Romania

The land was home to the ancient Dacians, who built a kingdom that fiercely resisted Rome before being conquered in the second century, after which Roman settlers and the Latin language took root, the origin of the Romanian people and tongue. In the Middle Ages the principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania emerged, often caught between the Ottoman, Habsburg, and Russian empires. These lands were gradually united into modern Romania in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, forming the present nation.

Romania's landscape is defined by the great curving range of the Carpathian Mountains, which sweep through the centre of the country, enclosing the historic plateau of Transylvania and cloaked in some of Europe's last great forests, home to large populations of bears and wolves. Beyond the mountains lie fertile plains, and to the south and east the Danube forms much of the border before spreading into a vast delta, one of Europe's greatest wetlands, where it meets the Black Sea.

The flag of Romania has three vertical bands of blue, yellow, and red. These colours have long been associated with the Romanian lands and their historic principalities, and they were brought together as the national flag during the struggle for unity and independence in the nineteenth century. The bold vertical tricolour is closely related to the flags of other nations, and it stands as a familiar emblem of the Romanian people.

The great majority of Romanians belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church, an Eastern Orthodox faith that is deeply woven into national identity, culture, and the calendar, and which played a role in preserving a sense of nationhood through centuries of foreign domination. There are also Roman Catholic and Protestant minorities, particularly among the Hungarian community of Transylvania. Orthodox churches and monasteries, including the famous painted monasteries of the north, are treasures of the country's heritage.

Romanian cuisine is hearty and rustic, shaped by the seasons and the land. A national staple is mamaliga, a thick cornmeal porridge similar to polenta, served alongside many dishes. The beloved national dish is sarmale, parcels of minced meat and rice wrapped in cabbage or vine leaves, slow-cooked and often eaten at celebrations. Grilled minced-meat rolls called mici are a popular favourite, and pork features heavily, alongside rich soups and a strong tradition of winemaking.

Romania has a large agricultural sector, favoured by extensive fertile plains and a temperate climate. It is a significant European producer of cereals such as wheat and maize, as well as sunflowers, and it has a long winemaking tradition across its hills and valleys. A great deal of the countryside is still farmed in a traditional, small-scale way, giving rural Romania a landscape and way of life that have largely disappeared elsewhere in Europe.

The Dacian kingdom and its conquest by Rome shaped the origins of Romania and its Latin language. In the fifteenth century the Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler, remembered for his brutal methods, fought the Ottomans and later inspired the fictional Count Dracula. The union of the principalities created modern Romania, which suffered through the world wars and then decades of harsh communist rule under Nicolae Ceausescu, whose regime ended in a violent revolution in 1989.

Romania has a population of around 19 million people, the great majority ethnic Romanians speaking their distinctive Latin-derived language, with a significant Hungarian minority in Transylvania and a Roma community among others. The population, like much of eastern Europe, has declined in recent decades, partly through emigration to wealthier parts of the European Union. Most Romanians live in cities and towns, above all the capital, Bucharest, while a large rural population maintains older village traditions.