British Virgin Islands (2007) | Romania (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 41 counties (judete, singular - judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu); Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Bucuresti (Bucharest)*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Ilfov, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.2% (male 2,410/female 2,337)
15-64 years: 74.5% (male 9,004/female 8,534) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 665/female 602) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 15.9% (male 1,818,488/female 1,727,598)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 7,726,903/female 7,801,441) 65 years and over: 14.6% (male 1,342,827/female 1,912,720) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish | wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes; eggs, sheep |
Airports | 3 (2007) | 61 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 25
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 24 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 153 sq km
land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the islands of Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke |
total: 237,500 sq km
land: 230,340 sq km water: 7,160 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Oregon |
Background | First inhabited by Arawak and later by Carib Indians, the Virgin Islands were settled by the Dutch in 1648 and then annexed by the English in 1672. The islands were part of the British colony of the Leeward Islands from 1872-1960; they were granted autonomy in 1967. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency. | The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured their autonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 and a few years later adopted the new name of Romania. The country gained recognition of its independence in 1878. It joined the Allied Powers in World War I and acquired new territories following the conflict. In 1940, it allied with the Axis powers and participated in the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Three years later, overrun by the Soviets, Romania signed an armistice. The post-war Soviet occupation led to the formation of a Communist "people's republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae CEAUSESCU, who took power in 1965, and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. CEAUSESCU was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996, when they were swept from power by a fractious coalition of centrist parties. In 2000, the center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) became Romania's leading party, governing with the support of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). The opposition center-right alliance formed by the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Party (PD) scored a surprise victory over the ruling PSD in December 2004 presidential elections. The PNL-PD alliance maintains a parliamentary majority with the support of the UDMR, the Humanist Party (PUR), and various ethnic minority groups. Although Romania completed accession talks with the European Union (EU) in December 2004, it must continue to address rampant corruption - while invigorating lagging economic and democratic reforms - before it can achieve its hope of joining the EU, tentatively set for 2007. Romania joined NATO in March of 2004. |
Birth rate | 14.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 10.7 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $204.7 million
expenditures: $180.4 million (2004) |
revenues: $22.1 billion
expenditures: $23.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.2 billion (2004 est.) |
Capital | name: Road Town
geographic coordinates: 18 27 N, 64 37 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Bucharest |
Climate | subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds | temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms |
Coastline | 80 km | 225 km |
Constitution | 13 June 2007 | 8 December 1991; revision effective 29 October 2003 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Romania local long form: none local short form: Romania |
Death rate | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 11.74 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $36.1 million (1997) | $24.59 billion (2004 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Jack Dyer CROUCH II
embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest mailing address: American Embassy Bucharest, Department of State, 5260 Bucharest Place, Washington, DC 20521-5260 (pouch) telephone: [40] (21) 210-4042 FAX: [40] (21) 210-0395 branch office(s): Cluj-Napoca |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission: Ambassador Sorin Dumitru DUCARU
chancery: 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-4846, 4848, 4851 FAX: [1] (202) 232-4748 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York |
Disputes - international | none | Romania and Ukraine have taken their dispute over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary to the ICJ for adjudication; Romania also opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea; Hungary amended the status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Romania, to which Romania had objected |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | - |
Economy - overview | The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 820,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 2005. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, made the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959. | Romania began the transition from Communism in 1989 with a largely obsolete industrial base and a pattern of output unsuited to the country's needs. The country emerged in 2000 from a punishing three-year recession thanks to strong demand in EU export markets. Despite the global slowdown in 2001-02, strong domestic activity in construction, agriculture, and consumption have kept growth above 4%. An IMF standby agreement, signed in 2001, has been accompanied by slow but palpable gains in privatization, deficit reduction, and the curbing of inflation. The IMF Board approved Romania's completion of the standby agreement in October 2003, the first time Romania has successfully concluded an IMF agreement since the 1989 revolution. In July 2004, the executive board of the IMF approved a 24-month standby agreement for $367 million. The Romanian authorities do not intend to draw on this agreement, however, viewing it simply as a precaution. Meanwhile, recent macroeconomic gains have done little to address Romania's widespread poverty, while corruption and red tape continue to handicap the business environment. |
Electricity - consumption | 41.85 million kWh (2005) | 57.5 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 3.046 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 962 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 45 million kWh (2005) | 56.53 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Sage 521 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m |
Environment - current issues | limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments) | soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | black 83%, other 17% (includes white, Indian, Asian and mixed) | Romanian 89.5%, Hungarian 6.6%, Roma 2.5%, Ukrainian 0.3%, German 0.3%, Russian 0.2%, Turkish 0.2%, other 0.4% (2002 census) |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | lei per US dollar - 32,637 (2004), 33,200 (2003), 33,055 (2002), 29,061 (2001), 21,709 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor David PEAREY (since 18 April 2006)
head of government: Premier Ralph T. O'NEAL (since 23 August 2007) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the House of Assembly elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed premier by the governor |
chief of state: President Traian BASESCU (since 20 December 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Calin Popescu-TARICEANU (since 29 December 2004) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 28 November 2004, with runoff between the top two candidates held 12 December 2004 (next to be held 28 November 2009 and 12 December 2009); prime minister appointed by the president election results: percent of vote - Traian BASESCU 51.23%, Adrian NASTASE 48.77% |
Exports | NA bbl/day | NA |
Exports - commodities | rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand | textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products |
Exports - partners | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006) | Italy 21.4%, Germany 15%, France 8.5%, Turkey 7%, UK 6.6% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful) | three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; the national coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band has been removed; now similar to the flag of Chad, also resembles the flags of Andorra and Moldova |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 13.1%
industry: 33.7% services: 53.2% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $7,700 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2002 est.) | 8.1% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 30 N, 64 30 W | 46 00 N, 25 00 E |
Geography - note | strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico | controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine |
Heliports | - | 1 (2004 est.) |
Highways | - | total: 198,755 km
paved: 100,173 km (including 113 km of expressways) unpaved: 98,582 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 27.6% (2003) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering | major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route and small amounts of Latin American cocaine bound for Western Europe; although not a significant financial center, role as a narcotics conduit leaves it vulnerable to laundering which occurs via the banking system, currency exchange houses, and casinos |
Imports | NA bbl/day | NA |
Imports - commodities | building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery | machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile and products, basic metals, agricultural products |
Imports - partners | Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US (2006) | Italy 17.2%, Germany 14.9%, France 7.1%, Russia 6.8%, Turkey 4.2% (2004) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 9 May 1877 (independence proclaimed from the Ottoman Empire; independence recognized 13 July 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin; kingdom proclaimed 26 March 1881); 30 December 1947 (republic proclaimed) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4% (2004 est.) |
Industries | tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center | textiles and footwear, light machinery and auto assembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining |
Infant mortality rate | total: 16.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 18.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 26.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 29.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2005) | 9.6% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU | ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
Irrigated land | NA | 28,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction | Supreme Court of Justice (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Superior Council of Magistrates, a board of eleven judges and six prosecutors elected by parliament) |
Labor force | 12,770 (2004) | 9.66 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 0.6%
industry: 40% services: 59.4% (2005) |
agriculture 31.6%, industry 30.7%, services 37.7% (2004) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 2,508 km
border countries: Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km, Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (east) 169 km |
Land use | arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2005) |
arable land: 40.82%
permanent crops: 2.25% other: 56.93% (2001) |
Languages | English (official) | Romanian (official), Hungarian, German |
Legal system | English law | former mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; is now based on the constitution of France's Fifth Republic |
Legislative branch | unicameral House of Assembly (13 elected seats and 1 non-voting ex officio member in the attorney general; members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - VIP 45.2%, NDP 39.6%, independent 15.2%; seats by party - VIP 10, NDP 2, independent 1 |
bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (137 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Adunarea Deputatilor (332 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 28 November 2004 (next to be held 28 November 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held 28 November 2004 (next to be held 28 November 2008) election results: Senate - percent of vote by alliance/party - PSD-PUR 37.1%, PNL-PD 31.8%, PRM 13.6%, UDMR 6.2%; seats by party - PSD 46, PNL 28, PD 21, PRM 21, PUR 11, UMDR 10; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by alliance/party - PSD-PUR 36.6%, PNL-PD 31.3%%, PRM 12.9%, UDMR 6.2%; seats by party - PSD 113, PNL 64, PD 48, PRM 48, UDMR 22, PUR 19, ethnic minorities 18 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.86 years
male: 75.71 years female: 78.07 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 71.35 years
male: 67.86 years female: 75.06 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.4% male: 99.1% female: 97.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 395,350 GRT/510,232 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 5, cargo 20, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 2 (Italy 2) registered in other countries: 39 (2005) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces (AMR), Special Operations, Civil Defense (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $985 million (2002) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.47% (2002) |
National holiday | Territory Day, 1 July (1956) | Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania), 1 December (1918) |
Nationality | noun: British Virgin Islander(s)
adjective: British Virgin Islander |
noun: Romanian(s)
adjective: Romanian |
Natural hazards | hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October) | earthquakes, most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides |
Natural resources | NEGL | petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 8.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 3,508 km; oil 2,427 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL] | Conservative Party [Dan VOICULESCU], formerly Humanist Party or PUR; Democratic Party or PD [Emil BOC]; Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania or UDMR [Bela MARKO]; National Liberal Party or PNL [Calin Popescu TARICEANU]; Romania Mare Party (Greater Romanian Party) or PRM [Corneliu Vadim TUDOR]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Mircea Dan GEOANA], formerly Party of Social Democracy in Romania or PDSR |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | various human rights and professional associations |
Population | 23,552 (July 2007 est.) | 22,329,977 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 28.9% (2002) |
Population growth rate | 1.923% (2007 est.) | -0.12% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Braila, Constanta, Galati, Tulcea |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 40, FM 202, shortwave 3 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 11,385 km (3,888 km electrified)
standard gauge: 10,898 km 1.435-m gauge broad gauge: 60 km 1.524-m gauge narrow gauge: 427 km 0.760-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, other 2%, none 2% (1991) | Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 86.8%, Protestant (various denominations including Reformate and Pentecostal) 7.5%, Roman Catholic 4.7%, other (mostly Muslim) and unspecified 0.9%, none 0.1% (2002 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.031 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.055 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.105 male(s)/female total population: 1.053 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: worldwide telephone service
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; connected via submarine cable to Bermuda; the East Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) optic submarine cable provides connectivity to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean (2007) |
general assessment: poor domestic service, but improving
domestic: 90% of telephone network is automatic; trunk network is mostly microwave radio relay, with some fiber-optic cable; about one-third of exchange capacity is digital; roughly 3,300 villages have no service international: country code - 40; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat; new digital, international, direct-dial exchanges operate in Bucharest; note - Romania is an active participant in several international telecommunication network projects (1999) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 11,700 (2002) | 4.3 million (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 8,000 (2002) | 6.9 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus 1 cable company) (1997) | 48 (plus 392 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly | central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps |
Total fertility rate | 1.72 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.36 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.6% (1997) | 6.3% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | - | 1,731 km (2004) |