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Key facts (last updated 27 June 2012):

Official Name:

Romania

Population:

19,042,936 2011 census)

Capital city:

Bucharest (1,942,485 – 2011 census)

Other important cities:

Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara, Constanta, Craiova, Galati, Brasov

Area:

237,500 km2 (92,043 sq miles)

Main religion:

Christianity (Orthodox)

Main ethnic groups (2002 census)

Romanian
Hungarian
Roma
German
Ukrainian

89.5 %
6.6 %
2.5 %
0.3 %
0.3 %
   

Currency:

New Leu (RON)

GDP:

EUR146, 650 billion = RON 677, 965 billion145075.6 million lei - first quarter 2012 (National Institute of Statistics, 2012)

GDP per capita:

EUR -6,939 = RON 30,889 (IMF estimations 2012)

Unemployment:

7.1 % (Eurostat, 4th quarter 2011)

Gross average wage:

EUR 487 = RON 2,126 (National Institute of Statistics, 2012)
   

Short chronology of EU accession:

1 February 1993

Europe Agreement (an association agreement providing mainly for preferential trade measures) is signed

1 May 1993

Interim Agreement enters into force (providing for the interim application of the trade-related measures of the Association Agreement until ratification by all EU members)

1 February 1995

Association Agreement enters into force (replacing the interim agreement)

22 June 1995

Romania submits membership application

13 December 1997

Candidate status granted (European Council Luxembourg)

15 February 2000

Start of accession negotiations with the European Commission

14 December 2004

Closure of negotiations

13 April 2005

European Parliament gives assent to Accession Treaty

25 April 2005

Signing of Accession Treaty

1 January 2007

EU accession
   

Membership in other international organisations:

UN

14 December 1955

World Bank

1972

IMF

15 December 1972

OSCE

25 June 1973 (founding member)

EBRD

29 May 1990 (member, receipt of investments)

Council of Europe

7 October 1993

WTO

1 January 1995

NATO

29 March 2004
   

Politics:

President:

 

In July 2012, President Traian Băsescu (Democratic Liberal Party, PDL) was suspended and temporarily replaced by the President of the Senate, Crin Antonsecu (National Liberal Party, PNL), pending the outcome of an impeachment procedure. On 29 July 2012, Romanians were due to decide in a referendum whether to dismiss Băsescu or not. The referendum failed as it did not reach the necessary quorum and Băsescu stayed in office. He was first elected in 2004 and re-elected for a second term in 2009.

Prime minister:

 

Victor Viorel Ponta, Social Democratic Party (PSD), since May 2012.

Political Parties:

 

The Romanian parliament has two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies (334 members) and the Senate (137 members), both elected by proportional representation. Valeriu Zgonea (PSD) is the President of the Chamber of Deputies, and Crin Antonescu (PNL) is the President of the Senate.

 
 

 

In 2008, after four years in opposition, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) led by the current prime minister Victor Ponta formed a government with the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) after winning 110 seats in the Chamber and 48 in the Senate. Following several government restructurings, the coalition in power is now made up of PSD, the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the small Conservative Party.

 

 

The National Liberal Party (PNL) led by Crin Antonescu holds 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate. It is a centre-right liberal party.
 

 

The small Conservative Party won 3 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 1 Senate seat. It is led by Daniel Constantin and tends to be right-wing.
 

 

The Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) won most seats in the 2008 elections: 115 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 51 in the Senate. It is led by Vasile Blaga, but strongly associated with Traian Băsescu. It was formed on 2007 when the Băsescu's Democratic Party (PD) and he Liberal Democratic Party merged. Its political orientation is conservative liberal.
 

 

The Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, led by Hunor Kelemen, is an electoral alliance representing the Hungarian minority. It has 22 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 9 seats in the Senate. It was part of – or supported – every government between 1996 and 2008, when it entered the opposition.
 

 

The Chamber of Deputies seats 18 members of other ethnic minority parties. The ultra-nationalist Greater Romania Party of Corneliu Vadim Tudor, which obtained nearly 20 percent of the vote in 2000 and 13 percent in 2004, saw its support plummet to 3.5 percent and is no longer in parliament.

September 2008

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