Romania

C

Natural Resources

The principal resources of Romania are agricultural, but the country also has significant mineral deposits, particularly oil, natural gas, salt, coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, bauxite, chromium, manganese, lead, and zinc.

D

Plants and Animals

Wooded steppe, now largely cleared for agriculture, predominates in the plains of Walachia and Moldova. Fruit trees are common in the foothills of the mountains. On the lower slopes are found forests of such deciduous trees as birch, beech, and oak. The forests of the higher altitudes are coniferous, consisting largely of pine and spruce trees. Above the timberline (approximately 1,750 m/5,740 ft), the flora is alpine.

Wild animals are abundant in most parts of Romania. The larger animals, found chiefly in the Carpathian Mountains, include the wild boar, wolf, lynx, fox, bear, chamois, roe deer, and goat. In the plains, typical animals are the squirrel, hare, badger, and polecat. Many species of birds are abundant; the Danube delta region, now partly a nature preserve, is a stopover point for migratory birds. Among species of fish found in the rivers and offshore are pike, sturgeon, carp, flounder, salmon, perch, and eel.

E

Soil

The soils in most parts of the country of Romania are fertile. In western Romania, the soil consists largely of the decomposition products of limestone. Chernozem, or black earth, highly suited for growing grain, predominates in the eastern part of the country.

F

Environmental Concerns

Industrial air and water pollution are serious environmental problems in Romania. The country's factories, chemical plants, and thermal power stations depend heavily on burning coal, a process that emits dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide. The industrial centres of Copşa Mică, in central Romania, and Giurgiu, in the south, have severe air pollution problems. Bucharest, the capital, also has serious air pollution levels.

Industrial run-off ends up in the Danube and other rivers, making water unsafe for drinking and threatening the diverse ecosystems of the Danube delta. The delta, the largest in Europe, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1991. Its lakes and marshes are home to hundreds of species of birds and dozens of fish and reptile species. As a result of air and water pollution, however, 61 species were threatened with extinction in Romania in 1996.

Unsystematic farming practices, particularly poor crop rotation, have led to severe soil degradation and erosion in Romania. In the 1980s large tracts of marshland along the Danube were drained and converted to cropland to aid food production. Nevertheless, deforestation is not a problem in Romania—in 1995, 27.1 per cent of the country's total land area was forested. The government has designated 4.7 per cent (1997) of the country's area protected and has ratified international environmental agreements pertaining to air pollution, Antarctic treaty, biodiversity, climate change, desertification, endangered species, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, law of the sea, nuclear test ban, ozone layer protection, ship pollution, and wetlands.

III

Population

Romanians, who constitute 89 per cent of the total population, are descendants of the peoples inhabiting Dacia (modern Romania) at the time of its conquest (about ad 106) and absorption by the Romans. Important minorities are the Hungarians, who comprise about 7 per cent of the population and are chiefly settled in Transylvania; and Germans, who make up less than 1 per cent of the population and live chiefly in the Banat. Romania also has small numbers of Ukrainians, Jews, Russians, Serbs, Croats, Turks, Bulgarians, Tatars, and Slovaks. Ethnic unrest has troubled Romania since the overthrow of the Communist regime. In 1991 organized attacks on Roma (Gypsy) communities caused a large number to flee to Germany and Austria, but most of these were forcibly returned to Romania in 1992. Unrest in Transylvania forced the ethnic Hungarians there to flee in 1990, after Romanian tanks had been deployed to quell the uprising. Anti-Semitism has also been rising.