Backgrounder: Basic facts about Romania

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived in Romania on Sunday, the last stop on his European tour. The following are some basic facts about Romania.

Romania is a country located on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. The country has an area of 238,391 square km.

Romania shares a border with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the northeast, Hungary and Serbia to the west and Bulgaria to the south.

Bucharest is the nation's capital.

Romanians, the leading ethnic majority in the nation, account for nearly 90 percent of its population of 21 million.

The official language is Romanian, spoken by most of the population, while Hungarian and German are also widely understood.

With a gross domestic product (GDP) of around 264 billion U.S. dollars and a per-capita GDP of 12,285 dollars in 2008, Romania is an upper-middle income country. It has been a member of the European Union since Jan. 1, 2007.

Romania has launched a series of economic reforms in 1989. Now, its economy is characterized by high growth, low unemployment and declining inflation.

China and Romania established diplomatic relations on Oct. 5, 1949, and exchanged ambassadors in March 1950.

The two countries have increased economic and technological cooperation in recent years.