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Romania factfile

30 October 2014
by eub2 -- last modified 30 October 2014

Romania, which holds a presidential election on Sunday, returned to democracy in 1989 after toppling one of Eastern Europe's harshest communist dictatorships. It joined the European Union in 2007.


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(BUCHAREST) - Romania, which will hold a presidential election on Sunday, returned to democracy in 1989 after toppling one of Eastern Europe's harshest communist dictatorships. It joined the European Union in 2007.

GEOGRAPHY: A country of 20.1 million people, Romania spans 237,500 square kilometres (92,700 square miles), and borders the Black Sea.

HISTORY: Romania's independence was recognised in 1878.

It fought with the Allies in World War I but sided with the Nazis in World War II under dictator Ion Antonescu.

After Antonescu was toppled in 1944, Romania changed sides and fought with the Allies.

The Communists came to power after the war, forcing King Michael I to abdicate in 1947 and forming a communist People's Republic.

Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ruled Romania from 1965 before being driven from power in December 1989 and executed with his wife Elena.

Transition periods followed under the presidencies of Ion Iliescu, Ceausescu's ex-minister (1989-1992, 1992-1996 and 2000-2004), and Emil Constantinescu (1996-2000).

Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004 and the European Union since 2007. It has participated in NATO operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

President Traian Basescu (centre right) was elected in December 2004 to a five-year mandate and was re-elected to a second and final term in 2009.

ECONOMY: After nine years of economic growth, Romania, the EU's second poorest country, was hit by one of the deepest recessions in the bloc in 2009 and 2010.

Thanks to an emergency plan from the International Monetary Fund and the EU, which required a draconian austerity programme, the country returned to growth in 2011. In 2013, growth reached 3.5 percent, one of the highest rates in the EU. It is expected to slow to 2.2 percent this year however.

Gross domestic product: Almost $190 billion in 2013. (World Bank)

Unemployment: 7.1 percent in August, 2014. (Eurostat)

 

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