Pacific Ocean (2008) | Romania (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 40 counties (judete, singular - judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu); Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Bucuresti*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita, Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years:
17.95% (male 2,054,323; female 1,959,196) 15-64 years: 68.51% (male 7,605,751; female 7,715,434) 65 years and over: 13.54% (male 1,255,880; female 1,773,438) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes; eggs, sheep |
Airports | - | 62 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total:
25 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 23 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 155.557 million sq km
note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
total:
237,500 sq km land: 230,340 sq km water: 7,160 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world | slightly smaller than Oregon |
Background | The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south. | Soviet occupation following World War II led to the formation of a communist "peoples republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of President Nicolae CEAUSESCU became increasingly draconian through the 1980s. He was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former communists dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept from power. Much economic restructuring remains to be carried out before Romania can achieve its hope of joining the EU. |
Birth rate | - | 10.8 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues:
$11.7 billion expenditures: $12.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | - | Bucharest |
Climate | planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December | temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms |
Coastline | 135,663 km | 225 km |
Constitution | - | 8 December 1991 |
Country name | - | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Romania local long form: none local short form: Romania |
Currency | - | leu (ROL) |
Death rate | - | 12.28 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $9.3 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | chief of mission:
Ambassador James C. ROSAPEPE embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest mailing address: American Embassy Bucharest, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5260 (pouch) telephone: [40] (1) 210 40 42 FAX: [40] (1) 210 03 95 branch office(s): Cluj-Napoca |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant) 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 | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | none |
Economy - overview | The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings. | Romania, one of the poorest countries in Central and Eastern Europe, began the transition from communism in 1989 with a largely obsolete industrial base and a pattern of output unsuited to the country's needs. Over the past decade economic restructuring has lagged behind most other countries in the region. Consequently, living standards have continued to fall - real wages are down over 40%. Corruption too has worsened. The EU ranks Romania last among enlargement candidates, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) rates Romania's transition progress the region's worst. The country emerged in 2000 from a punishing three-year recession thanks to strong demand in EU export markets. A new government elected in November 2000 promises to promote economic reform. Bucharest hopes to receive financial and technical assistance from international financial institutions and Western governments; negotiations over a new IMF standby agreement are to begin early in 2001. If reform stalls, Romania's ability to borrow from both public and private sources could quickly dry up, leading to another financial crisis. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 44.768 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | - | 1.935 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | - | 1.1 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | - | 49.036 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
53.99% hydro: 36.18% nuclear: 9.81% other: 0.02% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 m
highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point:
Black Sea 0 m highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m |
Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea | 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, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | - | Romanian 89.5%, Hungarian 7.1%, Roma 1.8%, German 0.5%, Ukrainian 0.3%, other 0.8% (1992) |
Exchange rates | - | lei per US dollar - 26,243.0 (January 2001), 21,708.7 (2000), 15,332.8 (1999), 8,875.6 (1998), 7,167.9 (1997), 3,084.2 (1996); note - lei is the plural form of leu |
Executive branch | - | chief of state:
President Ion ILIESCU (since 20 December 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Adrian NASTASE (since 29 December 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 November 2000, with runoff between the top two candidates held 10 December 2000 (next to be held NA November/December 2004); prime minister appointed by the president election results: percent of vote - Ion ILIESCU 66.84%, Corneliu Vadim TUDOR 33.16% |
Exports | - | $11.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | - | textiles and footwear 26%, metals and metal products 15%, machinery and equipment 11%, minerals and fuels 6% (1999) |
Exports - partners | - | Italy 23%, Germany 18%, France 6%, Turkey 5%, US (1999) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | - | 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 - $132.5 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture:
13.9% industry: 32.6% services: 53.5% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $5,900 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 2.2% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 0 00 N, 160 00 W | 46 00 N, 25 00 E |
Geography - note | the major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean | controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | - | total:
153,359 km paved: 103,671 km (including 133 km of expressways) unpaved: 49,688 km (1998 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%:
3.8% highest 10%: 20.2% (1992) |
Illicit drugs | - | important transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route and small amounts of Latin American cocaine bound for Western Europe |
Imports | - | $11.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery and equipment 23%, fuels and minerals 12%, chemicals 9%, textile and products 19% (1999) |
Imports - partners | - | Italy 20%, Germany 19%, France 7%, Russia 6% (1999) |
Independence | - | 1881 (from Turkey; republic proclaimed 30 December 1947) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 8% (2000) |
Industries | - | textiles and footwear, light machinery and auto assembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining |
Infant mortality rate | - | 19.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 45.7% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | - | ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 38 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | 31,020 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court of Justice (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Superior Council of Magistrates) |
Labor force | - | 9.9 million (1999 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 40%, industry 25%, services 35% (1998) |
Land boundaries | - | total:
2,508 km border countries: Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Yugoslavia 476 km, Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (east) 169 km |
Land use | - | arable land:
41% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 21% forests and woodland: 29% other: 6% (1993 est.) |
Languages | - | Romanian, Hungarian, German |
Legal system | - | former mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; is now based on the constitution of France's Fifth Republic |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (140 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 (345 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 26 November 2000 (next to be held in the fall of 2004); Chamber of Deputies - last held 26 November 2000 (next to be held in the fall of 2004) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - PDSR 37.1%, PRM 21.0%, PD 7.6%, PNL 7.5%, UDMR 6.9%; seats by party - PDSR 65, PRM 37, PD 13, PNL 13, UDMR 12; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PDSR 36.6%, PRM 19.5%, PD 7.0%, PNL, 6.9%, UDMR 6.8%; seats by party - PDSR 155, PRM 84, PD 31, PNL 30, UDMR 27, ethnic minorities 18 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population:
70.16 years male: 66.36 years female: 74.19 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 98% female: 95% (1992 est.) |
Location | body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine |
Map references | Political Map of the World | Europe |
Maritime claims | - | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
95 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 695,227 GRT/931,598 DWT ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 71, container 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4, railcar carrier 2, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $720 million (FY00) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.2% (FY00) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
5,899,536 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
4,962,807 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 20 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
179,951 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | - | Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania), 1 December (1918) |
Nationality | - | noun:
Romanian(s) adjective: Romanian |
Natural hazards | surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December | earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides |
Natural resources | oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish | petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | -0.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 2,800 km; petroleum products 1,429 km; natural gas 6,400 km (1992) |
Political parties and leaders | - | Democratic Party or PD [Petre ROMAN]; Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania or UDMR [Bela MARKO]; National Liberal Party or PNL [Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS]; Party of Social Democracy in Romania or PDSR [Adrian NASTASE]; Romania Mare Party (Greater Romanian Party) or PRM [Corneliu Vadim TUDOR]; The Democratic Convention or CDR [Ion DIACONESCU] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | various human rights and professional associations |
Population | - | 22,364,022 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 44.5% (2000) |
Population growth rate | - | -0.21% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina, Tulcea |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 40, FM 202, shortwave 3 (1998) |
Radios | - | 7.2 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
11,385 km (3,888 km electrified) standard gauge: 10,898 km narrow gauge: 487 km (1996) |
Religions | - | Romanian Orthodox 70%, Roman Catholic 3%, Uniate Catholic 3%, Protestant 6%, unaffiliated 18% |
Sex ratio | - | 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: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | 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: 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 | - | 3.777 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 645,500 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 48 (plus 392 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | surface currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest | 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 | - | 1.35 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Transportation - note | Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state) | - |
Unemployment rate | - | 11.5% (1999) |
Waterways | - | 1,724 km (1984) |