In Central Europe, Romania is at the geographic centre of Europe, about even
with Italy and north of Greece.
Romania's Mountains and Plains
Bordered by Rivers and with the mighty Carpathians at it's heart,
Romania offers pleasing geographic diversity!
Geography buffs will find deep interest in the fascinating shields,
cliffs, plateaus, plains and valleys of Romania! Neatly divided into
approximate thirds of mountains, hilly tablelands, and plains, Romania
is the fourth largest nation in the EU.
Stretching over 238,000 square kilometres, Romania is the 12th largest
country in Europe and is located at the geographic centre.
Romania is located in the geographic centre of Europe, between 43°
37'07"-48°15'06" latitude North and 20°15'44"- 29°41'24" longitude East.
It neighbours to the East on the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, the
Black Sea; to the South on Bulgaria; to the South and South-East on
Yugoslavia; to the West on Hungary; and to the North on Ukraine.
The main mountains are the Romanian Carpathians, rivalled only by the
Alps as Europe's most extensive mountain system, which features three main groups:
The Eastern Carpathians (from the northern border to Prahova Valley,
shown in the inner and outer groups below) with the highest peak,
Pietrosul (2303 m), in the Rodna Mountains
The Southern Carpathians (from Prahova Valley to the Timis-Cerna-Bistra-Strei
corridor) reaching the highest elevation in the Fagaras Mountains (Moldoveanu
Peak-2543 m)
The Western Carpathians (from the Danube Valley to the South to the
Somes Valley to the North) with the highest elevation at the Cucurbata
Peak (1848 m).
Maramureş Mountains and the Maramureş Depression; Rodna Mountains and
Bistriţa Mountains, Vihorlat-Gutin Range and Căliman-Harghita Range,
and the Giurgeu-Braşov Depression
Eastern Beskids
Moldavian-Muntenian Carpathians
Eastern Subcarpathians
Southern Carpathians (Transylvanian Alps):
Făgăraş Mountains Group, Parâng Mountains Group and Godeanu-Retezat
Mountains Group, and the Getic Subcarpathians
Romanian Western Carpathians:
Poiana Ruscă Mountains (sometimes considered part of the Southern
Carpathians)
Banat Mountains (sometimes considered part of the Southern Carpathians)
Bihor Massif, Mureş Mountains, Criş Mountains and the Seş-Meseş Mountains
Inside the Carpathian arc lies the Plateau of Transylvania (its
altitude varies between 400 m and 700 m): to the North-West, the
Someş
Plateau; to the East, the Plateau of Moldavia; and to the South, the
Baragan plain and the Plateau of Dobrogea.
Transylvanian Plateau:
(in the Central Area of
the map above)
Someş Plateau and
Târnava Plateau
Mureş-Turda Depression
Moldoveanu Peak is the highest mountain in Romania, being located in the
Făgăraş Mountains of the Southern Carpathians. The closest locality is
Victoria on the North side. On the South side it is accessible from
northwest of Câmpulung.
The Carpathians begin on the Danube near Bratislava. They surround
Transcarpathia and Transylvania in a large semicircle, sweeping towards
the south-west, and end on the Danube near Orşova, in Romania.
The total
length of the Carpathians is over 1,500 km. the mountain chain's width
varies between 12 and 500 km.
The greatest width of the Carpathians
corresponds with its highest altitudes. The system attains its greatest
breadth in the Transylvanian plateau, and in the meridian of the Tatra
group (the highest range, with Gerlachovský štít, at 2,655 m (8,705
feet) above sea level in Slovak territory).
It covers an area of 190,000 km˛, and, after the Alps, is the most
extensive mountain system in Europe. The Carpathians at their highest
altitude are only as high as the Middle Region of the Alps, with which
they share a common appearance, climate, and flora.
The Danube Divides
The Carpathians are separated from the Alps by the Danube. The two
ranges meet only in one point: the Leitha Mountains at Bratislava. The
river also separates them from the Stara Planina, or "Balkan Mountains",
at Orşova, Romania.
The valley of the March and Oder separates the Carpathians from the
Silesian and Moravian chains, which belong to the middle wing of the
great Central Mountain System of Europe.
Unlike the other wings of the
system, the Carpathians, which form the watershed between the northern
seas and the Black Sea, are surrounded on all sides by plains, namely
the Pannonian plain on the south-west, the plain of the Lower Danube
(Romania) on the south, and the Galician plain on the north-east.
We reached our destination at 6 p.m. We are high in the hills of
Transilvania, 25 km
southwest of Sibiu. The land
undulates all around us in grey blue waves, like an ocean. There is no
sound except for a birdsong on a breeze.
I'm back in
Transilvania: the heart of the nation, some say. I gaze around me,
trying to imagine the countless individuals who have tracked these hills
over the millennia: warriors and shepherds, peasants and poets. I feel
warm, optimistic and completely knackered after a nine hour hike in sun and
rain.
But I made it. Along with my long-time buddy George, his wife Alina and
little Catrinel, eight years old and keen as mustard. Then another
surprise: the land suddenly dips at an angle of 45°. It's hair-raising.
Below us, at the bottom of the slope, sits a perfect post-glacial lake,
like water in a saucer: Lacul Iezerul Mare. It
shimmers under the mid-morning sun. Bushes protrude from the sheer rock
above, like blotches of green paint daubed by a child.
The shepherd tramps away over a ridge and is swallowed by the land. I
watch his little black hat dip into the grass, like a submarine sinking into
at a green ocean. He seems perfectly at ease in this wild and inhospitable
spot, a son of the ancient soil. I am suddenly struck by the difference
between us. Out here, he is at home and at work. All he needs is a few
dogs, a stick, and a cigarette. The rest of us need offices and computers,
cars and mobile phones.
We settle under a sturdy tree, take off our boots and dump our
rucksacks, breathing hard. The sun is high and hot, but the wind keeps us
cool. We take our rest, watching the blue sky where white clouds drift,
flat and fluffy.
We eat
goat's cheese, green peppers, olives and crusty bread. The spring water
in our bottle is still icy despite the midday heat. Rolling blue-green
hills stretch for miles in each direction, as far as we can see. I feel
lucky to be here. It's almost too good to be true.
There is simply no valley, no mountain, no plain or plateau which does
not feature a watercourse in Romania. Every county has it's own
river, and watercourse are integral parts of Romanian life.
Romania's largest plain (the
Bărăgan, or Wallachian Plain) supports the country’s the
main agricultural zone, it's alluvial soils gently sloping south towards
the Danube River .
The Danube Delta, located north of the Plateau of Dobrogea, is the most
recent geographical feature in Romania. It has three main arms: Chillia,
Sulina, and Sfântu Gheorghe through which the Danube flows into the Black
Sea. The Danube Delta stretches on the Romanian territory over an area of
4340 sq km, of which 78% is subject to flooding.
A the mainstay of the drainage system, the Danube flows on Romanian
territory along 1075 km (out of a total length of 2850 km).
There are 2,300 lakes scattered all over the country (plus 1150 ponds)
taking 2620 sq km. The largest lakes: Razelm (415 sq km), Sinoe (171 sq
km), Brates (21 sq km), Tasaul (20 sq km), Techirghiol (12 sq km), and
Snagov (5.8 sq km).
Romania is in so many ways defined by it's
watercourses, with placenames and
regional cultures
following the flow
of the major
tributaries of
Europe's
mightiest river.
When storm clouds gather over the sweeping Wallachian plains and the
rain starts to fall, every raindrop is headed towards the mighty Danube.
As catchment for 100% of Romania's rivers the Danube is indeed
Romania's River. Whilst some eastern rivers first flow into the
Tisa river in what today is Hungary prior to meeting the Danube, all the
rest, from the Olt to the Argeş to the
Siret and Prut, flow to the Danube before it
forms it's famous
Danube Delta before emptying to the Black Sea.
THE DANUBE
RIVER IN EUROPE
The Danube runs through five countries from the
Black Forest of Germany through Austria, Hungary and Serbia on it's
way to Romania, which has a third of it's 2860km run to the
Danube Delta. The river also forms a border for 5 other
countries.
The Olt River provided the first navigable entry
point to the north through the mighty Southern Carpathians, here
exiting the Olt River Gorge north of
Călimăneşti in
the Oltenia Region
of south-western Romania
Romania's population boom of the 1980s has successfully reversed
now, thanks to the overthrow
of the dictator Ceausescu in 1989, and the resumption of western
birth-control practices, greatly easing demands on healthcare and the
social welfare systems for the future.
Ethnic Groups in the Total Population of 21,680,976 persons:
1
Romanians: 19.399.597
89,5%
2
Hungarians: 1431.807
6,6%
3
Romai: 535.140
2,5%
4
Ukrainians: 61.098
0,3%
5
Germans: 59.764
0,3%
6
Russians-Lippovan: 35.791
0,2%
7
Turks: 32.098
0,2%
8
Tartars: 23.935
0,1%
9
Serbs: 22.561
0,1%
10
Slovaks: 17.226
0,1%
11
Bulgarians: 8.025
0,03%
12
Croatians: 6.807
0,03%
13
Greeks: 6.472
0,03%
14
Jews: 5.785
0,02%
15
Czechs: 3.941
0,01%
16
Poles: 3.559
0,01%
17
Italians: 3.288
0,01%
18
Chinese: 2.243
0,01%
19
Armenians:1.780
0,008%
20
Other ethnic groups: 18.116
0,1%
21
Non-stated ethnic origin: 1.941
0,02%
Romanians have successfully managed to contract their birth rate,
greatly relieving pressures on housing and resources, with an estimated
population in 2007 of around 20.u2 million.
With the densest population around Bucharest in the heart of
"traditional Romania" (Ţara
Românească), Romania's second cities of Iaşi, Timişoara, Cluj and Constanţa
attract their own greater metropolitan centres.
Geographically, most of Romania's population
concentrates on the wide fertile alluvial plains emanating from the
formidable Carpathian mountains with only very mountainous or regions
with poor soils lacking significant population.
The population of Romania was 21.7 million in 2003, with a density of 91.7 inhabitants per square km, less
than 10 U.S. states, and about the same as California's.
Outside this country's borders live another 12 million Romanians. In
Europe, in the Republic of Moldova live about 2.8 million - plus those
in Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, and Albania. In the United States
of America and Canada live about 2 million Romanians.
Smaller communities
of Romanians live in Australia (14,000), South Africa (12,000) and South America
(about 9000 total). Basically, the dream of many Romanians
is just to get out, although they leave behind good
smântână and mămăliga.
The administrative organization of Romania features 41 counties,
plus Bucharest, the capital city of the country. In the counties, the
basic administrative units are the towns and communes (made of several
villages). There are 263 cities and towns, of which 80 municipalities,
and 2685 communes with over 13,200 villages.
Besides Bucharest, which has a population of nearly 2.1 million,
there are 17 cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, 7 of which exceed
300,000.
It's always useful to get an idea of how big a country is compared
with some places back home. How far is it really from Bucharest
to Braşov? (Answer: About like
Sacramento to Reno or Sydney to Newcastle).
Here are some helpful comparisons to give you an idea of how big the
great nation of Romania acutally is!i
Compared with USA
Romania has the same population as Texas, in an area the size of Oregon.
This puts its population density (people per square mile/km) about the same as
California.
The city area of Bucharest has 2.1 million people, which would rank it 4th
amongst U.S. cities behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and just head of
Houston (with 2.05 million). Ranked by greater metropolitan areas, the
Bucharest area is about the same size as the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Pittsburgh,
Baltimore-Towson or St. Louis population centres.
The Bucharest area is just a bit larger than the Vancouver
metropolitan agglomeration at 2.5 million people (2005 estimate), and would rank
third behind the Toronto and the Montreal areas.
Barely two-thirds of the size of Newfoundland and Labrador,
Romania also has about two-thirds of the population of all of Canada, with a
much higher density of course.
The area of the UK and Romania are both about 240,000km˛,
although the UK is 3 times more crowded than Romania. Romania's
population is just twice that of London, and a third of the UK's 60 million.
Bucharest's metropolitan region is roughly the same size as the
Greater Manchester area, although the club lounge at the airport is nowhere near
as large. Romanians do, at least, offer a
tochitura
type of stew which is as every bit as delicious as a Lancashire hotpot.
Romania and New Zealand Unite
Both nations, approximately the same size, share an
overwhelming love of sheep ("oaie" in Romanian, "lice" in Kiwi)
Romania and Australia have been running neck-and-neck in the
population stakes, with Romania slightly ahead now by a nose (perhaps one and a
half million by the latest estimates). In world rankings of population ,
Romania and Australia are 50th and 53rd respectively.
Victoria barely fits into Romania, being 95% the land size,
although Victoria has less than a quarter of the population density of Romania.
Bucharest is larger than Brissie by a fair bit and right at 80% of the greater
Melbourne area, and 70% the size of Sydney.
Congratulations, you're probably reading the first population
comparison of Kiwi versus Români. But, you
may not have guessed that New Zealand is bigger in size than Romania, by about
12%.
NZ has just 16% of the population density, with Auckland
comprising about half the population of Bucharest and a third of the total
population of New Zealand. The two countries share a burning passion
for oviculture.
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