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Communications

Airports [time series]

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

Civil air [time series]

70 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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)

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

1,724 km (1984)

Merchant marine [time series]

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

Pipelines [time series]

2,800 km crude oil; 1,429 km refined products; 6,400 km natural gas

Ports [time series]

Constanta, Galati, Braila, Mangalia; inland ports are Giurgiu, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Orsova

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Romanian Army, Security Troops, Air and Air Defense Forces, Romanian Navy

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 5,736,783; 4,860,427 fit for military service; 193,537 reach military age (20) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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 [time series]

donor--$4.3 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1956-88)

Budget [time series]

revenues $26 billion; expenditures $21.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $13.6 billion (1987)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

leu (plural--lei); 1 leu (L) = 100 bani

Electricity [time series]

22,640,000 kW capacity; 80,000 million kWh produced, 3,440 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

lei (L) per US$1--20.96 (February 1990), 14.922 (1989), 14.277 (1988), 14.557 (1987), 16.153 (1986), 17.141 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$11.5 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)

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

none (mid-1989)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

GNP [time series]

$79.8 billion, per capita $3,445; real growth rate - 1.5% (1989 est.)

Imports [time series]

$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)

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 3.6% (1988)

Industries [time series]

mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, machine building, food processing, petroleum

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

0% (1987)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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 Ceausescu'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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Climate [time series]

temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms

Coastline [time series]

225 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly smaller than Oregon

Continental shelf [time series]

200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

Transylvania question with Hungary; Bessarabia question with USSR

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

frequent earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides, air pollution in south

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

2,904 km total; Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, USSR 1,307 km, Yugoslavia 546 km

Land use [time series]

43% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 28% forest and woodland; 7% other; includes 11% irrigated

Natural resources [time series]

crude oil (reserves being exhausted), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt

Note [time series]

controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans and western USSR

Terrain [time series]

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

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

237,500 km2; land area: 230,340 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

40 counties (judete, singular--judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu); Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Bucuresti*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea

Capital [time series]

Bucharest

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

3,400,000 (November 1984); Communist Party has ceased to exist

Constitution [time series]

21 August 1965; new constitution being drafted

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Virgil CONSTANTINESCU; Chancery at 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-4747; US--Ambassador Alan GREEN, Jr., recalled to Washington May 1990; Embassy at Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest (mailing address is APO New York 09213); telephone [40] (0) 10-40-40

Executive branch [time series]

president, vice president, prime minister, and Council of Ministers (cabinet) appointed by provisional government

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

1881 (from Turkey); republic proclaimed 30 December 1947

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court of Justice 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)

Legal system [time series]

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

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or House of Deputies (Adunarea Deputatilor)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

none

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CCC, CEMA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday [time series]

Liberation Day, 23 August (1944); new national day to commemorate popular anti-Ceausescu uprising under discussion

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

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 [time series]

universal at age 18 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

Government type (Type) [time series]

former Communist state; current multiparty provisional government has scheduled a general democratic election for 20 May 1990

People

Birth rate [time series]

16 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

89.1% Romanian; 7.8% Hungarian; 1.5% German; 1.6% Ukrainian, Serb, Croat, Russian, Turk, and Gypsy

Infant mortality rate [time series]

19 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

10,690,000; 34% industry, 28% agriculture, 38% other (1987)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Romanian, Hungarian, German

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

69 years male, 75 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

98%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Romanian(s); adjective--Romanian

Net migration rate [time series]

- 1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

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 Ceausescu's overthrow, newly-created trade and professional trade unions are joining two rival umbrella organizations--Organization of Free Trade Unions and Fratia (Brotherhood)

Population [time series]

23,273,285 (July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

80% Romanian Orthodox; 6% Roman Catholic; 4% Calvinist, Lutheran, Jewish, Baptist

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.2 children born/woman (1990)