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Izmail

Izmail

]] Izmail or Ismail (; ; Romanian: Ismail), is a town in south-western Ukraine, located near Danube delta in Odessa Oblast (province). Ismail fortress was built by Genoese merchants in the 12th century A.D. and later belonged to the Romanian principality of Moldavia until around 1478 when the Ottoman Empire occupied it. Since the early 16th century known as the main Turkish fortress in the Budjak region. In 1569 Turkish Sultan settled Ismail with his Nogai subjects, originally from Northern Caucasus. Ismail fortress was claimed to be impenetrable at the time, but during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792 legendary Russian military commander Alexander Suvorov on December 22 , 1790 successfully stormed Ismail. Turkish forces inside the fortress had the orders to stand their ground to the end and haughtily declined Russian ultimatum. The defeat was seen as a major catastrophe in the Ottoman Empire, but in Russia it was glorified in the first national anthem, Let the thunder of victory sound!. Later Ismail was returned to Ottoman Empire and captured by both sides on several occasions, in Romanian hands between 1856 and 1877, finally becoming part of Russian Empire's Bessarabia province in 1877 as result of Treaty of San Stefano. Between 1918 and 1945 Ismail was held by the Kingdom of Romania, and after 1945 became part of Ukrainian SSR later independent Ukraine. Currently about 85 000 people live in Ismail, it is minor center of food-processing industry and a popular regional tourist destanation. About 44% of the population is Russian while 38% Ukrainian. Bulgarians are 10% and Romanians 4% of the city's population. It is the largest Ukrainian harbour in the Danube Delta, and until 1954 it was the capital of the former Izmail oblast.

Famous natives


- Alexandru Averescu, Romanian Marshal, Army Commander during WWI.
- Olena Hovorova, Ukrainian athlete won the triple jump bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Category:Cities in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine (Ukrainian: Україна, Ukrayina, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the northeast, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest and the Black Sea to the south. The territory of present-day Ukraine was a key centre of East Slavic culture in the Middle Ages, before being divided between a variety of powers, notably Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, Romania and the Ottoman Empire. A brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917 was ended by Ukraine's absorption into the Soviet Union and the republic's present borders were only established in 1954. It became independent once more following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Name

Etymology

There are three main versions of the Slavic etymology for the name, all of them ultimately stem from the slavic root
- kraj- with the meaning 'cut'. Opinions vary as to the immediate derivation.
- By one theory the name is directly translated as 'borderland, frontier' (cf. Russian окраина/okraina 'outskirts' or Serbo-Croatian Krajina; this would be a semantic parallel to -mark in Denmark, cf. Marches).
- Another one associates it with the Ukrainian word країна/krajina 'country' (cf. also Belarusian краіна/kraina; these words can be compared to Polish kraj 'country'; this is also one of the meanings of Ukrainian and Russian край/kraj).
- Still another one derives the name directly from the Ukrainian verb краяти/krajaty, meaning 'to cut', indicating the land the Rus' (or Ruthenians or Ukrainians) carved out for themselves.

Ukraine or the Ukraine?

The country is often referred to in English with the definite article, as the Ukraine. This usage is now deprecated by many media organizations (compare "the Lebanon" and "the Sudan") and partly because of the implication that Ukraine is merely a region rather than an independent state. There was, however, no change in Ukrainian or Russian usage with Ukraine's independence, as there are no articles, definite or indefinite, in either language. However there is a parallel concerning the usage of the preposition na or v with Ukraine, both in Ukrainian and in Russian. Traditional usage is na Ukrayini (loosely, "at Ukraine"), but recently Ukrainian authorities have been using v Ukrayini ("in Ukraine"), as this preposition is used with most other country names. While in Ukrainian the newly introduced usage of v Ukrayini took hold, the usage in Russian varies. Russian language media from within Ukraine are increasingly using this form. However, the media in Russia mostly uses traditional na Ukraine, maintaining that it remains a proper usage and questioning the authority of the Ukrainian government over the Russian language. (See also Kiev or Kyiv for a similar debate).

History

Human settlement in the territory of Ukraine has been documented into distant prehistory. The late neolithic Trypillian culture flourished from ca. 4500 BC to 3000 BC. In antiquity, the southern and eastern parts of modern Ukraine were populated by Iranian nomads called Scythians. The Scythian Kingdom existed in Ukraine between 700 BC and 200 BC. In the third century, the Goths arrived, calling their country Oium, and formed the Chernyakhov culture before moving on and defeating the Roman empire. In the 7th century Ukraine was the core of the state of the Bulgars (often referred to as Great Bulgaria) who had their capital in the city of Phanagoria. The majority of the Bulgar tribes migrated in several directions at the end of the seventh century and the remains of their state was swept by the Khazars, a Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia which later adopted Judaism. The Khazars founded the independent Khazar kingdom in the southeastern part of today's Europe, near the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. In addition to western Kazakhstan, the Khazar kingdom also included territory in what is now eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, southern Russia, and Crimea. During the tenth and eleventh centuries the territory of Ukraine became the center of important state in Europe— Kievan Rus laying the foundation for national identity of Ukrainians, as well as other East Slavic nations, through subsequent centuries. Its capital was Kiev, the capital of modern Ukraine, ruled by Askold and Dir in the late 800s. According to the Primary Chronicle the Kievan Rus' elite initially consisted of Varangians, or Vikings, from present-day Scandinavia. The Varangians later became assimilated into the local population of Rus' and gave the Rus' its first powerful dynasty, the Rurik Dynasty. Rurik Dynasty Rurik Dynasty For the etymology of the terms Rus and Russia, see Etymology of Rus and derivatives. Kiev and Kievian Rus' were the seat of the Grand Prince of the Rurik Dynasty. The ruler of Kiev was also in effect the ruler of all the Rus' principalities. Kievan Rus' was fragmentated after Mstislav the Great's death in 1125. The term "Rus'" was originally applied to the inhabitants of all Rus' principalities, today comprising Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. After the fall of Kiev, and until the eighteenth century, the term "Rus" was self-applied by the members of all three East Slavic nations, but the latinized version, "Ruthenian", was used to designate inhabitants of Ukraine only; while the ancestors of modern Russians were usually referred to as Muscovites or Muscovite Russians by the name of their state that Poland called Muscovy. Kievan Rus' became weakened by internal quarrels and was destroyed by Mongol and Tatar invasions. On Ukrainian territory, the state of Kievan Rus' was succeeded by the principalities of Halych and Volodymyr-Volynskyi, which were merged into the state of Halych-Volynia. In the mid 14th century it was subjugated by Kazimierz IV of Poland, and after the 1386 marriage of Lithuania's Grand Duke Jagiello to Poland's Queen Jadwiga, was ruled by the Lithuanians as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed in 1569 Union of Lublin, significant part of Ukraine was moved under the Polish administration, as it was transferred to the Polish Crown. Under the cultural pressure of polonization much of the Ukrainian (or rather Ruthenian) upper class converted to Catholicism as such transitions was beneficial for achieving the political influence within the state, e.g. one of the Wiśniowiecki's even became king of Poland. At the same time the common people (peasants) retained their old ways (including the Orthodox religion), which led to the increasing social tensions, visible in such events as the 1596 Union of Brest, created by Zygmunt III, who attempted to bring the Orthodox population closer to Catholicism. This move failed to achieve its goals. The new "intermediate" religion was unnecessary for the upper class, much of whom turned directly towards Catholicism. Thus, the Ukrainian commoners were deprived of their native protectors and turned for the protection to the Cossacks who remained fiercely Orthodox at all times. In the mid of the 17th century, a Cossack state, the Zaporizhian Sich, was established by Ukrainians and others fleeing Polish serfdom which formally belonged to Poland. Located in central Ukraine, it was an autonomous military state, initially allied with the Commonwealth. However the suppression of the Ukrainian free farmers by the Polish nobility, further imposition of serfdom and the suppression of the Orthodox church pushed the allegiances of Cossacks away from Poland. Their aspiration was to have a representation in Polish Seim, recognition of Orthodox traditions, which was vehemantly denied by Polish kings. They turned toward Orthodox Russia, which was one reason for the later downfall of the Polish-Lithuanian state. In 1648 Bohdan Khmelnytsky organized the largest of the Cossacks upprising, against the Commonwealth and the Polish king Jan II Kazimierz. This uprising finally led to a partition of Ukraine between Poland and Russia. Left-Bank Ukraine was eventually integrated into Russia as the Cossack Hetmanate, as a consequence of the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1667. After the partitions of Poland by Prussia, Austria, and Russia at the end of the eighteenth century, Western Ukraine (Galicia) was taken over by Austria, while the rest of Ukraine was progressively incorporated into the Russian Empire. The treaty of Pereyaslav was abolished and Ukrainians never received the freedoms they were hoping for from Tsarist Russia. Ukrainians played an important role in the frequent wars between East European monarchies and the Ottoman Empire, they rised to the highest offices of Russian state (e.g., Aleksey Razumovsky, Alexander Bezborodko, Ivan Paskevich), and dominated the Russian Orthodox Church (e.g., Stephen Yavorsky, Feofan Prokopovich, Dimitry of Rostov). During the first world war austro-hungarian authorities in territory of Galicia subject to repression Ukrainians, sympathizing Russia. Over twenty thousand supporters of Russia are arrested and placed in the Austrian concentration camp in Talerhof, Stiria, and in fortress Terezien, Czechia. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917, Ukraine was briefly independent in two states, then united by cruel war, in 1920. In the period when the independent Ukrainian government was headed nationalist leader Simon Petlura (1919), there were numerous Jewish pogroms. By 1922 Ukraine was split between Poland and the Soviet Union. Also in 1922, most of Central and Eastern Ukraine became a constituent republic of the USSR as the Ukrainian SSR. In 20s years the communist leaders realized a policy of Ukrainization (коренизация), introduction of the Ukrainian language and culture in Russian-speaking Ukrainian cities. To satisfy the state's need for increased food supplies, the Soviet industrialization program called for the collectivization of agriculture, which had a profound effect on Ukraine, the nation's breadbasket (see Collectivization in the USSR). In the late 1920s and early 1930s the state compounded the peasants' lands and animals into collective farms and state farms. Although the program was designed to affect all peasants, the plan met particularly heavy resistance from the wealthiest peasants, the kulaks, and a desperate struggle of the peasantry against the authorities ensued. The idea of collective farming was foreign to Ukrainian farmers where emphasis was always made on individual achievements. Peasants slaughtered their cows and pigs rather than turn them over to the collective farms, especially in Ukraine, with the result that livestock resources remained below the 1929 level for years afterward. The state in turn forcibly collectivized reluctant peasants and deported kulaks and active rebels to Siberia. Within the collective farms, the authorities in many instances exacted such high levels of procurements that starvation was widespread. In some places, famine was allowed to run its course; and millions of peasants in Ukraine starved to death in a famine, called the Holodomor in Ukrainian. An estimated 3-6 million people died in this horrible manmade famine ([http://rg-new.w-m.ru/Anons/arc_2003/0917/5.shtm]) similar to the Russian famine of 1921. The disaster also has captured many regions of southern Russia. During World War II, some elements of the Ukrainian nationalist underground fought both Nazi and Soviet forces, while others collaborated with the Nazis. In 1941 the German invaders and their Axis allies initially advanced against desperate but unsuccessful efforts of the Red Army. In the encirclement battle of Kiev, the city was acclaimed by the Soviets as a "Hero City", for the fierce resistance of the Red Army and of the local population. More than 660,000 Soviet troops were taken captive. Initially, the Germans were received as "liberators" by many Ukrainians. However, German rule in the occupied territories eventually aided the Soviet cause. Nazi administrators of conquered Soviet territories made little attempt to exploit the population's dissatisfaction with Soviet political and economic policies. Instead, the Nazis preserved the collective-farm system, systematically carried out genocidal policies against Jews, and deported others (mainly Ukrainians) to work in Germany. Under these circumstances, the great majority of the Soviet people fought and worked on their country's behalf, thus ensuring the regime's survival. Total civilian losses during the war and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated between five and eight million, including over half a million Jews shot and killed by the Einsatzgruppen, often with the help of Ukrainian collaborators. Of the estimated eleven million Soviet troops who fell in battle against the Nazis, about a quarter (2.7 million) were ethnic Ukrainians. Ukraine is distinguished as one of the first nations to fight the Axis powers in Carpatho-Ukraine, and one that saw some of the greatest bloodshed during the war. After the Second World War, the borders of then-Soviet Ukraine were extended to the West (as stipulated in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, see also Curzon line), uniting most Ukrainians under one political state. The expellation of the Poles began in 1942-1943 with the massacres of Wolynia, where more than 40.000 people where killed by Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Over one million Poles were expelled from Ukraine. In 1954, Crimea was transferred from the RSFSR to Ukraine. This decision of Nikita Khrushchev, intended to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, seen in Soviet historiography as the 'union of two fraternal peoples', led to tensions between Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Independence was achieved in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Ukraine was a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Government and Politics

Commonwealth of Independent States Commonwealth of Independent States Ukraine is a democracy under a semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President of Ukraine (elected by popular vote) nominates the Prime Minister, who must be confirmed by the 450-seat parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The President (on advice and consent of the Prime Minister) appoints members of the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as heads of all central agencies and regional and district administrations. Laws, acts of the parliament and the Cabinet, presidential edicts, and acts of the Crimean parliament (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) may be nullified by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when they are found to violate the Constitution of Ukraine. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The Supreme Court of Ukraine is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction. Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets. In practice, the scope of local self-government is limited. Ukraine has a large number of political parties, many of which have tiny memberships and are unknown to the general public. Small parties often join in multi-party coalitions (electoral blocks) for the purpose of participating in parliamentary elections. See also:
- Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
- Foreign relations of Ukraine

Subdivisions

Ukraine is subdivided into twenty-four oblasts (provinces) and one autonomous republic (Crimea). Additionally, two cities have a special legal status. See also regions of Ukraine.

Geography

regions of Ukraine The Ukrainian landscape consists mostly of fertile plains, or steppes, and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the Dnieper, Seversky Donets, Dniester and the Southern Buh as they flow south into the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. To the southwest the delta of the Danube forms the border with Romania. The country's only mountains are the Carpathian Mountains in the west, of which the highest is the Hora Hoverla at 2,061 m, and those in the Crimean peninsula, in the extreme south along the coast. Ukraine has a mostly temperate continental climate, though a more mediterranean climate is found on the southern Crimean coast. Precipitation is disproportionately distributed; it is highest in the west and north and lesser in the east and southeast. Winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland. Summers are warm across the greater part of the country, but generally hot in the south.

Economy

Precipitation Precipitation Precipitation Formerly an important agricultural and industrial region of the Soviet Union, Ukraine now depends on Russia for most energy supplies, especially natural gas, although lately it has been trying to diversify its sources. The lack of significant structural reform has made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. After 1991 the government liberalised most prices and erected a legal framework for privatisation, but widespread resistance to reform within the government soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. The current government has pledged to reduce the number of government agencies, streamline the regulatory process, create a legal environment to encourage entrepreneurs, and enact a comprehensive tax overhaul. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatisation are still lagging. Outside institutions—particularly the IMF—have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms and have threatened to withdraw financial support. The GDP in 2000 showed strong export-based growth of 6%—the first growth since independence—and industrial production grew 12.9%. The economy continued to expand in 2001, as real GDP rose 9% and industrial output grew by over 14%. Growth was undergirded by strong domestic demand and growing consumer and investor confidence. Rapid economic growth in 2002 - 2004 is largely attributed to a surge in steel exports to China.

Demographics

2004 2004 Ethnic Ukrainians make up 77.8% of the population. The minorities include significant groups of ethnic Russians (17.3%), Belarusians (0.6%), Moldavians (0.5%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Bulgarians (0.4%), Hungarians (0.3%), Romanians (0.3%), Poles (0.3%), Jews (0.2%), Armenians (0.2%), Greeks (0.2%) and Tatars (0.2%) [http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/]. The industrial regions in the east and south-east are the most heavily populated, and about 67.2% of the population lives in urban areas. Ukrainian is the only official state language. Russian, which was the official language in the Soviet Union, is still used by many people, especially in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian is considered to be a native language by 67.5% of the population and Russian by 29.6% (according to the 2001 census). It is sometimes difficult to determine the extent of the two language, since many people use a mixed language (Surzhyk) containing elements of both, while thinking they speak Russian or Ukrainian. Standard literary Ukrainian is mainly spoken in western and central Ukraine. In western Ukraine, Ukrainian is also the dominant language in cities (e.g. Lviv). In central Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian are both equally used in cities (including Kiev), while Ukrainian is the dominant language in rural communities. In eastern Ukraine mainly Russian and Surzhyk are used. In the Autonomous Republic of Crimea practically all of the population speaks Russian and Ukrainain is virtually unused. Both languages are official within the autonomous republic. The share of students receiving their education in Russian has significantly declined from 41% in 1995 to 24% in 2004, in favour of Ukrainian-language education. Still, many urban Ukrainian schools are de facto Russian-speaking, especially in the east and south. Russian continues to be the language of international communication for many Ukrainians and is generally understood throughout the country.

Religion

de facto The dominant religion in Ukraine is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is currently split between three Church bodies. The distant second is the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which practices similar Liturgical rite to Eastern Orthodoxy, but is in communion with the Catholic see and recognizes the primacy of the Roman Pope as head of the Church. There are also smaller Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities.

Culture


- List of famous Ukrainians
- Music of Ukraine
- Ivan Kupala
- Sports in Ukraine

Miscellaneous topics


- Chernobyl accident
- Communications in Ukraine
- List of cities in Ukraine
- List of newspapers in Ukraine
- Military of Ukraine
- Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)
- Scouting in Ukraine
- Tourism in Ukraine
- Transportation in Ukraine
- Ukraine at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Ukrainian cuisine
- 2005 Eurovision Song Contest

References


- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/up.html CIA World Factbook - Ukraine]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1102303.stm Country profile: Ukraine], BBC's Country Profile on Ukraine.
- [http://www.economist.com/countries/Ukraine/index.cfm Country Briefings: Ukraine], by The Economist
- [http://eb.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=oneclick&country_id=980000298 Executive Briefing: Ukraine], by Economist Intelligence Unit.
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine Special Report: Ukraine], ongoing coverage by Guardian Unlimited
- [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3211.htm Background Note: Ukraine], the U.S. Department of State website
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/european/ukraine/ua.html Ukraine], Portals to the World, Internet resources selected by Library of Congress subject experts
- [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20031/4 "Ukraine: Briefly about Her Past and Present"], in Welcome to Ukraine, 2003, 1]

External links


- [http://www.president.gov.ua/en/ Official presidential site of Ukraine]
- [http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en Government Portal of Ukraine] - Official governmental portal
- [http://www.rada.gov.ua Verkhovna Rada]—Official parliamentary site (in Ukrainian)
- [http://www.archives.gov.ua/Eng/ Archives of Ukraine]
- [http://www.ukrtelecom.ua/en/offers/web_cam/ Web cam shots for selected cities across Ukraine]
- [http://www.infoukes.com Infoukes]—General info on Ukraine's History and Politics
- [http://myukraine.info My Ukraine]—General info on Ukraine's culture and geography.
- [http://www.kyivpost.com Kyiv Post]—Kyiv News in English
- [http://www.ukraina.at Ukraina.at]—Ukraine Fanpage from Mr. Bartosch (in German)
- [http://pages.prodigy.net/l.hodges/ukraine.htm Ukrainian Language, Culture and Travel Page]
- [http://guide.kyiv.ru/ Kiev and Ukraine Travel Guide ]
- [http://www.skrobach.com/ Information about Independent Ukraine] Category:Black Sea countries zh-min-nan:Ukrayina als:Ukraine ko:우크라이나 ms:Ukraine ja:ウクライナ simple:Ukraine th:ประเทศยูเครน fiu-vro:Ukraina

Odessa Oblast

Odessa Oblast (Ukrainian: Одеська область, Odes’ka oblast’ or Одещина, Odeshchyna) is an oblast of south-western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Odessa.

History

Formerly ruled by the Ottoman Empire, the territory of the Odessa oblast passed into Russian and Soviet hands in various stages between the 18th century and 20th century. The Russian Empire's expansion along the Black Sea coast led to the creation of the territory of Novorossiya, which was colonised by a variety of peoples, of whom the Russians were dominant. The Odessa oblast corresponds to the most westerly portion of "New Russia". The oblast was created on February 27, 1932 as part of the Ukrainian SSR. It was expanded further following the annexation in 1940 of the Romanian territory of Budjak, the part of southern Bessarabia that lay north of the Danube River. This was part of the deal reached between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. However, the area in the far south around Izmail was not incorporated into the oblast until 1956.

Geography

The oblast occupies an area of around 33,300 km² (12,850 sq miles). It is characterised by largely flat steppes divided by the estuary of the Dniester river. Its Black Sea coast comprises numerous sandy beaches, estuaries and lagoons. The region's soils are renowned for their fertility, and intensive agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy. The southwest possesses many orchards and vineyards, while arable crops are grown throughout the region.

Economy

Significant branches of the oblast's economy are:
- oil refining & chemicals processing
- transportation (important sea and river ports, oil pipelines and railway);
- viticulture and other forms of agriculture, notably the growing of wheat, maize, barley, sunflowers and sugar beets. The region's industrial capability is principally concentrated in and around Odessa.

Demographics

The oblast's population (as of 2004) is 2.4 million people, nearly two-thirds of whom live in the city of Odessa. Significant Romanian/Moldovan, Bulgarian and Greek minorities reside in the province. The Greek minority is mostly preponderent in the city of Odessa. Bulgarians and Romanians represent 21% and 13% respectively, of the population of the formerly Romanian region of Budjak, within Odessa oblast.

Major cities and towns


- Odessa (administrative center)
- Anan'iv
- Artsyz
- Balta
- Berezivka
- Bilhorod-Dnistrovs'kyi
- Bilyaivka
- Bolgrad
- Izmail
- Illichivs'k
- Kiliya
- Kodyma
- Kotovsk
- Reni
- Rozdilna
- Tatarbunary
- Teplodar
- Vilkovo
- Yuzhny Category:Bessarabia

12th century

As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages. See also: Renaissance of the 12th century

Events


- The Song dynasty loses power over Northern China.
- The Kamakura Shogunate deprives the Emperor of Japan of political power.
- First, Second, and Third Crusades of western European kingdoms against Islam.
- Pope Adrian IV grants overlordship of Ireland to Henry II of England.
- Suger rebuilds the abbey church at St Denis north of Paris, regarded as the first major Gothic building.
- King Coloman unites Hungary and Croatia under the Hungarian Crown (1102)
- Portugal gains independence from the kingdom of León in 1128 (recognised by León in 1143).
- Nalanda, the great Indian Buddhist educational centre, is destroyed.
- Thomas Becket is murdered in 1170.
- The Toltec Empire collapses.
- Founding of the cathedral school (Katedralskolan) in Lund, Sweden, 1185. The school is the oldest in northern Europe, and one of the oldest in Europe as a whole.
- The medieval Serbian state formed by Stefan Nemanja and continued by the Nemanjić dynasty.

Significant people


- Genghis Khan, Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.
- Pierre Abélard, one of the first scholastic philosophers; author of "Historia calamitatum mearum", a description of his love affair with Héloïse.
- Bernard of Clairvaux, French abbot influential in church politics.
- Saladin, ruler of Egypt and Syria who resisted the Crusaders.
- Hugh of St. Victor, French scholar.
- Richard of St. Victor, theologian.
- Alfonso I Henriques, first King of Portugal.
- Maimonides, leading Jewish philosopher.
- Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury.
- Minamoto no Yoritomo, first shogun of Japan.
- Omar Khayyám, Persian poet and astronomer
- Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen consort of France and later England.
- Hildegard of Bingen, first Western musical composer known by name.

Inventions, discoveries and introductions


- Beginning of the Gothic architecture style.
- First European universities founded.
- Christian humanism becomes a self-conscious philosophical tendency in Europe.
- Earliest record of a miracle play, in Dunstable, England.
- Beginning of troubador and trouvère music in France.
- Earliest account of a mariner's compass, by Alexander Neckam is "De utensilibus".
- First fire and plague insurance (in Iceland).
- First authenticated influenza epidemics.
- Start of Middle English

Decades and years

Category:12th century Category:Centuries ko:12세기 ja:12世紀 simple:12th century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 12

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

Moldavia

:and the article be renamed to Moldavia. :For other uses see Moldova (disambiguation). Moldova (disambiguation) Moldova (disambiguation) Moldavia, (Romanian: Moldova, Turkish: Bogdan) was a medieval principality on the lower Danube river which, along with Wallachia, formed the basis for the modern Romanian state. Its name originates from the Moldova river. The principality in its greatest extent streched from Transylvania in the west to the Dniester River in the east, but had its nucleus in the northwestern part, the Ţara de Sus ("Upper Land"), which later became known as Bukovina. This area contained Suceava, the capital of the principality from 1359-1565. Iaşi was the capital from 1565-1859. The political entity known as Moldavia was founded in the mid-14th century by the Vlach leader Dragoş of Maramureş, who had been ordered by the Hungarian king to establish a defence line for the Kingdom of Hungary against the Tatars. Bogdan I became the first independent prince of Moldavia when he rejected Hungarian authority in 1359. Later it became a vassal of Poland. The greatest Moldavian prince was Ştefan cel Mare, (Stephen the Great), who ruled from 1457-1504. With his army of boyars and retainers, Stefan fought off invasions from the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Crimean Tatars. Ştefan fought 36 major battles, but suffered only two defeats. By the end of his reign, Moldavia had kept its independence, although an annual tribute was made to the Ottomans. Ştefan was succeeded by weak princes who let incompetent boyars rule the state; because the boyars did not pay taxes, the state became bankrupt. Moldavia succumbed to Ottoman power in 1512, becoming a vassal of the empire for the most of the next 300 years. In addition to paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire, Moldavia later acceded to the selection of local rulers by Ottoman authorities. Moldavia suffered repeated invasions by the Ottomans, Crimean Tatars, and Russians. In the beginning of the 17th century, magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth clashed with the Ottomans over control of Moldavia in the Moldavian Magnate Wars. Starting from the early-18th century the princes were selected by the Ottomans from Phanariotes, influential Greek families from Constantinople (İstanbul), rather than the local nobility. In 1774 the territory became a Russian protectorship while remaining formally a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. By the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War (1806-1812), Moldavia lost Bessarabia to Russia and Bukovina to Austria. In 1821 a revolt overthrew the unpopular Phanariote regime and, after political and economic reforms were implemented with Russian support, a constitution, the Règlement Organique, was adopted in 1832. After Russia's defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Treaty of Paris stipulated that Moldavia and Wallachia were to be placed under the collective guarantee of the seven powers that signed the treaty, as well as the retrocession to Moldavia of Southern Bessarabia (Izmail, Bolhrad, Cahul counties). In 1859 (formally in 1861) the Principality of Moldavia united with the Principality of Wallachia by the election of Alexander John Cuza as prince of both Wallachia and Moldavia, laying the foundations for modern Romania. Category:History of Romania Category:Former countries in Europe Category:History of Moldova

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