FACTS

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean

Area (only Total) total: 237,500 sq km

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

Population: 22,246,862

Main Language (only first): Romanian

Government type: republic

Capital (Name): Bucharest

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+2

Independence: 9 May 1877 (independence proclaimed from the Ottoman Empire; independence recognized 13 July 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin); 26 March 1881 (kingdom proclaimed); 30 December 1947 (republic proclaimed)

National holiday: Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania), 1 December (1918)