Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
Population
21,848,504
584,578
Life Expectancy
74.220 years
74.420 years
Capital City
Bucharest
Largest city
Bucharest (population: 1,877,160)
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Human Development Index
0.825
0.591
GDP per capita
$12,600 US
Literacy Rate
97.3%
%
Corruption Perception Index
3.8
2.9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
9.6%
0%
Wealthiest Citizens
Dinu Patriciu ($1.8bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
5.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
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
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)
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Languages
Romanian 91% (official), Hungarian 6.7%, Romany (Gypsy) 1.1%, other 1.2%
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Exports
machinery and equipment, textiles and footwear, metals and metal products, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products
External Debt
$136,100,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
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
1.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
8
0
Location
Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Ukraine
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Area
238,391 km sq
28,896 km sq
Coastline
225 km
5,313 km
Climate
temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
