ROL

Exchange rates:

lei (RON) per US dollar - 2.43 (2007), 2.809 (2006), 3 (2005), 3 (2004), 3 (2003)

Communications
Romania

Telephones - main lines in use:

4.3 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

22.875 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: domestic and international service improving rapidly, especially in wireless telephony domestic: more than 90 percent of telephone network is automatic; liberalization in 2003 is transforming telecommunications; fixed-line teledensity is roughly 20 telephones per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity now slightly exceeds 100 telephones per 100 persons international: country code - 40; the Black Sea Fiber Optic System provides connectivity to Bulgaria and Turkey; satellite earth stations - 10; digital, international, direct-dial exchanges operate in Bucharest (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

698 (frequency type NA) (2006)

Radios:

7.2 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

623 (plus 200 repeaters) (2006)

Televisions:

5.25 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.ro

Internet hosts:

2.195 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

38 (2000)

Internet users:

12 million (2007)

Transportation
Romania

Airports:

61 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 25 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 36 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 22 (2007)

Heliports:

2 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 3,674 km; oil 2,424 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 11,385 km broad gauge: 60 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 10,898 km 1.435-m gauge (3,888 km electrified) narrow gauge: 427 km 0.760-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 198,817 km paved: 60,043 km (includes 228 km of expressways) unpaved: 138,774 km (2004)

Waterways:

1,731 km note: includes 1,075 km on Danube River, 524 km on secondary branches, and 132 km on canals (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 17 by type: cargo 11, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1 registered in other countries: 49 (Cambodia 1, Georgia 16, North Korea 4, Liberia 2, Malta 8, Marshall Islands 1, Moldova 3, Panama 7, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Sierra Leone 3, Syria 2) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Braila, Constanta, Galati, Tulcea

Military
Romania

Military branches:

Land Forces, Naval Forces, Romanian Air Force (Fortele Aeriene
Romane, FAR), Special Operations (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age for voluntary military service; conscription officially ended October 2006; all military inductees (including women) contract for an initial 5-year term of service; subsequent voluntary service contracts are for successive 3-year terms until the age of 36 (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 5,682,299 females age 16-49: 5,557,098 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 4,572,017 females age 16-49: 4,644,474 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 127,706 female: 121,852 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Transnational Issues
Romania

Disputes - international:

the ICJ gave Ukraine until December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to issue a rejoinder, in their dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary delimitation; Romania also opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

Illicit drugs:

major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan route and small amounts of Latin American cocaine bound for Western Europe; although not a significant financial center, role as a narcotics conduit leaves it vulnerable to laundering, which occurs via the banking system, currency exchange houses, and casinos

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Russia

Introduction
Russia

Background:

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under PETER I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms. Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists under Vladimir LENIN seized power soon after and formed the USSR. The brutal rule of Iosif STALIN (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favor of a centralized semi-authoritarian state whose legitimacy is buttressed, in part, by carefully managed national elections, former President PUTIN's genuine popularity, and the prudent management of Russia's windfall energy wealth. Russia has severely disabled a Chechen rebel movement, although violence still occurs throughout the North Caucasus.

Geography
Russia

Location:

Northern Asia (the area west of the Urals is considered part of
Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North
Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: