Essay, Research Paper: Romania: Not Just A Catchy Title

Romania: Not Just a Catchy Title

Northernmost on the Balkan Peninsula, Romania stands at the westernmost border of the Black Sea. Lying between 43oN and 48oN latitude, and between 20oE and 29oE longitude, Romania is situated in a temperate climate zone. It is located north of Bulgaria, south of the Ukraine, east of Serbia and Hungary, and west of Moldova. Romania lies within central Europe, where it sits in line with many other countries which have had revolutions of late.

Romania is divided from within by the Carpathian Mountains and the Transylvanian Alps. The Carpathians, running north-south through the middle of the northern half of the country and surrounding the Transylvanian Tableland, separate Transylvania, on the west, from Moldavia, on the east. The southern border for both of these territories lies within the Transylvanian Alps, which separate them from Wallachia, Romania's third territorial state.

The state head of Romania is held in the capitol, Bucharest, just off the country's southern border. The city lies close to the least naturally protected border of Romania, allowing it trade with other nations without undue duress, and a constant influx of immigrants from Balkan nations through the plains of Wallachia.

Farming covers forty percent of all land in Romania. Originally covering nearly the entire surface of the country, forest remains the biome for approximately thirty percent of the land. Thisis due to extensive clearing over centuries of population, leaving twenty percent of the remaining land as simple hayfields and grazing lands. Humanity has, in addition to clearing forest land to make arable land, been drilling enough oil to make Romania the second-greatest producer thereof in Europe, and mining coal and various oher ores. Nearly six hundred zones of environmental protection take residence in Romania, covering thousands of square miles in area. Among them are twelve natural parks and over five hundred seventy nature reserves.

Romania remained an enigma in the centuries before aircraft. Mountain ranges surrounding the country and pervading the country impeded groundbound traffic, and many of the rivers running through the country simply flowed down through the mountains and out of Romania, discouraging waterborne traffic. The most notable of the few conquerors of Romania were the Romans, who inhabited the country during the second and third centuries C.E. The Romans brought with their colonization the people, ways, and language of Rome.

Romania had only the Roman empire as neighbors to the south, their most easily accessble border, until the seventh century C.E. and the fall of the western Roman empire. Even after the fall, the eastern Roman empire held bridgeheads north of the Danube, further reinforcing the Roman culture in the country. The net effect of these six centuries of exclusively Roman influence was that even as migratory peoples and other conquerors swept through Romania afterward, they had very little influence on the lifestyle of the people. Those remaining behind after their tribes had left the country, including immigrants of the Goths, Huns, Gepidae, Avarians, Slavs, Bulgarians, Cumani, Petchenegs, and Hungarians, found themselves assimilated into the largely Latinized culture rather than one overpowered by their own people's ways.

The only other conquering people to hold sway over Romania for any significant length of time was the Hungarians. They governed Romania from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries C.E., and held unofficial power over the territory of Transylvania until the sixteenth century. In the fourteenth century C.E., the voivodships of Wallachia and Moldavia were officially founded as independent states. Both were opposed by Hungarian troops attempting to regain control in the states, but overcame the armies to their liberation.

The state organization was first attested in the tenth century C.E. Feudal bodies foreshadowed the later Romanian feudal states. The pre-state politic bodies in Transylvania were led by dukes, kniezes or voivodes like Gelu, Glad, Menumorut, Ahtum; in Moldavia, Wallachia and Dobruja by djupans, kniezes or voivods. Later, in the thirteenth century C.E. as the Hungarians removed official control from the Romanian states, the states coalesced into fairly centralized voivodships.

In 1812 the eastern half of Moldavia was annexed by Russia, prompting an enormous influx of Russians, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, and Bulgarians to the new Russian state of Bassarabia. The Tsarist government taking control attempted to submerge the Romanian national identity, banning Romanian schools, the Romanian language, and Romanian books unless printed in the Cyrillic alphabet.

In 1859, taking a note from the ideologies driving the French revolution of earlier that century, the states of Moldavia and Wallachia were united as the nation of Romania. The voivodship of Transylvania was returned to Hungarian power. Transylvania returned to Romania in 1918, on December the first. This date is still celebrated as Romania's national holiday.

In 1940 Romania was forced to disband under the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. This was drawn up by Axis forces worried over a united Romania, lready showing leanings toward the Allies, in the midst of Axis nations. It was allowed by Russia to reband in 1947, under a communist government. Forced denationalization of the Romanian people during this period caused massive emigration to other nations, western nations.

Romania did not reach a democratic national government until 1989, when massive street demonstrations were held in Bucharest, which eventually reached the main official buildings and forced the dictator from power. A president was put into control, and in 1991 a constitution was drafted which governs the country today.

Romania is divided into the three states of Moldavia, Transylvania, and Wallachia. These are further subdivided into areas largely bounded by the numerous rivers running through the country. The states exhibit highly different climates and biomes. Transylvania is situated on the Transylvanian Tableland, a mesa-like area from six hundred to one thousand feet above sea level. Moldavia is largely mountainous, and the Wallachian Plains cover the southern half of the country.

Roman influence is still seen today in Romania, in matters far deeper than simply the name of the country. seated within the Balkan Peninsula, Romania is surrounded by countries and peoples of Slavic origin, Slavic culture, Slavic language, and Slavic identity. Romania retains a people of Roman origin, with a blend of the originally Slavic culture and the deeply ingrained Roman culture, a language that is one of the most closely linked to Latin that is still spoken today, and have a national identity that is as strong as it is unique.