‘No country is kinder to the wanderer who has good legs' Walter Starkie, Raggle-Taggle, 1933

It came into being when the two principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia broke the shackles of Turkish Ottoman suzerainty and merged, in 1859, to form a new land - ‘Romania’ Romanian Flag: The red, yellow and blue stripes represent Moldova and Walachia LIBERTYJUSTICEFRATERNITY

Location: (Southeastern) Central Europe - Surrounded by Hungary to the northwest, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, the Black Sea to the southeast, Ukraine to the east and to the north and the Republic of Moldova to the east BULGARIA HUNGARY UKRAINE BLACK SEA MOLDOVA SERBIA UKRAINE

Area: 91,725 sq. miles (237,502 sq. km) - Roughly the size of Oregon, Romania is the second largest country in the area, after Poland. Population: 21,400,000 (2009 mid-year estimate) Ethnic Groups: Romanian 89%, Hungarian 7.5%, Gipsy 1.9%, German, Ukrainian, Armenian, Croatian, Serbian and Turkish - 1.6%. Some ethnic minorities (Hungarian and German) use their own languages in school and civil administration Religions: Christian Orthodox 87%, Roman Catholic 5%, Protestant 5%, Jewish Climate: Romania has a temperate climate, similar to the northeastern United States, with four distinct seasons

the capital city of Romania — Bucharest - is located at the same latitude with the cities of Portland - Oregon; Montreal - Canada; Venice - Italy; and Bordeaux – France. 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 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. Form of State: Semi-parliamentary Republic with two legislative bodies: Senate (Senat) and Chamber of Representatives (Camera Deputatilor) Head of State: President of the Republic, currently Mr. Traian Basescu. Romania's president is allowed to serve two consecutive five-year terms. Currency: Romanian Leu (RON)

OK, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT BUT… Romania is associated with big names in arts and sports DID YOU KNOW ? Constantin Brancusi — one of the most acclaimed modern sculptors Angela Gheorghiu, one of the world's greatest opera soprano Alexandra Nechita — a young Romanian painter living in California, known for her distinct style. Ilie Nastase — U.S. Open and Roland Garos winner. Nadia Comaneci — the Olympic champion gymnast, saluted by people everywhere. writer Eugen Ionesco pan flute virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir piano player Radu Lupu

Romania has the second largest underground glacier in Europe (in terms of volume) DID YOU KNOW ? The meaning of the word “Transylvania” is the land beyond the forest Voronet Monastery, located in northeastern Romania, is also known as the ‘Sistine Chapel of the East’

The city of Brasov (Transylvania) is home to the largest gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul Brasov is home to what is said to be the narrowest street in Europe B R A S O V DID YOU KNOW ?

Romania has the second-largest air museum in the world The Brukenthal museum in Sibiu opened its doors to the public three years prior to the Louvre Museum in Paris. It is the oldest museum in Romania and one of the first museums in Europe. SIBIU DID YOU KNOW ?

The movie Cold Mountain was filmed on location in Romania Hollywood’s original Tarzan was born in the city of Timisoara, Romania DID YOU KNOW ?

Romania's Danube Delta is a World Heritage site and is the second largest delta in the whole of Europe. It is a wonderful place - a paradise of birds, plants, animals and fish With its sun-kissed beaches, emerald forests, surrealistic history and medieval monuments, Romania remains a very popular tourist destination of Europe BLACK SEA in Romania is actually blue and green and sometimes grey... but never BLACK The Dacian fortresses of the Orastie Mountains, in Romania, belong to the Late Iron Age

Timisoara (the Romanian city) was the first European city to introduce horse-drawn trams (in 1869) and electrical street lighting (in 1889) The capital of Romania is Bucharest, once popular as the ‘Paris of the East’ or “Little Paris” The Palace of the Parliament from Bucharest is the world's largest civilian administrative building (and second-largest in the world, after the U.S. Pentagon), most expensive administrative building, and the heaviest one

Romanians speak foreign languages: one to four Romanians can speak either English or French or German or Spanish Ferdinand I who became the King of Romania in 1914 was married to Queen Marie. She was a granddaughter of the United Kingdom's Queen Victoria Romania was under communist rule between The revolution in 1989 put an end to it. Romania was the only country where the communist leaders were executed (on Christmas day, unfortunately) Although Romanians are always polite, they seldom move to a first-name basis with people outside their extended family or very close friends. However, foreign visitors consider Romanians among the friendliest and most hospitable people on earth. Romanians are by nature fun loving, warm, hospitable, playful, with an innate sense of humor.

Roma (gypsies) are not related to Romanians. Though there are many Roma in Romania, which makes sense because it is the route of crossing into Europe for the Roma, the name Roma and Romania are not related. Romania gets its name from its history as a colony of Rome. Linguistically Romani (the language of the Roma people) and Romanian (the language of the Romanian people) are not related W ell known facts about Romania, that are not true Dracula is not only an invention - he was a successful combination made by BRAM STOKER from a Romanian hero (Wallachian Prince, Vlad the Impaler) and the Romanian folklore (vampires, BAUBAU - Boogie man, ghosts, etc.)

Gheorghe Marinescu, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Bucharest, was the first person to see living nervous cells with a microscope NADIA COMANECI – Romanian gymnast, was the first gymnast in history of this sport who obtained a perfect in 1976 in Montreal at the Olympic Games. The Computer was not prepared for such experience, so all world saw "1.00" on the screen The jet engine used by modern airplanes was invented by Bucharest- born inventor Henri Coanda Stefan Odobleja is renown as the father of modern cybernetics, practically he is the inventor of modern cybernetics The true inventor of insulin is Nicolae Paulescu, a professor of physiology at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest The fountain pen was invented by the Romanian PETRACHE POENARU - he was a student in Paris. His invention was brevetted by the French Gouverment in 1827 The second spoken language in Microsoft is Romanian!!!

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