impressive growth statistics
notwithstanding, sea transport in 1969 accounted for only about 1.5
percent of the total cargo transported.

Constanta is the major port on the Black Sea, but some smaller seagoing
vessels go up the Danube River to Galati and Braila. All of the larger
river towns, and all of those on rail lines that cross it or terminate
at the river, are considered river ports. Mangalia, on the Black Sea
coast south of Constanta and about five miles from the Bulgarian border,
is a secondary seaport but has the country's largest naval installation
(see ch. 13).

CHAPTER 4

SOCIAL SYSTEM AND VALUES

Since the end of World War II Romanian society and its values have been
in a state of flux. The aim of communist social and economic policies
has been to destroy the old order and replace it with a new one that
will reflect communist ideology. The resulting changes have been
fundamental and far reaching, particularly in the structure of the
society and the place occupied in it by particular individuals. The
effect on values has been less easy to determine.

The extent and the pace of change have been slowing down since the early
1960s, and some aspects of the old social order were beginning to
reemerge, although in different forms. The changes that were continuing
to affect the society in the 1970s were more the result of economic
growth than of conscious efforts to bring them about. This was
particularly true of the changing role of the family, which has come
about as a consequence of increased industrialization and urbanization
as much as by government design.

Least affected by the social upheaval since 1945 have been the ethnic
composition of the country and the relations between the various ethnic
groups. Although the population has always been predominantly Romanian,
Hungarians and Germans constitute a majority in some areas of the
country and remain a source of potential political and social problems.
The Hungarian minority in particular, making up more than 8 percent of
the population in 1966, has always been very sensitive to what it
considers Romanian domination and has at times harbored irredentist
feelings.

ETHNIC COMPOSITION

The population of Romania is basically homogeneous, although it includes
elements of almost every ethnic group in Central and Eastern Europe. At
the time of the 1966 census, Romanians constituted 88 percent of the
population. The largest single minority grou