ROUMANIA

[s. 657] : A kingdom formed in 1878 from the united principalities, Wall a chia and Moldavia. Its independence from Turkey was proclaimed by its people in 1877, and was confirmed by tlie Its area is estimated congre of Berlin in 1878. On the northeast it is at 48,307 square miles. separated from Ru ia by the River Pruth and the Kilia mouth of the Danube, which latter southern boundary west of SilisThe Transylvanian Alps and the Carpatria. thian Mountains form its western and northwestern boundaries. That portion which lies between the Danube and the Black Sea is called the Dobrudja, and differs greatly from the rest The climate has great extremes of the kingdom. of temperature; in winter the cold northeast trying, while in the summer the winds are very southwest wind is scorching in its intense heat. The rainfall is not abundant. Agriculture is the principal occupation of the people, tho not The govern a few cattle and sheep are raised. ment is a constitutional monarchy, and the king is a isted by a senate of 120 members and a chamber of deputies of 183 members, all of whom must be Roumanians by birth or naturalization. The population of Roumania is of very mixed river forms its (1899) 6,000,000 Roumanians, 269,000 Jews, 250,000 Gypsies, 200,000 Bulgarians, 70,000 Germans, 60,000 Ma^ars, 7,000 Armenians, 4,000 French, 2,000 English, besides The 5,000 Itahans, Turks, Poles, and Tatars. population of the Dobrudja is estimated at 175,000, and contains a larger Ru ian element than the other part of Roumania. The Orthodox Greek Church is the ruling church, but Roman Catholics, Protestants, Armenians, Lipovani (Ru ian heretics), Jews and Mohammedans are also found. Education is supposed to be compulsory, but there are very few schools, so that only about three per cent, of the population are able to avail themselves of the free instruction. The principal cities, with their population, are Bucharest, the capital, 282,000, and Ja y, 78,000. Mi ion work in Roumania is carried on only by the colporteurs of the BFBS. The entire Bible has been translated into the Roum an i an language, besides the Psalms and Isaiah into Polish for the Jews. 657