Romania (/romeni/ ( listen) roh-MAY-nee-; Romanian: Romnia [romni.

a]) is a sovereign
i

state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia,
and Moldova. It has an area of 238,397 square kilometres (92,046 sq mi) and a temperate-
continental climate. With almost 20 million inhabitants, the country is the seventh most
populous member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-
largest city in the EU, with 1,883,425 inhabitants as of 2011.[8]
The River Danube, Europe's second-longest river, rises in Germany 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, at 2,544 m (8,346 ft).[9]
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. At the end of World War
I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania.
During World War II, Romania was an ally of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, fighting side
by side with the Wehrmacht until 1944, when it joined the Allied powers and faced occupation by
the Red Army forces. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained
after the war. Following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw
Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition towardsdemocracy and a
capitalist market economy.
Romania is a developing country and one of the poorest in the European Union, ranking 50th in
the Human Development Index.[10][11] 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 NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the
population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are native speakers
of Romanian, a Romance language. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when
dealing with influential artists, musicians, inventors, and sportspeople.

Contents
[hide]

1Etymology
o 1.1Official names
2History
o 2.1Early history
o 2.2Middle Ages
o 2.3Independence and monarchy
o 2.4World Wars and Greater Romania
o 2.5Communism
o 2.6Contemporary period
o 2.7NATO 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
o 12.3Travel

Etymology
Main article: Name of Romania
Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning "citizen of Rome".[12] The first known use of the
appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italianhumanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia,
and Wallachia.[13][14][15][16]

Neacu'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
Neacu from Cmpulung",[17] is also notable for including the first documented occurrence of the
country's name: Wallachia is mentioned as eara Rumneasc (old spelling for "The Romanian
Land"; eara from the Latin terra, "land"; current spelling: ara Romneasc).
Two spelling forms: romn and rumn were used interchangeably[a] until sociolinguistic
developments in the late 17th century led to semantic differentiation of the two forms: rumn came to
mean "bondsman", while romn retained the original ethnolinguistic meaning.[18] After the abolition
of serfdom in 1746, the word rumn gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the
form romn.[b] Tudor Vladimirescu, a revolutionary leader of the early 19th century, used the
term Rumnia to refer exclusively to the principality of Wallachia."[19]
The use of the name Romania to refer to the common homeland of all Romaniansits modern-day
meaningwas first documented in the early 19th century.[c] The name has been officially in use
since 11 December 1861.[20]
In English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania.[21] Romania became
the predominant spelling around 1975.[22] Romania is also the official English-language spelling used
by the Romanian government.[23] 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 Rumnien, Spanish Rumana,
Polish Rumunia, and Russian (Rumyniya).

Official names
18591862: United Principalities
18621866: Romanian United Principalities or Romania
18661881: Romania
18811947: Kingdom of Romania or Romania
19471965: Romanian People's Republic (RPR) or Romania
1965December 1989: Socialist Republic of Romania (RSR) or Romania
December 1989present: Romania