ROMANIA is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern EUROPE.
   With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres, ROMANIA is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the EUROPEAN UNION, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is BUCHAREST and other major urban areas include IAȘI, TIMIȘOARA, CLUJ-NAPOCA, BRASOV and CONSTANȚA.
   Following World War I, when ROMANIA fought on the side of the Allied Powers, the territories inhabited historically by Romanians - BUKOVINA, BESSARABIA, TRANSYLVANIA and parts of BANAT, CRIȘANA and MARAMUREȘ - became part of the sovereign KINGDOM of ROMANIA.
   In June–August 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and Second Vienna Award, ROMANIA was compelled to cede BESSARABIA and Northern BUKOVINA to the Soviet Union,
   Following the war, under the occupation of the Red Army's forces, ROMANIA became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact.
   After the 1989 Revolution, ROMANIA began a transition towards democracy and a market economy.
   It has been a member of the UNITED NATIONS since 1955, part of NATO since 2004, and part of the EUROPEAN UNION since 2007 (Wikipedia).