Romania is a
unitary semi-presidential republic located in
Southeastern-
Central Europe, north of the
Balkan Peninsula and on the western shore of the
Black Sea. It borders
Hungary,
Serbia,
Ukraine,
Moldova, and
Bulgaria. It covers 238,391 square kilometres (92,043 sq mi) and has a
temperate-
continental climate. With its 20.1 million inhabitants, it is the
seventh most populous member of the
European Union.
With an area of 238,391 square kilometres (92,043 sq mi), Romania is the largest country in Southeastern Europe and the
twelfth-largest in Europe. It lies between latitudes
43° and
49° N, and longitudes
20° and
30° E. The terrain is distributed roughly equally between mountains, hills and plains.
The
Carpathian Mountains dominate the centre of Romania, with
14 mountain ranges reaching above 2,000 m or 6,600 ft, and the highest point at
Moldoveanu Peak (2,544 m or 8,346 ft). They are surrounded by the
Moldavian and
Transylvanian plateaus and
Pannonian and
Wallachian plains.
The
Danube river forms a large part of the border with
Serbia and
Bulgaria and flows into the
Black Sea forming the
Danube Delta, the second largest and best preserved delta in Europe, and also a
biosphere reserve and a biodiversity
World Heritage Site.
Owing to its distance from open
sea and position on the Southeastern portion of the European continent, Romania has a climate that is
temperate and
continental, with four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 11 °C (52 °F) in the south and 8 °C (46 °F) in the north.In summer, average maximum temperatures in Bucharest rise to 28 °C
(82 °F), and temperatures over 35 °C (95 °F) fairly common in the
lower-lying areas of the country.
In winter, the average maximum temperature are below 2 °C (36 °F).
Precipitation is average, with over 750 mm (30 in) per year only on the
highest western mountains, while around Bucharest it drops to around
600 mm (24 in). A high percentage (47% of the land area) of the country is covered with natural and semi-natural ecosystems. Romania has one of the largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe covering almost 27% of the territory. The fauna consists of 33,792 species of animals, 33,085
invertebrate and 707
vertebrate, with almost 400 unique species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians,
including about 50% of Europe's (excluding Russia)
brown bears and 20% of its
wolves. Some 3,700
plant species have been identified in the country, from which to date 23 have been declared
natural monuments, 74 missing, 39 endangered, 171 vulnerable and 1,253 rare.There are almost 10,000 km
2
(3,900 sq mi) (about 5% of the total area) of protected areas in
Romania covering 13 national parks and three biosphere reserves.The
Danube Delta, at 5,800 km
2 (2,200 sq mi), is the largest continuous marshland in Europe,and supports 1,688 different plant species alone.
