Country Background

Project Overview | Country Background | The Legacy of Commuism -10 years of severe economic instability | Romania and the European Union | Economic and Social Improvements conducive to EU Integration | Joining the European Union - Pros and Cons |Sources Cited

Romania is the second largest country in Central and Eastern Europe, with a population of 21.7 million (89% of Romanian ethnicity, 5% of Hungarian ethnicity, 2.5% of Roma ethnicity, and the rest mostly of German, Serbian, Ukrainian, Greek and Turk ethnicity). The country traces its roots in the second century A.D. when Latin-speaking Romans conquered and settled in the territory of modern day Romania, which was inhabited by the Dacian people, giving rise to a new group of people, the Romanians and to the Romanian language, which is a romance language, related to Italian and French [|35].

Over the course of the history, the three major Romanian provinces (Transylvania, Walachia and Moldova) were mostly under foreign domination. However, in 1877 King Carol I, 1877 declared independence of Walachia and Moldova from the Ottoman Empire and later on, in 1919 Romania was awarded Transylvania (previously part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), at the Versailles Peace Conference. Following World War II, Romania was ruled by a succession of Communist leaders, with Nicolae Ceausescu, the last communist leader, leading from1965 to 1989. In 1989, Romanian people put a stop to the communist regime and welcomed democracy. Ever since, the country has achieved significant improvements in its economic and social systems, and is expected to join the European Union in 2007 [|35].