Central African Republic (2001) | Romania (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 14 prefectures (prefectures, singular - prefecture), 2 economic prefectures* (prefectures economiques, singular - prefecture economique), and 1 commune**; Bamingui-Bangoran, Bangui**, Basse-Kotto, Gribingui*, Haute-Kotto, Haute-Sangha, Haut-Mbomou, Kemo-Gribingui, Lobaye, Mbomou, Nana-Mambere, Ombella-Mpoko, Ouaka, Ouham, Ouham-Pende, Sangha*, Vakaga | 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:
43.23% (male 778,885; female 767,414) 15-64 years: 53% (male 929,717; female 965,947) 65 years and over: 3.77% (male 59,364; female 75,557) (2001 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 | cotton, coffee, tobacco, manioc (tapioca), yams, millet, corn, bananas; timber | wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes; eggs, sheep |
Airports | 52 (2000 est.) | 61 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
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:
49 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 15 (2000 est.) |
total: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 24 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
622,984 sq km land: 622,984 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 237,500 sq km
land: 230,340 sq km water: 7,160 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Texas | slightly smaller than Oregon |
Background | The former French colony of Ubangi-Shari became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. After three tumultuous decades of misrule - mostly by military governments - a civilian government was installed in 1993. | 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 | 37.05 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.7 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$638 million expenditures: $1.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $888 million (1994 est.) |
revenues: $22.1 billion
expenditures: $23.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.2 billion (2004 est.) |
Capital | Bangui | Bucharest |
Climate | tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers | temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 225 km |
Constitution | passed by referendum 29 December 1994; adopted 7 January 1995 | 8 December 1991; revision effective 29 October 2003 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Central African Republic conventional short form: none local long form: Republique Centrafricaine local short form: none former: Ubangi-Shari, Central African Empire abbreviation: CAR |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Romania local long form: none local short form: Romania |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States | - |
Death rate | 18.53 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 11.74 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $790 million (1999 est.) | $24.59 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Robert C. PERRY embassy: Avenue David Dacko, Bangui mailing address: B. P. 924, Bangui telephone: [236] 61 02 00 FAX: [236] 61 44 94 |
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 | chief of mission:
Ambassador Emmanuel TOUABOY chancery: 1618 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-7800 FAX: [1] (202) 332-9893 |
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 | $172.2 million (1995); note - traditional budget subsidies from France | - |
Economy - overview | Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with more than 70% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates half of GDP. Timber has accounted for about 16% of export earnings and the diamond industry for nearly 54%. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. The 50% devaluation of the currencies of 14 Francophone African nations on 12 January 1994 had mixed effects on the CAR's economy. Diamond, timber, coffee, and cotton exports increased, leading an estimated rise of GDP of 7% in 1994 and nearly 5% in 1995. Military rebellions and social unrest in 1996 were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and a drop in GDP of 2%. The IMF approved an Extended Structure Adjustment Facility in 1998 and the World Bank extended further credits in 1999 and approved a $10 million loan in early 2001. The government has set targets of 3.5% GDP growth in 2001 and 2002. As of January 2001, many civil servants were owed as much as 30 months pay, leading them to go on strike and further damaging the economy. | 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 | 94.9 million kWh (1999) | 57.5 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 3.046 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 962 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 102 million kWh (1999) | 56.53 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
20.59% hydro: 79.41% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Oubangui River 335 m highest point: Mont Ngaoui 1,420 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m |
Environment - current issues | tap water is not potable; poaching has diminished its reputation as one of the last great wildlife refuges; desertification; deforestation | soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 94 signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
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 | Baya 34%, Banda 27%, Sara 10%, Mandjia 21%, Mboum 4%, M'Baka 4%, Europeans 6,500 (including 1,500 French) | 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 | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XAF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XAF per euro | lei per US dollar - 32,637 (2004), 33,200 (2003), 33,055 (2002), 29,061 (2001), 21,709 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Ange-Felix PATASSE (since 22 October 1993) head of government: Prime Minister Martin ZIGUELE (since 1 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 19 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2005); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Ange-Felix PATASSE reelected president; percent of vote - Ange-Felix PATASSE 51.63%, Andre KOLINGBA 19.38%, David DACKO 11.15% |
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 | $166 million (f.o.b., 2000) | NA |
Exports - commodities | diamonds, timber, cotton, coffee, tobacco | textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products |
Exports - partners | Benelux 64%, Cote d'Ivoire, Spain, China, Egypt, France (1999) | Italy 21.4%, Germany 15%, France 8.5%, Turkey 7%, UK 6.6% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | four equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, green, and yellow with a vertical red band in center; there is a yellow five-pointed star on the hoist side of the blue band | 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 | purchasing power parity - $6.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
53% industry: 20% services: 27% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 13.1%
industry: 33.7% services: 53.2% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,700 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.5% (2000 est.) | 8.1% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 7 00 N, 21 00 E | 46 00 N, 25 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa | controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine |
Heliports | - | 1 (2004 est.) |
Highways | total:
23,810 km paved: 429 km unpaved: 23,381 km (2000) |
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%:
0.7% highest 10%: 47.7% (1993) |
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 27.6% (2003) |
Illicit drugs | - | 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 | $154 million (f.o.b., 2000) | NA |
Imports - commodities | food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery, electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, industrial products | machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile and products, basic metals, agricultural products |
Imports - partners | France 35%, Cameroon 13%, Benelux, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Japan (1999) | Italy 17.2%, Germany 14.9%, France 7.1%, Russia 6.8%, Turkey 4.2% (2004) |
Independence | 13 August 1960 (from France) | 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 | diamond mining, sawmills, breweries, textiles, footwear, assembly of bicycles and motorcycles | textiles and footwear, light machinery and auto assembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining |
Infant mortality rate | 105.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 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) | 3% (2000 est.) | 9.6% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, CEMAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC (observer), OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 28,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court (all judges appointed by the president); Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts | 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 | NA | 9.66 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 31.6%, industry 30.7%, services 37.7% (2004) |
Land boundaries | total:
5,203 km border countries: Cameroon 797 km, Chad 1,197 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 467 km, Sudan 1,165 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:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 5% forests and woodland: 75% other: 17% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 40.82%
permanent crops: 2.25% other: 56.93% (2001) |
Languages | French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), Arabic, Hunsa, Swahili | Romanian (official), Hungarian, German |
Legal system | based on French 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 National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (109 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - there were 85 seats in the National Assembly before the 1998 election)
elections: last held 22-23 November and 13 December 1998 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - MLPC 43%, RDC 18%, MDD 9%, FPP 6%, PSD 5%, ADP 4%, PUN 3%, FODEM 2%, PLD 2%, UPR 1%, FC 1%, independents 6%; seats by party - MLPC 47, RDC 20, MDD 8, FPP 7, PSD 6, ADP 5, PUN 3, FODEM 2, PLD 2, UPR 1, FC 1, independents 7 note: the National Assembly is advised by the Economic and Regional Council or Conseil Economique et Regional; when they sit together they are called the Congress or Congres |
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:
43.8 years male: 42.17 years female: 45.48 years (2001 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: 60% male: 68.5% female: 52.4% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.4% male: 99.1% female: 97.7% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the Congo | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine |
Map references | Africa | Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | 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 branches | Central African Armed Forces (includes Army, Air Force, Presidential Guard, National Gendarmerie, Police Force) | Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces (AMR), Special Operations, Civil Defense (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $29 million (FY96) | $985 million (2002) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.2% (FY96) | 2.47% (2002) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
824,139 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
430,922 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Republic Day, 1 December (1958) | Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania), 1 December (1918) |
Nationality | noun:
Central African(s) adjective: Central African |
noun: Romanian(s)
adjective: Romanian |
Natural hazards | hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas; floods are common | earthquakes, most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides |
Natural resources | diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil, hydropower | petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 3,508 km; oil 2,427 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP [Francois PEHOUA]; Central African Democratic Assembly or RDC [Andre KOLINGBA]; Civic Forum or FC [Gen. Timothee MALENDOMA]; Democratic Forum or FODEM [Charles MASSI]; Liberal Democratic Party or PLD [Nestor KOMBO-NAGUEMON]; Movement for Democracy and Development or MDD [David DACKO]; Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People or MLPC [the party of the president, Ange-Felix PATASSE]; Patriotic Front for Progress or FPP [Abel GOUMBA]; People's Union for the Republic or UPR [leader NA]; National Unity Party or PUN [Jean-Paul NGOUPANDE]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Enoch LAKOUE] | 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 | 3,576,884
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
22,329,977 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 28.9% (2002) |
Population growth rate | 1.85% (2001 est.) | -0.12% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bangui, Nola | Braila, Constanta, Galati, Tulcea |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 40, FM 202, shortwave 3 (1998) |
Radios | 283,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | 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 | indigenous beliefs 24%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%, other 11%
note: animistic beliefs and practices strongly influence the Christian majority |
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:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 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 | 21 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
fair system domestic: network consists principally of microwave radio relay and low-capacity, low-powered radiotelephone communication international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
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 | 10,000 (1997) | 4.3 million (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 570 (1997) | 6.9 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 48 (plus 392 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | vast, flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest | 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 | 4.86 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.36 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6% (1993) | 6.3% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | 900 km
note: traditional trade carried on by means of shallow-draft dugouts; Oubangui is the most important river, navigable all year to craft drawing 0.6 m or less; 282 km navigable to craft drawing as much as 1.8 m |
1,731 km (2004) |