Talk:Romania

Semi-protected edit request on 25 December 2023
According to the sources given, Romania is a developed economy. By far, all the sources support the fact that the country is developed, including the GDP Per capita (nominal). It is time to accept it (for whoever keeps editing it).

Also, Transylvania is part of Central Europe, so the previous version of the page was more accurate.

Thank you! 92.83.153.46 (talk) 20:31, 25 December 2023 (UTC)


 * There is a difference between "high human development" (e.g. Romania) and "very high human development" (countries traditionally considered "first world" countries). tgeorgescu (talk) 00:26, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi! I know that, but Romania's HDI is classified as “very high”, with only Bulgaria having “high human development” from all the EU countries. 92.83.153.46 (talk) 13:28, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
 * That is not true. Romania is not recognized as being very high income, or an advanced economy. Romania isn't even part of the OECD. HetmanWL (talk) 04:32, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * May I inquire, @HetmanWL, why did you remove two references that I added, with the curt comment "Unreliable sources cited for Romania being in Central Europe removed"? The first reference ("Romania – a Central-European country") is from a scholarly journal article published by Radu Săgeată, a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy, thus presumably a real expert on this matter, while the second ("Romania as a Case Study for a Dynamic Central Europe") is a report from the well-known strategic intelligence publishing company Stratfor. On what basis did you dismiss these two sources as being "unreliable"? Turgidson (talk) 06:27, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes. Researchgate is not a reliable source, it's a hub pretty much anyone can publish in. Stratfor is a company for hire and not listed as a reliable source AFAIK, furthermore, the article doesn't state that Romania is Central Europe, it's about the Three Seas Initiative, the Bucharest Nine etc.
 * Consider Ukraine. Would you also say that it's at the crossroads of Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe? It has Lviv (formerly Lwów), "culturally in Central Europe" which makes Ukraine a partly Central European country, right? No. Consider Bulgaria. It's plainly stated - Southeastern Europe. Consider Spain. It's plainly stated - Southwestern Europe.
 * Also User:Shqian made an interesting observation: "The source you provided puts Romania in southeastern Europe, not in the southeastern part of central Europe:" "From it’s creation up until 18:14, 8 April 2018, this article placed Romania solely in southeastern Europe." "At 01:04, 11 April 2018, the user made another edit described as: a minor linking edit in the beginning of the article. This edit put Romania in central Europe, as well as southeastern and eastern Europe." HetmanWL (talk) 10:12, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Researchgate is not a reliable source, you don't get it at all. ResearchGate is not a source in the first place, it's a paper-sharing website. The Romanian Academy is the most prestigious and authoritative academic institution in Romania. Someone working at its Institute of Geography is definitively reliable. By the way, your examples like Ukraine are WP:OTHERSTUFF which shouldn't be affecting the discussion regarding Romania. Super Dromaeosaurus (talk) 12:37, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
 * We are not talking about the same thing. Romania is indeed, a high income economy, however the level of development is also measured by the HDI, which is currently “very high” (https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/ROU). 92.83.153.46 (talk) 09:13, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * With the majority of countries being "high" or "very high"... I thought they were more selective. tgeorgescu (talk) 09:20, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Imageddddd.png @HetmanWL, why do you remove Central Europe? Not whole Romania is part of Central Europe, but some regions part of it. Like Turkey and Russia has European and Asian parts. Oradea, Arad = Great Hungarian Plain, + Transylvania is Central Europe. Why would be sources for this? And if users provide sources why do you remove them anyway? OrionNimrod (talk) 12:06, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Is Ukraine in Central Europe because it has Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg? HetmanWL (talk) 19:45, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes, that region of Ukraine is historically and geographically part of Central Europe. It's not about putting it in one SINGLE box, and in these cases one can mention 2 or 3 regions if needed. The leading paragraph allows one to say that Ukraine is a the "crossroads of Eastern and Central Europe". Razvan Valentin Marinescu 05:16, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * And yet Ukraine is described simply as a country in Eastern Europe. HetmanWL (talk) 18:59, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * This person has an agenda. Naicullucian (talk) 19:12, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
 * what has oecd to do with it? the sources for being categorized as developed point to an UN study which states the the country is Developed. Can someone who isn't completely illiterate read that study? 85.221.16.108 (talk) 07:12, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Read the sources after the paragraph. There is a disparity between the sources (mentioning Romania as being "developed") and the paragraph (mentioning it is "developing"). We need to agree with the sources we state in the article itself. This has nothing to do with Hdi, but with the mentioned source. 85.221.16.108 (talk) 21:02, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
 * This is clearly still being discussed and not ready for an admin to implement. * Pppery * it has begun... 15:58, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * The user that keeps changing seems to be obsessed with Croatia not being in South-Eastern Europe as well, instead using "Mediterranean"
 * To me what happens seems more like pushing an agenda. Andymxm (talk) 21:13, 28 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I personally never edited anything related to Croatia. But it has to be noted that Croatia is included into Central Europe much more often (sometimes/rarely) than Romania (which is pretty much never). I think I'd use "Balkan" for Croatia still. The latest EU summit this month, concerning that region was called the EU-Western Balkans summit. Romania could be thought of as Eastern Balkans. But I digress. A look at the map is enough. HetmanWL (talk) 03:17, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Croatia belongs to Central Europe as much as Romania does.
 * Transylvania and Bukowina sum up to be 50% of the country territory, just like Slavonia in Croatia, most governmental sources regard Romania as a country in the SouthEastern part of CENTRAL Europe, so denying both East and South-Eastern.
 * I think it's fair to hold an obiective approach because both geographically and culturally Romania has ties in Central Europe, whole or partially. Andymxm (talk) 07:58, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
 * That is just your personal opinion. Wikipedia operates on consensus, what the majority of sources hold. Check out Central Europe HetmanWL (talk) 18:23, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
 * It is not a personal opinion, it is a fact, a fact that most people agree to before countless times. Romania is not an omogenous country and each region belongs to a different cultural and Geographic group, therefore we shall classify it as such Andymxm (talk) 21:05, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, you're lying. You can see how most people view the matter on Central Europe. Cheers, and a happy new year! HetmanWL (talk) 05:24, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I also disagree with @HetmanWL and agre with @Andymxm. I think the previous formulation that Romania is at "the crossroads of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe" is the most representative and balanced towards all regions of Romania. Razvan Valentin Marinescu 05:09, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * You're welcome to hold that opinion, dear Razvan Valentin Marinescu, unfortunately no institution puts Romania as a Central European country. Here on Wikipedia we're based on facts, not opinions or feelings. But we can all dream! HetmanWL (talk) 07:30, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * The point of this thread is to reach consensus, we're not going anywhere that way because it feels like it's one person versus everyone else, there are sources and maps placing Romania is Central Europe as well, at least culturally speaking, even the Romanian official touristic site places Romania in Central Europe.
 * I think we should leave aside agendas and biases and just accept things as they are. Andymxm (talk) 09:37, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * It's not one person. The admin isn't convinced, neither is User:Shqian, User:Retois, nor me. HetmanWL (talk) 19:01, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Romania has combined historical regions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_regions_of_Romania they have different geographical positions. OrionNimrod (talk) 09:53, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hey folks, I see there is a lot of talk regarding the region and much less about the developed/developing part. This has led to statements in the article which are simply not reflective of the sources used (references 20, 21, 22) of the currently protected version, so I would like to separate the two in order to more easily build a path forward.

For the developing/developed statement, my suggestion would be to go forward with a text that strictly reflects the sources, such as: ''The UN considers Romania as a developed country,[20][21][22] while the IMF is still including it in the developing and emerging group. The country is emerging to be a middle power in international affairs[...]'' (of course, better sources are welcome).--Strainu (talk) 22:43, 1 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Regarding the regions, I support the "crossroads" version. We definitively don't need "institutions" saying whether Romania is in a certain region or not, institutions like the UN have zero say over abstract topics like the regional subdivision of Europe. No instituion has any authority over this, and as long as we can find reliable sources attributing a region to a certain country I think we're fine.
 * Regarding the developing/developed I am pretty sure Romania is right now in the transition between the two, having recently been declared a World Bank high-income economy and being in the process of joining the OECD. I find it normal that some sources say Romania is still a developing country and others saying it is already a developed one, I think a good solution would be to mention both to reflect that currently there is no consensus or just use one of the two because it doesn't matter anyway as Romania will be universally considered developed in some years. Super Dromaeosaurus (talk) 12:31, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
 * @Super Dromaeosaurus gave us the most correct definition on this case. Andymxm (talk) 13:49, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I also agree with @Super Dromaeosaurusand @Strainu Razvan Valentin Marinescu 22:37, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
 * I also agree with @Super Dromaeosaurus. Regarding the developing part, in my opinion Romania has domains that are already very developed, such as the internet network system(one of the best in the whole Europe), while other economy areas require more concern and development. I believe that the statement that says that Romania is in transition between the developing/developed part is the most correct. RaduGiurca12 (talk) 23:39, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

Romania is a developed country
According to the same sources, Bulgaria is a developed country, while Romania appears as developing. Stop pushing an agenda. 188.26.10.215 (talk) 01:41, 31 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Then the Bulgaria page is wrong. Thanks for pointing out, already corrected it.
 * Nowhere in the references cited does it state that either Romania or Bulgaria are developed countries. HetmanWL (talk) 03:49, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I diagree, see my post above. Romania is a developed country, and has a higher GDP PPP per capita than Greece, Slovakia and Latvia. Source again here: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?locations=RO-LV-SK-GR Razvan Valentin Marinescu 05:12, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * You're welcome to hold that opinion, dear Razvan Valentin Marinescu, unfortunately no institution puts Romania as a developed country and the sources referenced do not correspond to what is written. Here on Wikipedia we're based on facts, not opinions or feelings. I'd also like to note that according to the IMF, Slovakia has a larger GDP (PPP) per capita than Romania, while all (Greece, Slovakia, Latvia) have a larger GDP (nominal) per capita. HetmanWL (talk) 07:26, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Get your facts straight. Source here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank_high-income_economy 188.26.10.215 (talk) 12:25, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Where did you get it from that high-income economy according to the World Bank stratification of the economies of the world = developed nation? HetmanWL (talk) 18:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)
 * @HetmanWL here on Wikipedia we're based on sources. In the first source, Romania is declared as developed in the tables on pages 125, 135, 142 etc. Same in the other two. If you dispute the source, perhaps we should move towards a more specific statement, such as "The UN considers Romania as a developed country". Happy new year! Strainu (talk) 09:26, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
 * The sources listed (world economic situation prospects from UN) all list Romania as developed. I think people here have a problem reading the tables. 85.221.16.108 (talk) 21:58, 18 January 2024 (UTC)

Consensus not achieved yet User Turgidson pushes changes to the lede
As above. There is no consensus. Wikipedia operates on consensus. Try for an RfC in this situation or stand by. This edit pushing is in line with Mrazvan's confirmed case of brigading/canvassing of Wikipedia 79.191.151.137 (talk) 06:53, 11 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Irrelevant topic, consensus was already reached, banned and hidden users are not welcome. Andymxm (talk) 09:07, 12 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Mrazvan22 is banned, see WP:CANVASS. What you say is irrelevant, as there is no such rule. There is no consensus and of the 3 references for Romania being in Central Europe, one is unencyclopedic/not reliable and the two other do not refer to Romania as being Central European at all and are false citations. 79.191.151.137 (talk) 10:10, 12 January 2024 (UTC)
 * @79.191.151.137 I don't know if things have changed in the meantime, but now the sources for Central Europe and the idea of crossroads between regions are:
 * A research paper published in the Romanian Review on Political Geography (scientific journal from the University of Oradea), written by a professor at the Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest. It opens with: "Romania – a Central-European country. The mathematical coordinates of Romania’s geographical position, the distances separating it from the extreme points of the Continent and the big natural domains individualising it, place this country in the south-eastern part of Central Europe. This reality is confirmed by the geographical works published during the inter-war period..."
 * The website of the Romanian Embassy in the US. It says: "Geographic position: in the south-east of Central Europe."
 * An older article published by Stratfor, which is an american organization for strategic and geopolitical intelligence advisory. They write: "Romania, an important Central European country, can serve as a case study..."
 * Supporting this issue there are now additional sources I've added:
 * A general NATO introductory report, from Romania's accession in 2004. Their 'Geographical Location' section mentions: "Romania is located in South-East Central Europe, north of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, [...] at the contact of Central Europe with Eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula, at the junction of major west-east and north-south European routes. [...] its territory constituting a bridge between Central and Southeastern Europe and the Near East." (with added explanations)
 * The website of the Presidential Administration of Romania which states: "Geographical Facts. Romania lies in the northern hemisphere, in the south-eastern Central Europe at the junction with Eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula..."
 * Additionally, there was already a source copied from the Central Europe Wikipedia article, published by the Leibniz Institute for Regional Studies (IfL) in Leipzig, Germany. Which is a prestigious research institute, and one of their authors wrote a paper titled "Major division of Europe according to cultural-spatial criteria" which includes a map showing the different cultural & spatial regions of Europe, with over a third of Romania being included in the Central European part.
 * Also, the United Nations geoscheme places Romania in Eastern Europe, while the CIA Factbook and Britannica consider it Southeast... In contrast, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in France (and European institutions in general) square it in the "Central and Eastern Europe" category. I would say that all this is sufficient to showcase the statement: "Romania is a country at the crossroads of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.". There are very specific arguments as to why because of the main regions that formed Romania (Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia + Dobruja in the South), with their respective history plus geographic position – added source briefly touching on that.
 * I don't understand this pedantic never-ending argument that has started. I don't see the pages of Serbia, Croatia, or Moldova (which is classed as both Eastern or Southeastern Europe depending on the source) having the same issue. Or Italy. -- Dhyana b (talk) 04:10, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Just to add my 3 cents - Romania is commonly understood to be Southeast Europe FeldmarschallGneisenau (talk) 00:52, 20 March 2024 (UTC)
 * That is an oversimplification & misconception. Romania is included in all 3 Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe Wikipedia articles, either in part or in whole, by various definitions. Even a source like Encyclopædia Britannica who places Romania in Southeast Europe, describes the kingdom of Dacia as: "Ancient country, central Europe. Roughly equivalent to modern Romania".
 * So it's clear the current classification has modern political reasoning behind it (they even classify Moldova as Southeastern Europe even though most sources would place it in Eastern Europe). Nevertheless, historically, geographically and culturally Romania's territory is tied to all 3 European regions. Dhyana b (talk) 05:46, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Imporance in WikiProject Europe
Why Romania is at low importance in WikiProject Europe? I think that it should be high or top importance, but not low-importance. InTheAstronomy32 (talk) 23:19, 3 March 2024 (UTC)

High income misrepresentation
I think it should read "Romania is rated by the World Bank as a high income country, while most of the population is severely underpaid." 178.138.33.220 (talk) 09:30, 21 May 2024 (UTC)


 * In comparison with China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Ethiopia, it is certainly a high income country. tgeorgescu (talk) 23:50, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

Edit request
In the section "Economy", subsection "Infrastructure", please change the paragraph "Bucharest Metro, the only underground railway system, was opened in 1979 and measures 61.41 km (38.16 mi) with an average ridership in 2007 of 600,000 passengers during the workweek in the country" to "Bucharest Metro, the only underground railway system, was opened in 1979 and measures 80.1 kilometres (49.8 mi) with an average ridership of 720.000 passengers during the workweek in the country".

The info in its current form is very outdated and needs this update. (I provided the source above). (the old info that is still in the article is from before the opening of the new M5 line and the extensions on the other existing lines). 2A02:2F0F:B308:E300:8C0F:B011:D7F6:D7AD (talk) 21:54, 25 June 2024 (UTC)


 * ✅ Geardona (talk to me?) 02:54, 30 June 2024 (UTC)