Some Quick Facts:| Area: | 238.392 sq.km |
| Population: | 22.3 Mio. |
| Time zone: | GMT +2 hours |
| Electricity: | 220 Volt |
| Prefix: | 00 40 |
| Currency: | LEU (RON) |
| 1 Leu approx. | 0.42 US Dollar |
| 1 Leu approx. | 0.28 Euro |
| 1 Leu approx. | 0.20 Pound |
Main Cities:
Bucharest - Capital (1.9 Mio)
Timisoara (300.000)
Constanza (300.000)
Airports:
9 civilian airports
Harbour:
Constanza - busiest harbour on the Black Sea
History:
Near Anina, in present-day Romania, in 2002 the oldest human remains of Europe were discovered in the "Cave with Bones". The remains, a lower jaw, approximately 42.000 years old, were nicknamed "John of Anina" and they actually may represent the first Homo Sapiens Sapiens to have stepped on our continent.
The Roman Herodotus in 513 BC was the first, to give written evidence of people living on present-days Romanian territory and in 106 AD the territory was conquered by the Romans under Emperor Trajan, because it was rich in Silver and Gold.
From then on, the territory saw many conquerors, kings and occupants. Probably the most famous amongst them was Vlad Tepes or Vlad Dracul, who was knoswn for his extremely cruel punishments and who became the main inspiration for Bram Stoker, when he wrote "Dracula".
The present-day Romania was formed in 1859 by the merging of Walachia and Moldavia, which were later joined by Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia. After World War II, Romania became a member of the Warsaw Pact, until in 1989 the fall of the Iron Curtain made it possible for Romania to move closer to the West.
In June 1993 Romania applied for the membership in the EU, in March 2004 Romania joined the NATO and since First of January 2007, Romania is a full member of the European Union.
Geography:
Romania, the twelfth largest country in Europe, occupies the North-East of the Balkan Peninsula. The country has 3195 km of borders, which are shared with: Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Ukraine. In the South-East there are 245 km of coastline to the Black Sea.
The natural landscape of Romania is divided into 31 percent of Mountains, 33 percent of Hills and 36 percent of Plains. The Carpathians are stretching from the Ukraine to Serbia through the centre of the country, with peaks of up to over 2500 meters. In the South-East is the Danube Delta, with an altitude of just a few meters above Sea-Level.
The arc of the Carpathians encloses the Transylvanian Plateau, an important agricultural region, which also contains large quantities of methane-gas and salt.
Climate:
The Romanian climatic conditions are modified by the varied relief of the country. The Carpathians are the barrier to Atlantic air masses and this restricts the oceanic influence to the West. This causes milder winters and more rain.
Frosty winters and less rain are the climatic conditions in the South and South-East, except in the extreme South-East, where there is a milder, maritime climate, because of Mediterranean influences.
The average temperature throughout the year is 11 degrees in the South and 8 degrees in the North. In Bucharest the temperature ranges from -29 degrees in January to +29 degrees in July.
Economical Facts:
Romania is one of the fastest growing nations in recent history. The GDP shows a consistent annual growth of well above 7 percent, 2006 for example, shows a growth of
7,7 percent. Between 2010 and 2012 Romania is expected to join the "Euro-Zone", Studies show that the Romanian GDP will double by 2011 and the amount of foreign Investments is steadily growing. Since 1989 these investments accumulated to more than 90 Billion Dollars US.
Precision machinery, motor vehicles, pharmaceuticals, fashion and clothing are amongst
the major industries in Romania. At the moment, there are not many multinational corporations in Romania - the economic strength comes from small and medium-sized firms. 75 percent of the economic output comes from the private sector, of which more than 90 percent of the companies expect the profits to grow over the next few years.
Romania is also rich in natural resources. It is ranked number ten in the world, when it comes to diversity of minerals. Coal, Iron, Boron Salt, Copper, Chromium, Uranium are just a few of those minerals.
Romania is and will continue to be one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Central-, South- and East-Europe. Overall: Romania is facing a very bright future.
Real-Estate Facts:
Romania was ranked Number One for investment opportunities in Real-Estate by "A Place in the Sun". And, honestly, this does not really come as a surprise!
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, all the former communist countries from Eastern Europe have been catching up with Western Europe rather quickly and Romania is amongst the front-runners. Here the GDP is growing annually by more than 7 percent, the foreign investments are counted in Billions and the tourism industry is celebrating record-figures each year.
But still the prices for real-estate, for houses, for apartments and for land in Romania, are still amongst the lowest and most attractive in Europe!
Romania is constantly trying to attract even more foreign investors into the real-estate market with tax-breaks and liberal property laws. International statistics show that the prices for real-estate almost doubled in the last two years. And specialists for the property market are convinced, this will go on for at least the next ten years.
Only two hours from London, Romania offers high profit opportunities, the chances to have more than 30 percent ROI. Strong subventions from the EU are improving the infrastructure of Romania very quickly which again helps the tourism industry, to bring more foreigners into the country. And a certain percentage of these foreigners will be interested in buying a Romanian property.
And it works! From 2005 to 2006 the increase in foreign investment was an incredible 37 percent! Romania is looking towards a very bright future and who invests in Romanian Real-Estate will share this future!