Drainage of Romania
The rivers of Romania are virtually all tributary to the Danube, which forms the southern frontier from Moldova Nouă to Călărași. Nearly two-fifths of the total Danubian discharge into the Black Sea is in fact provided by Romanian rivers. The final discharge takes place through three arms—the Chilia (two-thirds of the flow), Sfântu Gheorghe (one-fourth), and Sulina (the remainder)—that add to the scenic attraction of the delta region. The most significant of the Romanian tributary rivers are the Prut, Mureș, Olt, Siret, Ialomiƫa, and Someș. The rivers have considerable hydroelectric potential, although there are great seasonal fluctuations in the discharge and few natural lakes to regulate the flow. The total surface-water potential of the tributary rivers is dwarfed by the volume discharged at the Danube mouth, which is more than five times as large. Subsoil waters have been estimated at an annual volume of some 250 billion cubic feet (700 million cubic metres).
The total theoretical hydroelectric potential of Romania—given optimum technological conditions—is tremendous, but for technical and economic reasons only a fraction of this potential can be developed. Geographically, the hydroelectric reserves of Romania are concentrated along the Danube and in the valleys of rivers emerging from the mountain core of the country. Other hydrographic resources include more than 2,500 lakes, ranging from the glacial lakes of the mountains to those of the plains and the marshes of the Danube delta region. The main effort since the 1940s, however, has been on the Argeș, Bistrița, Lotru, Olt, Mare, Sebeș, and Someș rivers, as well as on the Danube at the Iron Gate.
Soils
Romania has generally fertile soils. About one-fifth of the country is covered with chernozem—humus-rich black soils. These and reddish brown forest soils are found on the plains to the south and east of the Carpathians, as well as in the Banat. Gray-brown podzolic (leached) soils are found at higher elevations. A broad expanse of alluvial soils covers the Danube floodplain. Ill-advised cultivation methods during the communist period and profligate use of pesticides and industrial pollution after 1990 resulted in a legacy of significant soil erosion.
Climate
Romania’s location in the southeastern portion of the European continent gives it a climate that is transitional between temperate regions and the harsher extremes of the continental interior. In the centre and west of the country, humid Atlantic climatic characteristics prevail; in the southeast the continental influences of the Russian Plain (East European Plain) make themselves felt; and in the extreme southeast there are even milder sub-Mediterranean influences. This overall pattern is substantially modified by the relief, however, and there are many examples of climatic zones induced by changes in elevation.
The average annual temperature is in the low 50s F (about 11 °C) in the south and in the 40s F (about 8 °C) in the north, although, as noted, there is much variation according to elevation and related factors. Extreme temperatures range from about 112 °F (45 °C) in the Bărăgan region to –37 °F (–38 °C) in the Brașov Depression.
Average annual rainfall amounts to about 25 inches (640 mm), but in the Carpathians it reaches about 55 inches (1,400 mm), and in the Dobruja it is only about 16 inches (400 mm). Many regions are subject to periodic drought and flooding. Since the early 1990s Romania’s northern regions have been affected by severe rainfall and flooding. In 1998 and 1999 an unprecedented amount of rain fell in the Retezat Mountains, resulting in landslides, flooding, and widespread destruction and loss of lives. On the other hand, the southern areas of the country have suffered drought and high temperatures since the 1990s. These conditions have been exacerbated by injudicious agricultural practices.
Humid winds from the northwest are most common, but often the drier winds from the northeast are strongest. A hot southwesterly wind, the austru, blows over western Romania, particularly in summer. In winter, cold and dense air masses encircle the eastern portions of the country, with the cold northeasterly known as the crivăț blowing in from the Russian Plain, and oceanic air masses from the Azores, in the west, bring rain and mitigate the severity of the cold.
Romania enjoys four seasons, though there is a rapid transition from winter to summer. Autumn is frequently longer, with dry warm weather from September to late November.
Plant and animal life
Forests, which cover about one-fourth of Romania’s area, are an important component of the vegetation cover, particularly in the mountains. Up to about 2,600 feet (800 metres), oaks predominate, followed by beeches between 2,600 and 4,600 feet (800 and 1,400 metres) and conifers between 4,600 and 5,900 feet (1,400 and 1,800 metres). At the highest levels, Alpine and sub-Alpine pastures are found. In the tableland and plains regions, the natural vegetation has to a large degree been obliterated by centuries of human settlement and agriculture.
The rich and varied animal life includes some rare species, notably the chamois and eagle, which are found on the Alpine heights of the Carpathians. Forest animals include the brown bear, red deer, wolf, fox, wild pig, lynx, and marten and various songbirds. The lower course of the Danube, particularly the delta, is rich in animal and fish life. The delta is also home to hundreds of species of birds, including pelicans, swans, wild geese, ibis, and flamingos, which are protected by law (as are wild pigs and lynx). It also serves as a seasonal stop for migratory birds. Some rare species of birds found in the delta and the neighbouring Dobruja region are Dalmatian pelicans, pygmy cormorants, spoonbills, red-breasted and white-fronted geese, and whooper swans.
People
Ethnic groups
Historical and archaeological evidence and linguistic survivals confirm that the area of present-day Romania had a fully developed society of Dacian tribes long before the Roman armies crossed the Danube into what became the province of Dacia. Therefore, though Roman influence was profound and created a civilization that managed to maintain its identity during the great folk migrations that followed the collapse of the empire, some Romanians are quick to identify their country’s origins in the intermixing of the indigenous Dacian people and the Roman settlers.
About nine-tenths of the country’s people are ethnically Romanian. There are also many ethnic Hungarians, who reside largely in Transylvania, in the northwestern area of the country. A small percentage of Romanian citizens identify themselves as Roma (Gypsies), and ethnic Germans make up an even tinier amount of the populace. In 1930 there were about 342,000 Germans living in Romania (about 4 percent of the population). Following World War II, tens of thousands of ethnic Germans were deported to the Soviet Union, and others emigrated as opportunities presented themselves, generally to the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). After the Romanian revolution of 1989, there was another mass exodus of ethnic Germans to Germany. In the early 21st century, Germans made up a minuscule portion of the population.
Similarly, Romania’s Jewish population significantly decreased during and after World War II. The events of the Holocaust and opportunities to emigrate to other parts of the world reduced the Jewish population from about 750,000 in 1930 to 43,000 in 1966. A mass exodus to Israel ensued after the revolution, leaving an even smaller Jewish community behind.
Languages
Romanian, a Romance language, is the official language of the country, though technically it is the Daco-Romanian dialect that is spoken by nine-tenths of the populace in several regional variants. Hungarian is the only other language of Romania that is spoken by more than a million people. Smaller numbers speak Romany, German, Turkish, Serbian, and other languages.
Religion
Under communist rule, religion was officially viewed as a personal matter, and relatively few restrictions were placed upon it (compared with those imposed by other communist regimes), although the government made efforts to undermine religious teachings and faith in favour of science and empiricism. When the communists came to power in 1948, they continued the monarchy’s practice of requiring all churches to be registered with the state (under its Department of Cults), which retained administrative and financial control, thus becoming the ultimate authority on matters of religion. Despite these incursions, Romanians remained devout. After the 1989 revolution, Romanians were free to practice their religions.
Almost nine-tenths of Romanians are adherents of the Romanian Orthodox Church, headed by a patriarch in Bucharest. Roman Catholicism is the primary religion of ethnic Hungarians and Swabian Germans. The Eastern rite (Uniate) church is prominent in Transylvania. In 1948 it was forcibly united with the Romanian Orthodox Church by the communist regime, but its independence was restored after 1989. Protestantism, both Lutheran and Calvinist, is practiced by some ethnic Hungarians and Germans. Other Protestant churches that are represented in Romania include the Presbyterian Evangelical Church and the Unitarian church. In 1950, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and Pentecostals were forced to form the Federation of Protestant Cults, but they too had their independence restored after 1989. There is a small Jewish community, and Islam is practiced in the Dobruja and along the Black Sea coast by ethnic Tatars and Turks. The Roma have traditionally blended Romanian Orthodoxy with their own spiritual traditions. Since 1989 some Roma have been attracted to the Pentecostal and Evangelical denominations of Protestantism.