Romania (2004) | Bolivia (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 41 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, Ilfov, Maramures, Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 16.2% (male 1,861,801; female 1,770,746)
15-64 years: 69.4% (male 7,712,612; female 7,791,900) 65 years and over: 14.4% (male 1,330,994; female 1,887,498) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years:
38.46% (male 1,626,698; female 1,565,748) 15-64 years: 57.07% (male 2,315,098; female 2,421,987) 65 years and over: 4.47% (male 166,986; female 203,946) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, sunflower seed, potatoes, grapes; eggs, sheep | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber |
Airports | 62 (2003 est.) | 1,093 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 25
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 (2004 est.) |
total:
13 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 24 (2004 est.) |
total:
1,080 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 65 914 to 1,523 m: 212 under 914 m: 800 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 237,500 sq km
land: 230,340 sq km water: 7,160 sq km |
total:
1,098,580 sq km land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oregon | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
Background | 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 full 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. | Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in the 1980s, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment, strengthening the educational system, continuing the privatization program, and waging an anti-corruption campaign. |
Birth rate | 10.69 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 27.27 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $17.06 billion
expenditures: $18.38 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
revenues:
$2.7 billion expenditures: $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998) |
Capital | Bucharest | La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary) |
Climate | temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Coastline | 225 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 8 December 1991; revision came into force 29 October 2003 | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Romania local long form: none local short form: Romania |
conventional long form:
Republic of Bolivia conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
Currency | leu (ROL) | boliviano (BOB) |
Death rate | 11.69 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $18.34 billion (2003 est.) | $6.6 billion (2000) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador V. Manuel ROCHA embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 432254 FAX: [591] (2) 433854 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Marlene FERNANDEZ del Granado chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | has not resolved claims to Ukrainian-administered Zmyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary despite ongoing talks based on 1997 friendship treaty to find a solution in two years; Hungary amended status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Romania, who had objected to the law | has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884; dispute with Chile over Rio Lauca water rights |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $588 million (1997) |
Economy - overview | 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, was 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 had successfully concluded an IMF agreement since the 1989 revolution. In July 2004, the Executive Board of the IMF approved a 24-month standby arrangement for $367 million. The Romanian authorities do not intend to draw on this arrangement, viewing it as a precaution. Meanwhile, recent macroeconomic gains have done little to address Romania's widespread poverty, and corruption and red tape handicap the business environment. | Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, has made considerable progress toward the development of a market-oriented economy. Successes under President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA (1993-97) included the signing of a free trade agreement with Mexico and joining the Southern Cone Common Market (Mercosur), as well as the privatization of the state airline, telephone company, railroad, electric power company, and oil company. His successor, Hugo BANZER Suarez has tried to further improve the country's investment climate with an anticorruption campaign. Growth slowed in 1999, in part due to tight government budget policies, which limited needed appropriations for anti-poverty programs, and the fallout from the Asian financial crisis. In 2000, major civil disturbances in April, and again in September and October, held down overall growth to 2.5%. |
Electricity - consumption | 46.1 billion kWh (2001) | 3.377 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 1.6 billion kWh (2001) | 4 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 400 million kWh (2001) | 10 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 50.86 billion kWh (2001) | 3.625 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
56.61% hydro: 41.6% nuclear: 0% other: 1.79% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m |
lowest point:
Rio Paraguay 90 m highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
Environment - current issues | soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands | the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, 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: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
Ethnic groups | 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) | Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, white 15% |
Exchange rates | lei per US dollar - 33,200.1 (2003), 33,055.4 (2002), 29,060.8 (2001), 21,708.7 (2000), 15,332.8 (1999) | bolivianos per US dollar - 6.4071 (January 2001), 6.1835 (2000), 5.8124 (1999), 5.5101 (1998), 5.2543 (1997), 5.0746 (1996) |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state:
President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Hugo BANZER Suarez (since 6 August 1997); Vice President Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez (since 6 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held May or June 2002) election results: Hugo BANZER Suarez elected president; percent of vote - Hugo BANZER Suarez (ADN) 22%; Jaime PAZ Zamora (MIR) 17%, Juan Carlos DURAN (MNR) 18%, Ivo KULJIS (UCS) 16%, Remedios LOZA (CONDEPA) 17%; no candidate received a majority of the popular vote; Hugo BANZER Suarez won a congressional runoff election on 5 August 1997 after forming a "megacoalition" with MIR, UCS, CONDEPA, NFR, and PDC |
Exports | NA (2001) | $1.26 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products | soybeans, natural gas, zinc, gold, wood |
Exports - partners | Italy 24.3%, Germany 15.7%, France 7.4%, UK 6.7%, Turkey 5.1% (2003) | UK 16%, US 12%, Peru 11%, Argentina 10%, Colombia 7% (1998) |
Fiscal year | calendar 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 | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $155 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $20.9 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 13.1%
industry: 38.1% services: 48.8% (2003) |
agriculture:
16% industry: 31% services: 53% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,000 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.9% (2003 est.) | 2.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 46 00 N, 25 00 E | 17 00 S, 65 00 W |
Geography - note | controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
Heliports | 1 (2003 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 198,603 km
paved: 98,308 km (including 113 km of expressways) unpaved: 100,295 km (2000) |
total:
49,400 km paved: 2,500 km (including 30 km of expressways) unpaved: 46,900 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 25% (1998) |
lowest 10%:
2.3% highest 10%: 31.7% (1990) |
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 | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru, a distant second) with an estimated 14,600 hectares under cultivation in 2000, a 33% decrease in overall cultivation of coca from 1999 levels; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported to or through Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to the US and other international drug markets; eradication and alternative crop programs have slashed illicit coca cultivation during the BANZER administration beginning in 1997 |
Imports | NA (2001) | $1.86 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile and products, basic metals, agricultural products | capital goods, raw materials and semi-manufactures, chemicals, petroleum, food |
Imports - partners | Italy 19.6%, Germany 14.9%, Russia 8.3%, France 7.3% (2003) | US 32%, Japan 24%, Brazil 12%, Argentina 12%, Chile 7%, Peru 4%, Germany 3%, other 6% (1998) |
Independence | 9 May 1877 (independence proclaimed from Turkey; independence recognized 13 July 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin; kingdom proclaimed 26 March 1881); 30 December 1947 (republic proclaimed) | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2.3% (2003) | 4% (1995 est.) |
Industries | textiles and footwear, light machinery and auto assembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 27.24 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.41 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
58.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 15.3% (2003) | 4.4% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | 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), NSG, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, 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 | CAN, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 9 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 28,800 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,750 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) | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases) |
Labor force | 9.28 million (2003 est.) | 2.5 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 41.4%, industry 27.3%, services 31.3% (2000) | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | 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 |
total:
6,743 km border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km |
Land use | arable land: 40.82%
permanent crops: 2.25% other: 56.93% (2001) |
arable land:
2% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 53% other: 21% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Romanian (official), Hungarian, German | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) |
Legal system | former mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; is now based on the constitution of France's Fifth Republic | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | 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 |
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - some members are drawn from party lists, thus not directly elected)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA June 2002) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 11, MIR 7, MNR 4, CONDEPA 3, UCS 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADN 32, MNR 26, MIR 23, UCS 21, CONDEPA 19, MBL 5, IU 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 71.12 years
male: 67.63 years female: 74.82 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
64.06 years male: 61.53 years female: 66.72 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.4% male: 99.1% female: 97.7% (2003 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83.1% male: 90.5% female: 76% (1995 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine | Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
Map references | Europe | South America |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 45 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 395,350 GRT/510,232 DWT
by type: bulk 7, cargo 26, container 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 4, rail car carrier 2, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: Greece 1, Italy 2 registered in other countries: 39 (2004 est.) |
total:
42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 141,017 GRT/211,058 DWT ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 20, chemical tanker 3, container 1, petroleum tanker 10, roll on/roll off 3 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces (AMR), Civil Defense | Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy (Fuerza Naval Boliviana, includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana), National Police Force (Policia Nacional de Bolivia) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $985 million (2002) | $147 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.47% (2002) | 1.8% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 5,952,834 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
2,005,660 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 5,007,375 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,306,452 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 19 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 163,577 (2004 est.) | males:
90,120 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania), 1 December (1918) | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun: Romanian(s)
adjective: Romanian |
noun:
Bolivian(s) adjective: Bolivian |
Natural hazards | earthquakes, most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides | flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
Natural resources | petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt, arable land, hydropower | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -1.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 3,508 km; oil 2,427 km (2004) | crude oil 1,800 km; petroleum products 580 km; natural gas 1,495 km |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party or PD [Emil BOC]; Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania or UDMR [Bela MARKO]; Humanist Party or PUR [Dan VOICULESCU]; National Liberal Party or PNL [Calin Popescu TARICEANU]; Romania Mare Party (Greater Romanian Party) or PRM [Corneliu Vadim TUDOR]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Adrian NASTASE], formerly known as the Party of Social Democracy in Romania or PDSR | Christian Democratic Party or PDC [leader NA]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Conscience of the Fatherland or CONDEPA [Remedios LOZA Alvarado]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Antonio ARANIBAR]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Hugo BANZER Suarez]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [leader NA]; Pachacuti Indigenous Movement [Filipe QUISPE]; United Left or IU [Marcos DOMIC]
note: the ADN, MIR, and UCS comprise the ruling coalition |
Political pressure groups and leaders | various human rights and professional associations | Cocalero Groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions |
Population | 22,355,551 (July 2004 est.) | 8,300,463 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 44.5% (2000) | 70% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.11% (2004 est.) | 1.76% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina, Tulcea | none; however, Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 40, FM 202, shortwave 3 (1998) | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) |
Radios | - | 5.25 million (1997) |
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 (2003) |
total:
3,691 km (single track) narrow gauge: 3,652 km 1.000-m gauge; 39 km 0.760-m gauge (13 km electrified) (1995) |
Religions | Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 87%, Protestant 6.8%, Catholic 5.6%, other (mostly Muslim) 0.4%, unaffiliated 0.2% (2002) | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) |
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 (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) |
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: 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) |
general assessment:
new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 4.3 million (2003) | 327,600 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 6.9 million (2003) | 116,000 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 48 (plus 392 repeaters) (1995) | 48 (1997) |
Terrain | 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 | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
Total fertility rate | 1.35 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 3.51 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7.2% (2003) | 11.4% (1997)
note: widespread underemployment |
Waterways | 1,731 km (2004) | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) |