Geography

Romania is a European country located in Center-South Europe. It borders the Black Sea for 225 km in East and for most of its Southern Border it shares the Danube River with Serbia and Bulgaria.

The relief of Romania is very diverse with mountains standing at more that 2500 m over the sea level, with hill areas covered in virgin forests, with plains located outside the Carpathian Arch and the famous Danube Delta. Rivers flow almost uniformly from Center Romania towards its edges, but all their water is finally collected by the same old Danube. Its mountains are formed either by tectonic activity (in West, South and Center) or by volcanic activity (in East and North). However, nowadays Romania’s volcanoes are inactive with the notable exception of the famous Mud ones, responsible with the creation of a moonlike world famous there and abroad.

Romanian virgin forests are the last ones of Europe and they are home of beasts extinct in other countries, such as the wolf and the brown bear.

Climate

The climate of Romania is temperate. While in center and north the seasonal changes are very distinct, Southern Romania enjoys only short spring and fall seasons, the year being divided between a long summer and a long winter. Romanian summers are sunny with frequent showers and thunderstorms, but for July-August period it almost never rains. Romanian winters are cloudy, with snow and fog in the mountain areas and cloudless sky in the South.

Public Administration

Romania is composed of 41 counties and a municipality, Bucharest, its capital city. Bucharest is the central city of politics, economy and commerce but it disputes with other Romanian cities the title of “center of culture”.

Food

Nowhere in Europe can one find a more diverse cuisine than the one of Romania. Being located in Center-South Europe Romania was historically dominated by Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian empires. Therefore almost all dishes or sweets famous in Austria, Hungary, Russia, Turkey and Balkans are labeled in Romania as national cuisine. Moreover, Romania’s traditional trade with Greece and Italy together with the self imposed French cultural colonialism brought into Romanian cuisine Mediterranean influences that make the highlight of every full course.

Last, but not least, Romanians have their own traditional food, developed outside all influence, especially by those living in mountain areas and having scarce resources. Their wais of cooking meat and cheese and vegetables are the best definition one could find for “slow food-good food”.

Important to notice, same with Italy and France, the way of cooking, the ingredients and even the whole concept of what a square meal should be different from county to county, so it might take a life time to go around and have a taste of all.

Tourism

No country in Europe can offer as much as Romania can in terms of virgin mountains, virgin forests, virgin rivers and beasts. However, years of communist seclusion and the poor road infrastructure made many of Romanian wonders to stay out of tourists guide books and routes. Romanian tourism is currently a puzzle between old and new between affordable and expensive, between popular or savvy-only destinations. World Heritage sites such and Danube Delta, Monasteries in Moldova, fortified churches in Transylvania and the medieval town of Sighisoara make Romania a first class destination for every want-to-know-more-want-to-see-more tourist.

Not for no reason Sibiu was the cultural capital of Europe in 2007 and not for no reason Antony Miguela filmes his “Cold Mountain” exclusively in Romania. There are also many museums, one even older than Louvre in France, the biggest civil building in the World, and we can go on.

If Greece and Italy are famous of family or group tourism Romania’s tourism has a big segment for singles and youngsters with huge disco clubs in the hottest spots. Another characteristic of Romanian tourism is the segment designed for old people with spa treatments in hotels where “patients” are seen by doctors daily and pursuing cures for a longer and better life.

Romania in numbers

Romania is the 87 country in the world as surface and the 57th as population. I n EU is the 7th as population and Bucharest is the 6th biggest city in the European Union. Romania is the 41st as GDP and the 50th as working force. It is the 105th country as public debt and the 128th country as inflation rate. Of almost 23 million people only 15,000 live with AIDS, and the life expectancy in Romania is 73 years at birth. In Romania there is one cell phone for each of its residents and one land line for every 4. There are 52 airports but only 2 freeways, the third being under construction. More than 90% of its inhabitants live in privately own homes but 20% of Romanians, although having a home in property, are living below the poverty line.Still, it's the 41st richest country in the world and, in number of Internet users is the 25th! The unemployment rate is as low as 3.8% with almost 50% of its active population working in services, 28% in industry and only 22% in agriculture.