Romania

The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzerainty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured their autonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 and a few years later adopted the new name of Romania. The country gained recognition of its independence in 1878. It joined the Allied Powers in World War I and acquired new territories - most notably Transylvania - following the conflict. In 1940, Romania allied with the Axis powers and participated in the 1941 German invasion of the USSR. Three years later, overrun by the Soviets, Romania signed an armistice. The post-war Soviet occupation led to the formation of a Communist "people's republic" in 1947 and the abdication of the king. The decades-long rule of dictator Nicolae CEAUSESCU, who took power in 1965, and his Securitate police state became increasingly oppressive and draconian through the 1980s. CEAUSESCU was overthrown and executed in late 1989. Former Communists dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept from power. Romania joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Romanian leu (ISO code: RON)
* Central bank discount rate: NA%
* Commercial banks lending rate: 14.99% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $25.3 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $36.09 billion (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Romania: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	35 592	37 053	40 181	45 825	59 507	75 489	98 913	122 642	169 282	200 071
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Romania: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Romania: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	 	 	 	25.781	24.544	24.211	24.480	24.518 	25.311 	30.907
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Romania: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.	 	 	 	25.910	23.510	23.286	24.024	25.309 	26.316 	33.772
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Romania on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Romania
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries