Bucharest, Dâmbovița River
Romania (dated: Roumania; or Rumania; Romanian: România) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
Romania joined NATO on 29 March 2004, the European Union on 1 January 2007 and is also a member of the Latin Union, of the Francophonie, the OSCE, the WTO, the BSEC and the United Nations. Today, Romania is a unitary semi-presidential republic, in which the executive branch consists of the President and the Government.
Tourism
Pietrosu Mare
Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its rich history and is a significant contributor to the Romanian economy. In 2006, domestic and international tourism generated about 4.8% of gross domestic product and 5.8% of the total jobs (about half a million jobs).[18] Following commerce, tourism is the second largest component of the services sector. Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing sectors of the economy of Romania and is characterized by a huge potential for development.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Romania is the fourth fastest growing country in the world in terms of travel and tourism total demand, with a yearly potential growth of 8% from 2007 to 2016. The number of tourists grew from 4.8 million in 2002 to 6.6 million in 2004. Similarly, the revenues grew from 400 million in 2002 to 607 in 2004. In 2006, Romania registered 20 million overnight stays by international tourists, an all-time record, but the number for 2007 is expected to increase even more. Tourism in Romania attracted €400 million in investments in 2005.
Over the last years, Romania has emerged as a popular tourist destination for many Europeans (more than 60% of the foreign visitors in 2007 were from EU countries), thus attempting to compete with Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Spain. Destinations such as Mangalia, Saturn, Venus, Neptun, Olimp, Constanța and Mamaia (sometimes called the Romanian Riviera) are among the most popular attractions during summer. During winter, the skiing resorts along the Valea Prahovei and Poiana Brașov are popular with foreign visitors.
For their medieval atmosphere and castles, Transylvanian cities such as Sibiu, Brașov, Sighișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș or Miercurea-Ciuc have become major tourist attractions for foreigners. Rural tourism, focusing on folklore and traditions, has become an important alternative recently, and is targeted to promote such sites as Bran and its Dracula's Castle, the Painted churches of Northern Moldavia, the Wooden churches of Maramureș and Sălaj, or the Merry Cemetery in Maramureș County (at Săpânța). Other major natural attractions, such as the Danube Delta, the Iron Gates (Danube Gorge), Scărișoara Cave and several other caves in the Apuseni Mountains have yet to receive great attention.
In terms of tourism potential, Romania benefits from splendid cities, scattered on the smooth plains or high peaks. These include Sibiu, a city built by Saxons, with cobblestone streets and colorful houses. The Hunyad Castle, one of the most important monuments of Gothic architecture in Transylvania, can be visited in the picturesque city of Hunedoara. Also, resorts such as Băile Felix, Băile Herculane and Băile Tușnad are points of interest for local and foreign tourists. The Romanian seaside is the most developed tourist area of Romania. In 2009, Romania's Black Sea seaside was visited by 1.3 million tourists, of whom 40,000 were foreign. The shore is very varied, formed by slightly wavy shapes, with emphasized capes and deep bays extending into the Dobrogea valleys, with cliffs, beaches and sand cords. In Târgu Jiu one can see the sculptures of Constantin Brâncuși (1876–1957), a Romanian sculptor with overwhelming contributions to the renewal of plastic language and vision in contemporary sculpture. These include The Endless Column, The Gate of the Kiss and The Table of Silence, which together represent the three parts of a monumental sculptural ensemble.
Sports
National Arena, Bucharest
Oină is a traditional Romanian sporting game continuously practiced at least since the 14th century, pursuant to chronicles and charters, first official documentary attestation dating since 1364, during the reign of Vladislav I of Wallachia. Oină is a sporting game practiced outdoors, on a rectangular field, preferably covered with grass, between two teams of eleven players. The game requires for complex sports skills and is similar to sports common in other countries, such as German Schlagball, Finnish palsepool, French jeu de paume, respectively Irish cluiche corr. Oină underlying the baseball, being borrowed from the period in which it not evolved enough, compared to contemporary period, in which oină represents an extremely complex game.
Association football is the most popular sport in Romania. The governing body is the Romanian Football Federation, which belongs to UEFA. At the international level, the Romania national football team has taken part seven times in the FIFA World Cup. It had its most successful period in the 1990s, when during the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Romania reached the quarter-finals and was ranked sixth by FIFA. The core player of this "Golden Generation" and perhaps the best known Romanian player internationally is Gheorghe Hagi (nicknamed the Maradona of the Carpathians). Famous currently active players are Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu.
The most famous football club is Steaua București, who in 1986 became the first Eastern European club ever to win the prestigious European Champions Cup title, and who played the final again in 1989. Another successful Romanian team Dinamo București played a semifinal in the European Champions Cup in 1984 and a Cup Winners Cup semifinal in the 1990. Other important Romanian football clubs are Rapid București, CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca and FC Universitatea Craiova.
Tennis is the second most popular sport in terms of registered sportsmen. Romania reached the Davis Cup finals three times (1969, 1971, 1972). The tennis player Ilie Năstase won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments, and was the first player to be ranked as number 1 by ATP from 1973 to 1974. His doubles and Davis Cup Partner as well as mentor, Ion Țiriac is now the most successful businessman in the country. Virginia Ruzici won the French Open in 1978, while in 1980 she was runner-up. Florența Mihai was another female tennis player from Romania who played the final of the French Open in 1977. The Romanian Open is held every fall in Bucharest since 1993.
Irina Spîrlea was number 7 in the world in the WTA and Andrei Pavel top 15 of the ATP, both in the 90s. Famous currently active players are Sorana Cîrstea, Simona Halep, Monica Niculescu, Irina Begu, Alexandra Dulgheru, Victor Hănescu and Horia Tecău.
Popular team sports are rugby union (national rugby team has so far competed at every Rugby World Cup), basketball and handball. The Romania national handball team is a four-time world champion team, with Sweden and France (record holder), while Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea is a top team in women's handball.
Some popular individual sports are: athletics, chess, sport dance, and martial arts and other fighting sports. Fighting sports are actually popular in Romania, especially in the TV broadcastings. Famous boxers include Nicolae Linca, Francisc Vaștag, Mihai Leu, Leonard Doroftei, Adrian Diaconu and Lucian Bute, while Daniel Ghiță became the first Romanian kickboxer to qualify for the K-1 World Grand Prix Final. Famous athletes with outstanding results in this sport were: Iolanda Balaș, Lia Manoliu, Doina Melinte, Viorica Viscopoleanu, Mihaela Peneș, Argentina Menis, Ileana Silai, Anișoara Cușmir, Maricica Puică, Paula Ivan, Gabriela Szabo, Lidia Simon and lately Monica Iagăr, Marian Oprea, Mihaela Melinte or Constantina Diță-Tomescu.
Romanian gymnastics has had a large number of successes – for which the country became known worldwide. In the 1976 Summer Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to score a perfect ten in an Olympic event. She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals. In her career she won 30 medals, of which 21 were gold.
Romania participated for the first time in the Olympic Games in 1900 and has taken part in 18 of the 24 summer games. Romania has been one of the more successful countries at the Summer Olympic Games (15th overall) with a total of 283 medals won throughout the years, 82 of which are gold medals. They were noted for participating in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States, in defiance of a Warsaw Pact boycott, finishing second in gold medals (20) and third in total medal count (53).
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