Romania Facts for Kids

Romania Facts for Kids: Bran Castle, Bucharest, Traditional Dress

Interesting Facts about Romania for Kids

Our Romania facts for kids were chosen and researched by kids especially for kids and shall provide insights into the geography of this Eastern European country.

Romania flag

• Population: 21 million people live in Romania (2024)
• Capital: Bucharest with 2.4 million inhabitants
• Government: Semi-Presidential Republic

• Official Language: Romanian
  
• Literacy: almost 99% can read and write.
• Religion: mainly Christians (Eastern Orthodox 82%)
• Currency: Romanian leu = 100 bani

Anthem

• National anthem: Deșteaptă-te, române! (Wake up, Romanian!) The anthem was written in 1848 but only adopted in 1990.
• National symbols: blue, yellow, red (national colours) golden eagle
• National Day: 1 December
• History: 1862 the Walachia and Moldavia united to form Romania, the unification of Romania and Transylvania in 1859 led to the formation of Greater Romania, Romania’s independence was declared in 1878, the first republic was proclaimed in 1947. The Romanian Revolution in December 1989 led to the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. In 2007 Romania joined the EU.
• President: Klaus Iohannis (since 2014)

Romania Facts | Geography of Romania

Where is Romania? Romania is a country in southeastern  Europe and is a member country of the EU.

Romania borders the black Sea and five countries: Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.

Map of Romania

The longest border is shared with Moldova and measures 683 km/ 424 miles in length.

Romania’s coastline is 255 km/ 158 miles long and the country has mountains and hills as well as plains. About one third of the country are forests. The Carpathian mountain range dominates the centre of the country. Romania has a temperate continental climate.

Romania can be compared in size with the state of Oregon in the USA. 

The name 'Romania' originates from the local name for a Romanian or those coming from Rome.

Romania Facts | Geo Superlatives

• Romania’s capital city Bucharest is the biggest city in the country with about 2.4 million inhabitants living in the metropolitan area. 
• Bucharest is the sixth largest city in the European Union.
• The parliament buildings in Bucharest are the largest parliament building in the world.

Palace of Parliament in Bucharest

• The Danube River is the longest river in the country and forms in large parts the border with both Serbia and Bulgaria.
• The Danube Delta is Europe’s largest marshland and second largest delta.
• The highest mountain in Romania is the Moldoveanu Mountain with 2,544 m/ 8,346 ft. 

Mount Moldoveanu

• The oldest human remains ever found in Romania date back to about 38,000 BCE and are those of ‘homo sapiens’ and are the oldest known human fossils in Europe.

Romania Facts
Attractions and Landmarks

Here are some of the most famous landmarks of Romania.

Parliament building in Bucharest

Revolution Square in Bucharest - image by Liviu Gherman

Danube Valley in Romania

Picturesque Sighisoara

Fortified church in Prejmer/ Transylvania

Bran Castle

Retezat Național Park

Brasov Volcanic Crater

Romania Facts for Kids  Romanian People

Just over half of all Romanians live in urban centres. Romania’s biggest city is the capital city Bucharest with about 2.4 million people living in the metropolitan area of the city.

Romanian dancers in traditional costumes - image by Florin Cnejevici

Among the larger Romanian cities, however all with a population of less than half a million people, are Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara and Iasi. The northern and eastern parts of Austria are more densely populated.

Hungarians are the largest minority group in Romania. They mainly live in eastern Transylvania. 

Soccer and tennis are the most popular sports in Romania.

Traditional Romanian easter eggs

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Romania Facts | Romanian Language

Romanian is the official and most spoken first language in Romania. There are several minority languages spoken in the country and these include Hungarian, Vlax Romani, Ukrainian, German, Serbian and Turkish.

Romanian is a Romance language which is similar to French, Spanish or Italian. The Romanian alphabet has 31 letters including five very specific Romanian letters: ă,â,î,ț, and ș

The oldest document written in the Romanian language is from 1521.

English and French are taught in most schools.

Romania Facts for Kids
Romania Economy

Romania is one the world’s foremost producers of plums. Romania is also among the largest maize producers in the European Union. Germany, Italy, France and Hungary are the main trading partners.

Romania is part of the European Union since 2007, however, the country has not joined the monetary union yet and still uses the Leu as currency.

Romania Facts | Romanian Food

Popular Romanian food specialties include:

• Tochitură: This is a Romanian long simmered stew. This dish includes pork meat, smoked pork sausages, kidneys and liver. Tochitură is traditionally accompanied by mămăligă, fried eggs and cheese.
  

Romanian dish 'tochitura'

• Mămăligă: similar to polenta made with corn flour but mixed with sour cream or cheese
• Mici: grilled minced meat rolls made with pork or beef mince that has been mixed with garlic, onions and spices.
• Papanasi: fried cheese donuts that are served hot with sour cream and blueberry jam

Papanasi

• Sarmale: delicious cabbage rolls are served at special celebration feasts such as Christmas or weddings

Romania Facts for Kids
Animals in Romania

The varied Romanian landscape with many valleys and rich meadows and forests especially the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube Delta provide a habitat for many wild animals amongst them the brown bear, the European lynx, the grey wolf, the Danube water snake  and the chamois, a mountain goat.

Even the European bison has been reintroduced in Romania.

There are 14 national parks in Romania. The Danube Delta is the largest national park and is a birdwatcher's paradise. This is a habitat for Egyptian white pelicans as well as Arctic geese who rear their young here. 

Pelicans in the Danube Delta

In the Danube Delta there are also some of Europe's last wild horses.

Romanian Shepherd Dogs are a unique Romanian breed originating from the Carpathian mountains. 

Romanian shepherd dog

These patient watch dogs are very good with children and thus also used as protective and affectionate family dogs. And they usually only bark to alert.

Resources for Romania Facts

Resources for our Romania Facts page were:

• National Insitut of Statistics. "Population" insse.ro. Last updated 27 October 2023. Last accessed 19 March 2024
• Central Intelligence Agency. "Romania." WorldFactBook. Last update 13 March 2024. Last accessed 19 March 2024
  
• Rolandia. "14 mouth-watering Romanian foods that everyone should try". Rolandia.eu Last accessed 19 March 2024
• American Kennel Club. "Romanian Mioritic Shepherd Dog." AKC. Last accessed 19 March 2024
  
• U.S. Embassy of Romania. "National Parks." usembassy.ro. Last accessed 19 March 2024

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