Romania

Where the name comes from

Romania means “land of the Romanians”; român comes from Latin romanus, “Roman”, reflecting the people’s language and heritage.

First people

Dacians lived here in ancient times, and Romanian grew from Latin, belonging to the same family as Italian, French and Spanish.^1,2

Known for

Romania is known for the Carpathian Mountains, the painted monasteries of Bukovina and Bran Castle, linked to the Dracula legend.³

Outside contact

Rome conquered Dacia in 106; much later, the Ottomans made Wallachia and Moldavia tributary states.^4,5

The modern country

Wallachia and Moldavia united in 1859 under Ottoman overlordship; independence, declared in 1877 and recognized in 1878, was followed by union with Transylvania and other lands in 1918.⁵