t of them rise in the
mountains and fall to the plains quite rapidly and could be profitably
harnessed. Rainfall distribution is good throughout the year and would
provide more than an ordinarily dependable source of waterpower. The
potential was only beginning to be tapped in 1971 (see ch. 15).

Large fields of oil and natural gas are the most important sub-surface
assets. Both are of the best quality in Europe, with the possible
exception of those near Baku in the Soviet Union. Liquid petroleum is
pumped from large fields in the Ploiesti area and also from an area in
central Moldavia. Natural gas is available under a large part of the
Transylvanian plateau.

A few minerals, such as lead, zinc, sulfur, and salt, are available in
quantities needed domestically, but iron and coal are not plentiful.
Deposits of lignite, gold, and several other minerals occur in
concentrations having sufficient value to be mined.

BOUNDARIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

Boundaries

When it gained full independence in 1878, Romania contained the historic
provinces of Moldavia and Walachia, some of Bessarabia, and a portion of
Dobruja. Substantial numbers of Romanians remained outside the original
state's boundaries in Transylvania and in the Russian portion of
Bessarabia. The first boundaries remained little changed until after
World War I, although the strip of Dobruja was enlarged somewhat in
1913, after the Second Balkan War (see ch. 2).

In the 1918 settlement after World War I about 38,500 square miles were
ceded to Romania from the dismantled Austro-Hungarian Empire. In
addition to historic Transylvania, with its area of about 21,300 square
miles, a strip along its western side, with a substantially Magyar
population, and Bukovina, part of which is now the most north-central
section of the country, were included. Also in the aftermath of World
War I and the Russian revolution, Romania acquired Bessarabia from the
new Bolshevik regime and enlarged its holdings in Dobruja at Bulgaria's
expense.

During the brief period of accord between the Soviet Union and Nazi
Germany immediately before World War II, portions of Romania were sliced
away and divided among Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. The
post-World War II settlement, arrived at in 1947, again transferred
Transylvania from Hungary to Romania, and Dobruja--with a somewhat
modified southern border--was transferred from Bulgaria. The Soviet
Union retained all of Bessa