tains and separated
from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps

Elevation extremes:
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: 41%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 21%
forests and woodland: 29%
other: 6% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 31,020 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: earthquakes most severe in south and southwest;
geologic structure and climate promote landslides

Environment--current issues: soil erosion and degradation; water
pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents;
contamination of Danube delta wetlands

Environment--international agreements:
party 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, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol

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

People

Population: 22,334,312 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 2,117,289; female 2,027,940)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,563,695; female 7,663,491)
65 years and over: 13% (male 1,234,760; female 1,727,137) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.23% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 10.09 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 11.55 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 18.12 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.83 years
male: 67.05 years
female: 74.81 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Romanian(s)
adjective: Romanian

Ethnic groups: Romanian 89.1%, Hungarian 8.9%, German 0.4%,
Ukrainian, Serb, Croat, Russian, Turk, and Gypsy 1.6%

Religions: Romanian Orthodox 70%, Roman Catholic 6% (of which