The World Factbook (1990)/Romania
Romania
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See regional map V
Geography
Total area: 237,500 km²; land area:
230,340 km²
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries: 2,904 km total; Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, USSR 1,307 km, Yugoslavia 546 km
Coastline: 225 km
Maritime claims:
- Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation
- Extended economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Transylvania question with Hungary; Bessarabia question with USSR
Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
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
Natural resources: crude oil (reserves being exhausted), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt
Land use: 43% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 28% forest and woodland; 7% other; includes 11% irrigated
Environment: frequent earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides, air pollution in south
Note: controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans and western USSR
People
Population: 23,273,285 (July 1990),
growth rate 0.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 16 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: -1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 19 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 75 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.2 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Romanian(s); adjective—Romanian
Ethnic divisions: 89.1% Romanian; 7.8% Hungarian; 1.5% German; 1.6% Ukrainian, Serb, Croat, Russian, Turk, and Gypsy
Religion: 80% Romanian Orthodox; 6% Roman Catholic; 4% Calvinist, Lutheran, Jewish, Baptist
Language: Romanian, Hungarian, German
Literacy: 98%
Labor force: 10,690,000; 34% industry, 28% agriculture, 38% other (1987)
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 Ceauşescu's overthrow, newly-created trade and professional trade unions are joining two rival umbrella organizations—Organization of Free Trade Unions and Fratia (Brotherhood)
Government
Long-form name: none
Type: former Communist state; current multiparty provisional government has scheduled a general democratic election for 20 May 1990
Capital: Bucharest
Administrative divisions: 40 counties (judeţe, singular—judeţ) and 1 municipality* (municipiu); Alba, Arad, Argeş, Bacǎu, Bihor, Bistriţa-Nǎsǎud, Botoşani, Brǎila, Braşov, Bucureşti*, Buzǎu, Cǎlǎraşi, Caraş-Severin, Cluj, Constanţa, Covasna, Dîmbovita, Dolj, Galaţi, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomiţa, Iaşi, Maramureş, Mehedinţi, Mureş, Neamţ, Olt, Prahova, Sǎlaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timiş, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vîlcea, Vrancea
Independence: 1881 (from Turkey); republic proclaimed 30 December 1947
Constitution: 21 August 1965; new constitution being drafted
Legal system: former mixture of civil law system and Communist legal theory that increasingly reflected Romanian traditions is being revised; Communist regime had not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; Provisional Council of National Unity will probably accept ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Liberation Day, 23 August (1944); new national day to commemorate popular anti-Ceauşescu uprising under discussion
Executive branch: president, vice president, prime minister, and Council of Ministers (cabinet) appointed by provisional government
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or House of Deputies (Adunarea Deputaţilor)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice
Leaders: Chief of State—President of Provisional Council of National Unity Ion ILIESCU (since 23 December 1989);
Head of Government—Prime Minister of Council of Ministers Petre ROMAN (since 23 December 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party, Sergiu Cunescu; National Liberal Party, Radu Cimpeanu; National Christian Peasants Party, Corneliu Coposu; Free Democratic Social Justice Party, Gheorghe Susana; several others being formed; Communist Party has ceased to exist; formation of left-wing parties is uncertain
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Senate—elections for the new upper house to be held 20 May 1990;
House of Deputies—elections for the new lower house to be held 20 May 1990
Communists: 3,400,000 (November 1984); Communist Party has ceased to exist
Member of: CCC, CEMA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Virgil CONSTANTINESCU; Chancery at 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-4747; US—Ambassador Alan GREEN, Jr.; Embassy at Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest (mailing address is APO New York 09213); telephone [40](0) 10-40-40
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
Economy
Overview: Industry, which accounts for
one-third of the labor force and generates
over half the GNP, suffers from an aging
capital plant and persistent shortages of
energy. In recent years the agricultural
sector has had to contend with drought,
mismanagement, and shortages of inputs.
Favorable weather in 1989 helped produce
a good harvest, although far below
government claims. The new government is
slowly loosening the tight central controls
of Ceauşescu's command economy. It has
instituted moderate land reforms, with
close to one-third of cropland now in
private hands, and it has allowed changes in
prices for private agricultural output.
Also, the new regime is permitting the
establishment of private enterprises of 20
or fewer employees in services,
handicrafts, and small-scale industry.
Furthermore, the government has halted the
old policy of diverting food from domestic
consumption to hard currency export
markets. So far, the government does not
seem willing to adopt a thorough-going
market system.
GNP: $79.8 billion, per capita $3,445; real growth rate -1.5% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0% (1987)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $26 billion; expenditures $21.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $13.6 billion (1987)
Exports: $1 1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—machinery and equipment 34.7%, fuels, minerals and metals 24.7%, manufactured consumer goods 16.9%, agricultural materials and forestry products 11.9%, other 11.6% (1986); partners—USSR 27%, Eastern Europe 23%, EC 15%, US 5%, China 4% (1987)
Imports: $8.75 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities—fuels, minerals, and metals 51.0%, machinery and equipment 26.7%, agricultural and forestry products 11.0%, manufactured consumer goods 4.2% (1986); partners—Communist countries 60%, non-Communist countries 40% (1987)
External debt: none (mid-1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.6% (1988)
Electricity: 22,640,000 kW capacity; 80,000 million kWh produced, 3,440 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, machine building, food processing, petroleum
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GNP and 28% of labor force; major wheat and corn producer; other products—sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, milk, eggs, meat, grapes
Aid: donor—$4.3 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-88)
Currency: leu (plural—lei); 1 leu (L) = 100 bani
Exchange rates: lei (L) per US$1—20.96 (February 1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988), 14.557 (1987), 16.153 (1986), 17.141 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 11,221 km total; 10,755 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 421 km narrow gauge, 45 km broad gauge; 3,328 km electrified, 3,060 km double track; government owned (1986)
Highways: 72,799 km total; 15,762 km concrete, asphalt, stone block; 20,208 km asphalt treated; 27,729 km gravel, crushed stone, and other paved surfaces; 9,100 km unpaved roads (1985)
Inland waterways: 1,724 km (1984)
Pipelines: 2,800 km crude oil; 1,429 km refined products; 6,400 km natural gas
Ports: Constanta, Galati, Braila, Mangalia; inland ports are Giurgiu, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Orsova
Merchant marine: 282 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,313,320 GRT/5,134,335 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 184 cargo, 1 container, 1 rail-car carrier, 14 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 livestock carrier, 10 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 69 bulk
Civil air: 70 major transport aircraft
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
Telecommunications: stations—39 AM, 30 FM, 38 TV; 3,910,000 TV sets; 3,225,000 radio receivers; satellite earth stations—1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
Defense Forces
Branches: Romanian Army, Security Troops, Air and Air Defense Forces, Romanian Navy
Military manpower: males 15-49, 5,736,783; 4,860,427 fit for military service; 193,537 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 11.8 billion lei, 2.8% of total budget (1989); note—conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results