ROMANIA
Romania is situated in the southeastern part of Central Europe and shares borders with Hungary to the northwest, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, the Black Sea to the southeast, Ukraine to the east and to the north and the Republic of Moldova to the east.
Population: 19,334,000 (October 2016)
Largest cities: Bucharest (1,883,400),
Iasi (322,000), Cluj Napoca (309,000),
Timisoara (303,000), Constanta (298,000),
Craiova (295,000), Galati (286,000), Brasov (275,000), Ploiesti (224,000),
Braila (205,000), Oradea (196,400).
Romania's population lives in 320 cities and towns and 12,956 villages.
Main Ethnic Groups: Romanian 84%, Hungarian 6.1%, Gipsy 3.1%, German 0.2%, Ukrainian 0.2%
Religions: Christian Orthodox 81%, Roman Catholic 4.3%, Reformed 3%,
Greek-Catholic 0.7%, Unitarian 0.3%, Jewish, other.
Official Language: Romanian
Currency: Lei
(singular Leu, pronunciation "lay", abbreviations: Lei or RON).
Form of State: Romania is a semi-presidential democracy based on a bicameral Parliament the Chamber of Representatives or "Chamber of Deputies" (Camera Deputatilor) and the Senate (Senat). All members of the legislature are directly elected from Romania's 41 counties.
Under the semi-presidential system, the president is responsible for foreign and defense policy and controls appointments of prosecutors and the judiciary.
Legal system: Based on European models and Constitution of 1991.
Electoral System: Universal direct suffrage over the age of 18. Parties must win at least five percent of the national vote to gain representation in the Parliament.
Head of State: President of the Republic.
National Government: The government is led by the Prime Minister, nominated by the political party (or political alliance) with parliamentary majority, approved by the President of Romania and confirmed by the Parliament.
Head of the Government: the Prime Minister.
Regional Government: Forty-one County Councils (Consiliu Judeţean).
Romania is a member state of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).
*Taken from www.romaniatourism.com
For more fun and interesting facts about Romania visit: http://romaniatourism.com/did-you-know.html
Parliament Palace (Palatul Parlamentului).
Built by Communist Party leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, the colossal Parliament Palace (formerly known as the People’s Palace) is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. It took 20,000 workers and 700 architects to build. The palace boasts 12 stories, 1,100 rooms, a 328-ft-long lobby and four underground levels, including an enormous nuclear bunker. When construction started in 1984, the dictator intended it to be the headquarters of his government. Today, it houses Romania’s Parliament and serves as an international conference centre. Built and furnished exclusively with Romanian materials, the building reflects the work of the country’s best artisans. A guided tour takes visitors through a small section of dazzling rooms, huge halls and quarters used by the Senate (when not in session). The interior is a luxurious display of crystal chandeliers, mosaics, oak paneling, marble, gold leaf, stained-glass windows and floors covered in rich carpets.
