abia and Northern Bukovina - are considered by
Bucharest as historically a part of Romania; this territory was
incorporated into the former Soviet Union following the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1940

Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and
fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms

Terrain: central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain
of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated
from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m

Natural resources: petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural
gas, coal, iron ore, salt

Land use:
arable land: 43%
permanent crops: 3%
meadows and pastures: 19%
forest and woodland: 28%
other: 7%

Irrigated land: 34,500 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air
pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of
Danube delta wetlands
natural hazards: earthquakes most severe in south and southwest;
geologic structure and climate promote landslides
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not
ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea

Geographic note: controls most easily traversable land route
between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine

People
------

Population: 21,657,162 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 20% (male 2,180,023; female 2,088,496)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,261,160; female 7,393,531)
65 years and over: 12% (male 1,138,583; female 1,595,369) (July 1996
est.)

Population growth rate: -1.21% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 9.77 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 12.27 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -9.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 23.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.42 years
male: 65.51 years
female: 73.57 years (1996