February 23, 2012

You are here: Home / Romania

Romanian Folklore and Mythology

March 3, 2011 By admin

One of the special aspects of Romanian culture is its close ties with folklore and has such created some of the countries most vital and time honoured traditions.  Their folklore is not restricted to just stories and music however, it also penetrates other customs such as art. Traditional Romanian folk art can include a number of mediums such as ceramics, wood carving and weaving.

For a long time wood was the material of choice not only for carving and decoration but for construction too, so in many older homes you are likely to find beautiful ornate wooden decorations. In some areas they made massive structures such as Church’s and gates and even windmills. Hardwood was used in the mountain ranges as the roofing of choice due to its longevity and ability to cope with extreme changes in temperature.

Another popular form of folk art is embroidery with regional motifs; although the designs vary from region to region the main coloured used throughout Romanian is black. The favour material in the region is linen for the warmer months and wool for winter.

The most vibrant of all the folklore traditions is their music and dance, there are many different styles of music but the most valued is their sentimental music which is usually a sad song in the form of a ballad. When it comes to the party their music has two distinct influences, Balkan and Hungarian. Romanian folk dance is practiced by a wide range of people from armatures to professionals and the national desire to keep this tradition alive is deeply rooted. Hora is Romania’s most famous dance of all, while the men’s dance căluşari is an extremely complex routine which takes year to master. It is however such a beautiful dance that UNESCO has named it a “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity”. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Tourism in Romania

February 25, 2011 By admin

Thanks to its beautiful landscape and rich culture Romania is seeing year on year increased in tourism. It is estimated that somewhere between 7 and 9 million people are now visiting the country each year. The increase in tourist activity has dramatically boosted the country’s income from this avenue. It is reported that the profits in 2002 reached 400 million while in 2004 they topped 600 million.

In the 1990’s the government worked hard on promoting, developing and selling the benefits of skiing in the Romanian Carpathians. Statists show that around 4% of the country’s total gross domestic product comes form the various forms of tourism; it also gives rise to just under 1 million jobs.  Its popularity among Europeans has meant that Romania is now in a position to rival the likes of Spain, Greece and even Italy. The most desired location to visit is known as the Romanian Riviera which covers Constanta and Mamaia.

There are numerous activities and places to visit within the country. Camping and hiking in the mountain ranges is popular with the outdoorsy types while there is a good range of spa’s and health resorts for those who wish to be pampered. Skiing is another of the country’s popular pursuits and it has a number of excellent resorts to cater for the sport. Transylvania has many historical and medieval castles to explore and of course there is the Iron Gates in Danube Gorge. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Romanian Politics

February 22, 2011 By admin

The political set-up in Romanian is has a two pronged approach, they have a Prime Minster and a President. The Prime Minister has control over and is the head of the government while the President looks after the functions and responsibilities of a head of state. Executive power is held by the government while legislative power is given to both the government and the two chamber of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The judiciary system is independent from both of the powers.

In 1991 and 2003 the constitution of Romanian was formed and today Romania is a democratic and social republic. The most highly revered values of the constitution are that all people have the right to basic human dignity, civic rights and associated freedoms, unrestricted development of the human personality, justice and political pluralism. The constitution covers the provisions for a President, parliament and a constitutional court. It also covers a web of lower court such as the High Court of Cassation and Justice. All people over the age of 18 are entitled and encouraged to vote. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Demographics of Romania

February 17, 2011 By admin

Romania has an approximate population of just under 22 million and the vast majority of this is made up of Romanians (89.5%). The rest is split between Hungarians at 6.6%, Roma with 2.5%, Ukrainian and German at 0.3%, Russian and Turkish have around 0.2% and the remaining 0.4% is classified simply as other on their national census.

15.5% of the population in 2010 was recorded to be between 0 and 14 years of age and the split between male and female was evenly matched. The percentage of the population aged between 15 and 65 was just under 70% and again the sex split was a close run thing. For those aged 65 and over the total was 14.7% and the female numbers outweighed the male by over 600,000. The average age worked out to be 38 years for both sexes while men were at 37 years and women at 40 years.

The growth rate of the population is around -0.247% and birth rates are around 9 per 1,000 people. The infant mortality rate is 9.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births; females tend to fare better at this stage but only marginally. Death rates however are higher at nearly 12 per 1,000 people. The average life expectancy is 73-74 years of age, the male age is approximately 70 while females tend to live to 77, hence the larger female population on the over 65’s. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Geography of Romania

February 12, 2011 By admin

Romania is located on the north-eastern quadrant of the Balkan Peninsula and is roughly mid-way between the equator and the North Pole. Its total land mass is approximately 92,000 miles square. It has almost 2,000 miles of borders the longest being that with the Ukraine. It also has over 150 miles of coastline along the Black Sea which provides an all important outlet to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic. Its landscape is neatly divided into three main types, mountains, hills and plains.
 
The region is home to the Carpathians and that in itself is broken down into three different rages, the Eastern, Western and Southern Carpathians. The southern range is also known as the Transylvanian Alps. Each have their own unique features; the eastern range is largely made up of three ridges that run parallel to each other from northwest to southeast. The west is an extinct volcano and to this day has many cones and craters still visible. The southern range is home to the highest peaks, some topping out at around 2,535 meters, it also has over 150 glacial lakes.
 
The country also has a number of natural resources such as oil, copper, gold, marble and iron ore. Although it is a producer of oil there is not enough to allow the country to become self sufficient. Due to the fault lines that cross the south and south-western regions of the country it is prone to earthquakes. The land itself has a number if environmental issues, such as soil erosion and water and air pollution. Romania also has a high number of islands off its coast.

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Romania Culture

February 8, 2011 By admin

The country’s culture comes from a number of places and the country itself has been described as the meeting place of three regions, although it is not really included in any of them. The two main influences’ for Romanian culture come from the Romans and the Dacians. However the Slavic people did have their input during the Middle Ages, as did the Greeks, Germans, Hungarians and of course the countries long domination by the Ottoman Empire left its mark also.

With regards to religion Romania is heavily influenced by the Eastern Christian world. The vast majority of Romanians are Orthodox Christian, although there are a handful of Roman Catholics and Protestants. Although the importance of the church is much less than it used to be it is still viewed as the most trusted institution.

Like a lot of Romanian culture even their cuisine still bears the past, from Roman times they still have the pie plăcintă, the Turks left behind their meatballs and from the Greeks they still have moussaka. It would appear that every entity that took hold on this region has left its mark, whether it is in language, food or customs. One of the most commons meals is mămăliga and is regarded as the poor man’s meal; it is basically a cornmeal mush. The favoured meat in the country is pork, but both beef and lamb are eaten widely as well. For over two millennia wine has been the drink of choice, and to date Romania is ninth on the list of wine producing countries. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Modern Romanian History -1916 Onwards

February 5, 2011 By admin

The new Romania was locked between two powerful empires, the Ottoman and the Russian therefore it looked elsewhere, mainly France, for inspiration with regards to culture, education, and even military guidelines. When the First World War began in 1914 Romania took a neutral stand point and remained this way until the pressure from its allies two years later. At this point Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary, and in exchange for their efforts the French promised them help in securing national unity. It took only four months for the Romanian army to be defeated and largely killed by the Central Powers, who then took over almost two thirds of the country.

In 1918 the country could no long battle and had no other option than to negotiate a peace treaty with Germany. Later that same year Romania re-joined the war again and by the close of World War I both the Ottoman and Russian empires had fallen apart. Various treats were singed from 1918 to 1920 which resulted in the emergence of Greater Romania.

The time between to the World Wars Romania had two mini-era’s, the first was from 1918 to 1938 and was a formed on liberal constitutional monarchy, although there were a number of nationalist and anti-Semitic parties around at the time, most notably the Iron Guard. The second ran from 1938 to 1944 and was a dictatorship run by King Carol II. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Romanian History

January 31, 2011 By admin

Romania is home to Europe’s oldest human remains that are estimated to be 42,000 years old and are located in the ‘Cave with Bones’. They are the remains of a Homo sapien and may well be the first people to have migrated to the continent. The bones are of particular importance as they show a distinct mixture of both early modern man and our Neanderthal predecessor.

Herodotus’ fourth book of histories, written around 440 BCE (before the Common/Christian Era), holds the earliest recorded information of people living in the region. He wrote about a tribal union of the Gatae (Greeks) that were defeated by a Persian Emperor called Darius the Great. The Dacians were widely thought to be part of the Gatae and were a subdivision of the Thracian people who lived in Dacia. The area once known as Dacia now relates to Romania, Moldova and northern Bulgaria.

As the Dacian kingdom reached its peak somewhere between 82BCE and 44 BCE, under the rule of King Burebista it became obvious to the Romans that they were a threat. They were expanding so rapidly and taking far more land than Julius Caeser wanted, so he started a crusade against the Dacians. Due to Burebista’s support for Pompey it is reported that he arranged to have Caeser killed, however not long after the assassination of Julius Caeser Burebista also fell to the same fate. Some records say he was killed by his own noblemen other claims that a close friend of Caeser had taken his life. Eventually the Roman Empire conquered the lands and they were divided into four.

Around 271-275 the Roman Empire left Dacia, it was then invaded by the Goths which were an East Germanic tribe. They lived in the region until around the 4th century, which is when the nomadic people called the Huns arrived. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Romania

January 25, 2011 By admin

Romania is located in central, south-eastern Europe and is ninth on the overall size scale of countries that are part of the EU. To its west sits Serbia and Hungry, northeast is Moldova and the Ukraine while the south is home to Bulgaria. It also has a length that borders the Black Sea. The land is divided up between three different landscape types, mountains, hills and plains. The arc of the Carpathians stretches over 600 miles into the centre of the country.

Romanian myths and legends have given rise to some of modern days most loved stories, both vampire and were-wolf myths originated from this country. Although the werewolf myth can be found across the globe the earliest mention of such shape shifters comes from Romanian and Greek sources. Vlad the Impaler( Vald III Drăculea) also ruled over part of the Romania lands from 1456 through to 1462, he was feared by all and his barbaric and hideous means of execution were what gave rise to him being known as the Impaler. It is also believe that he was the inspiration behind the famous Bram Stoker novel, Count Dracula. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,

Early History of Romania

January 10, 2011 By admin

In the Middle Ages, Romanians lived in 3 distinct realms : Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania. By the eleventh century, Transylvania changed into a principally autonomous part of the Dominion of Hungary,] and became independent as the Realm of Transylvania from the 16th century, till 1711. In Wallachia and Moldavia many little local states with various degrees of autonomy developed, but only in the 14th century did the bigger realms of Wallachia ( 1310 ) and Moldavia ( around 1352 ) appear to battle the Ottoman Empire. By 1541, the whole Balkan peninsula and the majority of Hungary became Ottoman provinces.

Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania were under Ottoman suzerainty, conserving partial-full internal liberty till middle of the 19th century ( Transylvania to 1699 ). In this period the Romanian lands were characterised by the slow disappearance of the feudal system. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Romania Tagged With: , ,