President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Traian Basescu
Population
65,630,692
21,848,504
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
74.220 years
Capital City
Paris
Bucharest
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Bucharest (population: 1,877,160)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.825
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$12,600 US
Literacy Rate
99%
97.3%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
3.8
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
9.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
Dinu Patriciu ($1.8bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
5.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
9 May 1877 (independence proclaimed from the Ottoman Empire; independence recognized 13 July 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin); 26 March 1881 (kingdom proclaimed); 30 December 1947 (republic proclaimed)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 86.8%, Protestant (various denominations including Reformate and Pentecostal) 7.5%, Roman Catholic 4.7%, other (mostly Muslim) and unspecified 0.9%, none 0.1% (2002 census)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Romanian 91% (official), Hungarian 6.7%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 1.2%
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
machinery and equipment, textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$136,100,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
lei (RON) per US dollar - 2.5 (2008 est.), 2.43 (2007), 2.809 (2006), 3 (2005), 3 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
1.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
8
Location
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine
Area
643,801 km sq
238,391 km sq
Coastline
0 km
225 km
Climate
temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
