About Romania

Aminah_Khan · Posted: 26/04/2008 18:13 Post subject: About Romania

OFFICIAL NAME: ROMANIA
This name was adopted in 1862, after the formation of the national state by the union of the two Romanian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 1859.
NATIONAL FLAG: About Romania About Romania

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic.
NATIONAL DAY: December 1 was adopted as National Day in 1990, being the day of celebration of the Great Assembly of Alba Iulia which voted for the union of Transylvania with Romania and which symbolise the union of all Romanians within a single state and the achievement of the unity of Romanian national state.
STATE ANTHEM (since 1990): Awake, Ye, Romanian, from your lethargic sleep/ In which your barbarous tyrants have sunken you so deep. Lyrics: Andrei Muresanu, music: Anton Pann. The song was popular during the 1848.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: The Romanian language, which is the mother tongue of around 90% of the country's population. The easternmost representative of the family of Romance languages, Romanian descends directly from the Latin. The citizens belonging to ethnic minorities may freely use their mother tongue in schools, administration, justice, the media, culture.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES:The main foreign language used in Romania are: English, French, German. From the mid-19th century to the 1960s, the main foreign language used in Romania was French, to a certain extend, German.
STANDARD TIME: East European zone lime (GMT + 2 hours). As of 1979, from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in September, Daylight Saving Time (GMT + 3 hours). Romania lies in the same time zone with the Republic of Moldova, Finland, Greece, Israel, Egypt and the Republic of South Africa.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system, in force since 1866.
INTERNATIONAL MEMBERSHIP: Romania has diplomatic and consular relations with 164 states and is a member of UNO, IAEA, IBRD, FAO, IFAD, GATT, ICAO, ILO, IMO, WMO, WIPO, WHO, UNIDO, ITU, UNESCO, UPU. In 1993 Romania becomes EEC and EFTA associate member, and the 32nd Council of Europe member. On 26 January 1994 Romania was the first Eastern European state to sign in Brussels NATO's "Partnership for Peace".

Aminah_Khan · Posted: 29/04/2008 19:02 Post subject: Location and topography

Location, size, and extent

Situated in eastern Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, Romania has a total area of 237,500 sq km (91,699 sq mi). Comparatively, the area occupied by Romania is slightly smaller than the state of Oregon. The dimensions of the country are 789 km (490 mi) Eâ€“W and 475 km (295 mi) Nâ€“S. It is bounded on the N and NE by Ukraine and Moldova, on the E by the Negru Sea, on the S by Bulgaria, on the SW by Serbia and Montenegro, and on the W by Hungary, with a absolut boundary length of 2,733 km (1,698 mi), of which 225 km (140 mi) is coastline. Romania's capital city, Bucharest, is located in the south central part of the country.

Topography

The backbone of Romania is formed by the Carpathian Mountains, which swing southeastward and then westward through the country. The southern limb of this arc-shaped system is known as the Transylvanian Alps, whose compact, rugged peaks rise to 2,543 m (8,343 ft) in Mt. Moldoveanu, Romania's highest. The eastern Carpathians have an average elevation of 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and exceed 1,900 m (6,200 ft) only in the highest ranges. On the eastern and southern fringes of the Carpathian arc are the low plateaus and plains of Walachia, extending to the Prut River (Moldovan border) in the east and to the Danube (Bulgarian border) in the south. On the inside of the Carpathian arc is the Transylvanian Basin, a hilly region dissected by the wide, deep valleys of the Mures and Somes rivers. The Dobruja, located between the lower Danube and the Black Sea, is an eroded plateau with average elevations of 400 to 600 m (1,310â€“1,970 ft). Except for the low-lying, swampy Danube Delta in the north, the Black Sea coast of the Dobruja is steep, facing the sea with almost vertical cliffs.

Romania is susceptible to severe earthquakes. An earthquake that struck Romania on 4 March 1977 destroyed or severely damaged some 33,000 buildings and left more than 34,000 families homeless. The shock, measuring 7.2 on the open-ended Richter scale, was the most severe in Europe since a series of shocks in Octoberâ€“November 1940, also in Romania.

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Allahu Akbar!

Aminah_Khan · Posted: 29/04/2008 19:05 Post subject:

Climate

Romania's climate is of the moderate humid continental type, exposed to predominant northerly cold winds in the winter and moderate westerly winds from the Atlantic in the summer. Average January temperatures range from -4Â°C to 0Â° C (25â€“32Â°F). During the summer, the highest temperatures are recorded in the Danube Valley (24Â°C/75Â°F). Temperatures decrease toward the high elevations in the northwest and toward the southeast, where the Negru Sea exerts a moderating influence. Precipitation decreases from west to east and from the mountains to the plains, with an annual average of between 100 and 125 cm (about 40 and 50 in) in the mountains and about 38 cm (15 in) in the delta.

Flora and fauna

Natural vegetation consists mainly of steppelike grasslands in the Moldavian and Walachian lowlands, with tall, deep-rooted grasses in the more humid sections and short, shallow-rooted grass in the drier parts. The Carpathian system is covered with forests, with deciduous trees at lower elevations and conifers at altitudes above 1,070â€“1,220 m (3,500â€“4,000 ft). Alpine meadows occupy the highest parts of the mountains. Wild animals, including the black chamois, Carpathian deer, wolves, hares, marten, brown bear, lynx, boar, and fox, have sought refuge in the sparsely inhabited and forested Carpathians. Water birds flourish in the Danube Delta, and sturgeon abound in the waters of the lower Danube. Carp, bream, and pike populate the lakes; dace, barbel, and trout are found in rivers and streams.

Environment

Rapid industrialization since World War II has caused widespread water and air pollution, particularly in Prahova County, an oilrefining region. The nation has 49 cu km of renewable water sources, with about 59% used to support farming and 33% used for industrial purposes. Romania's cities produce on average 3.0 million tons of solid waste per year. Air pollution is heaviest in the nation's cities, where industry produces hazardous levels of sulphur dioxide. In 1992, Romania had the world's 28th highest level of industrial carbon dioxide emissions, which totaled 122.1 million metric tons, a per capita level of 5.24 metric tons. In 1996, the total dropped to 119 million metric tons.

Damage to the nation's soils from erosion and pollution has decreased agricultural production by 50% in some areas. Acid rain originating in Hungary is another environmental problem. Some water conservation programs were initiated in the mid-1980s, but the Environmental Protection Law of 1972 has not been strictly enforced.

Romania's forests and natural steppelands have been encroached on by farmers. Radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear site, two floods, and two earthquakes have also contributed to the nation's environmental problems. Moreover, intensive exploitation of forests before, during, and immediately after World War II necessitated a reforestation program that, between 1950 and 1964, resulted in the replanting of 1,159,600 hectares (2,865,400 acres).

As of 2001, 4.6% of Romania's plenar land area is protected. Sixteen of Romania's mammal species, 11 of its bird species, and 34 plant types are endangered. The Romanian bullhead perch, Atlantic sturgeon, slender-billed curlew, and Mediterranean monk seals are among those listed as endangered.

Population

The population of Romania in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 22,334,000, which placed it as number 49 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In that year approximately 14% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 18% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 95 males for every 100 females in the country in 2003. According to the UN, the annual population growth rate for 2000â€“2005 is -0.23%, with the projected population for the year 2015 at 21,649,000. The population density in 2002 was 94 per sq km (243 per sq mi).

It was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau that 56% of the population lived in urban areas in 2001. The capital city, Bucharest, had a population of 2,054,000 in that year. Other major cities and their population estimates were Brasov, 323,736; Constanta, 350,581; Timisoara, 334,115; Iasi, 344,425; Cluj-Napoca, 328,602; Galati, 325,788; Craiova, 303,959; Braila, 234,110; and Ploiesti, 252,715. According to the United Nations, the urban population growth rate for 2000â€“2005 was 0.2%.

Migration

Population shifts numbering in the millions occurred as a result of the two world warsâ€”because of territorial changes, deportation and liquidation of Jews by the Nazis, flight before the Soviet military forces, deportations to the USSR, expulsion of the Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans), and departures following the Communist takeover and before stringent security measures halted the flow. About 117,950 Jews emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1951; another 90,000 were permitted to emigrate during 1958â€“64. Some 120,000 ethnic Germans left Romania between 1978 and 1988, and some 40,000 ethnic Hungarians fled in 1987 alone. In 1990, 80,346 people left, 78% to Germany, 9% to Hungary. Some 44,160 Romanians emigrated in 1991 and 31,152 in 1992. In 1992, 103,787 Romanians were given asylum in Germany, but in September of that year Germany returned 43,000 refugees, over half of whom were Gypsies.

Since 1991, Romania has been an asylum country for refugees and has accepted more than 6,000 asylum applications, of which 1,000 have been granted refugee status. Applications come mainly from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. As of 1999, estimates indicated there were no more than 2,000 asylum-seekers and refugees in Romania, the remainder having left for other countries or returned to their homelands voluntarily. During the Kosovo crisis in 1999, Romania offered to accept 6,000 Kosovar refugees from Macedonia under the UNHCR/IOM Humanitarian Evacuation Programme. It only actually hosted about 100, until the end of July 1999 when all but one returned to Kosovo. In 1999, the net migration rate was -0.87 migrants per 1,000 population.

Ethnic groups

Romanians constitute by far the majority group (89.5%), but the population includes two important ethnic minorities: Hungarians (7.1% of the exhaustiv population) and Germans (0.5%), both concentrated in Transylvania. The number of Hungarians may be understated by as much as 40%, however, and the number of Germans by even more. The number of Roma (Gypsies), officially put at 401,087, has been estimated elsewhere at 2.3 million. Lesser numbers of minorities (totaling 1.6%) conÈ›ine Ukrainians, Turks, Russians, Serbs, Croats, Jews, Poles, Bulgarians, Czechs, Greeks, Armenians, Tatars, and Slovaks. Since 1989 Gypsies have been targets of an organized campaign of violence throughout Romania.

Languages

Romanian is the official language. As a Romance language derived from the Latin spoken in the Eastern Roman Empire, Latin word elements make up 85% to 90% of the modern Romanian vocabulary. In the 2,000 years of its development, the language was also influenced by contacts with Slavonic, Albanian, Hungarian, Greek, and Turkish. Of the loanwords, Slavonic elements are the most numerous. Earliest Romanian written texts still extant date from the 16th century. In addition to letters of the English alphabet, Romanian has the letters aË˜, Ã®, Ã¢, sÂ¸, and tÂ¸. Hungarian and German are spoken by a large percentage of the inhabitants of Transylvania.

Under the new government, as under the Communist regime, ethnic Hungarians have vainly sought the full restoration of secondary and university teaching in their language. They also criticize the failure of the new constitution to guarantee the use of minority languages in court.

Religions

The great majority of Romanians (86.8% in the 1992 census) are affiliated with the Romanian Orthodox Church, one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. Under Bulgarian influence, Slavonic rite was maintained in the Romanian Church until the 17th century, when Romanian became the liturgical language. The Romanian Church enjoyed a large measure of autonomy in the Middle Ages and, after Romania achieved full independence from the Turks in 1878, was formally declared independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople; it is now headed by its own patriarch. The Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church was formed in 1698 by the Transylvanian Orthodox, who acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Holy See. In October 1948, the new Communist regime compelled the Uniate Church to sever its ties with Rome and to merge with the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The government recognizes 15 religions. Catholic denominations include Roman and Greek. Greatly weakened under earlier Communist pressure, Roman Catholics had no official connection with Rome since 1948, when the Communist regime unilaterally annulled the concordat with the Vatican. In 1990, relations with the Vatican were restored. Protestant denominations include the Reformed (Calvinist) Church of Romania, the German-minority Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, the Unitarian Church (mostly Hungarian), Baptists, Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostals, Methodists, and Presbyterians. According to the 1992 census, about 55,928 people were Muslim and 9,670 were Jewish. There are also small.

Transportation

Romania is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Romania's railroad network extends for 11,385 km (7,074 mi), of which 3,888 km (2,416 mi) are electrified. There were 153,359 km (95,297 mi) of roads at the end of 2002, of which 103,671 km (64,421 mi) were paved, including 133 km (83 mi) of expressways. In 2000, there were 3,128,782 passenger cars and 496,743 commercial vehicles in use.

Only the Danube and, to a lesser extent, the Prut rivers are suitable for inland navigation, which accounts for only about 1% of the total freight traffic. The main Danube ports include Galati, Braila, and Giurgiu. At Giurgiu, on the main transportation line between Romania and Bulgaria, a road-and-rail bridge was completed in 1954, replacing the former Danube ferry to Ruse, Bulgaria. A major project, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, designed to bypass the shallow, silted arms of the Danube Delta, was started in 1949 but abandoned in 1953; it was revived in the early 1980s and opened in 1984. The canal is 64 km (40 mi) long and connects Cernavoda with Constanta. The Romanian merchant fleet consisting of 70 vessels, totaled 561,470 GRT in 2002, and was based in Constanta, the nation's chief Black Sea port.

Romanian airports totaled 61 in 2001, of which 25 had paved runways. Otopeni International Airport, near Bucharest, was opened in 1970 and remains the nation's principal international air terminal. Baneasa Airport, also near Bucharest, handles local traffic. Other important airports include M. Kogalniceanu at Constanta and Giarmata at Timisoara. Romanian Air Transport (Transporturile Aeriene RomÃ¢ne-TAROM) and Romanian Air Lines (Liniile Aeriene RomÃ¢ne-LAR) are the primary air carriers. In 2001, 1,134,600 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international airline flights.
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Allahu Akbar!

Aminah_Khan · Posted: 29/04/2008 19:08 Post subject:

History

Archaeological excavations show that the land now known as Romania has been inhabited for thousands of years. Agriculture was introduced in the 6th century BC, and by the 3rd century BC the Cucuteni civilization had produced polychrome pottery. The Dacians, of Thracian stock, had become a distinct people by the end of the 1st century BC. The kingdom of Dacia reached the highest stage of its development toward the end of the 1st century AD, in the reign of Decebalus (87â€“106), but after four years of war, Dacia fell to the Roman Emperor Trajan in AD 106. The withdrawal of the Romans in AD 271 left the Romanians a partly Christianized Dacian-Roman people, speaking Latin and living in towns and villages built on the Roman pattern. In the following centuries, as Dacia was overrun by successive waves of invaders, the early Romanians are believed to have sought refuge in the mountains or to have migrated south of the Danube River. There the Dacian-Romanians, assimilating Slavic influences, became known by the 7th century as Vlachs (Walachians). The Vlachs apparently remained independent of their neighbors, but came under Mongol domination in the 13th century.

The establishment of the two principalities of Walachia and Moldavia in the late 13th and early 14th centuries opened one of the most important chapters in the history of Romania. Walachia came under Turkish suzerainty in 1476 and Moldavia in 1513; 13 years later, Transylvania, which had been under Hungarian control since 1003, also passed into Turkish hands. The tide of Ottoman domination began to ebb under Russian pressure in the second half of the 17th century; in 1699, under the Treaty of Karlowitz, Transylvania was taken by Austria (later Austria-Hungary), and in 1812, Russia obtained Bessarabia, a section of Moldavia, from the Turks. The Congress of Paris in 1856, which ended the Crimean War, guaranteed the autonomy of the principalities of Walachia and Moldavia and forced Russia to return the southernmost part of Bessarabia to Moldavia. The two principalities formed a union in 1859, with Alexandru Ioan Cuza as its first prince, but he was replaced in 1866 by Carol I of the house of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, under a new governing document that proclaimed Romania a constitutional monarchy. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, Romania obtained full independence from Turkey but returned southern Bessarabia to Russia. Under the rule of Carol I, Romania developed into a modern political and economic unit.

As a result of the Balkan Wars in 1912â€“13, Romania gained southern Dobruja from Bulgaria. Carol I died in 1914 and was succeeded by Ferdinand I. In World War I, Romania joined the Allies and as a result acquired Bessarabia from Russia, Bukovina from Austria, and Transylvania from Hungary. The establishment of a greatly expanded Romania was confirmed in 1919â€“20 by the treaties of St. Germain, Trianon, and Neuilly. In the early postwar period, Ion Bratianu (son of a 19th-century premier) instituted agrarian and electoral reforms. Both Ferdinand and Bratianu died in 1927. A brief regency period under Iuliu Maniu, Peasant Party leader, was followed in 1930 by the return to Romania of Carol II, who, having earlier renounced his right of succession, now deposed his nine-year-old son, Michael (Mihai), and established a royal dictatorship.

As economic conditions deteriorated, Fascism and anti-Semitism became increasingly powerful, and Carol II sought to appease both Germany and the USSR, which by August 1939 had concluded their nonaggression agreement. In 1940, Romania ceded Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to the USSR, northern Transylvania to Hungary, and southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. In the same year, Carol II abdicated in favor of his son Michael, and German troops entered the country. Romania joined the Axis in war against the Allies in 1941. As Soviet forces drove into Romania in 1944, a coup overthrew the wartime regime of Gen. Ion Antonescu on 23 August, and Romania joined the Allies against Germany. A Communist-led coalition government under Premier Petru Groza was set up in March 1945. King Michael was forced to abdicate on 30 December 1947, and the Romanian People's Republic was proclaimed. The Paris Peace Treaty of 1947 fixed Romania's frontiers as of 1 January 1941, with the exception of the border with Hungary, which was restored as of 1 January 1938, so northern Transylvania was once again part of the Romanian state.

The Communist constitution of 1948 was superseded in 1952 by a constitution patterned more directly on that of the USSR. In international affairs, Romania followed a distinctly pro-Soviet line, becoming a member of CMEA and the Warsaw Pact. Internally, the regime nationalized the economy and pursued a policy of industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture. During the 1960s, however, and especially after the emergence of Nicolae Ceausescu as Communist Party and national leader, Romania followed a more independent course, increasing its trade with Western nations and avoiding a definite stand in the Sino-Soviet dispute. In 1967, Romania was the only Communist country that did not break diplomatic relations with Israel following the Six-Day War. In 1968, Romania denounced the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, and the USSR-Romania treaty of friendship and cooperation expired; a new accord was not signed until 1970. Further examples of Romania's independent foreign policy in the 1970s were the gradual improvement of relations with China, numerous bilateral agreements with the nations of Western Europe, and President Ceausescu's state visit in December 1973 to Washington, where he signed a joint declaration on economic, industrial, and technical cooperation with the United States. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Romania also became increasingly involved in the nonaligned movement. In 1982, Ceausescu called on the USSR to withdraw from Afghanistan.

In contrast to some other East European countries, there was relatively little political and cultural dissent in Romania during the first 30 years of Communist rule. In 1977, however, about 35,000 miners in the Jiu Valley, west of Bucharest, went on strike because of economic grievances. Afterwards, the Romanian Communist Party hierarchy was frequently reshuffled, ostensibly to improve economic management, with Ceausescu and several members of his family (particularly his wife, Elena) increasing their power.

In the early and mid-1980s, there were a number of work stoppages and strikes caused by food and energy shortages. In early 1987, Ceausescu indicated that Romania would not follow the reform trend initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR.

The progress of perestroika (restructuring) in the Soviet Union, intensified by the wave of "velvet revolutions" which rolled across Eastern Europe in autumn 1989, only served to highlight the repressiveness of the Ceausescu regime, which had all but starved and frozen the country to death in its attempt to repay international indebtedness, which President Ceausescu said in April 1989 had been US$10 billion. The regime was also single-mindedly pushing ahead with the "systemization plan" begun in March 1988, which intended to force about half the country's peasants into urbanized "agro-industrial" complexes by bulldozing their villages.

The policy was especially offensive to the 2.5 million Hungarians in Romania's western regions, who understood the policy to be an attempt to further undercut their cultural autonomy. In mid-December 1989, abysmal economic conditions and ethnic tension led to spontaneous demonstrations in the western city of Timisoara. When the Securitate, Romania's dreaded secret police, attempted to deport Laszlo Toekes, a popular clergyman who had been a leading spokesperson for the local Hungarians, thousands of people took to the streets. Troops were summoned, and two days of rioting ensued, during which several thousand citizens were killed.

News of the riot, and of the government's handling of it, fanned further demonstrations around the country. Probably unwisely, President Ceausescu went ahead with a planned three-day visit to Iran. Upon his return, he convened a mass rally at which he attempted to portray his opponents as fascists. However, the rally turned into an anti-government demonstration, in which the army sided with the demonstrators.

Ceausescu and his wife attempted to flee the country, but were apprehended, tried, and summarily executed, on 25 December 1989. Several days of fighting raged, as the Securitate and the army battled for power. A hastily assembled Council of National Salvation took power, repealing a number of Ceausescu's most hated policies and laws. The Council's president was Ion Iliescu, a former secretary of the Communist Party, who had been one of several signatories to a letter, which had accused Ceausescu of gross mismanagement of Romania's economy, made public in March 1989. The prime minister, Peter Roman, was also a prominent Communist.

Although the Council contained some non-Communists, the majority had been prominent officials in Ceausescu's regime, which prompted almost continuous public protests. Despite a continued government monopoly on media, political opposition groups managed to rally public support to demand the banning of the Communist Party, and the widening of the government. In February 1990, Iliescu agreed, replacing the 145-member Council of National Salvation with a 241-member Council of National Unity, which included members of opposition parties, national minorities, and former political prisoners; it also contained the full membership of the former Council, and Iliescu remained president.

Parliamentary elections were held in May 1990 against a background of continued civil unrest, especially in the Hungarian west. Although international observers considered the elections to have been generally fair, the National Salvation Frontâ€”now a political partyâ€”made ruthless use of its media monopoly to take about two-thirds of the parliamentary seats from a divided, disorganized, and inexperienced opposition. Iliescu was elected president, with about 85% of the votes, in a contest in which there had been more than 94% voter turnout.

The conviction that ex-Communists had "stolen" the election brought continued demonstrations in Bucharest and elsewhere. In April 1990, in a move that was criticized internationally, the Iliescu government trucked in miners from the northern part of the country, urging them to beat up and disperse the demonstrators, ending what threatened to become a coup d'etat against Iliescu.

After the failure of those demonstrations, the opposition began to link up into parties, hoping to challenge Iliescu and his party in the next parliamentary elections, to be held in 1992. Popular discontent, however, continued to find more direct expression. Angry that the promises which had brought them to Bucharest in June had not been kept, the miners returned in September 1991, this time to link up with many of the opposition figures that they earlier had attacked, now to mount a mass attack on the government. Iliescu had no choice but to dismiss Prime Minister Roman, replacing him with Theodor Stolojan, an economist who managed to contain popular discontent until the general elections of September 1992, largely by delaying implementation of economic reforms. The parliamentary elections demonstrated a wide diffusion of political support. Iliescu's National Salvation Front won 28% of the seats, making it the largest party, but the Democratic Convention, an anti-Communist opposition coalition with a strong monarchist wing, took 20%, while former Prime Minister Roman's National Salvation Front, now opposed to Iliescu, took 10%. The remaining 42% of the seats were divided among five other parties.

The popular vote for president showed that Iliescu still had support, although it had dropped to just above 60% of the electorate. The success of his opponent, Emil Constantinescu, a former rector of Bucharest University, demonstrated the continuing hostility to Iliescu and the other ex-Communists who had managed to retain power.

Iliescu's dismissal of Stolojan, in November 1992, was widely seen as a recognition of that significant minority's opposition. Iliescu chose Nicolae Vacaroiu as prime minister, who had no earlier ties to the Ceausescu or Iliescu governments. However, the move was addressed as much to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the rest of the international financial community, which had emerged as Romania's chief source of support. Continued political instability and the fitful pace of privatization, combined with a strong nationalist bloc in the parliament which warned against "selling out" Romania to foreigners, all kept foreign investment quite low, a plenar of only about $785 million for all of 1990â€“94. As a consequence Romania has had to rely upon loans from Western sources, especially the IMF, piling up foreign debt at the rate of about $1 billion a year. In return for this infusion of cash the foreign donors have set stringent requirements of economic reform, which Romania is not finding easy to meet.

Romania's fitful progress toward democratization exacerbates the social pressures of its continued economic decline. Romanians began the post-Ceausescu period as among the poorest people in Europe, and their economy worsened for several years. Inflation for 1992 was 210%, and more than 300% for 1993, while unemployment was almost 10%. Most significantly, production fell for the first couple of years after the anti-communist revolution. Beginning in 1994, however, Romania began slowly turning its economy around. In 1996, it even applied for membership in the EUâ€”although it knew that admission before 2000 was doubtful.

In November 1996, presidential and parliamentary elections were held as the economy, while still fairly grim, continued to improve in several sectors. Popular opposition to the excommunist Iliescu had grown strong leading up to the elections, mainly due to broken promises of economic security and widespread corruption that saw the enrichment of a small clique of ex-communist insiders amid general economic hardships across the country. Iliescu also failed to deliver on many privatization schemes, angering the middle-class merchants. In the election's first round on 3 November, the Democratic Convention Alliance of Opposition Groups, led by Emil Constantinescu, Iliescu's 1990 opponent, earned the highest percentage of votes (30%) followed by Iliescu's Party of Social Democracy (PDSR) and the Social Democratic Union (22%), and former Prime Minister's Peter Roman's center-left party (13%). In the presidential election, neither Iliescu nor Constantinescu received a majority, so a runoff was held on 17 November, in which Constantinescu took 54% of the vote, becoming Romania's first true post-communist leader. The West was thrilled with the victory, as Contantinescu was seen as significantly more pro-free market and pro-international investment than Iliescu. The new government immediately began imposing austerity measures, vowing to atenueazÄƒ the deficit significantly by the end of 1997. However, it was hobbled by disagreements among coalition members, and in March 1998, the prime minister, Victor Ciorbea, was replaced by Radu Vasile. The government's position was weakened even further in January 1999 when it backed down in the face of demands by striking coal miners in order to avert potential violence.

By the first half of 2000, the failure of the reformist government to bring about the promised economic recovery had led to widespread disenchantment. Inflation, unemployment, and debt remained serious problems, and Romania had also failed to achieve its major foreign policy objectivesâ€”admission to NATO and the EU. Public discontent had led to a resurgence in the popularity by Iliescu's ex-Communists, who won a decisive victory in the June local elections. At midyear it was widely expected that the November general elections would bring a change in both the government and the presidency, and it was considered possible that Iliescu himself might stage a political comeback.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on 26 November 2000, which were won by Iliescu's PDSR. Iliescu became president after a second round of voting was held on 10 December, defeating extreme right-wing candidate Corneliu Vadim Tudor of the xenophobic Greater Romania Party (PRM). Tudor has been compared to France's Jean-Marie Le Pen, Russia's Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Austria's JÃ¶rg Haider, and the late Pym Fortuyn of the Netherlands. Voter turnout was around 60%, 20% lower than in 1996. Iliescu won 36.4% of the vote in the first round, to Tudor's 28.3%; in the second round, Iliescu took 66.8%, and Tudor won 33.2% of the vote. The PRM made a strong showing in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, alarming Romania's ethnic Hungarian, Gypsy, and Jewish communities. Tudor also campaigned against corruption and crime. Iliescu's PDSR pledged to put an end to economic crisis, but also to satisfy the demands of the EU, IMF, and World Bank for fiscal austerity.

In December 2001, under pressure from the EU, Romania repealed a provision of its penal code that discriminated against homosexuals. In November 2002, NATO formally invited Romania to join the organization, one of 7 Eastern European nations to join in 2004. Also in 2002, the EU announced that Romania was not ready to become a member in the next round of EU enlargement set for 2004; however, Romania and Bulgaria are expected to join in 2007.

Government

The Council for National Unity enacted a new constitution for Romania in November 1991, and the document carried many of the hallmarks of Soviet-era constitutions, granting rights in some articles and revoking them in others. However, the legal system is now generally based on the constitution of France's Fifth Republic.

The present arrangement has a directly elected president who serves for a maximum of two four-year terms; he is head of state. Among the president's powers is the right to name the government, which is headed by a prime minister.

The legislature is made up of two houses, the Senate, with 143 seats, and the Assembly of Deputies, with 346 seats; members of both bodies are directly elected on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms.

The 1991 constitution affords the Romanian judiciary independence, however, in practice the judiciary is influenced by the executive branch.

Political parties

After the coup against Ceausescu, some 80 political parties appearedâ€”some new; others, like the Liberals and the Peasant Party, revivals of prewar parties that the Communists had outlawed. The puternic party in the 1990 elections, however, proved to be the National Salvation Front (NSF), which took two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly.

By 1992, the NSF had split over the issue of whether or not to support Iliescu. The main party renamed itself the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PSDR), while a pro-Iliescu wing became the Democratic National Salvation Front, and an anti-Iliescu wing, headed by ex-Prime Minister Roman, became the Front for National Salvation (FSN). The PSDR took 28% of the vote and the FSN, 10%.

The second-largest party in the 1992 elections was a coalition, called the Democratic Convention of Romania (DCR), which incorporated such parties as the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic, the Movement of Civic Alliance, the Party of Civic Alliance, Liberal Party '93, and the Social Democratic Party. There are also small ultranationalist parties, the Party of Romanian National Unity and the Greater Romania Party, and the Communists have been reborn as the Socialist Labor Party. Despite superficial political differences, all three parties are anti-Hungarian, anti-Gypsy, and anti-Semitic, as well as anti-democratic.

In the parliamentary elections held on 3 November 1996, the PSDR lost its majority standing, and the DCR won a strong majority. The DCR became the ruling party with 53 seats in the Senate and 122 in the Chamber of Deputies; the PSDR held 41 and 91, respectively; the Social Democratic Union, 23 and 53; Hungarian Democratic Union, 8 and 19; Greater Romania Party, 8 and 19; and National Union Party, 7 and 18. Victor Ciorbea, a trade union leader and former mayor of Bucharest, became prime minister, and Emil Constatinescu became president.

Parliamentary and presidential elections were held on 26 November 2000, which were won by the PDSR. However, the Greater Romania Party (PRM) made a strong showing in both houses of parliament, and its candidate for president, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, came in second behind Iliescu, who again became president. The PDSR merged with the Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSDR) to form the Social Democratic Party, and with the Humanist Party of Romania, formed the Democratic Social Pole of Romania. This coalition won 155 of 346 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 65 of 143 seats in the Senate. The PRM took 84 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 37 in the Senate; the Democratic Party took 31 and 13 seats, respectively; the National Liberal Party won 30 and 13; the Hungarian Democratic Alliance won 27 and 12; and 19 ethnic parties were represented with 1 seat each in the Chamber of Deputies.

Local government

Romania is divided into 41 counties (judete), as well as the municipality of Bucharest, which has separate status. Below the counties, there are three other categories of local authority: approximately 2,800 communes (with populations up to 5,000), 280 orase (with populations of approximately 5,000â€“20,000) and 86 municipalities. In the Ceausescu era the counties were administered by appointees of the central government, whose responsibility was solely to Bucharest. The Iliescu government attempted to reshape local government, but most sources agree that the result was to further remove authority from the countryside. Much of Romania is deeply rural, with almost no contact between localities or with the central government. The Iliescu government stopped the Ceausescu "systemization" plan and, in 1990, passed legislation intended to return land to individual peasant control. Indications were, however, that enactment of those provisions was spotty, suggesting that much of the countryside remained in a sort of administrative limbo, no longer tightly controlled by the center but not yet self-governing. Nevertheless, after nearly four years of rule by the DCR governing coalition, the PSDR, led by Iliescu, won a clear victory in local elections held in June 2000, including victory in Bucharest for the first time since the collapse of communism ten years earlier.

Judicial system

The 1992 law on reorganization of the judiciary established a four-tier legal system, including the reestablishment of appellate courts, which existed prior to Communist rule in 1952. The four tiers consist of courts of first instance, intermediate appellate level courts, a Supreme Court, and a Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court, six of whose nine members are chosen by the parliament and three by the president, has judicial responsibility for judicial review of constitutional issues. The Constitutional Court judges are appointed for nine-year terms. The Supreme Court was reorganized under a separate 1993 law; its members are appointed by the president of Romania and exercise ultimate authority over all other courts in the country. The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed for a term of 6 years and may serve consecutive terms.

Under the law, the courts are independent of the executive branch. The constitution vests authority for selection and promotion of judges in the Ministry of Justice. Judges are appointed for life by the president upon recommendation from a panel of judges and prosecutors selected by parliament.

Alongside this ordinary court system is a three-tiered military court system, which handles cases involving military personnel.

Armed forces

The Romanian armed forces have been reorganized in the wake of the revolution of 1989â€“90, which destroyed the Communist armed forces and security establishment. In 2002, the armed forces numbered 99,200 active personnel, supported by 130,000 reserves. There were 66,000 in the army, 6,200 in the navy, and 17,000 in the air force, which had 202 combat aircraft and 21 attack helicopters. The paramilitary of 79,900 consisted of armed border guards and a gendarmerie. Romania participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and in peacekeeping missions in six other regions. Defense expenditures in 2002 were $985 million, or 2.5% of GDP.
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International cooperation

Romania, which became a member of the UN on 14 December 1955, participates in ECE and all the non-regional specialized agencies except the IDA. Romania is also a member of the WTO, and participates in G-77, the only former Warsaw Pact member to do so. Romania has also applied for membership in the EU and is a signatory to the Law of the Sea. In 1997, France made a highly publicized, but ultimately failed, move to allow Romania to join NATO in that organization's first move into the former Soviet bloc. Nonetheless, Romania was formally invited to join NATO in November 2002. As of 2003, it was tentatively slated to accede to EU membership in 2007.

Economy

Before World War II, the economy was predominantly agricultural, with agriculture and forestry contributing 38.1% of the national income in 1938, and industry (including construction) 35.2%. As a result of the industrialization program of the Communist government, this ratio has changed greatly. In 1996, agriculture and forestry contributed 19% to national income; industry, 36%; construction, 7%; and services, 38%. Within industry, structural changes reflected the government's emphasis on the development of heavy industry, particularly machine-building, as opposed to consumer goods. The relative neglect of the agricultural sector, in addition to peasants' resistance to collectivization, resulted in agricultural difficulties, including shortages.

The basic organization of economic management in Romania was highly centralized, like its original Soviet model, with few of the modifications introduced elsewhere in Eastern Europe. During the late 1970s and in the 1980s, the continued emphasis on industrial expansion and consequent neglect of agriculture led to food shortages and rationing. Romania's economic problems in the 1980s were exacerbated by the government's program to reduce foreign debt: the debt was indeed reduced, from $10.5 billion in 1981 to $6.6 billion at the end of 1987, but at the cost of reduced industrial development. In addition, two extremely harsh winters (1985 and 1987) resulted in widespread power shortages and loss of production. In the 1990s, foreign debt has once again been on the rise; after reaching a low of $3.5 billion in 1992, it had risen to $10 billion in 1998.

The transition to a market economy also proved extremely painful. By 1992, grain production was only two-thirds of the 1989 level, GDP had fallen by 30%, industrial production had fallen 47% and inflation had reached 300%. Growth returned weakly in 1993, with GDP increasing 1%, but then gained some momentum, rising 3.9% in 1994, 6.9% in 1995 and 4% in 1996. In 1997, the government entered into an arrangement with the IMF for a standby agreement (SBA) supported by a credit line of $430 million, but the agreement was suspended because of the government's slowness in implementing agricultural reform. At the end of 1997, GDP had fallen -6.6% and inflation had soared to 151.4%. The effects of the Russian financial crisis in 1998, which came to a head in August, spread quickly to Romania, helping cauzeazÄƒ a further contraction of 7.3% of GDP for the year. Inflation, however, under new government restraints, moderated to 40.6%. Despite an austerity budget for 1999, inflation increased to 54.8% and the GDP contracted 3.2% for the year. In August 1999 the government entered into another SBA with the IMF, and in 2000 and 2001, GDP registered positive growth (1.6% and 4.1%, respectively), and decreasing inflation rates (40.7% and 37.5%, respectively). In October 2001 the government entered into its third SBA arrangement with the IMF, to run to October 2003. In 2002, estimated GDP growth had improved to 4.5% and inflation was on target to reach a relatively low 22%. Unemployment, virtually non-existent under the Communist system, has persistently stayed in the range of 9% to 11% since, averaging 10.6% 1999 to 2002.

Income

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2001 Romania's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $152.7 billion. The per capita GDP was estimated at $6,800. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 4.8%. The average inflation rate in 2001 was 34.5%. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 15% of GDP, industry 30%, and services 55%.

According to the United Nations, in 2000 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $2 million. Worker remittances in 2001 totaled $4 million. Foreign aid receipts amounted to about $29 per capita and accounted for approximately 2% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 2001 per capita household consumption (in constant 1995 US dollars) was $1,107. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the same period private consumption grew at an annual rate of 11%. Approximately 36% of household consumption was spent on food, 9% on fuel, 3% on health care, and 20% on education. The richest 10% of the population accounted for approximately 25.0% of household consumption and the poorest 10% approximately 3.2%. It was estimated that in 2000 about 45% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

Labor

An estimated 9.9 million people were employed in 1999. Of those, 40% worked in agriculture (compared with 57.1% as of a 1966 census); 25% in industry; and the remaining 35% in the service sector. Officially, unemployment was at 9.1% in 2001. The economy is in the process of privatization, and in 2001,64.5% of the workforce was employed by the private firms. The government remained prominent in the large industrial sector.

Labor legislation adopted in 1991 guarantees the right of private sector employees to associate freely, organize and join unions, bargain collectively, and carry out strikes. Romania's trade unions belonged to the General Confederation of Romanian Trade Unions (UGSR), a state-controlled body for many years. Many of the new unions joined the umbrella organizations the Organization of Free Trade Unions and Alfa Carta. The eight major unions in Romania conÈ›ine Infratirca, Justice of Brotherhood Union, and the Convention of Non-Affiliated Trade Unions of Romania. In 2001, there were about 18 nationwide trade confederations plus smaller independent unions. Employees are permitted to strike, but the government occasionally interfered with striking workers. Although the law protects the right to bargain collectively, this is hampered by the tradition of central government control.

Most employees work a five-day, 40-hour week. The minimum wage in 2002 was $48 per month, but the government also subsidizes necessities such as housing and health care. Still, this does not provide a decent standard of living for a family. Children under the age of 16 years are not permitted to work, although 15 year olds may be employed with parental consent. Neither the government nor industry has the resources to enforce safety and health standards in the workplace.
_________________
Allahu Akbar!

Aminah_Khan · Posted: 29/04/2008 19:18 Post subject:

Libraries and museums

In 2002, the National Library, in Bucharest, held over 8.8 million volumes. In 1997, the country had over 2,950 public libraries holding a total collection of 50.5 million volumes. The largest of the latter are the university libraries at Bucharest, Iasi, and Cluj-Napoca, holding 1.4, 3.0, and 3.6 million volumes, respectively.

Romania has some 400 museums. Bucharest is home to many of the most important museums, including the National History Museum of Romania, the National Museum of Art, and the newer Historical Museum of Bucharest (founded in 1984) and Cotroceni National Museum (1991), featuring Romanian fine art, architecture, and decorative art.

Also in the capital are the Cecilia and Frederick Storck Museum, highlighting the works of Karl Storck, a great Romanian sculptor, and his family, also prominent artists; the Curteo Veche Museum, featuring archaeological exhibits and housed in a 15th-century palace; and the Museum of Romanian Literature.

Media

There were 3.7 million main line telephone subscribers in 1997 and a 1999 report includes an additional 645,500 mobile cellular phones in use. The telephone system was one of the worst in Europe, with a penetration level of only around 14%â€”as low as 3 to 4% in some areas. In 1997, the country announced plans to begin privatizing the state telecommunications company, Rom Telecom. As of 2000, however, about 640,000 were still on the waiting list for service, with waits lasting an average of 3 years. As of 1998, there were 40 AM and 202 FM radio broadcasting stations. A 1995 report indicated there were 48 television stations. In 2000 there were 334 radios and 381 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year there were only about 31 personal computers in use for every 1,000 people. There were 38 Internet service providers in 2000 with 800,000 Internet users in 2001.

The leading daily newspapers (with 2002 circulation figures) are Evenimentul Zilei (Events of the Day, 200,000); Adevarul de Cluj (Truth of Cluj, 200,000); Romania Libera (Free Romania, 100,000); Adevarul (Truth, 85,000); and Libertatea (Liberty, 75,000).

Though the constitution provides for freedom of expression and prohibits censorship, it is illegal to "defame" the country. Journalists are prosecuted under this law and sentenced to prison terms.

Organizations

Economic organizations concerned with Romania's internal and external economic activities include the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania. In 1992 the Council for National Minority Affairs was formed for the discussion of minority issues. The organization helps the government formulate policies favorable to the minorities of the country. The body is headed by the Secretary General of the government. Representatives from 16 officially recognized minorities groups and 12 government ministries make up the organization.

There are also many cooperatives in key sectors of the economy. Many Romanian farmers belong to the private Farmers' Federation. In total there are 4,000 farming cooperatives and 41 district unions. A large cooperative located in the manufacturing and consumers sectors of the economy is the Central Union of Commerce and Credit Cooperative. In total, there are over 2,500 production and 850 credit cooperatives. Another important cooperative is the Central Union of Handi Craft Cooperatives. There is also an active Association for the Protection of Consumers.

The Romanian Academy was founded in 1866 to promote public interest, education, and research in scientific fields. Civitas Foundation for the Civil Society, established in 1992, sponsors community development and social programs promoting an open, democratic society. Other social action groups include the League for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania and the Women's Association of Romania. The Red Cross is active.

National youth organizations include the Free Youth Association of Bucharest, the League of Students, National Union of Independent Students of Romania, Romanian Council of Churches-Youth Unit, The National Scout Organization of Romania, and YMCA/YWCA.

Tourism, travel, and recreation

The Romanian tourist industry, like its other state monopolies, is undergoing privatization. The Carpathian Mountains, the Negru Sea coast, and the Danube region are being developed to attract and accommodate larger numbers of tourists. Major tourist attractions include many old cities and towns (Brasov, Constanta, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Suceava, Timisoara, and others) and more than 120 health resorts and spas. The monasteries in Bukovina are famous for their exterior frescoes. Castle Dracula, the castle of Prince Vlad of Walachia, has been a tourist attraction since the 1970s.

Popular sports are soccer, skiing, hiking, swimming, canoeing, wrestling, handball, and gymnastics. Between 1965 and 1984, Romanian athletes won 176 Olympic medals (48 gold, 52 silver, and 76 bronze). Romania was the only Socialist country to send athletes to the 1984 games in Los Angeles; all the others, following the USSR's lead, boycotted these games. All visitors to Romania must have a visa, obtainable from Romanian embassies abroad or at border stations.

In 1998 tourist arrivals numbered 2,965,707. Tourism payments totaled $359 million that year. There were 95,404 hotel rooms with 199,333 beds and an occupancy rate of 35%.

In 2002, the US government estimated the daily cost of staying in Bucharest at $220. Travel expenses elsewhere in the country were estimated at $111 per day.

Famous romanians

Perhaps the most famous historical figure in what is now Romania was Vlad (1431?â€“76), a prince of Walachia who resisted the Turkish invasion and was called Tepes ("the impaler") and Dracula ("son of the devil") because of his practice of impaling his enemies on stakes; he was made into a vampire by Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula. The first leader of Communist Romania was Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1901â€“65), who held the office of premier from 1952 to 1955 and of president of the State Council from 1961 until his death. Nicolae Ceausescu (1918â€“89) was general secretary of the Communist Party between 1965 and 1989 and head of state from 1967 to 1989; his wife, Elena (1919â€“89), was a member of the Permanent Bureau of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party.

Ion Heliade-Radulescu (1802â€“72) founded the Bucharest Conservatory and the National Theater and became first president of the Romanian Academy. Mihail Kogalniceanu (1817â€“91), a leading statesman in the early Romanian monarchy, inaugurated modern Romanian historiography. Vasile Alecsandri (1821â€“90) was a leader of the traditionalist school of writers, which sought its inspiration in the Romanian past rather than in imitations of foreign writers. Mihail Eminescu (1850â€“89) is regarded as an outstanding poet, famous for romantic lyricism. His friend Ion Creanga (1837â€“87) drew from folklore and wrote with a gaiety and gusto recalling Rabelais. The nation's greatest playwright was Ion Luca Caragiale (1852â€“1912), who excelled in social comedy; an internationally famous Romanian-born playwright, EugÃ¨ne Ionesco (1912â€“94), settled in Paris in 1938. Mihail Sadoveanu (1880â€“1961) was an important novelist in the period between the two world wars. Romanian-born Elie Wiesel (b.1928), in the United States from 1956, is a writer on Jewish subjects, especially the Holocaust, and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Romanian-born Mircea Eliade (1907â€“86) was a scholar in comparative religion and comparative mythology, in the United States from 1948. Romanian-born Tristan Tzara (1896â€“1963), a literary and artistic critic who settled in Paris, was one of the founders of Dadaism. Nicolae Grigorescu (1838â€“1907) and Ion Andreescu (1850â€“82) were leading painters, as was Theodor Aman (1831â€“91), a modern artist and founder of the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. Sculpture was greatly advanced by Constantin BrÃ¢ncusi (1876â€“1957). Perhaps the greatest names Romania has given to the musical world are those of the violinist and composer Georges Enescu (1881â€“1955), known for his Romanian Rhapsodies, and the pianist Dinu Lipatti (1917â€“50). A prominent tennis player is Ilie Nastase (1946â€“94); gymnast Nadia Comaneci (b.1961) won three gold medals at the 1976 Olympics.

Bibliography

Axworthy, Mark. Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945. London: Arms and Armour, 1995.

Bachman, Ronald D. (ed.). Romania: A Country Study. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1991.

Castellan, Georges. A History of the Romanians. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.

Ceausescu, Ilie. Romanian Military Doctrine: Past and Present. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.

â€”â€”. War, Revolution, and Society in Romania: The Road to Independence. Boulder, Colo.: East European Quarterly, 1983.

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Human Rights and Democratization in Romania. Washington, D.C.: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1994.

Deletant, Andrea, and Dennis Deletant. Romania [Bibliography]. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-Clio, 1985.

Dima, Nicholas. From Moldavia to Moldova: The Soviet-Romanian Territorial Dispute. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.

Fischer, Mary Ellen. Nicolae Ceausescu: A Study in Political Leadership. Boulder, Colo.: L. Rienner Publishers, 1989.

Fischer-Galati, Stephen A. Twentieth Century Rumania. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.

Gross, Peter. Mass Media in Revolution and National Development: The Romanian Laboratory. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1996.

International Smoking Statistics: A Collection of Historical Data from 30 Economically Developed Countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Kellogg, Frederick. The Road to Romanian Independence. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 1995.

King, Robert R. History of the Romanian Communist Party. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1980.

Linden, Ronald Haly. Communist States and International Change: Romania and Yugoslavia in Comparative Perspective. Boston: Allen and Unwin, 1987.

Lungu, Dov B. Romania and the Great Powers, 1933â€“1940. Durham: Duke University Press, 1989.

McElrath, Karen (ed.). HIV and AIDS: A Global View. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Otetea, Andrei, and Andrew MacKenzie (eds.). A Concise History of Romania. New York: St. Martin's, 1985.

Rady, Martyn C. Romania in Turmoil: A Contemporary History. London: IB Tauris, 1992.

Saiu, Liliana. The Great Powers and Rumania, 1944â€“1946: A Study of the Early Cold War Era. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.

Shafir, Michael. Romania: Politics, Economics and Society. Boulder, Colo.: L. Rienner, 1985.

Treptow, Kurt W. Historical Dictionary of Romania. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 1996.

Verdery, Katherine. National Ideology under Socialism: Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceausescu's Romania. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Verona, Sergiu. Military Occupation and Diplomacy: Soviet Troops in Romania, 1944â€“1958. Durham: Duke University Press, 1992.
_________________
Allahu Akbar!

Aminah_Khan · Posted: 29/04/2008 19:19 Post subject:

Libraries and museums

In 2002, the National Library, in Bucharest, held over 8.8 million volumes. In 1997, the country had over 2,950 public libraries holding a plenar collection of 50.5 million volumes. The largest of the latter are the university libraries at Bucharest, Iasi, and Cluj-Napoca, holding 1.4, 3.0, and 3.6 million volumes, respectively.

Romania has some 400 museums. Bucharest is home to many of the most important museums, including the National History Museum of Romania, the National Museum of Art, and the newer Historical Museum of Bucharest (founded in 1984) and Cotroceni National Museum (1991), featuring Romanian fine art, architecture, and decorative art.

Also in the capital are the Cecilia and Frederick Storck Museum, highlighting the works of Karl Storck, a great Romanian sculptor, and his family, also prominent artists; the Curteo Veche Museum, featuring archaeological exhibits and housed in a 15th-century palace; and the Museum of Romanian Literature.

Media

There were 3.7 million main line telephone subscribers in 1997 and a 1999 report includes an additional 645,500 mobile cellular phones in use. The telephone system was one of the worst in Europe, with a penetration level of only around 14%â€”as low as 3 to 4% in some areas. In 1997, the country announced plans to begin privatizing the state telecommunications company, Rom Telecom. As of 2000, however, about 640,000 were still on the waiting list for service, with waits lasting an average of 3 years. As of 1998, there were 40 AM and 202 FM radio broadcasting stations. A 1995 report indicated there were 48 television stations. In 2000 there were 334 radios and 381 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year there were only about 31 personal computers in use for every 1,000 people. There were 38 Internet service providers in 2000 with 800,000 Internet users in 2001.

The leading daily newspapers (with 2002 circulation figures) are Evenimentul Zilei (Events of the Day, 200,000); Adevarul de Cluj (Truth of Cluj, 200,000); Romania Libera (Free Romania, 100,000); Adevarul (Truth, 85,000); and Libertatea (Liberty, 75,000).

Though the constitution provides for freedom of expression and prohibits censorship, it is illegal to "defame" the country. Journalists are prosecuted under this law and sentenced to prison terms.

Organizations

Economic organizations concerned with Romania's internal and external economic activities include the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania. In 1992 the Council for National Minority Affairs was formed for the discussion of minority issues. The organization helps the government formulate policies favorable to the minorities of the country. The body is headed by the Secretary General of the government. Representatives from 16 officially recognized minorities groups and 12 government ministries make up the organization.

There are also many cooperatives in key sectors of the economy. Many Romanian farmers belong to the private Farmers' Federation. In total there are 4,000 farming cooperatives and 41 district unions. A large cooperative located in the manufacturing and consumers sectors of the economy is the Central Union of Commerce and Credit Cooperative. In total, there are over 2,500 production and 850 credit cooperatives. Another important cooperative is the Central Union of Handi Craft Cooperatives. There is also an active Association for the Protection of Consumers.

The Romanian Academy was founded in 1866 to promote public interest, education, and research in scientific fields. Civitas Foundation for the Civil Society, established in 1992, sponsors community development and social programs promoting an open, democratic society. Other social action groups include the League for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania and the Women's Association of Romania. The Red Cross is active.

National youth organizations include the Free Youth Association of Bucharest, the League of Students, National Union of Independent Students of Romania, Romanian Council of Churches-Youth Unit, The National Scout Organization of Romania, and YMCA/YWCA.

Tourism, travel, and recreation

The Romanian tourist industry, like its other state monopolies, is undergoing privatization. The Carpathian Mountains, the Black Sea coast, and the Danube region are being developed to attract and accommodate larger numbers of tourists. Major tourist attractions include many old cities and towns (Brasov, Constanta, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Suceava, Timisoara, and others) and more than 120 health resorts and spas. The monasteries in Bukovina are famous for their exterior frescoes. Castle Dracula, the castle of Prince Vlad of Walachia, has been a tourist attraction since the 1970s.

Popular sports are soccer, skiing, hiking, swimming, canoeing, wrestling, handball, and gymnastics. Between 1965 and 1984, Romanian athletes won 176 Olympic medals (48 gold, 52 silver, and 76 bronze). Romania was the only Socialist country to send athletes to the 1984 games in Los Angeles; all the others, following the USSR's lead, boycotted these games. All visitors to Romania must have a visa, obtainable from Romanian embassies abroad or at border stations.

In 1998 tourist arrivals numbered 2,965,707. Tourism payments totaled $359 million that year. There were 95,404 hotel rooms with 199,333 beds and an occupancy rate of 35%.

In 2002, the US government estimated the daily cost of staying in Bucharest at $220. Travel expenses elsewhere in the country were estimated at $111 per day.

Famous romanians

Perhaps the most famous historical figure in what is now Romania was Vlad (1431?â€“76), a prince of Walachia who resisted the Turkish invasion and was called Tepes ("the impaler") and Dracula ("son of the devil") because of his practice of impaling his enemies on stakes; he was made into a vampire by Bram Stoker in his novel Dracula. The first leader of Communist Romania was Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1901â€“65), who held the office of premier from 1952 to 1955 and of president of the State Council from 1961 until his death. Nicolae Ceausescu (1918â€“89) was general secretary of the Communist Party between 1965 and 1989 and head of state from 1967 to 1989; his wife, Elena (1919â€“89), was a member of the Permanent Bureau of the Executive Committee of the Communist Party.

Ion Heliade-Radulescu (1802â€“72) founded the Bucharest Conservatory and the National Theater and became first president of the Romanian Academy. Mihail Kogalniceanu (1817â€“91), a leading statesman in the early Romanian monarchy, inaugurated modern Romanian historiography. Vasile Alecsandri (1821â€“90) was a leader of the traditionalist school of writers, which sought its inspiration in the Romanian past rather than in imitations of foreign writers. Mihail Eminescu (1850â€“89) is regarded as an outstanding poet, famous for romantic lyricism. His friend Ion Creanga (1837â€“87) drew from folklore and wrote with a gaiety and gusto recalling Rabelais. The nation's greatest playwright was Ion Luca Caragiale (1852â€“1912), who excelled in social comedy; an internationally famous Romanian-born playwright, EugÃ¨ne Ionesco (1912â€“94), settled in Paris in 1938. Mihail Sadoveanu (1880â€“1961) was an important novelist in the period between the two world wars. Romanian-born Elie Wiesel (b.1928), in the United States from 1956, is a writer on Jewish subjects, especially the Holocaust, and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Romanian-born Mircea Eliade (1907â€“86) was a scholar in comparative religion and comparative mythology, in the United States from 1948. Romanian-born Tristan Tzara (1896â€“1963), a literary and artistic critic who settled in Paris, was one of the founders of Dadaism. Nicolae Grigorescu (1838â€“1907) and Ion Andreescu (1850â€“82) were leading painters, as was Theodor Aman (1831â€“91), a modern artist and founder of the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest. Sculpture was greatly advanced by Constantin BrÃ¢ncusi (1876â€“1957). Perhaps the greatest names Romania has given to the musical world are those of the violinist and composer Georges Enescu (1881â€“1955), known for his Romanian Rhapsodies, and the pianist Dinu Lipatti (1917â€“50). A prominent tennis player is Ilie Nastase (1946â€“94); gymnast Nadia Comaneci (b.1961) won three gold medals at the 1976 Olympics.

Bibliography

Axworthy, Mark. Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945. London: Arms and Armour, 1995.

Bachman, Ronald D. (ed.). Romania: A Country Study. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1991.

Castellan, Georges. A History of the Romanians. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989.

Ceausescu, Ilie. Romanian Military Doctrine: Past and Present. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.

â€”â€”. War, Revolution, and Society in Romania: The Road to Independence. Boulder, Colo.: East European Quarterly, 1983.

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Human Rights and Democratization in Romania. Washington, D.C.: Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 1994.

Deletant, Andrea, and Dennis Deletant. Romania [Bibliography]. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-Clio, 1985.

Dima, Nicholas. From Moldavia to Moldova: The Soviet-Romanian Territorial Dispute. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.

Fischer, Mary Ellen. Nicolae Ceausescu: A Study in Political Leadership. Boulder, Colo.: L. Rienner Publishers, 1989.

Fischer-Galati, Stephen A. Twentieth Century Rumania. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.

Gross, Peter. Mass Media in Revolution and National Development: The Romanian Laboratory. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1996.

International Smoking Statistics: A Collection of Historical Data from 30 Economically Developed Countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Kellogg, Frederick. The Road to Romanian Independence. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 1995.

King, Robert R. History of the Romanian Communist Party. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1980.

Linden, Ronald Haly. Communist States and International Change: Romania and Yugoslavia in Comparative Perspective. Boston: Allen and Unwin, 1987.

Lungu, Dov B. Romania and the Great Powers, 1933â€“1940. Durham: Duke University Press, 1989.

McElrath, Karen (ed.). HIV and AIDS: A Global View. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Otetea, Andrei, and Andrew MacKenzie (eds.). A Concise History of Romania. New York: St. Martin's, 1985.

Rady, Martyn C. Romania in Turmoil: A Contemporary History. London: IB Tauris, 1992.

Saiu, Liliana. The Great Powers and Rumania, 1944â€“1946: A Study of the Early Cold War Era. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.

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Allahu Akbar!