An independent kingdom since 1881 following the union of Moldavia and Walachia, and a People’s Republic since 1948, Romania became a Communist dictatorship under Nicolae Ceauşescu in 1965, but was liberated by the revolt of 21-25 December 1989, followed by the adoption of a democratic system. Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004 and joined the EU in 2007.
The Constitution of 1991, revised in 2003, stipulates that the President of the Republic, who has wide-ranging governmental powers, is elected by direct vote with a mandate of five years. Since 2016, a new electoral law ensuring proportional representation has been in effect. Parliament is comprised of the Chamber of Deputies (raised to 330 members in 2016) and the Senate (raised to 136 members) and is elected for a term of 4 years.

Defence.
Military service is voluntary.

Economic situation.
The measures introduced to restrict the health emergency have had a negative impact on the economy, which dropped by 3.9% in 2020. GDP is expected to grow sharply in 2021 (+6%). To introduce emergency measures, the government brought the deficit/GDP ratio to 9.8% in 2020. The EU has informed the country to reduce the deficit to 2.9% by 2024.

Primary sector.
Agriculture is still relevant. Cereals, principally wheat and maize, account for most of the country’s cultivated land. Other food crops include potatoes, vegetables and fruit (ţuică, the national liqueur, is distilled from plums).
Oil production (sunflower and soya) is significant, and vine-growing is widely practised, especially in Moldavia and Oltenia regions. Flax, hemp, sugar beet (Moldavia and Transylvania), tobacco (Walachia) and hops are also important. Sheep farming, which yields significant amounts of wool, is the most important livestock activity, followed by pigs and cattle.

Secondary sector
Minerals.
Romania has significant oil, natural gas and lignite reserves, thus making the country almost self-sufficient. The main fields around Ploieşti, Boldeşti and Piteşti, as well as in Oltenia (Ticleni and Bîlteni) and Moldavia (Moineşti), are connected by pipelines to the terminals at Giurgiu (on the Danube), Constanța (on the Black Sea) and Galați-Reni.
Natural gas is extracted from abundant reserves in Transylvania.
The Arad-Szeged gas pipeline to Hungary is operational, while work has slowed down on the BRUA interconnector to Austria.
The extraction of natural gas from the Black Sea offshore fields in the Constanța area should begin from the end of 2021. The country is already the second largest producer in the EU.
In other respects, the mineral industry is going through a serious crisis.
There are lignite mines in the southern Transylvanian Alps and close to the border with Hungary, as well as less important coalfields in Petroşani and Banat region, iron ore deposits in the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, Căpuşu Mic, Banat and Lueta, and moderate bauxite deposits in the Pădurea Craiului mountains. Silver, zinc, lead, copper and manganese are also mined. There are major rock-salt deposits, as well as minor gold and uranium deposits.
Energy and industry.
Most electricity comes from thermal power stations but there is a hydroelectric power station in the Iron Gates gorge on the Danube and a nuclear power station at Cernavodă (two nuclear reactors) which produces about 18% of electricity.
Romanian industry is diversified to a certain extent: numerous SMEs have appeared, financed by mixed capital (especially from Italy), in manufacturing areas as diverse as clothing, foodstuffs and metalworking. Many companies, in the past public ones, were privatized in an attempt to improve their management and attract capital. Many of the larger firms are still state-owned (energy sector).
The largest oil refineries are in Midia-Năvodari, Piteşti and Ploieşti. There are chemical works of some importance, which produce soda ash and fertilizers, and pharmaceutical plants. Artificial fibres are also produced, while numerous production centres remain for the iron and steel industry, though inefficient and obsolete, as well as the metallurgy (aluminium, lead, zinc and copper) and mechanics industries.
There are mechanical engineering works in Reşiţa, Braşov, Craiova (Ford), Bucharest, Ploieşti, Târgovişte, Arad, Brăila and Timişoara. The automobile industry centres on Braşov, Pitesti, Craiova and Timişoara, and the main shipyards are in Constanţa, Mangalia, Galaţi and Olteniţa. There is a textile industry of some importance. Other industries include paper, wood, cement porcelain, tyres and sugar.

Tertiary sector
Foreign trade.
Romania has negative trade balance. It imports machinery, textiles and fuels. Germany and Italy are its main trading partners.

Main exports (M US$ - 2017) 
electric and electronic equipment 12 337, vehicles and parts thereof 8 100, machinery 7 747, iron and steel 3 871, cars 3 378, apparel and accessories 2 935, furniture and accessories 2 712, tyres and rubber articles 2 445, technical and electro-medical appliances 2 416, petroleum products 2 169, timber 1 857, plastics 1 593, footwear 1 524, oil seeds 1 465, aluminium 1 147, wheat and maize 1 129, cereals 1 118

Finance and banking.
The central bank is the National Bank of Romania (Banca Națională a României), and there is a stock exchange in Bucharest.

Tourism. The most important attractions are the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube delta and the Black Sea resorts.

Education.
Education is free and mandatory from 6 to 16 years. Mother-tongue teaching is guaranteed for Hungarian and German minorities.