<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Romania<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Balkan State, Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea between Bulgaria and Ukraine
<item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 237,500 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 230,340 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly smaller than Oregon
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<item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> total 2,508 km, Bulgaria 608 km, Hungary 443 km, Moldova 450 km, Serbia and Montenegro 476 km (all with Serbia), Ukraine (north) 362 km, Ukraine (south) 169 km
<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> no official territorial claim by either Moldova or Romania, but nationalists in Romania seek the merger of Moldova with Romania; potential future dispute by Moldova and Romania against Ukraine over former southern and northern Bessarabian areas
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> temperate; cold, cloudy winters with frequent snow and fog; sunny summers with frequent showers and thunderstorms
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Plain of Moldavia on the east by the Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 43%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 3%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 19%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 28%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 7%
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<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 34,500 sq km (1989 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south from industrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> earthquakes most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure and climate promote landslides
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified—Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea
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<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> controls most easily traversable land route between the Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine