, Constanta - 319.251, Craiova - 310.526, Galati - 302.622, Brasov - 297.584, Ploiesti - 282.901, Braila - 234.452, Oradea - 216.929, Bacau - 206.527, Arad - 175.921, Pitesti - 168.756, Sibiu - 155.045, Targu-Mures - 148,977, Baia Mare - 137.976, Satu Mare - 115.630, Drobeta-Turnu Severin - 105.034

Total area: 237,500 sq km
land: 230,340 sq km
water: 7,160 sq km

Bucharest

The legend says that Bucharest was founded by a shepherd named Bucur, another variant, more likely, is that it was established by Mircea cel Bătrân in the 14th century after a victory won over the Turks (bucurie means joy in Romanian, for this reason Bucharest is often called "The City of Joy."). Bucharest is first mentioned under its present name as a residence in 1459 of the Walachian prince Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler). It was then that the Old Royal Court (Curtea Veche) was built and during the rule of Radu cel Frumos it became the summer residence of the court. In 1595 it was burned by the Turks; but, after its restoration, continued to grow in size and prosperity and in 1698, Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu chose it for his capital. During the 18th century the possession of Bucharest was frequently disputed by the Turks, Austrians and Russians. On 23 March 1847 a fire consumed about 2,000 buildings of Bucharest (about a third of the city) .

In 1858 the international congress for the organization of the Danubian principalities was held in the city; and when, in 1861, the union of Walachia and Moldavia was proclaimed, Bucharest became the Romanian capital. Alexander John Cuza, the first ruler of the united provinces, was driven from his throne by an insurrection in Bucharest in 1866.

In the second half of the 19th century, the population of the city increased dramatically. The extravagant architecture and cosmopolitan high culture of this period won Bucharest the nickname of The Paris of the East (or Little Paris, "Micul Paris"), with Calea Victoriei as its Champs Elysées or Fifth Avenue, but the social divide between rich and poor was described at the time by Ferdinand Lassalle as "a savage hotchpotch."

During Nicolae Ceauşescu's leadership, most of the historical part of the city, including old churches, was destroyed, to be replaced with the grandomanic socialist buildings of the Centru Civic, notably the Palace of the Parliament. Some historic districts remain, but many argue whether Bucharest is really the Paris of the East today. In 1977, a strong 7.4 on the Richter-scale earthquake claimed 1,500 lives and destroyed many old buildings.

Mass protests began in Timişoara in December 1989 and continued in Bucharest, leading to the overthrow of Ceauşescu's communist regime. Unhappy with the results of the revolution, mass protests supported by the students' leagues continued in 1990 (the Golaniad) and were violently stopped by the miners of Valea Jiului (the Mineriad). Several other Mineriads followed, the results of which included a government change.

After the year 2000, due to the advent of Romania's economic boom, the city has modernized and many historical areas have been restored to their former glory. Bucharest also enjoys a happening cafe and club scene.

Romanian culture

Romania's culture is very similar to other European culture, including that of Western and Central Europe. However, the culture also has some influence from other, Oriental parts, including Turkey, or Slavic countries such as Russia. Romania's rich cultural traditions have been nourished by many sources, some of which predate the Roman occupation. The traditional folk arts, including dance, wood carving, ceramics, weaving and embroidery of costumes and household decorations, and fascinating folk music, still flourish in many parts of the country. Despite strong Austrian, German, and especially French influence, many of Romania's great artists, such as the painter Nicolae Grigorescu, the poet Mihai Eminescu, the composer George Enescu, and the sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, drew their inspiration from Romanian folk traditions. The country's many Orthodox monasteries, as well as the Transylvanian Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church, some of which date back to the 13th century, are repositories of artistic treasures. The famous painted monasteries of Bukovina make an important contribution to European architecture. Poetry and the theater play an important role in contemporary Romanian life. Classic Romanian plays, such as those of Ion Luca Caragiale, as well as works by modern or avant-garde Romanian and international playwrights, find sophisticated and enthusiastic audiences in the many theaters of the capital and of the smaller cities. Romanian cuisine was greatly influenced by the Balkan cuisine, especially during the long Turkish rule, but also includes influences of the cuisines of other neighbours, such as Germans, Serbians or Hungarians.

Like Hungary and other neighboring countries, Romania's modern popular music is heavily influenced by Roma musicians, the lăutari, whose World War II-era café music they have modified into orchestral popular ensembles. Romania also has thriving scenes in the fields of hip hop music, heavy metal and rock and roll. Traditional Romanian folk tarafs remain popular, and some folk musicians have come to national fame. Romania's are also passionate about their sport. Two sports which Romania have traditionally excelled in are football and gymnastics. Nadia Comaneci was the first great Romanian champion in gymnastics. At age 14, Comaneci became the star of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal, Québec. Not only did she become the first gymnast at the Olympics to receive the perfect score of ten (which she repeated 6 more times), she also won three gold medals (individual all-around, balance beam and uneven bars), a silver medal (team all-around) and a bronze (floor exercise). Back home, her success led her to be named a "Hero of Socialist Labor," the youngest Romanian to receive that recognition. Nadia had scored 19 perfect scores before Montreal.

Comaneci successfully defended her European all-around title in 1977, but the Romanian team controversially walked out of the competition during event finals to protest the scoring. An overweight and out of shape Comaneci showed up at the 1978 World Championships. A fall from uneven bars resulted in a 4th place finish, but she won the beam title. In 1979, a newly slim Comaneci won her third consecutive European overall title (becoming the first gymnast, male or female, to do so). At the World Championships that December, Comaneci led the field after the compulsory competition but was hospitalized prior to the optional portion of the team competition for blood poisoning due to a cut in her wrist from her metal grip buckle. Against doctors' orders, she left the hospital and competed on beam where she scored a 9.95. Her performance helped give the Romanians its first team gold medal.

She participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics, placing second in the all-around to Yelena Davydova In her book "Letters To A Young Gymnast", Nadia explains her defeat by writing "That Day Yelena just performed better". Comaneci retained her Olympic title in the balance beam, tied for the gold medal in the floor exercise, and the Romanian team finish second. Comaneci retired from competition shortly after these Games. Her last major competition was at The World University Games in Bucharest in 1981 where she won 5 gold medals. The baton has since been past to the likes of Lavinia Milosevici, Gina Gogean, Maria Olaru and Catalina Ponor.

Romania's greatest football player must be Gheorghe Hagi. During the 1994 World Cup, Hagi made highlights by scoring vital goals for Romania, including a 35 meter lob against Colombia. Having played for Farul Constanţa (1979/1980 and 1982/83), Luceafărul Bucharest (1980/1982), Sportul Studenţesc (1983/1985), Steaua Bucharest (1985/1990) where he won the European Cup, Real Madrid (1990/1992), Brescia (1992/1994) and FC Barcelona (1994/1996), Hagi then joined Galatasaray, the Turkish club team that captured the UEFA Cup title in 2000. Prior to his third retirement in 2001, he won 125 international caps, scoring 35 goals.

A brief history of Romania

The tribal confederation of the Getae were encountered by Darius in his campaign in the Balkans in 513 BC. The Dacians were defeated by the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan in two campaigns stretching from 101 to 106, and the core of their kingdom became the Roman province of Dacia. The Gepids and the Avars ruled Transylvania until eighth century, thence the Bulgars included Romania in their Empire until 1000. The Pechenegs, the Cumans and Uzes were also mentioned by historic chronicles on the territory of Romania until the founding of the Valachian principalities of Wallachia by Basarab I, and Moldavia by Dragos during the 14th century. In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania.

Wallachia and Moldavia came under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire during 15th and 16th century respectively, with internal autonomy under the millet system, and brief periods of independence, Moldavia losing its eastern side Bessarabia to the Russian Empire in 1812 (though partially regained in the Treaty of Paris in 1856), its northern part Bukovina to the Austrian Empire in 1775 and its south-eastern part Bugeac to the Ottoman Empire.

Transylvania came under Kingdom of Hungary's control by 12th century (since 1301 Hungary and Transylvania became possessions of House of Anjou, of Habsburg, and of Holy Roman Empire), becoming a Principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in 1526, following the Battle of Mohacs. At the end of the 18th century, the Austrian Empire (since 1867 Austria-Hungary) included Transylvania inside its borders.

The modern Romania was formed by the merging of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 under the domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza, replaced by a Hohenzollern dynasty in 1866, and independence and status as a kingdom were recognised by the Great Powers in 1878 following the Russian-Ottoman War in which Romania fought on the Russian side. At that time, Russia once again seized the two districts of Bessarabia that had been regained by Moldova after the Crimean War 1852, as a swap with Dobrudja. At the end of the World War I which brought the disintegration of the empires of Russia and Austro-Hungary and the rise of Bolshevism in Hungary and Russia, Transylvania and Bessarabia opted for a Union with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918.

In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, Northern Transylvania, and southern Dobrudja were occupied by the Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria respectively, Romania being under the dictatorship of Carol II. In 1940 Carol II abdicated, Romania joined Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria recovering Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from the Soviet Union and taking part in the invasion of the later. In August 1944 Romania turned against Germany and joined the Red Army, but its role in the defeating of Germany was not recognised by the 1946 Treaty of Paris. In 1947, King Michael I was forced to leave the country by the communists, and Romania became a communist state, under direct military and economic control of the USSR until 1958.

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej became president of the Socialist Republic of Romania until his death. Gheorghiu-Dej died in 1965 in unclear circumstances (his death apparently occurred when he was in Moscow for medical treatment) and, after the inevitable power struggle, was succeeded by the previously obscure Nicolae Ceauşescu. Where Gheorghiu-Dej had hewed to a Stalinist line while the Soviet Union was in a reformist period, Ceauşescu initially appeared to be a reformist, precisely as the Soviet Union was headed into its neo-Stalinist era under Leonid Brezhnev.

Many would be loath to admit it now, but in his early years in power, Ceauşescu was genuinely popular, both at home and abroad. Agricultural goods were abundant, consumer goods began to reappear, there was a cultural thaw, and, most importantly abroad, he spoke out against the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. While his reputation at home soon paled, he continued to have uncommonly good relations with western governments and with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank because of his independent political line.

The period of freedom and apparent prosperity was to be short-lived. Even at the start, reproductive freedom was severely restricted. Wishing to increase the birthrate, in 1966, Ceauşescu promulgated a law restricting abortion and contraception: only women over the age of 40 or who already had at least 4 children were eligible for either; in 1972 this became women over the age of 45 or who already had at least 5 children.

Other abuses of human rights were typical of a Stalinist regime: a massive force of secret police (the "Securitate"), censorship, massive relocations, but not on the same scale as in the 1950s.

During the Ceauşescu era, there was a secret ongoing "trade" between Romania on one side and Israel and West Germany on the other side, under which Israel and West Germany paid money to Romania to allow Romanian citizens with certified Jewish or Saxon ancestry to emigrate to Israel and West Germany, respectively.

Ceauşescu's Romania continued to pursue Gheorghiu-Dej's policy of industrialization, but still produced few goods of a quality suitable for the world market. Also, after a visit to North Korea, Ceauşescu developed a megalomaniacal vision of completely remaking the country; this became known as systematization. A large portion of the capital, Bucharest, was torn down to make way for the Casa Poporului (now House of Parliament) complex and Centrul Civic (Civic Center), but the December 1989 Revolution left much of the huge complex unfinished, such as a new National Library and the National Museum of History.

The big earthquake of 1977 shocked Bucharest, many buildings – notably the Carlton block – collapsed, and many others were weakened; this led to a policy of demolishing old buildings (even monuments of historical significance or architectural masterpieces) such as Văcăreşti Monastery, Sfânta Vineri Monastery, The Palace of Justice – built by Romania's foremost architect, Ion Mincu –(scheduled for demolition in early 1990 according to the systematisation papers), as well as abandoning and neglecting the buildings and bringing them into such a state that they would require tearing down. Even the Gara de Nord, one of the most beautiful train stations in the world, listed among The Romanian Architectural Heritage List, was scheduled to be torn down and replaced by a new one in early 1992. Either systematic neglect or outright demolition affected 70% of old Bucharest, including buildings in the areas such as Magheru-Universitate (the heart of Bucharest), Lipscani, Halelor, Domenii, St. John's Cathedral, Grivitei, and the Gara de Nord, systematization being halted only by the Revolution in 1989. Many of Bucharest's landmarks have since been partially repaired and consolidated, starting with the Gara de Nord in 1993, the Palace of Justice in 1997, and the University in 1999, but most and buildings are in severe need of reconstruction even today.

Despite all of this, and despite the appalling treatment of HIV-infected orphans, the country continued to have a notably good system of schools and generally good medical care. Also, not every industrialization project was a failure: Ceauşescu left Romania with a reasonably effective system of power generation and transmission, gave Bucharest a functioning subway, and left many cities with an increase in habitable apartment buildings.

In the 1980s, Ceauşescu became simultaneously obsessed with repaying Western loans and with building himself a palace of unprecedented proportions, along with an equally grandiose neighborhood, the Centru Civic, to accompany it. These led to an unprecedented level of shortage of available goods for the average Romanian. There was no marble to be had for tombstones, because it was all going to build the palace and the Centru Civic.

There was also a revival of the effort to build a Danube-Black Sea Canal, which was completed, a nuclear power plant at Cernavodă, a national hydroelectric power system (including the Porţile de Fier power station on the Danube in cooperation with Yugoslavia), a net of oil refineries, a fairly developed oceanic fishing fleet and naval shipyards at Constanţa, and so on.

December 1989 marked the fall of Ceauşescu and the end of the communist regime in Romania, a violent change, which resulted in more than 1000 deaths during the key events of Timişoara and Bucharest. After a weeklong state of unrest in the city of Timişoara, Ceauşescu lost his grip on power. A mass rally summoned in support of Ceauşescu on December 21, 1989 turned hostile and the Ceauşescu couple was forced to flee Bucharest. However, they ended up in the custody of the army, and after being tried and convicted for "genocide" and other crimes by a kangaroo court, they were executed on December 25, 1989. The series of events known as the Romanian Revolution of 1989 remain to this day a matter of debate, with many conflicting theories as to the motivations and even actions of some of the main players. Ion Iliescu, a former Communist Party official marginalized by Ceauşescu, attained national recognition as the leader of an impromptu governing coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN) that proclaimed the restoration of democracy and civil liberties on December 22, 1989. The Communist Party was outlawed, and Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were rolled back.

Tthe elections of 1990 were won by FSN, part of which, reformed as the Social Democrats, continued to be present in the democratically elected government until 1996 when CDR, a center-right coalition took power for one term. After repudiating their 'Contract With Romania' platform which would have required the CDR to resign en masse after 200 days from a mixed coalition government (some members had signed on to the contract program while others had not), the major CDR parties were electorally eviscerated in 2000, and the Social Democrats returned to power.

The leader of the Democratic Party, Traian Băsescu was elected President on December 12, 2004, and took office December 20. Traian Băsescu managed to form a government around his own political party, the Truth and Justice Alliance (Alianta Dreptate si Adevar), by appointing Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu. The Alliance formed a government with the Romanian Humanist Party (Partidul Umanist Roman) now the Conservative Party, which was formerly allied to the Social Democrats, but switched sides, and an ethnic minority rights party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrata a Maghiarilor din Romania), which has participated in government since 1996.

Following the end of the Cold War in 1989, Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, joined NATO in 2004 and it became an acceding country to the European Union, hoping to join on January 1, 2007.