The dominant physical feature is the Carpathian mountains in the north and centre of the country, which curve around the Transylvanian plateau. To the south lies the valley of the Danube which drains through a delta into the Black Sea.
Winters are cold, especially in the mountains.
In 1989 Romania emerged from a bleak period of corrupt Communist dictatorship when Nicolae Ceausescu, who had ruled for 24 years, was deposed and executed. The revolution had been led by the National Salvation Front, and their leader Ion Iliescu became interim president. Since then, the National Salvation Front, now renamed the Party of Social Democracy, has remained the largest single party with Ion Iliescu as president and Nicolae Vacaroiu as prime minister. However, the party controls only one-third of the parliamentary seats and has combined with several nationalist groups in order to govern. Through this coalition, the party has been able to stave off a series of no confidence motions from the more reformist-minded opposition.