România

Learn something about Romania

The most famous novels, inspired by places in Romania, are the "Castle in the Carpathians" by Jules Verne and "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.

Romania is on the ninth place in the world in terms of wine production.

The Romanian money banknote put in circulation in 1917 is the world's smallest banknote ever printed. Its dimensions are 2.75 x 3.80 cm.

The modern reaction engine was invented by the inventor Henri Coanda in 1910.

Bucharest's public transport network is the fourth largest in Europe.

In Braşov is the largest Gothic church between Vienna, Austria and Istanbul, Turkey: The Black Church.

Peles Castle was the first castle in Europe that was entirely lit by electricity. Electricity was produced by the castle's own facility. The castle's heating system was built in 1888 and is still functional today.

The second largest underground glacier in Europe, the Scarisoara Cave Glacier, is located under the Bihor Mountains in Romania. It has a volume of 75,000 cubic meters and is more than 3,500 years old.

The highest wooden church in the world and the second wooden structure in Europe is the Peri Monastery in Săpânţa, Maramureş. It has a 7-meter high cross weighing 455 kilos at the top of the church that is 78 meters high.

Timişoara became the first city in Europe to have public electric lighting in 1889. Timişoara was also the first European city to introduce trams trained by horses in 1869.

The Danube-Black Sea Channel in Dobrudja ranks third in terms of the length of a man-made navigation path, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.

Constanta was associated with the legend of Jason and the Argonauts, who embarked on a long trip from Greece to Kolchis, Georgia on the Black Sea coast, looking for gold wool.

The Romanian language is 1,700 years old.

The Black Church in Brasov has the largest organ in Europe with 4,000 tubes. It also owns the largest bell in Romania, weighing 6.3 tons.

The statue of King Decebal, carved in a rock at the Danube Boilers, is the highest stone sculpture in Europe, 55 feet tall.

Romania is known as the country of Europe with most Gypsies. We are not racist, but these nomads make our name very much in the Western countries.

The Romanian inventor Traian Vuia was the first man to build and flew with a fully self-propelled "fixed-wing car" on March 18, 1906.

The first 10 clean Olympics were taken by Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci in 1976 in Montreal, Canada.

The three clay tablets dating back to 5,300 BC, discovered in the village of Tărtăria in central Romania, were the subject of controversy among archaeologists, some of whom said that the symbols on them representing the oldest forms of writing world.

Surface:

Total: 238.391 km^2

Earth: 231.231 km^2

Water: 7160 km^2

Borders:

North: Ukraine

West: Hungary

South: Bulgaria

East: Republic of Moldova

South-East: Black Sea

South-West: Serbia

Presidents

Nicolae Ceaușescu

*President of Romania from 28 March 1974 to 22 December 1989.

Born in 1918 , died in 1989.

Ion Iliescu

*President of Romania from 26 December 1989 to 29 November 1996.

Born in 1930.

Emil Constantinescu

*President of Romania from 29 November 1996 to 20 December 2000.

Born in 1939

Ion Iliescu

*President of Romania from 20 December 2000 to 20 December 2004.

(president again)

Traian Băsescu

*President of Romania from 20 December 2004 to 21 December 2014.

Born in 1951.

Klaus Iohannis

*President of Romania from 21 December 2014 until today.

Born in 1959.