Here are some facts about the former communist country of 20 million people in southeastern Europe, a member of NATO since 2004 and of the European Union since 2007.
Poor but growing
With an average monthly salary of 470 euros ($505) and one in four people in poverty, Romania is the European Union’s second-poorest country. Corruption remains rife, Brussels complains.
However, having gone through a severe recession and painful austerity cuts, the economy has rebounded and is forecast to grow by 4.8 percent this year, the fastest in the bloc.
Unemployment is also relatively low at around six percent, but this is partly because some three million Romanians have upped sticks and emigrated because of the dire job prospects at home.
Minorities
At the crossroads of peoples since antiquity, Romania is home to myriad minorities, the largest being ethnic Hungarians, who make up 6.1 percent of the population, or 1.2 million people.
The next-biggest are the Roma, who suffer disproportionately high rates of poverty and have little political representation. Others include Ukrainians, Poles, Turks, Tatars and Armenians.
The current president, Klaus Iohannis, is from the ethnic German minority, descendants of Saxons and others who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.
Bucking the trend
Unlike other EU nations in the region such as Hungary and Poland, Romania has not seen a big rise in nationalist and eurosceptic parties or politicians, although EU membership is not as popular as it was.
The country has also been largely unaffected by Europe’s migrants crisis. It agreed to take part in the EU’s scheme to share refugees, although so far only a few hundred people have said they want to come to Romania.
Natural wonders
The Carpathian Mountains are home to one of the largest undisturbed forests in Europe. Sixty percent of Europe’s brown bears call it home, along with 400 unique species of mammals.
The mountains border the Transylvania region, famous for the Dracula legend. Prince Charles has two houses there and calls it “literally the last unspoilt, untouched area.”
Another notorious Romanian monster was Nicolae Ceausescu, the country’s former communist dictator. He and his wife were summarily executed on December 25, 1989.
Vibrant culture
Cultural life is vibrant. Romanian cinema in particular is a darling of international film festivals thanks to a “New Wave” ridden by directors such as Cristian Mungiu, Cristi Puiu and Radu Jude.
Romania also has one of the largest wine industries in the world. And last but not least, Johnny Weissmuller, the best-known of the actors to play “Tarzan”, was born in present-day Romania.