Romania (/roʊˈmeɪniə/ ( listen) ro-MAY-nee-ə; Romanian: România [romɨˈni.

omɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders
the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental
climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres (92,046 sq mi), Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost
20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, and Brașov.

The River Danube, Europe's second-longest river, rises in Germany's Black Forest and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km (1,775 mi), coursing through ten countries before
emptying into Romania's Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest, include Moldoveanu Peak, at an altitude of 2,544 m (8,346 ft).[8]

Modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained
independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877. Following World War I, when Romania fought on the side of the Allied powers, Bukovina, Bessarabia, Transylvania as well as parts
of Banat, Crișana, and Maramureș became part of the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. In June–August 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and Second Vienna Award,
Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, and Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In November 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact and,
consequently, in June 1941 entered World War II on the Axis side, fighting against the Soviet Union until August 1944, when it joined the Allies and recovered Northern Transylvania. Following
the war, under the occupation of the Red Army's forces, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a
transition towards democracy and a market economy.

The country ranks very high in the Human Development Index,[9] and is a developing country.[10][11] It has the world's 47th largest economy by nominal GDP and an annual economic growth rate
of 7% (2017), the highest in the EU at the time.[12]Following rapid economic growth in the early 2000s, Romania has an economy predominantly based on services, and is a producer and net
exporter of machines and electric energy, featuring companies like Automobile Dacia and OMV Petrom. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, part of NATO since 2004, and
part of the European Union since 2007. An overwhelming majority of the population identifies themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are native speakers of Romanian, a Romance
language.

Contents

 1Etymology

o 1.1Official names

 2History

o 2.1Prehistory and antiquity

o 2.2Middle Ages

o 2.3Early Modern Times and national awakening

o 2.4Independence and monarchy

o 2.5World Wars and Greater Romania

o 2.6Communism

o 2.7Contemporary period

o 2.8NATO and EU integration

 3Geography and climate

o 3.1Climate

 4Governance

o 4.1Foreign relations

o 4.2Military

o 4.3Administrative divisions

 5Economy

o 5.1Infrastructure

o 5.2Tourism

o 5.3Science and technology

 6Demographics

o 6.1Languages
 o 6.2Religion

o 6.3Urbanization

o 6.4Education

o 6.5Healthcare

 7Culture

o 7.1Arts and monuments

o 7.2Holidays, traditions, and cuisine

o 7.3Sports

 8See also

 9Notes

 10References

 11Sources

o 11.1Primary sources

o 11.2Secondary sources

 12External links

o 12.1Government

o 12.2Culture and history links

Etymology
Main article: Name of Romania

Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning "citizen of Rome".[13] The first known use of the appellation was attested to in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling
in Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia.[14][15][16][17]

Neacșu's letter from 1521, the oldest surviving document written in Romanian.

The oldest known surviving document written in Romanian, a 1521 letter known as the "Letter of Neacșu from Câmpulung",[18] is also notable for including the first documented occurrence of the
country's name: Wallachia is mentioned as Țeara Rumânească (old spelling for "The Romanian Land"; țeara from the Latinterra, "land"; current spelling: Țara Românească).

Two spelling forms: român and rumân were used interchangeably[a] until sociolinguistic developments in the late 17th century led to semantic differentiation of the two forms: rumân came to
mean "bondsman", while românretained the original ethnolinguistic meaning.[19] After the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the
form român.[b] Tudor Vladimirescu, a revolutionary leader of the early 19th century, used the term Rumânia to refer exclusively to the principality of Wallachia."[20]

The use of the name Romania to refer to the common homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. [c] The name has been officially in
use since 11 December 1861.[21]

In English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania.[22] Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975.[23] Romania is also the official English-language
spelling used by the Romanian government.[24] A handful of other languages (including Italian, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Norwegian) have also switched to "o" like English, but most
languages continue to prefer forms with u, e.g. French Roumanie, German and Swedish Rumänien, Spanish Rumania (the archaic form Rumanía is still in use in Spain), Polish Rumunia,
Russian Румыния (Rumyniya), and Japanese ルーマニア (Rūmania).
Official names
 1859–1862: United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia

 1862–1866: Romanian United Principalities or Romania

 1866–1881: Romania or Principality of Romania

 1881–1947: Kingdom of Romania or Romania

 1947–1965: Romanian People's Republic (RPR) or Romania

 1965 – December 1989: Socialist Republic of Romania (RSR) or Romania

 December 1989 – present: Romania

History
Main article: History of Romania

Prehistory and antiquity

Main article: Romania in Antiquity

Skull from the "Cave with Bones" (the oldest known remain of Homo sapiens in Europe).[25]

Human remains found in Peștera cu Oase ("Cave with Bones"), radiocarbon dated as being from circa 40,000 years ago, represent the oldest known Homo sapiens in Europe.
[25]
Neolithic techniques and agriculture spread after the arrival of a mixed group of people from Thessaly in the 6th millennium BC.[26][27] Excavations near a salt spring at Lunca yielded the
earliest evidence for salt exploitation in Europe; here the production of salt started between 6050 and 5900 BC. [28] The first permanent settlements also appeared in the Neolithic. [29] Some of
them developed into "proto-cities",[29] which were larger than 800 acres (3.2 km2).[30][31] The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture—the best known archaeological culture of Old Europe—flourished
in Muntenia, southeastern Transylvania and northeastern Moldavia in the 3rd millennium BC.[31] The first fortified settlements appeared around 1800 BC, showing the militant character of Bronze
Age societies.[31]

Maximum territorial extent of the Kingdom of Dacia during Burebista's reign (early 40s BC.)

Greek colonies established on the Black Sea coast in the 7th century BC became important centers of commerce with the local tribes. [32][33] Among the native peoples, Herodotus listed
the Getae of the Lower Danube region, the Agathyrsi of Transylvania and the Syginnae of the plains along the river Tisza at the beginning of the 5th century BC.[34] Centuries
later, Straboassociated the Getae with the Dacians who dominated the lands along the southern Carpathian Mountains in the 1st century BC.[35] Burebista was the first Dacian ruler to unite the
local tribes.[35][36] He also conquered the Greek colonies in Dobruja and the neighboring peoples as far as the Middle Danube and the Balkan Mountains between around 55 and 44 BC.[35][37] After
Burebista was murdered in 44 BC, his empire collapsed. [35][38]
Ruins of sanctuaries at Sarmizegetusa Regia (Dacia's capital during the reigns of Burebista and Decebalus).

The Romans reached Dacia during Burebista's reign and conquered Dobruja in 46 AD.[38] Dacia was again united under Decebalus around 85.[35][39] He resisted the Romans for decades, but the
Roman army annihilated his troops in 106.[40] Emperor Trajan transformed Banat, Oltenia and the greater part of Transylvania into the new Roman province of Dacia, but
Dacian, Germanic and Sarmatian tribes continued to dominate the lands along the Roman frontiers.[41][42] The Romans pursued an organized colonization policy and the provincials enjoyed a
long period of peace and prosperity in the 2nd century. [43][44]Scholars accepting the Daco-Roman continuity theory—one of the main theories about the origin of the Romanians—say that the
cohabitation of the native Dacians and the Roman colonists in Roman Dacia was the first phase of the Romanians' ethnogenesis.[45][46]

The Carpians, Goths and other neighboring tribes made regular raids against Dacia from the 210s.[47] The Romans could not resist and Emperor Aurelian ordered the evacuation of the
province Dacia Trajana in 271.[48] Scholars supporting the continuity theory are convinced that most Latin-speaking commoners stayed behind when the army and civil administration was
withdrawn.[49] The Romans did not abandon their fortresses along the northern banks of the Lower Danube for decades, and Dobruja (known as Scythia Minor) remained an integral part of the
Roman Empire until the early 7th century. [45][50]

Middle Ages
Main articles: Romania in the Early Middle Ages, Romania in the Middle Ages, Foundation of Wallachia, and Founding of Moldavia

Gutthiuda, or the land of the Gothic-speaking Thervingi, and the neighboring tribes (370s AD).

The Goths were expanding towards the Lower Danube from the 230s, forcing the native peoples to flee to the Roman Empire or to accept their suzerainty. [51][52][53] The Goths' rule came to an
abrupt end when the Huns invaded their territory in 376, causing new waves of migrations. [51][53][54] The Huns forced the remnants of the local population into submission, but their empire
collapsed in 454.[51][55] The Gepids took possession of the former Dacia province.[56][57] The nomadic Avars defeated the Gepids and established a powerful empire around 570.[51][58] The Bulgars,
who also came from the Eurasian steppes, occupied the Lower Danube region in 680.[51] According to scholars who accept the Daco-Roman continuity theory, the Romanians' ancestors, known
by the exonym Vlachs in the Middle Ages, lived in densely forested areas, separated from the Goths, Huns, Gepids and Avars during these centuries. [59]

Place names of Slavic origin abound in Romania, indicating that a numerous Slavic-speaking population used to live in the territory. [60] The first Slavic groups settled in Moldavia and Wallachia in
the 6th century,[61] in Transylvania around 600.[62] After the Avar Khaganate collapsed in the 790s, Bulgaria became the dominant power of the region, occupying lands as far as the river Tisa.
[51]
The Council of Preslav declared Old Church Slavonic the language of liturgy in the First Bulgarian Empire in 893.[63] The Romanians also adopted Old Church Slavonic as their liturgical
language.[64]