PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Romania , with a surface area of 238.391 square kilometers, is the largest country in Southeastern Europe and the twelfth-largest  in Europe.

Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia  to the west, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, and Bulgaria to the south.The Black Sea coast is in the south-east.

A large part of Romania's border with Serbia and Bulgaria  is formed by the Danube.  The Danube flows into the Black Sea within Romania's territory forming the Danube Delta, the second largest and the best preserved delta in Europe.

The Carpathian Mountains dominate the center of Romania. The highest mountain in Romania is Moldoveanu Peak (2.544 m).

45th parallel
The 45th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane (halfway between the Equator and the Pole). It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.
It passes through the Balkans, crossing Romania, passing just north of Ploieşti- Mioveni and through Târgu Jiu at 45°0′N 21°24′E.

Climate

Romania has a temperate and continental climate with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11 °C (52 °F) in the south and 8 °C (46 °F) in the north.The extreme recorded temperature is 44.5 °C ( in 1951).
Spring is pleasant with cool mornings and nights and warm days. Summers are generally very warm to hot, with maximum temperatures around 28 °C (82 °F) to 35 °C (95 °F). Autumn is dry and cool, with fields and trees producing colorful foliage. Winters can be cold, with average temperatures between 2 °C (36 °F) and below −15 °C (5.0 °F).

Population

Romania has a population of 21.698.181. 

Romanians  make up 89.5% of the population. The largest ethnic minorities are the Szekelys and Hungarians, followed by Ukrainians, Germans, Lipovans, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Russians, Jews, Czechs, Poles, Italians, Armenians, as well as other ethnic groups.

Administrative divisions

Romania is divided into  9 regions and forty-one counties, plus the municipality of Bucharest

(Bucureşti).The regions are: Transylvania,Maramures, Moldavia, Bukovina, Banat, Crisana,Wallachia (Oltenia and Muntenia) and Dobruja.

Languages

The official language of Romania is Romanian, an Eastern Romance language related to Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan. Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91% of the population, with Hungarian and Romani, being the most important minority languages.


Largest cities

Bucharest is the capital and the largest city in Romania with a population over 2 million.
There are 5 more cities in Romania, with a population of around 300.000, present in the EU's top 100 most populous cities: Iaşi, Cluj-Napoca, Timişoara, Constanţa, and Brasov. 

IASI

        

CLUJ NAPOCA

      

TIMISOARA

CONSTANTA

    

BRASOV