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Romania
LocationAt the confluence of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

Romania is a country in Southeast and Central Europe. It lies on the lower course of the Danube, north of the Balkan Peninsula, and on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to the east, and the Black Sea to the southeast. It is the twelfth-largest country in Europe by area, covering 238,397 km2 (92,046 mi2), and the sixth-most populous member state of the European Union, with nearly 20 million inhabitants. The capital, largest city and economic centre is Bucharest. Other major cities include Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Constanța, Timișoara, Brașov, Oradea and Sibiu.

Romania is a developed country with a high-income economy and is widely regarded as a middle power in international relations. It is home to 11 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Romania is a net exporter of automotive and vehicle parts worldwide and has established a growing reputation as a technology centre, with some of the fastest internet speeds globally. Romania is a member of several international organisations, including the European Union, NATO, and the BSEC. (Full article...)

Good article -

Entries here consist of Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
  • "Mami" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Alexandra Stan for her fourth studio album of the same name (2018), independently released as its third single on 4 April 2018. It was written by Stan and Katie DiCicco, while production was handled by DiCicco and Simon Says. A trilingual recording, "Mami" explores femininity. An accompanying music video was filmed by Bogdan Păun of NGM Creative and was uploaded onto Stan's official YouTube channel on 14 February 2018. Inspired by Mexican culture, it portrays the machismo idealism of a Latina girl next door daydreaming of her love interest. (Full article...)
  • "Deep in Love" is a song by Romanian producer Tom Boxer and singer Morena, featuring guest vocals by English recording artist J Warner. It was released as a CD single in Italy on 31 October 2011 through Step and Go, while later made available for digital download in various countries on 14 February 2012 through Roton. The track was written by Boxer and Warner, and solely produced by Boxer; the latter came up with the song in Morocco in 2011 and recorded a demo while travelling to a concert there. He ultimately worked on the track for four months. A love song, its lyrics include a reference to the popular paradigm that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.

    Filmed in a studio in Bucharest and on the Canary Islands, an accompanying music video for "Deep in Love" was uploaded to Roton's YouTube channel on 15 August 2011. For further promotion, the song was performed at the ZU Loves You event organized by Radio ZU. It reached the top 40 on Hungarian, Romanian, Polish and Italian music charts, while being awarded a Platinum certification in the latter region by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) for 30,000 copies sold. (Full article...)

  • The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) (Romanian: Corpul de Aviație) was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service (Serviciul de Aeronautică Militară) and subordinated to the Engineer Inspectorate, being organized in two branches – the aviation and the balloon branch. On 23 August 1915, the RAC was formed as an independent military arm and operated until 1 January 1924 when it became an equal to the Army and Navy, being redesignated as the Royal Romanian Air Force (Aeronautica Regală Română).

    In 1913, the newly established Military Aeronautics Service participated in the Second Balkan War. Being organized in two sections, the Aeronautics Service carried out reconnaissance, liaison and leaflet dropping missions over Bulgaria. (Full article...)
  • "Playing with Fire" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Paula Seling and Romanian-Norwegian performer Ovidiu Cernăuțeanu for their 2010 collaborative album of the same name. It was released as a CD single in 2010 by TVR, TMC and AXR labels. Partly influenced by opera music, the track was written by Ovi and produced by Simen M. Eriksrud. The lyrics of "Playing with Fire" portray a fight between a male and a female, with a reviewer speculating that it revolved around arson.

    The track represented Romania in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway after winning the pre-selection show Selecția Națională. Seling and Ovi's win sparked controversy after it was speculated that Eriksrud was one of the writers of "Playing with Fire", which was not permitted by the rules of the national selection as he is not of Romanian origin. The accusations were denied and it was later confirmed that Eriksrud only produced the track. In Oslo, the singers qualified for the Grand Final, where they finished third with 162 points. This remains Romania's best result in the contest alongside 2005's "Let Me Try" by Luminița Anghel and Sistem. Onstage, Seling and Ovi played a double piano wearing a black catsuit and black clothing, respectively, accompanied by four background vocalists. (Full article...)

  • A 19th-century copy of a portrait attributed to Martin Kober representing Stephen Báthory in decorative Sarmatian attire

    Stephen Báthory (Hungarian: Báthory István; Polish: Stefan Batory; Lithuanian: Steponas Batoras; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania as well as Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), after previously being Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576).

    The son of Stephen VIII Báthory and a member of the Hungarian Báthory noble family, Báthory was a ruler of Transylvania in the 1570s, defeating another challenger for that title, Gáspár Bekes. (Full article...)

  • Alexandra Stan (pictured in 2011) initiated the lawsuit against Marcel Prodan.

    Alexandra Stan vs. Marcel Prodan was a 2013 Romanian lawsuit in which Romanian singer Alexandra Stan accused her impresario Marcel Prodan and his label Maan Studio of blackmail, bodily harm, common assault and robbery. In June 2013, Stan and Prodan were travelling in a car on Autostrada Soarelui between Constanța and Valu lui Traian. Members of the Romanian traffic police found them fighting on the shoulder of the motorway; Stan's face was visibly bruised and she was taken to the hospital. She later appeared on national television, generating media attention in Romania.

    According to the singer, the incident occurred after she asked Prodan for her earnings, to which he reacted violently. Several hearings in Constanța Court were scheduled as part of the lawsuit; during one, Prodan testified that he had acted in self-defense after Stan hit him in his car and threatened to commit suicide. While Stan's accusations of blackmail and bodily harm were deemed groundless by the judges in 2014, Prodan received a seven-month suspended sentence for common assault in February 2016 and was fined damages. (Full article...)
  • "Alcohol You" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Roxen, digitally released on 21 February 2020 by Global Records. It was written by Ionuț Armaș and Breyan Isaac, while Viky Red solely handed its production. "Alcohol You" emerged as the winner of Selecția Națională 2020 and was thus scheduled to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before the event's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China and its spread to other countries. Roxen had previously been internally selected at the country's representative by Romanian Television (TVR).

    Musically, the track is a ballad that discusses emotions such as sadness, despair, hope and nostalgia, as well as finding inner peace. It has a minimalistic and Billie Eilish-inspired production. "Alcohol You" was generally well received by music critics upon release, receiving praise for its lyrics and Roxen's vocal delivery. To promote the song, a lyric video was uploaded to YouTube simultaneously with the track's digital availability. Directed by Bogdan Păun, Roxen is shown in front of a neon sketch of herself alongside light and smoke effects. Additionally, the singer performed "Alcohol You" on the native talk show La Măruță and radio station Virgin in February and March 2020, respectively. (Full article...)

  • Vlad II (Romanian: Vlad al II-lea), also known as Vlad Dracul (Vlad al II-lea Dracul) or Vlad the Dragon (before 1395 – November 1447), was Voivode of Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He is internationally known as the father of Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula. Born an illegitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia, he spent his youth at the court of Sigismund of Luxembourg, who made him a member of the Order of the Dragon in 1431 (hence his sobriquet). Sigismund also recognized him as the lawful Voivode of Wallachia, allowing him to settle in nearby Transylvania. Vlad could not assert his claim during the life of his half-brother, Alexander I Aldea, who acknowledged the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan, Murad II.

    After Alexander Aldea died in 1436, Vlad seized Wallachia with Hungarian support. Following the death of Sigismund of Luxembourg in 1437, Hungary's position weakened, causing Vlad to pay homage to Murad II, which included participating in Murad II's invasion of Transylvania in the summer of 1438. John Hunyadi, Voivode of Transylvania, came to Wallachia to convince Vlad to join a crusade against the Ottomans in 1441. After Hunyadi routed an Ottoman army in Transylvania, the sultan ordered Vlad to come to Edirne where he was captured in 1442. Hunyadi invaded Wallachia and made Vlad's cousin, Basarab II, voivode. (Full article...)
  • "Amnesia" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Roxen, digitally released by Warner Music Poland on 4 March 2021. It was written by Adelina Stîngă and Victor Bouroșu, while the production was solely handled by the latter. A dark ballad, the song's lyrics discuss combatting self-neglection in modern society, referring to this phenomenon as "self-love amnesia". Music critics generally applauded the song, with praise concentrated on its catchiness and commercial appeal, as well as on Roxen's vocal delivery. For promotional purposes, a music video was released simultaneously with the digital premiere of the song and was directed by Bogdan Păun. Filmed at an empty National Theatre Bucharest, the visual shows Roxen and several dancers performing contemporary dance to portray the story of a person who manages to gain control over their surrounding fears.

    Romanian broadcaster Romanian Television (TVR) internally selected Roxen as Romania's contestant and "Amnesia" as the nation's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021. The singer was previously scheduled to perform "Alcohol You" at the 2020 contest, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Presenting a stage show similar to the music video of the song, Roxen failed to progress from the semi-finals, placing 12th in a field of 16 with 85 points, marking Romania's third non-qualification in the contest. Upon the event, "Amnesia" reached numbers 51 and 26 on Lithuania's AGATA and the Netherlands' Single Tip rankings, respectively. (Full article...)

  • Charles depicted in the Illuminated Chronicle

    Charles I, also known as Charles Robert (Hungarian: Károly Róbert; Croatian: Karlo Robert; Slovak: Karol Róbert; Italian: Caroberto; (1288 – 16 July 1342), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno. His father was the eldest son of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary. Mary laid claim to Hungary after her brother, Ladislaus IV of Hungary, died in 1290, but the Hungarian prelates and lords elected her cousin, Andrew III, king. Instead of abandoning her claim to Hungary, she transferred it to her son, Charles Martel, and after his death in 1295, to her grandson, Charles. On the other hand, her husband, Charles II of Naples, made their third son, Robert, heir to the Kingdom of Naples, thus disinheriting Charles.

    Charles came to the Kingdom of Hungary upon the invitation of an influential Croatian lord, Paul Šubić, in August 1300. Andrew III died on 14 January 1301, and within four months Charles was crowned king, but with a provisional crown instead of the Holy Crown of Hungary. Most Hungarian noblemen refused to yield to him and elected Wenceslaus of Bohemia king. Charles withdrew to the southern regions of the kingdom. Pope Boniface VIII acknowledged Charles as the lawful king in 1303, but Charles was unable to strengthen his position against his opponent. Wenceslaus abdicated in favor of Otto of Bavaria in 1305. Because it had no central government, the Kingdom of Hungary had disintegrated into a dozen provinces, each headed by a powerful nobleman, or oligarch. One of those oligarchs, Ladislaus III Kán, captured and imprisoned Otto of Bavaria in 1307. Charles was elected king in Pest on 27 November 1308, but his rule remained nominal in most parts of his kingdom even after he was crowned with the Holy Crown on 27 August 1310. (Full article...)
  • "Stereo Love" is a song by Romanian musician Edward Maya featuring Moldovan-Romanian musician Vika Jigulina. It was released as their debut single on 23 February 2009 for radio airplay in Romania, and was later included on Maya's debut studio album, The Stereo Love Show (2014). The song was written by Maya and Jigulina, while the production was handled by the two alongside Ilie Alexandru; Azerbaijani musician Eldar Mansurov is listed as a composer for the interpolation of the 1989 song "Bayatılar". Mansurov's contribution was initially uncredited, but was later acknowledged through a contract signed between him and Maya in January 2010. It is a Eurodance, techno and trance song with lyrics about lovesickness, and also follows the Romanian popcorn music trend popular around the time of release. The song prominently features an accordion hook.


    Music critics gave generally positive reviews of the song upon its release, noting the universal appeal. At the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, the track was awarded "Top Dance Song". Commercially, "Stereo Love" peaked at number two on the Romanian Top 100 in August 2009 and became a worldwide sleeper hit over the next two years. The song was a number-one in Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden, and further peaked within the top five in several other countries including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It has peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100, standing as the best-performing Romanian song there. An alternative North American version of "Stereo Love" released with Mia Martina was a top ten hit in Canada. Maya was alleged not to have approved the release of this version and ended up in a lawsuit with the label Cat Music. (Full article...)

  • The child Michael with his father, Mircea I of Wallachia

    Michael I (Romanian: Mihail I), (? – August 1420) was Voivode of Wallachia from 1415 to 1420. He was the only legitimate son of Mircea I of Wallachia, who made him his co-ruler. Styled as prince from 1415, Michael became sole ruler after his father died in early 1418. His support for a Hungarian campaign against the Ottoman Empire caused the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed I, to invade Wallachia, forcing him to agree to pay tribute. After Michael failed to respect the treaty, the Ottomans gave assistance to his rival, Dan, who crossed into Wallachia in 1420. Dan and his Ottoman allies defeated the Wallachian army, and Michael was killed on the battlefield. (Full article...)

  • Basarab I (fresco in Argeș)

    Basarab I (Romanian: [basaˈrab] ⓘ), also known as Basarab the Founder (Romanian: Basarab Întemeietorul; c. 1270 – 1351/1352), was a voivode and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the 14th century. Many details of his life are uncertain. According to two popular theories, Basarab either came into power between 1304 and 1324 by dethroning or peacefully succeeding the legendary founder of Wallachia, Radu Negru, or in 1310 by succeeding his father, Thocomerius.

    A royal charter issued on 26 July 1324 is the first document to reference Basarab. According to the charter, he was subject to Charles I of Hungary as the voivode of Wallachia. Basarab became "disloyal to the Holy Crown of Hungary" in 1325. He seized the Banate of Severin and raided the southern regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. Basarab supported Michael Shishman of Bulgaria's attack against the Kingdom of Serbia, but their united armies were defeated in the Battle of Velbazhd on 28 July 1330. Soon after, Charles I of Hungary invaded Wallachia, but the Wallachians ambushed the royal troops in the Battle of Posada, between the 9 and 12 November 1330, nearly annihilating the entire force, subsequently ending Hungarian suzerainty in Wallachia, allowing the foundation of the first independent Romanian principality. Basarab's descendants ruled Wallachia for at least two centuries. The region of Bessarabia, situated between the rivers Dniester and Prut, was named for the Basarab dynasty. (Full article...)
  • The Transylvanian peasant revolt (Hungarian: erdélyi parasztfelkelés), also known as the Bábolna revolt (Romanian: Răscoala de la Bobâlna) was a popular revolt in the eastern territories of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1437. The revolt broke out after George Lépes, bishop of Transylvania, had failed to collect the tithe for years because of a temporary debasement of the coinage, but then demanded the arrears in one sum when coins of higher value were again issued. Most commoners were unable to pay the demanded sum, but the bishop did not renounce his claim and applied interdict and other ecclesiastic penalties to enforce the payment.

    The Transylvanian peasants had already been outraged because of the increase of existing seigneurial duties and taxes and the introduction of new taxes during the first decades of the century. The bishop also tried to collect the tithe from the petty noblemen and from Orthodox Vlachs who had settled in parcels abandoned by Catholic peasants. In the spring of 1437, Hungarian and Vlach commoners, poor townspeople from Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) and petty noblemen started to assemble on the flat summit of Mount Bábolna near Alparét (Bobâlna) where they set up a fortified camp. The bishop and his brother, Roland Lépes, the deputy of the voivode (or royal governor) of Transylvania, gathered their troops to fight against the rebels. The voivode, the two counts of the Székelys and many Transylvanian noblemen also hurried to the mountain to assist them against the rebels. (Full article...)
  • "On a Sunday" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Ester Peony. It was independently released for digital download and streaming as a single on 17 January 2019. Ioana Victoria Badea wrote the lyrics, while Peony composed the music alongside Alexandru Șerbu. Musically, the track is a mid-tempo blues, R&B, soul and 2000s-influenced electropop ballad backed by percussion, guitar, synthesizers and trance beats. Its lyrics discuss a failed relationship and include Peony reflecting upon a former love interest and the futile idea that he might return. Observers likened the track to the American folk song "The Wayfaring Stranger".

    "On a Sunday" represented Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, after winning the pre-selection show Selecția Națională. The country failed to qualify for the final, marking their second and consecutive year to achieve this result. During a large portion of Peony's acclaimed goth-inspired performance, Peony was singing from a red armchair while accompanying dancers enacted a battle between good and evil visually amplified by various dark graphics showed on the LED screens. The show was the first one in Romania's Eurovision participation history to be significantly invested in by the Romanian Television (TVR), with costs amounting to a reported 100,000 euros. (Full article...)

Selected article -

Sviatoslav I by Eugene Lanceray (1886)

Sviatoslav I or Svyatoslav I Igorevich (Old East Slavic: Свѧтославъ Игорєвичь, romanised: Svętoslavŭ Igorevičǐ; Old Norse: Sveinald; c. 943 – 972) was Prince of Kiev from 945 until his death in 972. He is known for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers in Eastern Europe, Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire. He conquered numerous East Slavic tribes, defeated the Alans and attacked the Volga Bulgars, and at times was allied with the Pechenegs and Magyars (Hungarians).

Following the death of his father Igor in 945, Sviatoslav's mother Olga reigned as regent in Kiev until 962. His decade-long reign over the Kievan Rus' was marked by rapid expansion into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe, and the Balkans, leading him to carve out for himself the largest state in Europe. In 969, he moved his seat to Pereyaslavets on the Danube. In 970, he appointed his sons Yaropolk and Oleg as subordinate princes of Kiev and Drelinia, while he appointed Vladimir, his son by his housekeeper and servant Malusha, as the prince of Novgorod. (Full article...)

Selected biography -

Smiley performing at Hard Rock Cafe Bucharest in 2022

Andrei Tiberiu Maria (Romanian pronunciation: [anˈdrej tiˈberju maˈri.a]; born 27 July 1983), better known by his stage name Smiley, is a Romanian singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and television presenter, from Pitești. He was part of the pop groups Simplu (2001–2011) and Radio Killer (2009–2015). As a solo artist, Smiley started in 2007 and has become one of Romania's biggest pop artists, archiving 14 number ones and more than 30 Top20 singles.

In 2013, he won "Best Romanian Act" during the MTV Europe Music Awards held in Amsterdam. He had been nominated as a solo act three times for the same award in 2008, 2009 and 2011 and twice in 2006 and 2007 as part of Simplu. He is part of the Romanian Euro-House project Radio Killer where he is known as Killer 1. As of November 2013, he is the new Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Romania. (Full article...)

Selected picture

Salina Turda is a salt mine in the Durgău-Valea Sărată area of Turda, Cluj County, Romania that opened for tourists in 1992.

Did you know (auto generated)

  • ... that Romanian-born Helen O'Brien escaped advancing Russians on the King's horse, opened Eve, and worked as a spy for MI5 and MI6?
  • ... that Matei Donici, a general in the Imperial Russian Army, secretly wrote poetry with Romanian-nationalist and anti-Russian messages?
  • ... that writer Fănuș Neagu claimed to have spent the Romanian floods of May 1970 stranded with a feral wolf on the roof of a cannery?
  • ... that Tudor Arghezi, "perhaps the strongest personality in all of 20th-century Romanian literature", claimed that he could identify people with cancer by their smell?
  • ... that Romanian adventure novelist N. D. Popescu-Popnedea "generate[d] laughter" with his deposition at a political assassin's trial?
  • ... that at age 15, Lilia Cosman moved from the United States to Romania to compete for Romania's Olympic gymnastics team?

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