Location: Balkan State, Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Ukraine

Map references: Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 237,500 sq km
land area: 230,340 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries: total 2,508 km, Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km (all with Serbia), Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (south) 169 km

Coastline: 225 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: no official territorial claim by either Moldova or Romania, but nationalists in Romania seek the merger of Moldova with Romania; potential future dispute by Moldova and Romania against Ukraine over former southern and northern Bessarabian areas

Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms

Terrain: central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps

Natural resources: petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt

Land use:
arable land: 43%
permanent crops: 3%
meadows and pastures: 19%
forest and woodland: 28%
other: 7%

Irrigated land: 34,500 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands
natural hazards: earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Note: controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine

NOTE: The information regarding Romania on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Romania Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Romania Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.