Romania is a poor country in southeastern Europe.  Most people in Romania don’t make much money and most barely have enough money to buy food, clothing, and shelter.  Others only have a little bit of money left for recreation.   The people are poor because the jobs don’t pay very well.  The country is poor because it had problems with its government.

In 600 B.C. Greek traders established cities and trading posts in what is now Germany.  In A.D. 106 the Romans invaded and Romania became part of he Roman Empire.  Huns, Visigoths, Slavs, Bulgars, and Magyars conquered Romania in the late 200’s and throughout the next ten centuries.  In the 1300’s, Moldavia and Wallachia were independent. 
 
In 1881 King Carol became the first king of Romania.  In 1914, King Carol died and his nephew Ferdinand became king. In 1916-18 Romania fought with the Allies, Great Britain and France in World War I against the Germans, but the Germans invaded them.  In 1918, after the war, the country got bigger in size and also gained more people. Also, Romania attacked Russia.  In 1927, King Ferdinand died and three years later, Carol (King Ferdinand’s son) became King Carol II.

  World War II began in 1939.  Northern Transylvania was taken from Romania by Hungary, the northeastern part of Romania was taken by the Soviet Union, and in the southeast, Bulgaria took territory. King Carol II gave up his throne because his people turned against him because of loss of land. In 1944,Romania was invaded by Russia. Romania again fought with the Allies in World War II.  In 1945 World War II ended.  Northern Transylvania was given back to Romania by the Allies who took the land back from Hungary, but the other land was not given back. Romania was invaded by the Communists in 1948.
 
In 1965, Ceausescu became powerful, and his cruel Communist dictatorship began.  In 1989, Ceausescu was killed.  In 1990 elections were held for the first time.  In 2003, voters chose a new constitution.  Romania was accepted to join NATO.
 

The percentage of Romanians who own a television set is very low, only about 15% have a TV.  Less than two percent of the people in Romania own a vehicle.

Most Romanians who live in the city have small houses or apartments for a home. A lot of the buildings in the cities of Romania are centuries old.  There aren’t enough houses in Romania because there are more people in Romania now than there used to be.   

Almost all rural people live in a wooden cottage with two or three rooms in it. The Romanians decorate it with homemade art such as wall rugs with beautiful patterns, colorful plates, building frames, and fences. The Romanian peasants who live in the country have brightly colored houses.  The houses have wooden porches that are carved, and there are a lot of flowers in their yards.  Carvings decorate the wooden furniture and linens are decorated with embroidery.  In their backyards there are some smaller buildings to put wood, fuel, and food in for livestock.

At holidays, christenings, and wedding festivals, Romanians wear costumes with all kinds of colors.  Romanian folk music is played and people dance to it.
 
A lot of Romanians like to go to orchestra concerts to hear Romanian folk music.  Another thing Romanians like to do is go to exhibits that have folk art.  A lot of people in Romania, today especially the younger people, like rock music, Western movies, plays, and books. 
 
In Romanian orphanages, the kids sleep on old rags over pieces of plastic and rubber tiles.  Some of the kids (especially kids who are handicapped) get their hands and legs tied behind their backs so that the people who work at the orphanages can move them easier and keep them from walking around the orphanage.  Some are left that way for a long time.
 
Some kids live on the streets.  They beg for food and they find quiet places with shelter to live in.  Some homeless kids form groups in tunnels.

There are some rare animal species in Romania. Chamois live in the Carpathian Mountains. They are goat-like mammals that have hooves and straight horns that are curved at the end.  Other animals that live in the forests in the mountains are red deer, brown bear, wolf, lynx, fox, wild pig, black goat, Carpathian stag, and marten.  There are a lot of songbirds too.  Other birds are woodcocks, grouse, nightingale, and golden eagles.  Polecats, squirrels, foxes, rabbits, and other small rodents live in the plains.  Pheasants, partridges, crows, and some buzzards live there too.  Otters, wolves, hares, minks, ermine, muskrats, foxes, polecats, and wild boars live along riverbanks. The reed fox lives on floating reeds.  Reed wolves also live on reeds.  They eat smaller, weaker, and injured animals.
 
St. Nicholas day starts on December 6th.  On that day, Romanians feast on freshly slaughtered animals (sheep, pigs, cows, and goats).  On Christmas Eve, groups go to neighbor’s houses and sing about health and wealth.  Easter starts on Palm Sunday.  In the week after Palm Sunday is Good Friday.  Good Friday honors the death of Jesus.  On Easter, believers celebrate that he rises from the dead.  On New Years in Moldavia, men wear red and black and dance around in the streets.  They also wear goat heads.  They dance to the music of flutes and drums.  In some areas of Romania, a plow is driven from house to house.  It is decorated with green leaves to symbolize health.  Romanians believe that the plow brings good luck to every house it goes to.  Some other holidays are Labor Day and National Day.  Labor Day is on the first and second of May.
 
Men dress up in fancy costumes and parade through town for festivals. They are accompanied by the music of a brass band.  Every year in Brasov, there is a festival called Juni.  Juni is on the first Sunday of May.  In Transylvania there is a play called Tirgul de fete (Girl Fair).  Girl Fair is more than a hundred years old.  During Girl Fair people gather at Mt. Gaina and listen to music, eat, and dance.  There is one ritual that is the same for every town.  That ritual is called sinziene.  During sinziene, women gather wild leaves, flowers, and roots.  They believe that brings good luck.  It is also used for medicine.
 
There are many kinds of traditional clothing in Romania.  The correct fashion is to wear long, white shirts with your costumes.  Men have to wear a cap or a hat with their costumes.  Women wear vests with embroidery on them.  Women’s costumes are different in different regions because of the color, patterns, and accessories.  Also, the women’s footwear is made of leather.
 
In Romania, people commonly walk for transportation.  It’s not unusual to see carts pulled around by oxen or horses.  Bicycles aren’t common because there are too many hills and too much traffic in Romania.  In the city, most people use cars but they also ride buses and taxis. 
 
Most of the food that farmers grow stays in Romania.  They raise corn, potatoes, wheat, and the other main crops. Other crops are barley, beets, oats, rice, rye, sugar, soybeans, sunflowers, tobacco, tomatoes, wine grapes, and table grapes.  A lot of people grow table grapes.

When Romanians have free time, they repair their homes and cars (if needed) and they also grow food.  Another thing they do is sew their clothes.  When they have time to relax, they usually watch movies and T.V., go for walks, go out on picnics, and listen to music. 

Kids start their chores when they have time.  Some of their chores are washing dishes, washing clothes, dusting, and cleaning their rooms.  The kids play when not in school, doing their homework, or helping around with chores.  Some games they play are blind man’s bluff, hide- and-seek, hopscotch, computer games, soccer or riding bikes at the park, etc.

Many tourists enjoy Romania.  There is good scenery and skiing.  In the Carpathian Mountains there are health spas and the Black Sea.  Tourists are also interested in Romania’s history, and they like to see the museums and castles.  Another thing that tourists like to see is Romanian folk art.  The only bad thing is that the hotels aren’t very good. 

Romanian children start school at age six.  The kids have to wear uniforms in the early grades.  Elementary school is from age six to fourteen.  You have to stay in school until 16.  After elementary school, you take tests to see what subjects you take in high school.  Some classes kids take are math, biology, history, languages, and geography.  Transportation to school is walking, taking buses, subways, trains, etc.  After high school, the teenagers look for jobs.  If you want to go to college, you have to pass hard tests.  Only the smartest kids go to college.
 
Romania is a very poor country. Romania was a very rich country until the Communists took over Romania’s government.  The money in Romania is called leu. Leu stands for lion.  Coins have the face of a leader from the past printed on the front.  It shows the amount and the crest of Romania on the back of the coin.  On the back of the 2,000- lei bill, the August 1999 solar eclipse is printed.

The most popular things in Romania are folk dancing and music.  In most big cities, there are opera houses.  In smaller towns there are operas, puppet shows and dancing.  Romanians like to make pottery, dolls, woodcarvings, and needlework. 

Romania’s favorite sport is soccer.  Some sports that Romanians are good at in competition are gymnastics, weight lifting, rowing, and tennis.  Other sports are rugby, basketball, swimming, and table tennis.  Some outdoor sports are hiking, biking, and skiing.  A popular game for kids in Romania is Oina.   Oina is a game that is baseball and cricket mixed.  In Oina, there’s one player on a team that throws the ball, and a player on the other team hits the ball with a bat.  In school, boys play basketball and soccer, and girls do gymnastics. 

In Romania, there are many mountains, plains, and plateaus.  The Danube is the most important river in Romania and it flows along the southern border.  Romania’s weather is continental.  Temperatures and rainfall vary across Romania.  Summers are usually warm and winters are cold.  The cold winds blow from Russia in the winter.  Snowfall is common.  In January, the weather is usually a little below freezing.  In July, the average temperature is 70 degrees.  The weather in Romania is good for farming. 

Some popular foods in Romania are mititei, mamaliga, and sarmale.  Mamaliga is corn meal that looks like mashed potatoes.  Mititei is a spicy sausage.  Sarmale is cabbage or grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice.  Bread is popular for every meal.  Romania’s favorite meat is pork.  A common breakfast in Romania is eggs, cheese, bread, and coffee. Common deserts are pancakes and sweets.  Tuica is a popular drink made from plums.  Coffee is more popular that tea and its mostly drunk black.  The biggest meal of the day for Romanians is lunch.

There are more than 22 million people living in Romania.  The population is mostly made up of Ethnic Romanians. Many Romanian’s are Hungarian.  The Hungarians mostly live in Transylvania.  Most people call the Roma gypsies.  Roma usually live away from other groups.  They’re usually poor, uneducated and unemployed.  Some other groups are Germans, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Russians, and Turks.  The land of Romania is 91,700 square miles.  The size is similar to the size of Oregon. The greatest distance is 450 miles east to west and 320 miles north to south.  The main cities in Romania are Constanta, Brasov, Iasi, Timisoara, Cluj Napora, and Bucharest.  The major rivers are the Danube, the Mures, and the Olt.  The Danube is 654 miles long, the Mures is 461 miles long, and the Olt is 442 miles long.  Romania’s borders are Ukraine, Moldava, Hungary, the Black Sea, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.

When the Communist government ruled, students weren’t able to pick what kind of jobs they would have in the future.  Also, many Romanians worked for the government because the government owned or managed a lot of Romanians farms or businesses.  The Communist government had to say it was okay for citizens to quit their jobs or go to a different country, if the Romanians wanted to do that.  When the Communist dictatorship ended, the new government changed a lot of rules. Today the president of Romania is Traian Basescu.  The Prime Minister is Calin Tariceanu.  The Prime Minister is in charge of the country.  The president is elected for four years and you have to be at least 18 years old to be able to vote.

Who I Interviewed and What I Learned I interviewed Silivia Labes on December 10, 2005 her at her house in Yakima.  I thought she was a good person to interview because shies Romanian and lived in Romania until she was in her 30’s.  I got a lot of information from her.  Mrs. Lascar (her mom) also helped a lot.  Her mom told me all the answers to my questions and if she didn’t know the answer, she would ask Silivia.      Mrs. Lascar told me that she thinks, in the future, Romania will be a good country and that people will be able to say what they think.  She also thinks that Romanians will be happy to live in Romania.      She said that the major problems that face Romania today are economic problems.  Silivia said that the thing that’s new in Romania is that people have liberty to say what they think.  Another fact she told me about Romania is that the human rights have changed a lot in recent years.      Romania is poor because of Communist leadership for the past 50 years.  Romania used to be a very rich country but it lost many resources and cultural values.  Therefore, it was behind other European countries. The unique thing about Romania is that it’s a beautiful country with lots of landscapes.      In the 1600’s, three small states merged together to make in Romania from the past are Stephen the Great, Michael the Brave, and King Carol I.  Michael the Brave merged the three countries.  In 1989 the Communist regime got replaced with the democratic government.  I would like to thank Silivia and Mrs. Lascar for helping me in my project.

Bibliography Dalton, Joyce. Romania: The Charm of the Country and its People. Romanian Tourism Promotion Office. Labes, Silivia and Mrs. Lascar.  Personal interview. December 10, 2005. Nelson, Daniel  “Romania” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2001 “Romania.”Pro Quest Information and Learning Company Culturegrams.com “Romania.” World Book Online Reference Center   HYPERLINK "http://www.worldbookonline.com" www.worldbookonline.com Sheehan, Sean. Cultures of the World: Romania. New York: Marshall Cavendish. Pp. 14,83-84, 106, 118,124  Tismaneanu, Vladimir.  Romania.  The World Book Encyclopedia. 2002. Willis, Terri.  Romania, the Enchantment of the World. New York: Children Press 2001 Pp. 33, 36, 75, 81-82, 92, 118-120, 125-127.

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