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Romania GEOGRAPHY
Area: 237,499 square kilometers.
Topography: Almost evenly divided among hills,
mountains,
and plains; mountains dominate center and northwest;
plains cover
south and east. Highest point, 2,544 meters.
Climate: Transitional from temperate in
southwest to
continental in northeast. Average annual precipitation,
637
millimeters.
SOCIETY
Population: 23,153,475 (July 1989); average
annual growth
rate 0.44 percent.
Ethnic Groups: 89.1 percent Romanian, 7.8
percent
Hungarian, 1.5 percent German, 1.6 percent Ukrainian,
Serb, Croat,
Russian, Turk, and Gypsy.
Language: Romanian spoken in all regions;
Hungarian and
German commonly used in Transylvania and Banat. Systematic
discrimination against minority languages.
Education: Mandatory attendance, ten years;
literacy, 98
percent. Highly centralized. Marxist ideology and
nationalistic
values stressed at all levels. In 1980s technical and
vocational
education emphasized.
Religion: About 70 percent Romanian Orthodox, 6
percent
Uniate, 6 percent Roman Catholic, 6 percent Protestant, 12
percent
unaffiliated or other.
Health and Welfare: Free health care provided by
state.
Most serious health threats cancer, cardiovascular
disease,
alcoholism. Infant mortality rate, 25 per 1,000 live
births (1989).
In 1989 life expectancy for men 67.0 and for women 72.6
years.
Pensions inadequate; health care for elderly generally
poor. Rural
areas neglected.
Data as of July 1989
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