l of the mountains and uplands of the country are part of the
Carpathian system. The Carpathian Mountains originate in Czechoslovakia,
enter Romania in the north from the Soviet Union, and proceed to curl
around the country in a semicircle (see fig. 3). The ranges in the east
are referred to as the Moldavian Carpathians; the slightly higher
southern ranges are called the Transylvanian Alps; and the more
scattered but generally lower ranges in the west are known as the Bihor
Massif. A few peaks in the Moldavian Carpathians rise to nearly 7,500
feet, and several in the Transylvanian Alps reach 8,000 feet, but only a
few points in the Bihor Massif approach 6,000 feet.

Lowland areas are generally on the periphery of the country--east,
south, and west of the mountains. A plateau, higher than the other
lowlands but having elevations averaging only about 1,200 feet, occupies
an area enclosed by the Carpathian ranges.

Moldavia, in the northeast, constitutes about one-fourth of the
country's area. It contains the easternmost ranges of the Carpathians
and, between the Siretul and Prut rivers, an area of lower hills and
plains. The Moldavian Carpathians have maximum elevations of about 7,500
feet and are the most extensively forested part of the country. The
western portion of the mountains contains a range of volcanic
origin--the longest of its type in Europe--that is famous for its some
2,000 mineral water springs. Small sections of the hilly country to the
northeast also have forests, but most of the lower lands are rolling
country, which becomes increasingly flatter in the south. Almost all of
the nonforested portions are cultivated.

[Illustration: _Figure 3. Topography of Romania._]

Walachia, in the south, contains the southern part of the Transylvanian
Alps--called the Southern Carpathians by Romanian geographers--and the
lowlands that extend between them and the Danube River. West to east it
extends from the Iron Gate to Dobruja, which is east of the Danube in
the area where the river flows northward for about 100 miles before it
again turns to the east for its final passage to the sea. Walachia is
divided by the Olt River into Oltenia (Lesser Walachia) in the west and
Muntenia (Greater Walachia), of which Bucharest is the approximate
center, in the east. Nearly all of the Walachian lowlands, except for
the marshes along the Danube River, and the seriously eroded foothills
of the mountains are cultivated. Grain, su