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| Suceava River |
Suceava RiverThe Suceava river is a river located in the north-east of Romania, in Suceava County. It rises from the Lucina Massif, in Bukovina, near the border with the Ukraine. The Suceava flows for 170 km before it joins the Siret river 21 km south-east of Suceava city, near the Liteni town.
Category:Rivers of Romania
River:For the Second World War frigate class, see River class frigate. For the state of Nigeria, see Rivers State.
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A river is a large natural waterway. It is a specific term in the vernacular for large streams, stream being the umbrella term used in the scientific community for all flowing natural waterways. In the vernacular, stream may be used to refer to smaller streams, as may creek, run, fork, etc.
Passage via a river or stream is the usual way rainfall on land finds its way to the ocean or other large body of water such as a lake. A river consists of several basic parts, originating from headwaters or a spring at the source, that flow into the main stream. Smaller side streams that join the river are tributaries. Water flow is normally confined to a channel, with a bottom or bed between banks. The lower end of a river is its base level, commonly called its mouth, a river typically widens at its end and forms what is known as a river delta or estuary.
Topography
estuary.]]A river conducts water by constantly flowing perpendicular to the elevation curve of its bed, thereby converting the positional energy of the water into kinetic energy. Where a river flows over relatively flat areas, the river will meander: start to form loops and snake through the plain by eroding the river banks. Loops that are formed are sometimes cut off, forming a shorter river channel and leaving a remnant, oxbow lake. Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment develop conspicuous deltas at their mouths. Rivers whose mouths are in saline tidal waters may form estuaries.
There are 4 main types of rivers. These types are:
- Youthful river - a river with a steep gradient that has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels erode deeper rather than wider.
- Mature river - a river with a gradient that is less steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more slowly than youthful rivers. A mature river is fed by many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper.
- Old river - a river with a low gradient and low erosive energy. Old rivers are characterized by flood plains.
- Rejuvenated river - a river with a gradient that is raised by the earth's movement.
Where a river descends quickly over sloped topography, rapids with whitewater or even waterfalls occur. Rapids are often used for recreational purposes (see Whitewater kayaking). Waterfalls are sometimes used as sources of energy, via watermills and hydroelectric plants.
Rivers begin at their source in higher ground, either rising from a spring, forming from glacial meltwater, flowing from a body of water such as a lake, or simply from damp, boggy places where the soil is waterlogged. They end at their base level where they flow into a larger body of water, the sea, a lake, or as a tributary to another (usually larger) river. In arid areas rivers sometimes end by losing water to evaporation and percolation into dry, porous material such as sand, soil, or pervious rock. The area drained by a river and its tributaries is called its watershed or catchment basin. (Watershed is also used however to mean a boundary between catchment basins.)
Starting at the mouth of the river and following it upstream as it branches again and again the resulting river network forms a dendritic (tree-like) structure that is an example of a natural random fractal.
Biology
The flora and fauna of rivers are much different from those of the ocean because the water is fresh (non-salty). Living things in a river must be adapted to the current of the moving water.
Pollution
Human pollution of rivers is common, and very few rivers in the world today are clean of man-made substances. The most common pollutant is sewage piped into rivers, but chemical pollution is also common, and industrial accidents (and/or negligence) account for much of the destruction of riparian biomes. Heated water dumped into rivers by power plants and factories also affects river life.
Navigation
The Rhine is the busiest river in the world for transport ships. Inland vessels use the river to reach the major cities in Germany, Eastern France and Switzerland to transport bulk goods, liquids, containers AND passengers into the hinterland of the Port of Rotterdam and the ports of Amsterdam and Antwerp. Many millions of tons of goods are transported upstream yearly from these three sea ports to the industries near Nijmegen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Neuss, Köln, Koblenz, Mainz, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse and Basel.
The lower part of the river is navigable for the largest inland vessels (up to 135 meters long and 17 meters wide) with an available depth of more than 2,50 even at the lower water levels. The further upstream, the more depth restrictions: at low water periods draught of ships is often limited to 1,90 m. for the stretch around Bingen (between the mouths of the Mosel and the Main).
Upstream from Karlsruhe the Rhine is the border between France and Germany. The French have canalized the river by means of a series of hydropower dams and double ship locks, thus ensuring a year round navigable depth of 3.50 meters. (Source: NoorderSoft Waterways Database)
Dams
In places where the elevation changes of a river are great, dams for hydroelectric plants and other purposes are often built. This disrupts the natural flow of the river, and creates a lake behind the dam. Often the building of dams affects the whole of the river, even the part above the dam, as migrating fish are hindered (see fish ladder), waterflow is no longer bounded by seasonal changes and sediment flow is blocked. Dams are useful in many ways, such as providing HEP, acting as regulator of river flow so as to regulate the occurrence of flooding, which is especially important to wet-rice agriculture, and also to improve navigation and transport on the river. Often, dams such as Hoover Dam along Colorado River become famous tourist attractions. However, critics of dams, especially 'Green' advocates, argue that dams remove upper-river biodiversity such as through deforestation and forced migration of rural villages and indigenous tribes. Furthermore, trapping of river sediments behind the dams lead to salination and loss of nutrients for down-water fish. It also raises concern of eathquakes due to instablity of incompetent dams which have to support thousands of tonnes of sediments behind them. One very famous, and problematic, dam is the Aswan High Dam in the Nile.
Flooding
Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycles. Human activity, however, has upset the natural way flooding occurs by walling off rivers and straightening their courses. Removal of bogs, swamps and other wetlands in order to produce farmland has reduced the absorption zones for excess water and made floods into sudden disasters rather than gradual increases in water flow. In ancient Egypt, life was made possible through the floods of the Nile and the accompanying silt and sediment which enriched the fields with fresh nutrients. Nowadays, since people have built on these floodplains, floods are disasters, causing untold property loss each year.
Human interference in the form of deforestation can also worsen conditions. The removal of vegetation leads to a reduction in Interception (vegetation stopping precipitation) and the 'weakening' of soil since plant roots no longer hold it together. As a result there is a reduced Infiltration capacity (how much water the soil can hold) and greater infiltration (precipitation going into the ground). This leads to faster soil saturation and therefore greater overland flow (also known as surface run off) and therefore, there are flash floods as the lag time decrease.
Logjams
Logjams are barriers within rivers, created by dead and uprooted trees. Over time, the obstruction prevents further logs to bypass, resulting in the creation of new network channels. According to author David R. Montgomery in his book, King of Fish, a logjam also causes water to buildup within a small space, forming peaceful pools within the main channel for young salmon to live within. The existence of these deep pools along with the complex web of channels creates an ideal salmon habitat. Today, many believe that the rebuilding of salmon runs is contingent upon reproducing the same environment shaped by logjams. As a result, many scientists have attempted to recreate artificial logjams. Marc Duboiski and Mike Ramsey of the Salmon Recovery Funding board staff, George Pess of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Kevin Bauersfeld of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have prepared the Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop ([http://iac.wa.gov/Documents/SRFB/Log_Jam_Report.pdf#search='log%20jams%20and%20salmon']), with the hope of mimicking natural logjams.
Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop."]]
Management
In its natural state a river may be inconvenient to man in a variety of ways. Rivers in inhabited areas have therefore been managed or controlled to make them more useful and less disruptive to human activity.
- The river channel may be dredged to make it deeper for navigation or to prevent flooding.
- Dams (see above) or weirs may be built to control the flow, store water, or extract energy.
- Levees may be built to prevent flooding.
- Sluice gates provide a means of controlling flow and adjusting river levels.
- floodways may be added to draw off excess river water in times of flood.
- Canals connect rivers to one another for water transfer or navigation.
- River courses may be modified to improve navigation, or straightened to increase the flow rate.
River management is an ongoing activity as rivers tend to 'undo' the modifications made by man. Dredged channels silt up, sluice mechanisms deteriorate with age, levees and dams may suffer seepage or catastrophic failure.
River lists
(See also :Category:Lists of rivers.)
The world's ten longest rivers
It is difficult to measure the length of a river, mainly because rivers have a fractal property, which means that the more precise the measure, the longer the river will seem. Also, it's hard to state exactly where a river begins or ends, as very often, upstream, rivers are formed by seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes.
This is an average measurement.
# Nile (6,690 km)
# Amazon (6,400 km)
# Yangtze (Chang Jiang) (6,380 km)
# Mississippi-Missouri (6,270 km)
# Ob-Irtysh (5,570 km)
# Huang He (Yellow) (5,464 km)
# Amur (4,410 km)
# Congo (4,380 km or 4,670 km). (The source of this river is disputed.)
# Lena (4,260 km)
# Mackenzie (4,240 km)
For a longer list see Longest rivers. This also gives more information on measuring river lengths.
Well-known rivers (in alphabetic order)
- Aa - multiple rivers in Europe
- Amazon - largest river in the world
- American
- Amu Darya
- Amur - principal river of eastern Siberia
- Arkansas - major tributary of Mississippi River
- Arno - river through Florence
- Arvandrud (Shatt al-Arab) the large border river between Iran and Iraq.
- Brahmaputra - principal river in North East India & Tibet
- Chao Phraya - principal river of Thailand
- Colorado (Argentina)
- Colorado (U.S.) - principal river of American West
- Columbia - principal river of Pacific Northwest
- Congo - principal river of central Africa
- Danube - principal river of central and southeastern Europe
- De La Plata - the widest river in the world. South America
- Ebro - river in northwest Spain
- Elbe - major German river, Hamburg is situated on it
- Euphrates - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Ganges - principal river of India
- Han-gang - river of Seoul
- Helmand River - Principle river of (Afghanistan)
- Hari Rud (Afghanistan)
- Huang He (Yellow) - principal river of China
- Hudson - principal river of New York
- Indus - principal river of Pakistan
- Jordan - principal river of Israel
- Karun - principal (navigable) river of southern Iran.
- Kaveri - principal river of South India
- Lena - principal river of northeastern Siberia
- Mackenzie - longest river in Canada
- Magdalena - principal river of Colombia
- Main - river in Germany
- Mekong - principal river of Southeast Asia
- Mersey - river on which sits the English city of Liverpool
- Meuse - principal river of the southern provinces of the Netherlands and eastern Belgium.
- Mississippi - principal river of central United States
- Missouri - principal river of the Great Plains
- Murray - principal river of southeastern Australia
- Niger - principal river of west Africa
- Nile - Possibly the longest river in the world (or second after the Amazon)
- Ob - large river of Siberia
- Odra - major river in Eastern Europe
- Ohio - largest river between Mississippi and Appalachians
- Orinoco - principal river of Venezuela
- Parana - major South American river
- Paraguay - principal tributary of Parana river and major South American river in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina
- Po - principal river of Italy
- Potomac River - principal river of the District of Columbia in the United States
- Rhine - principal river of northwestern Europe
- Rhône - principal river of southern France
- Rio Grande - border between United States and Mexico
- Saint Lawrence - drains Great Lakes
- Seine - river of Paris
- Segura- in southeast Spain
- Severn- longest river in Great Britain
- Shinano-gawa - longest river in Japan
- Snake - largest tributary to the Columbia river in Washington
- Tajo - largest river in the Iberian Peninsula
- Tay - largest river in Scotland
- Thames - river of London
- Tiber - river of Rome
- Tigris - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Tonegawa - largest river in Japan
- Vistula - principal river of Poland
- Volga - principal river of Russia
- Yangtze (Chang Jiang) - longest river in China
- Yenisei - large river of Siberia
- Yukon - principal river of Alaska and Yukon Territory
- Zambezi - principal river of southeastern Africa
Other lists
- List of waterways
- List of rivers by continent
- List of rivers of Europe
- Rivers of the United Kingdom
- List of rivers of Asia
- List of rivers of Africa
- List of rivers of Australia
- List of rivers of New Zealand
- List of rivers of the Americas
- List of rivers of Oceania
- List of river name etymologies
Rivers in myth and fiction
Real rivers
- The Thames in Edward Rutherfurd's London.
- The Thames in Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat.
- The Thames and the Congo in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
- The Mississippi in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.
- The River Liffey through Dublin in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.
Mythological rivers
- In Greek mythology, the Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe and Styx (the five rivers of Hades); and the Eridanus.
- The Alph, an underground river imagined by various mystics and mentioned in Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan.
- The Sambation river stops flowing every Saturday.
Fictional rivers
- River Ankh traversing the city of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
- Chocolate river in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
- River Djel in the country of Djelibeybi in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
- The River in the Riverworld novels of Philip José Farmer.
- Rivers of Middle-earth in various works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
See also
- Aquaduct
- Canal
- Drought
- Water dispute
Crossings
Rivers may be crossed by:
- bridges
- ferries
- fords
- tunnels.
Transport
- barge
- riverboat
- sailing
- towpath
External links
- [http://www.srbc.net/about.htm Management: River Basin Commissions].
Category:Bodies of water
Category:Geomorphology
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Romania:Romania (formerly also spelled Rumania or Roumania; Romanian: România ) is a country in Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine and Moldova in the northeast; Hungary in the west; Serbia and Bulgaria to the south along the Danube River. Romania has a stretch of sea coast on the Black Sea and the eastern and southern Carpathian mountains run through its centre. Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004, and is also an acceding country to the European Union. The EU Accession Treaty was signed in early 2005, and Romania is due to join the Union on January 1, 2007.
Name
Main article: Etymology of Romania
The name of Romania (România) comes from Român (Romanian) which is a derivative of the word Romanus ("Roman") from Latin.
The oldest surviving document written in the Romanian language is a 1521 letter which notifies the mayor of Braşov about the imminent attack of the Ottoman Turks. This document is also notable for having the first occurrence of "Rumanian", Wallachia being here named The Rumanian Land - Ţeara Rumânească (Ţeara < Latin Terra = land). In the following centuries, Romanian documents use both forms: Român and Rumân, with the latter being the more common form.
It was only in the 19th century, with the rise of nationalism that the form Român was adopted as an official spelling, being chosen over Rumân in order to emphasise the linguistic connection to ancient Rome.
Romanians take pride in being the most eastern Romance people, completely surrounded by non-Latin peoples ("an island of Latinity").
History
Main article: History of Romania
In 513 BC, south of the Danube, the tribal confederation of the Getae were defeated by Darius during his campaign against the Scythians (Herodotus IV.93). Over half a millennium later, the Getae (also named Daci by Romans) were defeated by the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan in two campaigns stretching from 101 to 106, and the core of their kingdom was turned into the Roman province of Dacia. The Gothic and Carpic campaigns in the Balkans during 238–256 forced the Roman Empire to reorganize a new Roman province of Dacia south of Danube, inside former Moesia Superior.
In 271 the ancient Dacia became the Kingdom of the Goths until the end of the fourth century, when it was included in the Hunnic Empire. The Gepids and the Avars ruled Transylvania until the 8th century, after which the Bulgars included Romania in their Empire until 1000. The Pechenegs, the Cumans and Uzes were also mentioned by historic chronicles on the territory of Romania until the founding of the Vlachian principalities of Wallachia by Basarab I, and Moldavia by Dragoş during the 13th and 14th centuries respectively. In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in three distinct principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania.
In 1475, Stephen the Great of Moldavia scored a decisive victory over the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui. Wallachia and Moldavia would later come under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire during the 15th and 16th centuries respectively, with internal autonomy under the millet system, and brief periods of independence. Moldova lost its eastern side Bessarabia to the Russian Empire in 1812 (though partially regained it with the Treaty of Paris in 1856), its northern part Bukovina to the Austrian Empire in 1775 and its south-eastern part Bugeac to the Ottoman Empire.
Transylvania came under control of the Kingdom of Hungary by the 11th century (from 1301, Hungary and Transylvania became possessions of the Houses of Anjou and Habsburg). The greatest Hungarian ruler—emperor Matthias Corvinus (known in Romanian as Matei Corvin, ruled 1458–1490)—is claimed by the Romanians because of his half-Romanian father, Iancu de Hundoara, and by the Hungarians because of his Hungarian mother. Later, in 1541, Transylvania became a multi-ethnic principality under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire following the Battle of Mohács. At the end of the 18th century, the Austrian Habsburgs incorporated Transylvania into the Austrian Empire. During the time of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918), Romanians in Transylvania experienced heavy oppression in the form of the Magyarization policies of the Hungarian government.
The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 under the Moldavian domnitor Alexander John Cuza. He was replaced by Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1866. During the Russo-Turkish War, Romania fought on the Russian side; in the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 Romania was recognized as an independent state by the Great Powers. In return for ceding to Russia the two southern districts of Bessarabia which had been regained by Moldavia after the Crimean War in 1852, the Kingdom of Romania acquired Dobruja. In 1881 the principality was raised to a kingdom and Prince Carol I became King Carol I.
In spite of its previous alliance with Imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary, Romania entered World War I on the side of the Triple Entente in a move aimed at acquiring Transylvania. By war's end Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire had collapsed, allowing Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania to unite with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918. Union of Transylvania with Romania was ratified in the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.
In 1940 during World War II, Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia, Northern Transylvania, and southern Dobrudja were occupied by the Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria respectively (see Romania during World War II). The authoritarian King Carol II abdicated in 1940 and the subsequent year Romania entered the war joining Nazi Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. Because Romania participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union, the country recovered Bessarabia and northern Bukovina under the leadership of general Ion Antonescu. During the Second World War, the Antonescu regime, allied with Nazi Germany, played an active role in the Holocaust, following its policy of oppression and massacre of the Jews, and, to a lesser extent, Roma. According to a report released by the Romanian government in 2004, the Romanian authorities killed at least 280,000 to 380,000 Jews, primarily in the Eastern territories Romania recovered or occuppied from the Soviet Union and in Moldavia (historical region), though some estimates are even higher.
In August 1944 the Antonescu regime was toppled, and Romania joined the Red Army against Nazi Germany, but its role in the defeat of Germany was not recognized by the Paris Peace Conference of 1947.
With the Red Army forces still stationed in the country and exerting defacto control, communists and their allied parties claimed 80% of the vote in the 1946 Romanian elections, through a combination of vote manipulation, elimination and forced mergers of competing parties, establishing themselves as the dominant force; Western democracies left Romania in the hands of the Soviet Union. In 1947, King Michael I was forced by the communists to abdicate and leave the country. Romania was proclaimed a communist state, under direct military and economic control of the USSR until 1958. During this period, Romania's scarce resources left after WWII were drained by the "SovRom" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established in the aftermath of World War II to mask the looting of Romania by the Soviet Union, in addition to excessive war reparations paid to the USSR. During this dark period, hundreds of thousands of people were imprisoned for political reasons, there were thousands of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against political opponents, bringing gloom over Romania.
A short-lived period of relative economic well-being and openness followed in late 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, still regarded by some as a "golden era". This period gradually ended, first politically, and then economically. Some party leaders (such as Ion Iliescu, Corneliu Manescu, or Gheorghe Apostol) who questioned the achievements of the regime during the latter portion of this era, were sent to lower positions, which, in 1989, justified their "dissident" position. From an economic point of view, Romania's foreign debt sharply increased between 1977 and 1981 (from 3 to 10 billion US dollars). Thus, the influence of international financial organisms such as the IMF or the World Bank grew, conflicting with Ceauşescu's autarchic policies. Ceauşescu eventually initiated a project of total reimbursement of the foreign debt (completed in 1989, shortly before his overthrow). To achieve this goal, he imposed policies that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy. He transformed Romania into a police state (see Securitate) and imposed a cult of personality.
One positive achievement of the Communist period was the spread of near-universal literacy and the development of a very efficient education system. However, this educational transformation was not coupled with appropriate industrial development and urbanization policies, so that almost half of Romania's population is still rural (47.3%; see Demography of Romania), and mostly poor.
Another achievement is the negotiated retreat of Soviet troops from Romania, in 1958. This allowed the country to pursue independent policies, including the condemnation by the Communist Party of Romania of the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia (Romania was the only country of the Warsaw pact not to take part into the invasion), the continuation of Romanian-Israeli diplomatic relations after the Six-Day War of 1967 (Romania was the only country in the Warsaw pact to do so), the establishment of economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, and so forth.
Close ties between Romania and both Israel and the Arab countries (and the PLO) allowed Romania to play an essential role in the Israel-Egypt and Israel-PLO peace processes.
The Communist dictatorship ended 22 December 1989 (see Romanian Revolution of 1989).
During the 1989 revolution (the term "revolution" is contested by many), power was taken by an ad hoc group called the National Salvation Front (FSN), which grouped a number of dissidents with other personalities and (then-unknown) persons that participated in the uprising. The FSN assumed the missions of restoring civil order, taking immediate democratic measures, and organizing elections for a new legislative body. Given the slow pace of reconstruction of the social and democratic system after 45 years of Communism (as emphasized by events such as the Ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureş in March 1990), the largest part of the FSN also constituted itself as a political party that participated in (and won by a large majority) the elections of summer 1990. The move was highly contested by the other emerging political parties, because the FSN controlled most media and therefore the election process was biased. The subsequent disintegration of the FSN, which did not have a clear political platform, produced several political parties including the Democratic Party (PD), which for a time retained the FSN name), the Social Democratic Party (PSD, formerly known as the Romanian Party for Social Democracy (PDSR) or the Democratic National Salvation Front-FDSN), and the Alliance for Romania (APR). Throughout several elections, coalitions, and governments, parties that emerged from the FSN governed or participated in the government of Romania from 1990 to 1996, and then from 2000 until today.
In 1996, the CDR entered power on a "Contract with Romania" platform which would have required the CDR to resign en masse after 200 days from a mixed coalition government. Some members had signed on to the contract programme, while others had not; once in power, the "Contract" was repudiated. The major CDR parties were electorally eviscerated in 2000, and the Social Democrats returned to power, with Ion Iliescu once again president of Romania and Adrian Năstase, the president of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD), as prime minister.
On December 12, 2004, Traian Băsescu was elected president of Romania. He was supported during elections by a coalition, called Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), formed of his Democratic Party and of the National-Liberal Party. The government was formed by a larger coalition which also included the Romanian Humanist Party (now called Conservative Party) and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR.
Following the end of the Cold War in 1989, Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, joined NATO in 2004 and became an acceding country to the European Union, being at an advanced stage to join on January 1, 2007. The Treaty of Accession of Romania has been signed by EU member states' representatives in Luxembourg, Abbaye de Neumünster, on April 25 2005. Ratification of the Romanian and Bulgarian Accession Treaty is ongoing in the parliaments of all member states.
Romanian heads of state (from the Unification of 1859)
Principalty of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
People's Republic of Romania
Socialist Republic of Romania (from 1965, Aug 21)
Republic of Romania
See also: Kings of Romania, Bessarabia, Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania
Politics
Main article: Politics of Romania
Romania is a democratic republic. The legislative branch of the Romanian government consists of two chambers, the Senat (Senate), which has 137 members (as of 2005), and the Camera Deputaţilor (Chamber of Deputies), which has 314 members (as of 2004). In addition, 18 seats in the Chamber of Deputies are awarded to the representatives of national minorities. The members of both chambers are elected every four years.
The President, the head of the executive branch, is also elected by popular vote, every five years (until 2004, four years).
The president appoints a prime minister, who heads the government, the members of which are in turn appointed by the prime minister. The government is subject to a parliamentary vote of approval.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Counties of Romania
Romania is divided into 41 judeţe, or counties, and the municipality of Bucharest (Bucureşti) - the capital. See also Administrative divisions of Romania.
The counties are (in alphabetical order):
Administrative divisions of Romania blue, the Moldavian region red, and Dobrogea yellow]]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Romania
A large part of Romania's borders with Serbia and Bulgaria is formed by the Danube. The Danube is joined by the Prut River, which forms the border with Moldova. The Danube flows into the Black Sea forming the Danube Delta which is a reservation of the Biosphere.
Romanian sightseeing
Because many of Romania's borders are defined by natural, sometimes shifting rivers, and because the Danube Delta is constantly expanding towards the sea, about 2-5 linear metres yearly, Romania's surface area has changed over the past few decades, generally increasing. The number has increased from about 237,500 km² in 1969 to 238,391 km² in 2005.
Romanian sightseeing
Romania's terrain is distributed roughly equally among between mountainous, hilly and lowland territories.
The Carpathian Mountains dominate the centre of Romania surrounding the Transylvanian Plateau, 14 peaks reaching above the altitude of 2,000 m, the highest being Moldoveanu Peak at 2,544 m. In the south, the Carpathians sweeten into hills, towards the Bărăgan Plains.
The three highest mountains in Romania are:
Major cities are the capital Bucharest, Iaşi, Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Constanţa, Craiova, Braşov, and Galaţi.
See also:
- List of Romanian Cities
- Rivers of Romania
- Lakes of Romania
Largest cities
Source: [http://www.insse.ro/rpl2002rezgen/5.pdf National Institute of Statistics, 2002 Census]
Unofficially, sociologists say that in its 228 km², Bucharest has more than 3.5 million people, coming from every corner of the country.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Romania
Economy of Romania]
After Romania's Communist regime was overthrown in late 1989, the country experienced a decade of economic instability and decline, led in part by an obsolete industrial base as well as a lack of structural reform. Starting from 2000, however, the economy was transformed into one of relative macreconomic stability, high growth, low unemployment and increasing foreign investment, and is currently among the most developed in Southeastern Europe. Economic growth since 2000 has averaged 4-5%, rising to 8.3% in 2004. This has characterised Romania as a boom economy and one of the fastest growing in Europe. Romania was granted in October 2004 the much desired 'functional market economy' status by EU officials, and is expected to join the EU in January 2007. Romania's per-capita GDP, calculated by purchasing power parity is estimated to be $8,258 in 2005. The national budget is €28.9 billion euro, which represents 31.2% of GDP, estimated to be RON 322.5 billion (€90,8 billions) according to the Prime-Minister Tăriceanu.
Strong aspects of Romania are the technologically advanced market economy with substantial government participation. Having its own natural resources, Romania has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Romania is largely self-sufficient in food production. High-technology, car-manufacturing, military equipment, software, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and agricultural products (fruits, vegetables, and flowers) are leading exports. Romania possesses extensive facilities for oil refining and semiconductor fabrication.
Romania]
Inflation in 2004 was registered at 9.2%, and is expected to fall to 7.5% in 2005 and 5.0% in 2006. Unemployment in Romania is at 5.5% (July 2005), which is very low compared to other large European countries such as Poland, France, or Germany.
Since the late 1990s, there have been several economic reforms, spurred on by the country's bid to join the EU, including the liquidation of large energy-intensive industries and major reforms in the agricultural and financial sectors. As of 2005, a significant amount of Romania's major companies have been privatised, including the majority of banks, the largest oil companies Petrom and Rompetrol, energy distributors and telecommunications companies. The country continues to privatise remaining state enterprises, including Romanian Post and the Romanian Commercial Bank. In comparison to its neighbours, Romania has a high number of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEes). Foreign investment has increased significantly since 2003, reaching € 5.1 billion in 2004.
Romania's economy grew 5.9% in the first quarter 2005 compared with the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office. The service sector was the country's main economic growth engine showing a 6.8% rise from the same period last year, while industry grew by 5% and agriculture by 1.8%. Currently GDP growth is forecast at 5.5% per annum. Romania's economy is characterized by a huge potential of tourism.
Trade
The majority of Romania's trade is oriented towards the countries of the European Union. For the first 6 months of 2005, Romania's exports rose 17.2%, while imports rose 22%, in part due to a rise in real wages. In July 2005, Romanian exports grew to a record value of €2.0 billion/month. The trade deficit was about €3.2 billion (US$3.8 billion) in the first five months of the year, well within the target for 2005. In present, at a series of economical indicators, Romania has a similar situation of the new member states of EU, the export of highly technological products being of 3.2% from total exports, comparatively higher than Poland which has only 2.7% from exports.
Main indicators of the exports and imports of Romania's economy:
Taxation
In January 2005, Romania's new Tăriceanu government imposed major fiscal reforms, replacing Romania's progressive tax system with a 16% flat tax on both personal income and company profit. Romania now has one of the most liberal taxation systems in Europe, and it is expected that this, along with increased foreign investment, will boost economic growth in the coming years, as well as lower corruption and bring to light the grey economy. The tax cuts have led a 12 percent jump in household consumption, which was also boosted by a 13 percent rise in wages.
Debt
Romania's level of international debt is estimated at $24.59 billion in 2004, or 23.6% of GDP which is considered very low. However, as Romania is currently going through an economic boom and is undertaking several major infrastructure projects, especially in the context of its EU accession, debt is expected to rise in absolute terms.
During the latter part of the Ceauşescu period, Romania earned significant credits from several Arab countries, notably Iraq, for work related to the oil industry. In August 2005, Romania forgave US$2 billion of the US$2.5 billion debt owed it by an Iraq still largely occupied by the military forces of the U.S.-led "Coalition of the Willing", making Romania the first country outside of the Paris Club of wealthy creditor nations to forgive Iraqi debts. Romania has the largest international reserves in the region, estimated at € 19 billion, covering more than 7 months of imports.
[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=68683&d=19&m=8&y=2005] [http://www.gandul.info/2005-08-24/actual/aurul_petrolul_si_regatenii] [http://www.phg.ro/stire.php?id=22333&cat_id=10]
Wages
The average gross wage per month in Romania is 965 new lei as of September 2005, an increase of 0.2% over the previous month. This equates to €266.58 and US$313.31. The average net salary per month in October 2005 was 742 new lei (€203.31), an increase of 12%, over the previous year. In 2009 it is calculated that the average wage will be 414€, and 339€ in 2007 respectively according to the Comisia Nationala de Prognoza (CNP).
Currency
Comisia Nationala de Prognoza (CNP)
Romania's legal tender is the leu (plural lei). On 1 July 2005, the leu was subjected to redenomination so that 10,000 old lei, in circulation on that date, was exchanged for 1 new leu. The existing banknotes and coins, i.e. the old lei, will be legal tender until the end of December 2006. The official exchange rate for 10 August 2005 for 1€=3.39 lei (National Bank of Romania). By 31 December 2006, the existing banknotes and coins, i.e. the old lei, are to be replaced gradually by the new banknotes and coins. The process will prepare Romania for the adoption of the euro, which is expected to take place several years after EU accession. The Romanian government has said that it expects the country will adopt the euro between 2011 and 2012.
Main indicators of the ROMANIA's economy:
Romania's GDP over 2005-2007 will go up by 10 billion euros per year, and will stand in 2007 at 96.138 billion euros.
National Budget
National budget, about € 29 billions euro, represents about 31,2% of GDP of RON 322,5 billions (EURO 90,8 billions), declared the Prime-Minister Tariceanu. National budget is increasing rapidly about 6 billions EURO each year for the interval of time 2005-2009. About 2 billions EURO/year are spend for national defense.
National budget of Romania:
National Holidays
The Christian holidays of Christmas and (Orthodox) Easter are celebrated (they are official, non-working, holidays). Unlike some other Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Romanian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on 25 December; however, they follow the usual Eastern Orthodox practice for the date of Easter. Other official holidays (non-working) are New Year's Day (January 1), Labour Day (May 1), and the National Day of Romania (December 1, the Union Day). For Christmas and for Labour Day, it is common for businesses to shut down more than a single day.
Minor, but widely observed, holidays include Mărţişor (March 1), marking the start of spring, and International Women's Day (March 8). Many businesses give women employees the day off for International Women's Day. Some holidays celebrated in the United States or in other parts of Europe have recently been gaining some currency in Romania, for example Valentine's Day (February 14).
Also see Holidays in Romania.
Sport in Romania
Holidays in Romania]]
Romania is successful in a number of sports at international level. See also List of Romanians (sport section).
The gymnast Nadia Comaneci was the first gymnast to score a perfect ten in Olympic competition (1976 Montreal Olympic Games). She also won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze - all at the age of fourteen. Her success continued in the 1980 Moscow Olympics when she was awarded two gold medals and two silver medals.
Ilie Nastase, the tennis player, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won several Grand Slam titles, dozens of other tournaments and also was a successful doubles player. Romania has also reached the Davis Cup finals three times.
Soccer is popular in Romania with international footballers such as Gheorghe Hagi who played for Steaua Bucuresti (Romania), Real Madrid, Barcelona (Spain) and Galatasaray (Turkey) among others. The Romanian soccer club Steaua Bucureşti was the first Eastern European club to ever win the prestigious European Champions Cup title (1986).
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Romania
Ethnicity
Ethnic groups (Census 2001):
- Romanian 89.5%
- Hungarian 6.5%
- Roma 2.5%
- Ukrainian 0.3%
- German 0.3%
- Russian 0.2%
- Turkish and Tatar 0.2%
- Other 0.4%
An October 2005 report estimates that 1,061,400 Romanians are living in Italy, constituting 37.2% of 2.8 million immigrants in that country. [http://www.evz.ro/eveniment/?news_id=201813]
Other ethnic groups include natives of Romania's neighbouring countries and some smaller groups like the Polish minority (numbering a few thousand people) living in Suceava County.
Ethnic minorities can use their native language in education. Ethnic minorities are offered native language access to public administration in towns and villages where they make up for more that 20% of the population. In towns and villages where they make up for more than 30% of the population, local council meetings can be held in the minority language, provided that translation into Romanian is provided, and that official minutes are kept in Romanian (cf. the Public Administration Law, link below).
Some people say that the Roma population is undercounted in national censuses (by this account, some Roma choose to declare themselves as Romanians or Hungarians). The Roma people are commonly known in Romania as ţigani (tzigany). Most of them live a nomadic life.
Language
The official language is Romanian, a Romance language of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, which are also called Romanic, Romantic or Romance languages. This language family includes French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian and Portuguese; its languages are spoken by about 670 million people in many parts of the world, but mainly in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. About 25 million people worldwide speak Romanian, mostly in Romania and Moldova (4,500,000).
A sizeable Hungarian minority in Transylvania speaks Hungarian as well as Romanian; until the 1990s, there were also a substantial number of German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons, but most of them have left the country since the fall of communism and the accompanying opening of borders.
The Romanian educational system puts a strong emphasis on foreign languages, and Radio România has a channel on which they broadcast in a number of foreign languages. More than a quarter of Romanians understand and speak French and Romania is a member of the Organisation de la Francophonie, with Bucharest being the host of the Summit of Francophony in 2006.
In terms of foreign languages, 5 million Romanians speak English, 4-5 million speak French , 1.5 million speak German, 2 million speak Italian, and 1 million speak Spanish. [http://www.anis.ro/index.php?page=afaceri&sec=afaceri_avantaje&lang=ro]
Historically, French was the leading foreign language for Romanians to study, now it is English, so that as a group the English-speakers in Romania are younger than the French-speakers.
Religion
Religions (2002 Census):
- Romanian Orthodox - 86.8%
- Roman Catholic - 4.5%
- Protestant - 3.7%
- Pentecostal - 1.5%
- Greek-Catholic Uniate - 0.9%
Most Romanians are members of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is one of the churches of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Catholicism (both Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic) and Protestantism are also represented, mostly in the areas inhabited by population closer to western influence.
In Dobrogea, the region lying on the shore of the Black Sea, there is a small Muslim minority (of Turkish and Tatar ethnicity), which is a remnant of the Ottoman rule and migrations from Crimea, respectively.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Romania
There are many TV stations in Romania like: TVR, PRO-TV, PRIMA-TV, Antena1, REALITATEA TV.
Culture of Romania
See also:
- Art of Romania
- Christmas customs in Romania
- List of Romanians
- Literature of Romania
- Music of Romania
- Romanian-American
- Romanian poets
- Tourism in Romania
Miscellaneous topics
- Căluşari - a traditional male folk dance
- Cercetaşii României
- Communications in Romania
- Government of Romania
- Foreign relations of Romania
- Health Care in Romania
- History of Romania
- Holidays in Romania
- List of national parks of Romania
- List of Romania-related topics
- Military of Romania
- Romanian cuisine
- Transportation in Romania
- List of Romanian newspapers
- List of universities in Romania
- Education in Romania
- Theaters in Romania
Gallery
image:palaceofpeopleromania.jpg|Palatul Parlamentului, Bucharest
image:Ateneul_Roman.jpg|Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest
image:The_University.JPG|The University, Bucharest
image:CJROothodox.JPG|Orthodox Cathedral, Cluj-Napoca
image:CJROcatholic.JPG|Catholic Church, Cluj-Napoca
image:CJROtheatre.jpg|National Theatre, Cluj-Napoca
image:Baritiu.jpg|Bariţiu Street, Cluj-Napoca
image:CJROLupoaica.jpg|Eroilor Ave, Cluj-Napoca
image:PteatruTgM.JPG|National Theatre, Târgu Mureş
image:Sibiu.jpg|Sibiu Center Skyline
Image:Constanta-cazino.jpg|Casino, Constanţa
Image:Borzesti Side view.jpg|Borzeşti Church, Borzeşti
Image:Bucharest Revolution Monument.jpg|Memorial of Rebirth, Bucharest
Image:Bucuresti_fantana.jpg|Palatul Parlamentului, Bucharest
Image:pelescastle.jpg|Peleş Castle, Sinaia
Image:Poarta01.jpg|The Kiss Gate, Târgu Jiu
International rankings
- A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine: [http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,4,1,116 Globalization Index 2005], ranked 35 out of 62 countries
- Bertelsmann: [http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/37.0.html?&L=1 Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006], ranked 19th out of 119 countries
- IMD International: [http://www01.imd.ch/wcy/ World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005], ranked 55 out of 60 economies (countries and regions)
- Reporters without borders: [http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=554 Annual worldwide press freedom index (2005)], ranked 70 out of 167 countries
- The Wall Street Journal: [http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/ 2005] Index of Economic Freedom, ranked 125 out of 155 countries
- The Economist: [http://www.economist.com/theworldin/international/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3372495&d=2005 The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005], ranked 58 out of 111 countries
- Transparency International: [http://ww1.transparency.org/cpi/2005/cpi2005_infocus.html Corruption Perceptions Index 2005], ranked 85 out of 158 countries (tied with Mongolia and Dominican Republic)
- United Nations Development Programme: [http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/ Human Development Index 2005], ranked 64 out of 177 countries
- World Economic Forum: [http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Growth+Competitiveness+Index+rankings+2005+and+2004+comparisons Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking], ranked 67 out of 117 countries
- World Bank: [http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/Default.aspx?economyid=158 Doing Business 2006], ranked 78th out of 155
- World Bank: [http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/Default.aspx?economyid=158 Ease of Starting a Business 2006], ranked 8th out of 155
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: [http://www.unctad.org/sections/dite_dir/docs/wir05_fs_ro_en.pdf Foreign Direct Investment Performance Index 2004], ranked 35th out of 140
External links
Official links
- [http://www.gov.ro/engleza/ Official site of the Romanian government]
- [http://www.presidency.ro/?lang=en Presidency of Romania]
- [http://www.senat.ro/ The Romanian Senate]
- [http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=103&idl=2 Camera Deputaţilor] (lower house of Parliament)
- [http://www.mtromania.ro/page.html?lg=eng Tourism Ministry]
- [http://www.mae.ro/index.php?lang=en Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
- [http://www.senat.ro/ The Romanian Senate]
- [http://www.recensamant.ro/ 2002 Census Data (Romanian only)]
- [http://www.cdep.ro/pls/legis/legis_pck.htp_act_text?idt=27123 Legea Administratiei Publice Locale] (Public Administration Law)
- [http://www.paginialbe.ro/index_engleza.php3 Telephone Directory]
- [http://www.paginialbe.ro/index.php3 Telephone Directory (romanian) ]
- [http://www.paginiaurii.ro/index_engleza.php3 Golden Pages ]
Travel guides
- [http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/europe/romania Lonely Planet Guide - Romania]
- [http://www.spirit.ro/ The Spirit of Romania - travel journals, photography, stories]
- [http://travelromania.tripod.com/ Your Online Portal to Romania – Photographs and reviewed links to Web sites, articles and books about Romania]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Romania Romania travel guide at Wikitravel]
- [http://www.sibiu2007.ro - Sibiu/Hermanstadt, European Cultural Capital in 2007]
- [http://www.enjoyromania.ro - Enjoy Romania - Your Gateway to Romania]
Currency
- [http://www.bnro.ro/En/Info/curs_ext.asp Exchange Rates] - from the National Bank of Romania
- [http://www.denominare.ro/common/htmls/en.htm Information about redenomination]
Articles
- Alexandru Alexe, [http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050810/balkan_tigers.html?.v=1 "Investors move east to booming Romania"], Associated Press story, 10 August 2005.
Category:Black Sea countries
fiu-vro:Romaania
als:Rumänien
roa-rup:România
zh-min-nan:România
ko:루마니아
ms:Romania
ja:ルーマニア
simple:Romania
th:ประเทศโรมาเนีย
BukovinaBukovina is the territory on the slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains. It comprises a historic province now split between Romania and Ukraine.
Name
The original name of the region in Romanian during the rule of the Principality of Moldova was "Ţara de Sus" (Upper Country), refering as opposed to the lower plains called "Ţara de Jos" (Lower Country).
The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation to the Austrian Habsburg possessions, later known as the Austrian Empire, and Austria-Hungary. The name has a Slavic origin and is derived from the word for beech tree; the German equivalent, das Buchenland, mostly used in poetry, means, literally, "beech land", or, more poetically, "land of beech trees". Its pronounced and written similarly in several European languages, Romanian: Bucovina; Ukrainian: Буковина, Bukovyna; German: das Buchenland or die Bukowina, etc.
The standard German name, die Bukowina, which was the official German-language name for the province under Austrian rule, is derived from the Slavic original, via the Polish form of the name which is exactly the same. This was due to the fact that, for roughly the first half of the 19th century, and for some years prior, Austrian Bukovina was adminstered as an integral part of neighbouring Galicia, whose internal government was, by active Austrian policy, controlled by Polish bureaucrats and nobles (szlachta) who had also traditionally formed the ruling class in that territory before the Habsburg acquired it for Austria under the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the last quarter of the 18th century. In English, an alternate name is The Bukovina, increasingly an archaism, which, however, is to be found in older literature,
One explanation for the reason why this part of Moldavia was referred to as Bukovina unofficially even before the Habsburgs wrested it from the Russians, as the price for their continued neutrality in a dispute between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, was due the region's having been the site of an ancient battle between the Hungarians and the Moldavian Romanians.
On the field of battle littered with the corpses of the fallen, a forest of beech trees grew up, nourished by the blood of both sides - admittedly a rather gruesome, poetical, and, likely apocryphal, image.
Thus, despite the fact that the stories of Dracula popularised by Bram Stoker have made the vampire count's homeland more famous outside the region than Bukovina, the latter territory can claim a great compliment, and subtle one-upmanship, in having its more famous neighbour named after it.
History vampire.]]
From Roman times, Dacian peoples (the alleged ancestors of the present-day Romanians) inhabited the territory. In the 5th century, the territory came under the rule of the Avars. Around the 7th century, Slavic populations settled in the region.
In the 9th to early 14th centuries the territory was a part of Kievan Rus and one of its successor states, Galician-Volhynian principality. From the mid-14th century, this region became the nucleus of the Romanian Principality of Moldova, with the city of Suceava as its capital from 1388. In the 15th century, parts of the region became the subject of disputes between the Moldavian state and the Polish kingdom. In this period, the patronage of Ştefan cel Mare and his successors on the throne of Moldavia saw the construction of the famous painted Monasteries of Moldoviţa, Putna, Suceviţa and Voroneţ. With their renowned exterior frescoes, these monasteries remain some of the greatest cultural treasures of modern Romania.
In the 16th century, Bukovina came under the control of the Ottoman Turks, after which it was occupied by the Russian Empire in 1769, and then by the Austrian Habsburgs in 1774. It remained under Austrian administration until 1918, first as a closed military district (1775 - 1786), then as the largest district, Kreis, of the Austrian constituent Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1787 - 1849), and, finally, in 1849, becoming an Austrian crownland, Kronland, and duchy, as Herzogtum Bukowina. During the period of the Dual Monarchy, Bukovina remained part of the Cisleithanian or Austrian territories of the Empire. Ethnically, Bukovina remained mixed under the Austrian rule: predominantly Romanian in the south, Ukrainian in the north, a few Hungarian Székely and in the towns Germans, Poles and Jews being added to the mix. In spite of some frictions between Romanian and Ukrainian populations at the time over the influences in the Orthodox hierarchy, the interethnical conflicts did not reach a significant level and both cultures developed in educational and public life. Morevoer, in the end of the 19th century, the development of Ukrainian culture in Bukovina surpassed most of the rest of Ukraine with a network of Ukrainian educational facilities being developed on the ground.
Since Romania's gaining of independence in 1878, it became the country's important priority to incorporate an entire historic province which, as a core of Moldavian principality, was of a great historic significance to Romanian history and containied many prominent monuments of the Romanian art and architecture.
1878
In World War I, several battles were fought in Bukovina between the Austro-Hungarian, German, and Russian armies and the Russian army was finally driven out in 1917. With the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 the province was occupied by Romania. Although local Ukrainians have unsuccesfully attempted to incorporate parts of northern Bukovina into the short living West Ukrainian National Republic, the Romanian control of the province was finally formalized in the Treaty of St. Germain in 1919 and the policies of Rumanization were carried in the interwar period.
On 28 June, 1940, northern Bukovina, centred on the capital, Chernivtsi, was occupied by Soviet troops as a consequence of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact between Hitler and Stalin. Almost the entire German population of northern Bukovina established during Austrian rule emigrated to the Reich. Northern Bukovina changed hands twice more during the course of World War II, notably when Petre Dumitrescu led the Romanian Third Army into the North, and later when the Soviet Army retook the territory for the Soviet Union.
During World War II, Bukovina's Jewish community was destroyed by the deportations over the Dniester and Bug rivers. In the end, a then-Communist Romania was forced to cede the northern part of Bukovina to the USSR by the 1947 peace treaty. The territory, now known as the Chernivtsi Oblast (province), became part of the Ukrainian SSR and the southern part of the province surrounding Suceava became part of the Romanian People's Republic. This division of the region, now between the modern states of Romania and Ukraine, is still in place today.
Demographic History
In 1775, the Romanian population was about 86% of the total population of Bukovina. During the 19th Century, however, the Austro-Hungarian Empire encouraged the influx of many immigrants such as Germans, Poles, Jews and Hungarians but especially Ruthenian (Ukrainian) immigrants from Galicia.
Despite this influx, Romanians continued to be the largest ethnic group in the province, until 1880 when Ukrainians outnumbered the Romanians 5:4. According to the 1880 census there were 239.690 Ukrainians or roughly 41.5 % of the region while Romanians came in second with 190.005 people or 33% of the region, a ratio that remained unchanged until WWI.
In the 1930 census, Romanians made up almost 45% of the total population of Bukovina and Ukrainians 29.2%. However in the northern region and Hertsa which subsequently were surrendered to the USSR, Romanians made up only 32.6% of the population, while Ukrainians slightly outnumbered Romanians.
Bukovina should not be confused with Chernivtsi Oblast, as the later included not only northern Bukovina and Hertsa but also the northern part of the Khotin county, thus totaling a population of circa 805.000 in 1940, out of which 47.5% were Ukrainians in 1940 and 28.3 were Romanians, Germans, Jews, Poles, Hungarians and Russians comprising the rest.
During WWII, major demographic changes occurred, most Jews and Poles being deported, while most Germans returned to Germany. Moreover, the Soviet government deported or killed about 41.000 Romanians while at the same time further encouraging an influx of Ukrainians from the Ukrainian SSR.
The present demographic situation hardly resembles that before WWII.
Ukrainians represent about 70% of the population of northern Bukovina, while Romanians have fallen to just under 20% or 181900 people. Only 171300 of the remaining Romanian population declared Romanian as their mother tongue however.
Russians are the third largest ethnic group with 6%, while Jews and Poles comprise the rest.
Current Population
A compact Romanian minority inhabits the southern part of Chernivtsi region. The Romanian percentage of the population in the following districts preponderates or forms a significant segment as indicated by these recent census figures (Romanian-speakers are marked in brakets), viz.:
- Hertsa (Herţa) - 93.8% (94%)
- Novoselitza (Noua Suliţă) - 65% (64%)
- Hlyboka (Adâncata) - 50% (46.5%)
- Storozhinetz (Storojineţ) - 35% (33%)
In every other part of northern Bukovina, including the city of Chernivtsi, Ukrainians are in the majority.
Cities and towns
Northern Bukovina
- Berehomet (Romanian Berhomet)
- Chernivtsi (Romanian Cernăuţi)
- Hertsa(Romanian Herţa)
- Hlyboka(Romanian Hliboca)
- Khotyn(Romanian Hotin)
- Kel'mentsi
- Kitsman' (Kotzman)
- Krasnoil's'k
- Luzhany (Romanian Lujeni)
- Nepolokivtsi
- Novoselytsia
- Novodnistrovs'k
- Putyla
- Sadagóra
- Sokyriany
- Storozhynets'(Romanian Storojineţ)
- Vashkivtsi (Waschkautz)(Romanian Văscăuţi)
- Vyzhnytsia (Wischnitza, Wiznitz)
- Zastavna
Southern Bukovina
- Câmpulung Moldovenesc
- Fălticeni
- Gura Humorului
- Rădăuţi
- Săveni
- Siret
- Solca
- Suceava
- Vatra Dornei
See also
- Székelys of Bukovina
External links
- [http://www.bukovinasociety.org Bukovina Society of the Americas]
- [http://www.bucovinatravel.ro Bucovina's Association for Tourism website]
-
Siret RiverThe Siret River (in hungarian: Szeret) is a river that rises from the Carpathians in the Northern Bukovina region of Ukraine, flows southward into Romania for 470 km before it joins Danube. In ancient times, it was named Hierasus.
Tributaries
- Nagostina
- Cacaina
- Şomuzul Mare
- Moldova
- Bistriţa
- Trotuş
- Suceava
Category:Rivers of Romania
Suceava
Suceava (pronunciation in Romanian: ; name in German Suczawa, Yiddish שאָץ Shots) is a city in the Suceava county, Bucovina, Romania. Population - 108,735 (July 2002).
Geography
The city is located in the north-eastern Romania. There are two types of geographical regions on which the city was built - the hills (the highest point is the Zamca Hill) and the meadows of the Suceava River. The unusual configuration of Suceava City includes two groves - Zamca and Şipote regions - which are both located in the city limits. Burdujeni, one of the districts (cartiere) of Suceava, is connected to the rest of the city through an avenue, so Burdujeni is more like a satellite town of Suceava.
History
The city of Suceava was the capital of the first centralized state of Moldavia (between 1359 and 1565) under the rule of Bogdan I, Petru Musat and Stefan cel Mare. It was then under the rule of the Austrian Empire from(1775-1918), at the end of WWI to be incorporated in Greater Romania.
Ways to spend time
In the past few years Suceava started to evolve more rapidly, but even so it remains a small, dreary city. Tourists can visit the Museum of History, Hanul Domnesc, Cetatea de Scaun (fortress), Muzeul Satului, the Planetarium, the Museum of Natural Science and, in the vicinity of the city, a few monasteries, lakes, woods and the floral reservation of Bosanci. The Saint George's Church of Suceava is one of the seven Painted churches of northern Moldavia included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
There are also a few hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars in the city (mostly in the center area), but in Suceava there is no night life, so very few places remain open during night.
External links
- [http://www.orasulsuceava.ro/ Orasul Suceava - city information site - only in Romanian]
- [http://www.usv.ro The "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava]
- [http://www.monitorulsv.ro/ Monitorul de Suceava - local newspaper - only in Romanian]
- [http://www.obiectiv.ro/ Obiectiv Vocea Sucevei - local newspaper - only in Romanian]
- [http://www.crainou.ro Crai Nou Suceava - local newspaper - only in Romanian]
Category:Municipalities in Romania
Category:Romanian historical capitals
Category:Suceava
Painted churches of northern Moldavia, Suceava
ja:スチャヴァ
Category:Rivers of Romania
Romania
Rivers
Romania
EmancipationErnåelse av rättslig likställdhet, frigörelse.
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