Official Name: Romania
Location: (Southeastern) Central Europe
Time Zone: Seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 2)
Area: 92,043 sq. miles (238,391 sq. km) - a little larger than the state of Minnesota
Flag of Romania: Three vertical stripes: blue, yellow and red.
Population: 21,890,000 (January 2024 - based on declared residence address)
Capital: city of Bucharest (București — pronunciation: boo koo re sh tea)
Largest cities (2025 population):
Bucharest (2,151,400), Iasi (387,100), Cluj Napoca (327,200),
Timisoara (325,300), Constanta (311,300), Galati (306,400), Craiova (299,700),
Brasov (289,500), Ploiesti (225,000), Oradea (221,400), Braila (200,100).
Romania's population lives in 320 cities and towns (56.4% of total population) and 12,956 villages.
Main Ethnic Groups:
Romanian 89.6%, Hungarian 6.1%, Gipsy 2.4%,
German 0.2%, Ukrainian 0.2%,
Lipovan (ethnic Russian Old Believers) 0.15%, Turkish 0.12%,
Tatar 0.09%, , Serbian 0.09% Slovak 0.07%.
Religions:
Christian Orthodox 81%, Roman Catholic 4.3%, Reformed 3%,
Greek-Catholic 0.7%, Unitarian 0.3%, Jewish, other.
Official Language: Romanian
Currency: Leu ( plural Lei — pronunciation "lay" — abbreviations: RON or Lei)
Climate: Temperate, four distinct seasons, similar to northeastern USA
National Flower: Peony. National Flower Day is celebrated on May 15, every year.
National Animal: European Lynx (Lynx Lynx Carpathicus)
National Bird: European Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos - Acvila in Romanian)
Form of State: Romania is a semi-presidential democracy based on a bicameral Parliament:
the Chamber of Representatives or "Chamber of Deputies"
(Camera Deputatilor) and
the Senate (Senat).
All members of the legislature are directly elected from Romania's 41 counties
and Bucharest - the capital city administrative unit.
Under the semi-presidential system, the president is responsible for foreign and defense policy and controls appointments of prosecutors and the judiciary.
The Legal system: Based on European models and Constitution of 1991.
Electoral System: Universal direct suffrage over the age of 18.
Parties must win at least five percent of the national vote to gain representation in the Parliament.
National Elections: December 2024 (presidential and parliamentary)
Head of State
President of the Republic, currently (Mr.) Nicusor Dan.
Romania's president can serve two consecutive five-year terms.
National Government
The government is led by the Prime Minister,
nominated by the political party - or political alliance - with parliamentary majority,
designated by the President of Romania
and confirmed by the Parliament.
The present Government has been nominated by the political alliance formed by
the Social Democratic Party (PSD),
the National Liberal Party (PNL),
the Union for Romania (USR)
and the Democratic Union of Hungarian Ethnics in Romania (UDMR).
Head of the Government:
the Prime Minister,
currently (Mr.) Ilie Bolojan (appointed: June 2025)
Parliament of Romania
Political parties/organizations represented in Romania's Parliament
following the December 7, 2024 elections:
Social Democratic Party (PSD),
National Liberal Party (PNL),
The Union for Romania (USR),
Democratic Union of Hungarian Ethnics in Romania (UDMR),
Alliance of United Romanians (AUR),
the Ethnic Minorities Group.
331 representatives and 134 senators form Romania's Parliament.
Regional Government: Forty-one County Councils (Consiliu Judeţean).
Romania is a member state of the European Union (EU) and
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In 2022, Romania became an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) accession candidate.
