Polity · 1948 CE – 1989 CE
Socialist Republic of Romania
Republica Socialistă România
- Peak recorded area
- 238,172 km²
- 1948 CE
- Rulers on record
- 6
- from 1944 CE
- Data series
- 250
- 1948 CE–1989 CE
Overview
The Socialist Republic of Romania was the communist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to the Revolutions of 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People's Republic. The country was an Eastern Bloc state and a member of the Warsaw Pact with a dominant role for the Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its constitutions.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
2 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1989 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 39 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population82 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 22.9Mpersons1989 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female70 obs · 1950 CE–1989 CE | 72.66years1989 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male70 obs · 1950 CE–1989 CE | 66.45years1989 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration70 obs · 1950 CE–1989 CE | -33.9Kpersons1989 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Urban Population42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 6.7Mpersons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Infant Mortality Rate40 obs · 1950 CE–1989 CE | 26.42per 1000 live births1989 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 109 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 6,281.152011 int'l $1989 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| GDP per capita PPP42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 14.7Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)1989 CE · Gapminder |
| Total Exports42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 11.1Kmillion USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 9,950.72million USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 1,139.26million USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 21Kmillion USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 29 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0.0082CINC (share of world capability)1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 137.2Mcoal-ton equivalents1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 14.4Mtons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 2Bcurrent USD1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 207Kpersons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Mil Equip Armoured Fighting Vehicles Attack20 obs · 1970 CE–1989 CE | 3,200count1989 CE · rDMC Military Capabilities v1.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 24 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 162.95TWh1989 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 273.95TWh1989 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 111.92TWh1989 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Agricultural Land %29 obs · 1961 CE–1989 CE | 64.35%1989 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land %29 obs · 1961 CE–1989 CE | 41.24%1989 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment) |
| Arable Land per capita Ha29 obs · 1961 CE–1989 CE | 0.4084hectares per person1989 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 18 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0.187index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0.042index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0.067index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity242 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | -2index (-10 to 10)1989 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0.185index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 31 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 0.047index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Electricity Production42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 75.8BGWh1989 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Newspaper Circulation42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 5.5Mcirculation1989 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Radios42 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 6,307count1989 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Freight Tkm41 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 81.1Ktonne-km1989 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Passenger Km41 obs · 1948 CE–1989 CE | 35.5Kpassenger-km1989 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
6 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Gheorghe Gheorghiu-DejSecretary General of the Romanian Communist Party1944 CE – 1954 CE
- Mihail Sadoveanuhead of state of Romania1947 CE – 1948 CE
- Gheorghe ApostolSecretary General of the Romanian Communist Party1954 CE – 1955 CE
- State Council of RomaniaHead of State1961 CE – 1974 CE
- Nicolae CeaușescuSecretary General of the Romanian Communist Party1965 CE – 1989 CE
- president of RomaniaHead of State1974 CE – 1989 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Romanian
- Currency
- Romanian Leu (RON)
Memberships
- Czechoslovakia–Romania Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1948 CE – 1989 CE
- Hungary–Romania Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1948 CE – 1989 CE
- Romania–Russia Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1948 CE – 1989 CE
- Poland–Romania Defense Pact (1949)Military alliance · member1949 CE – 1989 CE
- 8-member Defense Pact (1955)Military alliance · member1955 CE – 1989 CE
- Bulgaria–Romania Defense Pact (1948)Military alliance · member1970 CE – 1989 CE
- German Democratic Republic–Romania Defense Pact (1972)Military alliance · member1972 CE – 1989 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
rDMC Military Capabilities v1.0v1.0
Reconstructed Data on Military Capabilities (rDMC), v1.0. Harvard Dataverse.
Academic use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment)2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment series). Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Socialist Republic of Romania is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.