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$Unique_ID{bob00425}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Romania
Chapter 3A.   Physical Environment and Population}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Eugene K. Keefe}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{country
area
danube
river
miles
romania
mountains
sea
black
southern
see
pictures
see
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}
$Date{1972}
$Log{}
Title:       Romania
Book:        Romania, A Country Study
Author:      Eugene K. Keefe
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1972

Chapter 3A.   Physical Environment and Population

     Romania, located in southeastern Europe and usually referred to as
one of the Balkan states, shares land borders with Bulgaria, Yugoslavia,
Hungary, and the Soviet Union and has a shoreline on the Black Sea (see
fig. 1). The interior of the country is a broad plateau almost surrounded
by mountains, which, in turn, are surrounded, except in the north, by
plains. The mountains are not unduly rugged, and their gentle slopes
plus the rolling interior plateau and the arc of lowlands on the country's
periphery provide an unusually large percentage of arable land.

     Romanian historians have remarked that their country's history might
have been different had its mountains been located on its borders rather
than in the interior. Romania's mountains provided a refuge for indigenous
populations but did not constitute barriers against invaders who sought to
dominate the area or use it as a crossroad for deeper invasions of the
Balkan region (see ch. 2).

     The prevailing weather is eastern European continental, with hot,
clear summers and cold winters. Rainfall is adequate in all sections,
and in normal seasons the greater share falls during the summer months
when it is of most benefit to vegetation and crops. Soils on the average
are fertile. Forests occupy about 27 percent of the land surface.

     All of the major streams drain eventually into the Danube River
and to the Black Sea. The entire length of the Danube in or bordering
the country is navigable. There are few canals, and the Prut River is
the only other waterway that is navigable for any considerable distance.
Several of the rivers originating in the Carpathians have a good potential
for hydroelectric power but, because oil and natural gas are abundant,
their development has not had high priority.

     In 1971 railroads carried by far the greatest volume of long-distance
freight and passenger traffic, but highway transport was supplanting them in
short-haul traffic of both types. Commercial aviation had multiplied its
capacities since 1950 but still carried only a minute percentage of total
traffic. Pipelines were the principal carriers of liquid petroleum and natural
gas. The merchant marine had developed relatively rapidly after 1960 and,
although still small, consisted almost entirely of modern ships and
equipment.

     The population, estimated at more than 20.6 million in 1971, was growing
at the second highest rate in Europe. The country's officials, however, did
not expect the 1971 rate to be maintained throughout the remainder of the
century.

     The standard of living was among the lowest in Europe. Living conditions
improved markedly after 1950, but emphasis on heavy capital investment held
down production of consumer goods. The land has been more than self-sufficient
in the agricultural sector, but food products have been exported in
quantities that have made some of them scarce locally.

NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES

Topographical and Regional Description

     All of the mountains and uplands of the country are part of the
Carpathian system. The Carpathian Mountains originate in Czechoslovakia, enter
Romania in the north from the Soviet Union, and proceed to curl around the
country in a semicircle (see fig. 3). The ranges in the east are referred
to as the Moldavian Carpathians; the slightly higher southern ranges are
called the Transylvanian Alps; and the more scattered but generally lower
ranges in the west are known as the Bihor Massif. A few peaks in the
Moldavian Carpathians rise to nearly 7,500 feet, and several in the
Transylvanian Alps reach 8,000 feet, but only a few points in the Bihor Massif
approach 6,000 feet.

     Lowland areas are generally on the periphery of the country-east, south,
and west of the mountains. A plateau, higher than the other lowlands but
having elevations averaging only about 1,200 feet, occupies an area enclosed
by the Carpathian ranges.

     Moldavia, in the northeast, constitutes about one-fourth of the country's
area. It contains the easternmost ranges of the Carpathians and, between the
Siretul and Prut rivers, an area of lower hills and plains. The Moldavian
Carpathians have maximum elevations of about 7,500 feet and are the most
extensively forested part of the country. The western portion of the
mountains contains a range of volcanic origin-the longest of its type in
Europe-that is famous for its some 2,000 mineral water springs. Small sections
of the hilly country to the northeast also have forests, but most of the
lower lands are rolling country, which becomes increasingly flatter in the
south. Almost all of the nonforested portions are cultivated.

     Walachia, in the south, contains the southern part of the Transylvanian
Alps-called the Southern Carpathians by Romanian geographers-and the lowlands
that extend between them and the Danube River. West to east it extends from
the Iron Gate to Dobruja, which is east of the Danube in the area where the
river flows northward for about 100 miles before it again turns to the east
for its final passage to the sea. Walachia is divided by the Olt River into
Oltenia (Lesser Walachia) in the west and Muntenia (Greater Walachia), of
which Bucharest is the approximate center, in the east. Nearly all of the
Walachian lowlands, except for the marshes along the Danube River, and the
seriously eroded foothills of the mountains are cultivated. Grain, sugar
beets, and potatoes are grown in all parts of the flatland; the area around
Bucharest produces much of the country's garden vegetables; and southern
exposures along the mountains are ideally suited for orchards and vineyards.

     - The Transylvanian Alps have the highest peaks and the steepest slopes
in the country; the highest point, with an elevation of about 8,340 feet
above sea level, is 100 miles northwest of Bucharest. Among the alpine
features of the range are glacial lakes, upland meadows and pastures, and bare
rock along the higher ridges. Portions of the mountains are predominantly
limestone with characteristic phenomena, such as caves, waterfalls, and
underground streams.

     Transylvania, the northwestern one-third of the country, includes the
historic Transylvanian province and the portions of Maramures, Crisana, and
Banat that became part of Romania after World War I. The last three borderland
areas are occasionally identified individually.

     Nearly all of the lowlands in the west and northwest and the plateau
in the central part of the province are cultivated. The western mountain
regions are not as rugged as those to the south and east, and average
elevations run considerably lower. Many of the intermediate slopes are put to
use as pasture or meadowland but, because the climate is colder, there are
fewer orchards and vineyards in Transylvania than on the southern sides of the
ranges in Walachia. Forests usually have more of the broadleaf deciduous tree
varieties than is typical of the higher mountains, but much of the original
forest cover has been removed from the gentler Transylvanian slopes.

     Dobruja provides Romania's access to the Black Sea. The Danube River
forms the region's western border, and its northern side is determined by
the northernmost of the three main channels in the Danube delta. The line
in the south at which the region has been divided between Romania and Bulgaria
is artificial and has been changed several times.

     For nearly 500 years preceding 1878, Dobruja was under Turkish rule. When
the Turks were forced to relinquish their control, the largest elements of
its population were Romanian and Bulgarian, and it was divided between the two
countries. Romania received the larger, but more sparsely populated, northern
portion. Between the two world wars Romania held the entire area, but in
1940 Bulgaria regained the southern portion. The 1940 boundaries were
reconfirmed after World War II, and since then the Romanian portion has had an
area of approximately 6,000 square miles; Bulgaria's has been approximately
one-half as large.

     Dobruja contains most of the Danube River delta marshland, much of which
is not easily exploited for agricultural purposes, although some of the
reeds and natural vegetation have limited commercial value. The delta is a
natural wild-life preserve, particularly for waterflow and is large enough so
that many species can be protected.

     Fishing contributes to the local economy, and 90 percent of the country's
catch is taken from the lower Danube and its delta, from Dobruja's lakes, or
off the coast. Willows flourish in parts of the delta, and there are a few
deciduous forests in the north-central section. To the west and south, the
elevations are higher. The land drains satisfactorily and, although the
rainfall average is the lowest in the country, it is adequate for dependable
grain crops and vineyards.

     Along the southern one-half of the coastline there are pleasant beaches.
In summer the dry sunny weather and low humidity make them attractive tourist
resorts.

     Bukovina, more isolated than other parts of the country, has a
part-Romanian and part-Ukrainian population. Romanian Bukovina is small,
totaling only about 3,400 square miles. It was part of Moldavia from the
fourteenth century until annexed by Austria in 1775. Romania acquired it from
Austria-Hungary in 1918, but after World War II the Soviet Union annexed the
2,100-square-mile northern portion with its largely Ukrainian population.

     The approximately 1,300 square miles of the former province remaining
in Romania is picturesque and mountainous. Less than one-third is arable,
but domestic animals are kept on hillside pastures and meadows. Steeper
slopes are forested.

Drainage

     All of Romania's rivers and streams drain to the Black Sea. Except for
the minor streams that rise on the eastern slopes of the hills near the sea
and flow directly into it, all join the Danube River. Those flowing
southward and southeastward from the Transylvanian Alps drain to the Danube
directly. Those flowing northward and eastward from Moldavia and Bukovina
reach the Danube by way of the Prut River. Most of the Transylvanian streams
draining to the north and west flow to the Tisza River, which joins the
Danube in Yugoslavia, north of Belgrade.

     Romanian tourist literature states that the country has 2,500 lakes, but
most are small, and lakes occupy only about 1 percent of the surface area.
The largest lakes are along the Danube River and the Black Sea coast. Some of
those along the coast are open to the sea and contain salt sea water. These
and a few of the fresh water lakes are commercially important for their
fish. The many smaller ones scattered throughout the mountains are usually
glacial in origin and add much to the beauty of the resort areas.

     The Danube drains a basin of 315,000 square miles that extends eastward
from the Black Forest in the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and
includes a portion of the southwestern Soviet Union. It is about 1,775 miles
long, including the 900 miles in or adjacent to Romania, and is fed by more
than 300 tributaries, from which it collects an average of about 285,000 cubic
feet per minute to discharge into the Black Sea. Much of the Danube delta and
a band of up to twenty miles wide along most of the length of the river
from the delta to the so-called Iron Gate-where it has cut a deep gorge
through the mountains along the Yugoslav border-is marshland.

     For descriptive purposes the river is customarily divided into three
sections; most of the portion in Romania-from the Iron Gate to the Black
Sea-is its lower course. The northern bank of this course, on the Romanian
side, is low, flat marshland and, as it approaches its delta, it divides
into a number of channels. It also forms several lakes, some of them quite
large. At its delta it divides into three major and several minor branches.
The delta has an area of about 1,000 square miles and grows steadily as the
river deposits some 2 billion cubic feet of sediment into the sea annually.

Climate

     The climate is continental and is characterized by hot summers and cold
winters. Typical weather and precipitation result from the high pressure
systems that predominate over European Soviet Union and north-central Asia.
Southern Europe's Mediterranean weather and western European maritime systems
occasionally extend into the area but not frequently, and they prevail only
for short periods. Winters are long, and the months from November through
March tend to be cold and cloudy, with frequent fog and snow. Although summers
may be hot, they are sunny, and the humidity is usually at comfortable levels.

     Precipitation ranges from fifteen to fifty inches; the countrywide
average is about twenty-eight inches. Dobruja, along the lower Danube River
and adjacent to the Black Sea coast, averages the least, followed by the
lowlands of Moldavia and southernmost Walachia, which usually receive less
than twenty inches. The remaining lowlands of the country and the
Transylvanian plateau average between about twenty and thirty-two inches.
Bucharest receives about twenty-three inches. In all of the agricultural
regions the heaviest precipitation, most of it from thunderstorms and
showers, occurs during the summer growing season when it is of maximum benefit
to crops and vegetation.

     Scattered areas in the Transylvanian Alps and in the other mountains
of the northern and western parts of the country receive more than fifty
inches annually. Foothills on all exposures also get more than the country
average. Western exposures benefit from the generally eastward movement of
weather systems; southern and eastern slopes benefit from the clockwise
circulation around the high-pressure systems that are characteristic of the
continental climate.

     January is the coldest month; July, the warmest. Bucharest, located
inland on the southern lowland, is one of the warmest points in summer and has
one of the widest variations between average temperatures of the extreme hot
and cold months. Its average January temperature is about 27F, and in July it
is 73F. Summer averages are about the same at other places in the eastern
lowlands and along the Black Sea, but the moderating effect of winds off the
sea makes for slightly warmer winters in those areas. Hilly and mountainous
sections of the country are cooler but have less variation between winter and
summer extremes.

     Nowhere in the country is the climate the deciding factor on the
distribution of population. There are no points where summer temperatures are
oppressively high or winter temperatures are intolerably low. Rainfall is
adequate in all regions and, in the lower Danube River area where it might be
considered the most nearly marginal, marshes and poorly drained terrain are
more of a problem than is lack of rainfall.

Soils

     The most fertile soils of the country occur generally on the plains of
Moldavia and parts of Walachia. This is the black earth known as chernozem,
which is rich in humus. Most of the black earth and some of the brown forest
soils also have a high loess content, which tends to make them light, fine,
and workable. These rich varieties also occur on the lowlands of the west and
northwest and on the Transylvanian plateau. Lighter brown soils are more
prevalent in rolling lands and in foothills throughout the country.

     Soils become progressively poorer at higher elevations and as the slopes
become steeper. Layered soils, which take over as elevations increase, vary
widely and tend to become thinner and poorer at higher elevations until bare
rock is exposed. In some lower areas, where there are areas of brown forest
soils, erosion is a serious problem. Although the sandy and alluvial soils
along the Danube River are of excellent quality and are valuable where
drainage is good, those in a fairly wide belt along the river are too moist
for cultivation of most crops.

Vegetation

     Before the land was cleared, lowland Romania was a wooded steppe area,
but the natural vegetation has largely been removed and replaced by cultivated
crops. Forests still predominate on the highlands. Of the country's total
area, about 63 percent is agricultural land; 27 percent is forest; and 10
percent is bare mountain or water surface or is used in some way that makes it
unsuitable for forest or cultivation. Of the agricultural land, 65 percent
is under cultivation, 30 percent is pasture and meadow, and 5 percent is
orchard and vineyard (see ch. 15).

     Forests remain on most of the slopes that are too steep for easy
cultivation. Most of the larger forests are in Transylvania and western
Moldavia in a roughly doughnut-shaped area that surrounds the Transylvanian
plateau. Broadleaf deciduous and mixed forests occur at lower elevations;
forests at higher levels are coniferous with needle-leaf evergreens. There
are alpine sheep pastures at 5,000- and 6,000-foot elevations, and tundra
vegetation occurs at some of the highest locations.

     Orchards are found in all sections of the country. Peaches can be grown
in Walachia, but only those fruits that can tolerate colder winters are
raised in Moldavia and Transylvania. Vineyards, especially on the Walachian
mountain slopes, have become more important since World War II, and wine,
although it is not of a quality that receives international acclaim, is
exported.

Natural Resources

     The most important natural resources are the expanses of rich arable
land, the rivers, and the forests. The land is agriculturally self-sufficient
and, when fertilizers become more readily available, crop yields will be
appreciably larger. The rivers have a high potential for the generation of
hydroelectric power. Most of them rise in the mountains and fall to the plains
quite rapidly and could be profitably harnessed. Rainfall distribution is good
throughout the year and would provide more than an ordinarily dependable
source of waterpower. The potential was only beginning to be tapped in 1971
(see ch. 15).

     Large fields of oil and natural gas are the most important subsurface
assets. Both are of the best quality in Europe, with the possible exception of
those near Baku in the Soviet Union. Liquid petroleum is pumped from large
fields in the Ploiesti area and also from an area in central Moldavia. Natural
gas is available under a large part of the Transylvanian plateau.

     A few minerals, such as lead, zinc, sulfur, and salt, are available in
quantities needed domestically, but iron and coal are not plentiful. Deposits
of lignite, gold, and several other minerals occur in concentrations having
sufficient value to be mined.

BOUNDARIES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

Boundaries

     When it gained full independence in 1878, Romania contained the historic
provinces of Moldavia and Walachia, some of Bessarabia, and a portion of
Dobruja. Substantial numbers of Romanians remained outside the original
state's boundaries in Transylvania and in the Russian portion of Bessarabia.
The first boundaries remained little changed until after World War I, although
the strip of Dobruja was enlarged somewhat in 1913, after the Second Balkan
War (see ch. 2).

     In the 1918 settlement after World War I about 38,500 square miles were
ceded to Romania from the dismantled Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to
historic Transylvania, with its area of about 21,300 square miles, a strip
along its western side, with a substantially Magyar population, and Bukovina,
part of which is now the most north-central section of the country, were
included. Also in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian revolution,
Romania acquired Bessarabia from the new Bolshevik regime and enlarged its
holdings in Dobruja at Bulgaria's expense.

     During the brief period of accord between the Soviet Union and Nazi
Germany immediately before World War II, portions of Romania were sliced
away and divided among Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union. The post-World
War II settlement, arrived at in 1947, again transferred Transylvania from
Hungary to Romania, and Dobruja-with a somewhat modified southern border-was
transferred from Bulgaria. The Soviet Union retained all of Bessarabia and
the northern portion of Bukovina. In 1971 none of Romania's borders were
disputed, and all of them were satisfactorily demarcated.

     The total circumference of the country is about 1,975 miles. The northern
and eastern border with the Soviet Union extends for about 830 miles; the
southern border with Bulgaria, for 375 miles; the southwestern border with
Yugoslavia, for 345 miles; and the northwestern border with Hungary, for 275
miles. The Black Sea coast is about 150 miles long. The eastern boundary
generally follows the Prut River, and most of the southern boundary is formed
by the Danube; in the west and north the border follows no distinctive terrain
features, often having been drawn according to ethnic, rather than geographic,
considerations.

Political Subdivisions

     Until 1968 the communist regime had divided the country into seventeen
regions-including one consisting of the Bucharest metropolitan area only-and
152 districts. In an extensive reorganization of local governments at that
time, the regions were done away with and replaced by the prewar system of
counties (judete). In 1971 there were thirty-nine counties, plus Bucharest
and its suburban areas, which were still administered separately. Bucharest
was one of forty-six municipalities, but it was the only one not subordinate
to the district in which it was located. Each county is named for the town
that is its administrative center. The newer organization has served to
increase public participation in local government but has also increased the
authority of the central government.

     Bucharest, with a population of nearly 1.5 million in 1969, was about six
times larger than Brasov, the next largest city. The Bucharest district was
smallest in area and greatest in population. Other districts had roughly
similar areas and populations. They averaged about 2,350 square miles in area
and, although their populations varied between fewer than 200,000 and about
750,000, two-thirds of them had between 350,000 and 650,000 persons.

     The 1968 reorganization also made extensive changes in the lower portion
of the local administrative structure, reducing the number of communes by
about 40 percent and villages by nearly 15 percent. Typical counties had
about fifty communes of about 4,000 to 5,000 persons each. The smaller local
units were created, dissolved, or combined as population and local
requirements changed but, as of January 1970, there were 236 towns, 2,706
communes, and 13,149 villages. Of the towns, the forty-seven most important
were classified as municipalities, and the communes included 145 that were
suburban areas of the larger towns (see ch. 8).