Romania country profile

The largest of the Balkan countries, Romania has dramatic mountain scenery and a coastline on the Black Sea.

It has seen numerous empires come and go from the Roman and Ottoman to the Austro-Hungarian.

After World War Two, the country fell under Communist rule, although the leadership pursued a foreign policy independent of that of the Soviet Union.

The legacy of Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu lingered long after the uprising which brought about his downfall on Christmas Day 1989. Romania took a major step away from its past when it was one of seven countries to join Nato in late March 2004.

In April 2005 Bucharest signed an EU accession treaty, paving the way for Romania eventually to join the union in January 2007.

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ROMANIA: FACTS

• Capital: Bucharest

• Area: 238,397 sq km

• Population: 19 million

• Language: Romanian

• Life expectancy: 70 years (men) 78 years (women)

LEADERS

President: Klaus Iohannis

Provincial mayor Klaus Iohannis inflicted a shock defeat on Prime Minister Victor Ponta in a presidential election run-off in November 2014. He was re-elected in November 2019.

Mr Ponta was leading in the opinion polls and had beaten Mr Iohannis, the centre-right mayor of the city of Sibiu in Transylvania, in the first round of voting.

But Mr Iohannis, who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, won a decisive victory on a record turn-out, and was re-elected in 2019.

Prime minister: Marcel Ciolacu

Social Democratic Party leader Marcel Ciolacu became prime minister in June 2023 after the resignation of Nicolae Ciuca as part of a planned rshuffle within the ruling coalition.

Ciuca was nominated prime minister in November 2022 after his centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL) agreed a coalition with its rivals in the centre-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR group.

As part of the deal Ciuca was to switch places with a Social Democratic Party nominee in May 2023, but the move was postponed a few weeks due to a major teachers' strike.

Romania is behind on the reforms needed which would unlock further tranches of European Union recovery funds - a key factor underpinning its economic growth.

It holds presidential, general, local and European elections in 2024, when it must bring its budget deficit back below the European bloc's 3% ceiling of gross domestic product (GDP) or annual economic output.

MEDIA

Romania has one of the most dynamic media markets in southeastern Europe. A handful of conglomerates dominates the industry.

TV is the medium of choice, with commercial stations Pro TV and Antena 1 being the leading outlets. TVR is the public broadcaster.

There is a competitive pay TV sector, via cable and satellite. Romania is yet to complete the switch to digital terrestrial TV (DTT).

There are more than 100 private radios. Public Radio Romania operates national, regional and local stations.

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TIMELINE

Romanians celebrate the fall of the Ceausescu regime in December 1989

Some key dates in Romania's history:

1859 - Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza is proclaimed prince of Moldavia and Wallachia.

1862 - The union of the two Danubian principalities is consolidated into a new state - Romania. Prince Cuza launches an ambitious policy of reform.

1877-1878 - Romania wins full independence from the Ottoman Empire by siding with Russia in the Russo-Turkish War. It also acquires a coastline on the Danube delta.

1916 - Romania joins the Allied side in World War One.

1918 - As part of the peace settlement at the end of the war, Romania virtually doubles in size and population.

1941-1944 - Romania fights on German side against Soviet Union, then switches sides as Soviet forces close in.

1945 - Soviet-backed government installed.

1965 - Nicolae Ceausescu becomes Communist Party leader. He pursues foreign policy that often runs counter to Moscow's lead, while increasing repressive rule and personality cult at home.

1989 - Bloody national uprising, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena are executed. National Salvation Front government formed by former Ceausescu ally Ion Iliescu.

2004 - Romania admitted to Nato.

2007 - Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union.

2015 - Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigns after massive anti-corruption protests following deaths of 64 people in the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest.

2022 - EU interior ministers accept Croatia into the 26-nation, border-free Schengen zone, but reject Romania and Bulgaria amid concerns that both are soft on illegal migration.

2024 - Bulgaria and Romania join the EU's Schengen zone for air and sea travel.

National Day parade past the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest