Romania

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Romania
Romania.gif
Flag of Romania
Capital Bukarest
Inhabitants 21.498.616
Language(s) Romanian
Romania.jpg

Romania, also spelled Rumania, is a country in eastern Europe. Its name means land of the Romans. The country is so called because it was part of the Roman Empire during ancient times.

The Romanian people are the only eastern Europeans who trace their ancestry and language back to the Romans. Bucharest is Romania's capital and largest city.


Soviet occupation following World War II led to the formation of a communist "peoples republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of President Nicolae Ceausescu became increasingly draconian through the 1980s.

He was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former communists dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept from power. Much economic restructuring remains to be carried out before Romania can achieve its hope of joining the EU.


Contents

History

Romania is situated in Central Europe, in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula and its territory is marked by the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube and the Black Sea. Romania has inland borders with Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, and a coastline on the Black Sea.

With its temperate climate and varied natural environment, which is favorable to life, the Romanian territory has been inhabited since time immemorial. The research done by Romanian archaeologists has led to the discovery of traces of human presence dating back as early as the Lower Paleolithic (approximately two million years BC). These vestiges are among the oldest in Europe.

Bukarest from an airplane

Born, like the other Romance people, in A.D. 1st millennium, the Romanian people has continuously inhabited the selfsame geographical place from the old times to this day, a space where its forefathers belonging to the Thracian king had arrived as early as the 2nd millennium B.C. Today the Romanians are the sole descendants of the Eastern Roman world, and their language, along with Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian, is one of the major of-spring of Latin. They are the sole people who by their name - roman (deriving from the Latin romanus) have preserved to this day the memory of the Seal of Rome, a memory to be perpetuated later in the name adopted by the nation State Romania. The Romanians are today the only descendants of the Eastern Roman stock; the Romanian language is one of the major heirs of the Latin language, together with French, Italian, Spanish; Romania is an oasis of Latinity in this part of Europe.

Historical and archaeological evidence and linguistic survivals seem to confirm that the present territory of Romania had a fully developed society, with a high degree of economic, cultural, and even political development, long before the Roman armies crossed the Danube into what became known as the province of Dacia. Roman influence was profound and created a civilization that managed to maintain its identity during the great folk migrations that followed the collapse of the empire. The first mention of Walachs (Volokhs, Vlachs), the name given to the Romanian people by their neighbors, appears in the 9th century.

During the medieval period there two independent Romanian feudal states took shape, with mountain crests marking a political frontier: their conventional names are Walachia (called in Romania Tara Româneasca, literally “Romanian Land") and Moldavia (Romanian: Moldova), both on the southern and eastern slopes of the Carpathians. Initially, the core areas of these states were centered in the foothills of the Carpathians; only later, as the Romanian lands on the plains were gradually consolidated, were the major settlements transferred from the mountains, first to Târgoviste and Suceava and later to Bucharest and Iasi.

Transylvania was affected during the Middle Ages by colonization by Hungarian-speaking Szeklers and German-speaking Saxons. More German speakers, known as Swabians, arrived in the Banat in the 18th century along with various Slav groups, mainly Serbs. Meanwhile, Turkish rule left an ethnic legacy of Turks and Tatars along the lower Danube, and Gypsies settled in all parts of the country. Jews from Poland and Russia arrived during the first half of the 19th century.

Mostly Christians of Orthodox rite, the Romanians lived from the Middle Ages to the modern times in three neighboring self-dependent principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania - which for their location at the crossroads of big expansionistic empires the Ottoman Empire, Czarist Russia and the Hapsburg Empire-, managed to preserve their state entity, faith and civilization, at the time when neighboring kingdoms like Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary or Poland had been wiped off the map of Europe.

Later, they managed to achieve national unity in 1859, a process eventually completed in 1918. At the end of World War I, the centuries-old dream of reunification of all the Romanians within the boundaries of one single nation-state came true, paid with the sacrifice of over 800,000 lives. The ensuring two decades of economic, political and cultural advance are cut short soon after the outbreak of World War II, in 1940, when one third of the country's area and population is amputated. In 1945, after 4 years of war, which left another 700,000 people dead, the nearly one-century long democratic traditions (with all the inherent imperfections) are cut short by Soviet troops and the forcible imposition of the communist regime.

The hopes awakened by the distance taken from the Soviet model over 1960-1968 are soon dispelled by the advent to power of most oppressive and absurd totalitarian regime - that of Nicolae Ceausescu. That devastating dictatorial rule is brought to an end by the people's revolt of December 1989, which closes the historical gap Romania lived in for 45 years and opened a new page in Romania's contemporary history. Conditions were created for a final breakaway from the communist regime and paved the way for the restoration of democracy based on the multi-party system and a market economy. The adoption of the new Constitution on 21 November 1991, the free parliamentary and presidential elections of May 1990 and September 1992 were as many steps on the path to the irreversible breakaway from the totalitarian past.

  • Demographic structure: Romanians - 89.47%;
  • Hungarians (plus Szecklers) - 7.12%; Gypsies - 1.76%;
  • other nationalities - 1.65%.

The Romanians are today the only descendants of the Eastern Roman stock; the Romanian language is one of the major heirs of the Latin language, together with French, Italian, Spanish; Romania is an oasis of Latinity in this part of Europe.

About Byzantine Romanian Catholic Church

Most Romanians are members of The Romanian Orthodox Church. Catholics of Oriental and Roman rites are well represented (5%). There are also Reformed / Lutheran (3%), Unitarian (1%), Neo-Protestant, Armenian, Moslem and Jewish communities.

However, there are still in Romania some religious tensions between the Orthodox majority and some of the smaller churches, as legacy of the old communist regime.

By the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the majority of The Orthodox Church in Transylvania, had broken away from the Orthodox Church and accepted papal authority and the entire dogma of The Catholic Church while retaining the Orthodox ritual, canon, and calendar, and conducting the worship service in Romanian. A ‘suis juris’ Romanian Catholic Church of The Byzantine Rite flourished for 250 years in what it is today modern Romania.

In 1948, on Stalin’s orders the local communist government in an obvious attempt to use religion to foster political unity; the country's 1.7 million Uniates were forcibly attached to the Romanian Orthodox Church. Some 14,000 ‘recalcitrant priests’ were arrested, thousands of faithful were murdered during incarceration, and many others died from disease and hunger. All 12 Bishops were put in camps and most of them died as martyrs. Their beatification cause is in advanced stages in Rome.

That the Romania Greek-Catholic Church survived, albeit precariously and underground, long after it officially had ceased to exist was an embarrassment to the regime. Even in the mid-1980s, there were still some 1.5 million believers, 300 priests continued to minister with the risk of loosing their life and another 450 priests were secretly trained. The Church had three underground bishops, one of them created a Cardinal by a Pope Paul VI. After 1977 some Byzantine Catholic clergymen led a movement demanding the reinstatement of their church and full restoration of rights in accordance with constitutional provisions for freedom of worship. In 1982 the Vatican publicly expressed concern for the fate of the Uniates and supported their demands. The Romanian authorities protested this act as interference in the internal affairs of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church suffered particular hardship during the Communist regime and so far only after 12 years of newly regained freedom, 120 of the more than 2,300 church properties of 1948 have been returned. All this makes reconciliation even more vital.

"Challenge to Reconcile"

The meaning of reconciliation in Romania was preceded by patient work to heal the wounds that emerged between Catholics and Orthodox following the fall of the Communist regime.

Pope John Paul II has made history by becoming the first pontiff to visit a mainly Orthodox country. During his May 7-9 visit to Romania the Pope was enthusiastically welcomed by the country's Catholic minority and warmly received by the head of Romania's Orthodox Church, Patriarch Teoctist, and the Church's Synod.

The road of reconciliation passed through an important stage in Bucharest, Romania, in May 1999 when the embrace between the Bishop of Rome and Patriarch Teoctist helped to overcome misunderstandings.

While in Romania, the Pope spoke several times of the need for reconciliation between the Orthodox and Catholic Church. For Pope John Paul II reconciliation among Christians is the most pressing challenge for the churches as they begin the new millennium. "I express the hope that Christians will find themselves, if not fully united, closer to full communion," he said on May 9, 1999.

"My visit is meant to strengthen those ties between Romania and the Holy See which were so important for the history of Christianity in the region... The seed of the Gospel, fallen on fertile ground produced abundant fruits of holiness and martyrdom during these two millennia...

"Your country has experienced the horrors of harsh totalitarian systems. The communist regime suppressed the Byzantine-Romanian rite united with Rome and many [Catholics] paid with blood... I would also like to give due recognition to the members of the Romanian Orthodox Church... who suffered similar persecutions and grave restrictions... After the harsh winter of communist domination came the springtime of hope... Romania began a process of reestablishing a state governed by law with respect for freedom... I hope that your nation will not lack the political and financial support of the European Union.

"To heal the wounds of a recent and bitter past one needs patience and wisdom... It is a challenge especially for you young people... Do not be afraid to accept your responsibility... Romania, bridge between East and West, crossroads between Central and Eastern Europe, called the beautiful title Garden of Mary, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ... On the threshold of a new millennium, once again set your future on the rock of the Gospel..."

He concluded with ecumenical thoughts: "For Christians these are days of forgiveness and reconciliation. Without this witness the world will not believe: how can we credibly speak of God who is love if there is no respite from conflict? Heal the wounds of the past with love. May your shared suffering not lead to separation but accomplish the miracle of reconciliation. Is this not the marvel that the world expects from believers?"


Culture

Romanians are extremely hospitable. They will welcome you into their modest homes, feed you until you burst, and expect nothing in return other than friendship. Don't rebuff it.


Art

Bucovina's painted monasteries were the first in the world to be adorned with frescoes on the outside. Painted in the 16th century, these frescoes also went beyond the confines of religious art, conveying political as well as religious messages. Painting on glass and wood, a traditional peasant art, has been widespread in Romania since the 17th century and remains popular today.

Literature

Romanian literature draws heavily on the country's rich folkloric heritage coupled with its turbulent history as an occupied country inhabited by a persecuted people. In the 15th century an oral epic folk literature emerged, and writings in the Romanian language took shape around 1420. Modern literature emerged in the 19th century. Romania's best known writer internationally is playwright Eugene Ionesco (1912-94), an exponent of the 'Theatre of the Absurd'. Literature became a tool of the communist party from 1947 onwards. Since 1990 many works have been published attesting to the horrors of the communist period.

Music

Folk music and dancing have long been popular in Romania. Couples dance in a circle, a semicircle or a line. Modern Roma (Gypsy) music has absorbed many influences and professional Roma musicians play whatever village clients want.

Language

Romanian is closer to classical Latin than it is to other Romance languages, and the grammatical structure and basic word stock of the mother tongue are well preserved. Speakers of French, Italian and Spanish won't be able to understand much spoken Romanian but will find written Romanian more or less comprehensible. Romanian is spelt phonetically so once you learn a few simple rules you should have no trouble with pronunciation.

Religion

Romania is the only country with a Romance language that does not have a Roman Catholic background. It is 86% Romanian Orthodox, 5% Roman Catholic, 3.5% Protestant, 1% Greco-Catholic, 0.3% Muslim and 0.2% Jewish. Unlike other ex-communist countries where the church was a leading opposition voice to the regime, the Romanian Orthodox Church was subservient to and a tool of the government. Today it is hierarchical, dogmatic and wealthy.

Food & Drinks

Those who live to eat have long found life pretty dull in Romania. Restaurants still serve traditional, sometimes tedious fare: grilled pork, pork liver, grilled chicken, tripe soup and greasy potatoes, though things are turning around. You can find excellent offerings in the larger cities with a little perserverance. Romania's most novel dish is mamagliga, a hard or soft cornmeal mush which is boiled, baked or fried. In many Romanian households, it's served as the main dish. The other mainstay of the Romanian diet is ciorba (soup). The sweet-toothed won't starve: typical desserts include placinta (turnovers), clarite (crepes) and saraille (almond cake soaked in syrup). Romanian wines are cheap and good. Tuica (plum brandy) and palinca (distilled three times as much as tuica) are mind-blowing liqueurs taken at the beginning of a meal. Noroc! (Cheers!) Avoid the ubiquitous Ness, an awful instant coffee made from vegetable extracts, and try cafea naturala, a 'real' coffee made the Turkish way, with a thick sludge of ground coffee beans at the bottom and a generous spoonful of sugar.

Christmas

The tradition in Romania is for children to travel from house to house singing carols and reciting poetry and legends throughout the Christmas season. The leader carries a large wooden star called a steaua, which is covered with shiny paper and decorated with bells and colored ribbon. A picture of the Holy Family is pasted in the star's center, and the entire creation is attached to a broomstick or stout pole.

Events

coming soon...

National holidays

  • Jan 1: New Year's Day
  • Jan 2: Day After New Year's Day
  • May 1: Romanian Labor Day
  • Dec 1: Romanian National Day
  • Dec 25: Christmas Day
  • Dec 26: Day After Christmas
  • Easter Monday
  • Orthodox Easter Sunday

Embassies

 

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