...m about 450 mi and a maximum distance from north to south of about 515 km about 320 mi. A long chain of mountain ranges curves through northern and central Romania. The Danube River forms much of the countrys southern and southestern borders ith Bulgaria and Serbia, and the Prut River divides Romania from its northeastern neighbor Moldova.Natural Regions Transylvania, an extensive elevated plateau region that reaches a maximum height of about 600 m about 2000 ft, occupies most of central and northestern Romania. Transylvania is surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, a large mountain system of central and eastern Europe. The Eastern Carpathians extend from the northern border to the center of the country and contain the forested region of Bukovina the Southern Carpathians, also knon as the Transylvanian Alps, stretch estard from the Eastern Carpathian range and the estern Carpathians traverse the estern portion of Romania. The Southern Carpathians contain the countrys highest peak, Moldoveanu, hich reaches an elevation of 2543 m 8343 ft. The geological structure of the Carpathians has given rise to severe earthquakes in 1977 an earthquake ith a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale inflicted serious damage on Bucharest and claimed more than 1500 lives. Another earthquake measuring 6.0 as registered in 1990.The areas stretching outard from Romanias mountainous interior contain hills and tablelands full of orchards and vineyards, and flat lolands here cereal and vegetable farming takes place. estern Romania is dominated by the Tisza Plain, hich borders both Hungary and Serbia the section of the plain that borders Serbia is generally knon as the region of Banat, hile the section that borders Hungary is commonly referred to as Criana-Maramure. To the east of central Romania, stretching from the Carpathians to the Prut River along the Moldovan border, lies the region of Moldavia. Southern Romania contains the region of alachia, hich stretches from the southernmost mountains to the Danube and contains the city of Bucharest. The small region of Dobruja, located in the extreme southeast beteen the Danube River and the Black Sea, is an important tourist center.Rivers and Lakes The most important river of Romania is the Danube. Its loer course forms a delta that covers much of northeastern Dobruja. Most of Romanias major rivers are part of the Danube system these include the Mure, the Some, the Olt, the Prut, and the Siret. Romania has many small, freshater mountain lakes, but the largest lakes are saline lagoons on the coast of the Black Sea the largest of these is Lake Razelm.Plant and Animal Life ooded steppe, no largely cleared for agriculture, dominates the plains of alachia and Moldavia. Fruit trees are common in the foothills of the mountains. The loer slopes have forests ith such deciduous trees as birch, beech, and oak. The forests of the higher altitudes are coniferous, consisting largely of pine and spruce trees. Above the timberline approximately 1750 m5740 ft, the vegetation is alpine.ild animal life is abundant in most parts of Romania. The larger animals, found chiefly in the Carpathian Mountains, include ild boar, olves, lynx, foxes, bears, chamois, roe deer, and goats. In the plains, squirrels, hare, badgers, and polecats are common. Many species of birds are abundant the Danube delta region, no partly a nature preserve, is a stopover point for migratory birds. Among species of fish found in the rivers and offshore are pike, sturgeon, carp, flounder, herring, salmon, perch, and eel.Natural Resources The principal resources of Romania are agricultural, but the country also has significant mineral deposits, particularly petroleum, natural gas, salt, hard coal, lignite bron coal, iron ore, copper, bauxite, chromium, manganese, lead, and zinc. Timber is also an important natural resource.About 43 percent of land in Romania is cultivated for crops or used for orchards, and the soils in most parts of the country are fertile. In Banat, alachia, and Moldavia, soils consist mainly of chernozem, or black earth, highly suited for groing grain. Soils in Transylvania are generally loer in nutrients.Agriculture Field crops or orchards occupy 43 percent of land in Romania. In the mid-1980s more than 80 percent of farms in Romania ere either oned by the state or organized as collectives in collective farms, orkers received ages, farm products, and a portion of the farms profits. Because of the Communist governments emphasis on industrial development, agricultural improvements and investments ere neglected, and food shortages developed in the 1980s.After the Communist regime as overthron, Romanias ne government began the process of dissolving collective farms and distributing land to individual farmorkers. Although state farms ere not broken up, farmorkers hose land had been incorporated into state farms ere compensated. By 1994 about 46 percent of agricultural land had been returned to its original oners or their heirs, and by 1995 more than three-fourths of Romanias farmland had been privatized.In 1992 a severe drought caused a major decline in agricultural output by the folloing year, hoever, the sector had largely recovered. In the early 1990s Romanias principal crops ere grains, including corn, heat, barley, and rye potatoes grapes and sugar beets. Cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, and poultry ere the most important types of livestock. ine production plays a significant role in Romanian agriculture.Forestry and Fishing Forests, hich cover 27 percent of Romanias total land area, are state property. The countrys timber provides the basis for important lumber, paper, and furniture industries. The Black Sea and the Danube delta regions are knon for their sturgeon catch, and the country undertakes considerable fishing operations in the Atlantic Ocean.Mining Petroleum is Romanias principal mineral resource, and the city of Ploiesti is the center of the petroleum industry. Hoever, petroleum production is declining due to the gradual depletion of reserves. Although important ne deposits ere found under the Black Sea in the 1980s, petroleum reserves are expected to be exhausted by 2000. Natural gas is produced in significant quantities. Other mineral products include lignite bron coal, hard coal, iron ore, bauxite, copper, lead, and zinc.Federal Republic of Germany German Bundesrepublik Deutschland, major industrialized nation in central Europe, a federal union of 16 states Lnder. Germany has a long, complex history and rich culture, but it did not become a unified nation until 1871. Before that time, Germany had been a confederacy 1815-1867 and, before 1806, a federal empire comprising many separate and quite different principalities.LAND AND RESOURCES Germany ranks as the fourth largest country in Europe, after European Russia the part of Russia est of the Ural Mountains, France, and Spain. Germany is bounded on the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea on the east by Po...
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