User:Ronline/Romania Demographics
According to the 2002 census, Romania has a population of 21,680,974 and, similarly to other countries in the region, is expected to gently decline in the coming years as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates. Romanians, which are a Latin people, make up 89.5% of the population. The largest ethnic minorities are Hungarians, who make up 6.6% of the population and are mainly found in Transylvania, as well as Roma, who make up 2.5% of the population. Hungarians, who are a sizeable minority in Transylvania, constitute a majority in the counties of Harghita and Covasna. Ukrainians, Germans, Russians, Turks, Tatars, Serbs, Slovaks and Poles, as well as other ethnic groups, account for the remaning 1.4% of the population.[1]
The official language of Romania is Romanian, an Eastern Romance language related to French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Romanian is spoken as a first language by 91% of the population, with Hungarian and Romani being the most important minority languages, spoken by 6.7% and 1.1% of the population, respectively.[1] Until the 1990s, there was also a substantial number of German-speaking Transylvanian Saxons, even though many have since emigrated to Germany, leaving only 45,000 native German speakers in Romania. In localities where a given ethnic minority makes up more than 20% of the population, that minority's language can be used in the public administration and justice system, while native-language education and signage is also provided.
The Romanian education system places a strong emphasis on foreign language, with French and English being the most spoken languages. English is spoken by 5 million Romanians, French is spoken by 4-5 million, and German, Italian and Spanish are each spoken by 1-2 million people. Historically, French was the predominant foreign language spoken in Romania, even though English has since superceded it. Consequently, Romanian English-speakers tend to be younger than Romanian French-speakers. Romania is, however, a full member of La Francophonie, and will host the Francophonie Summit in 2006.
The main religion is Romanian Orthodoxism, its adherents making up 86.7% of the population according to the 2002 census. Other important religions include Roman Catholicism (4.7%), Protestantism (3.7%), Pentecostal denominations (1.5%) and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church (0.9%). Romania also has a small Muslim minority (Islam in Romania), concentrated in Dobrogea, who are mostly of Turkish or Tatar ethncity and number 67,500 people. Based on the 2002 census data, there are also approximately 6,000 Jews and 2,300 people who are of no religion and/or atheist.