Living in Romania: the ultimate expat guide

Located in the South-East of Europe, Romania is a welcoming country, especially when it comes to the expatriates. Due to its fast-growing clusters and new technologies, this little country is progressively increasing the attractiveness for foreigners. Here is an overview of the country’s economic, political, demographic and geographical situation, along with interesting facts about the state’s hospitality.

Immigration in Romania

 In the last decade or so, expatriates worldwide have been showing their interest in moving to Romania. And this is no surprise, due to this nation’s increase in technical education, innovative homegrown companies and last but not least, the hospitality of its population, already well-liked in Europe. 

Following the worldwide economic crisis, involving mass job losses, thousands of expatriates have migrated to Romania. For those who want to move here, they should know that finding a job or a place to live is quite easy. As long as they know English or another Latin language, they will be adapting to the local environment and lifestyle easily. Therefore, before you start to back-pack, you should know a thing or two about life in Romania. So let’s check the most important factors.

Geography of Romania

Romania is a Central and Oriental European country and a member of the European Union since 2007. With an area of 238,391 km², the country is bordered by Hungary, Ukraine, Moldavia, Bulgaria, and Serbia.

Romania’s territory is divided as you can see below:

• 4 macro-regions that are accountable for coordinating regional growth and major infrastructure;
• 8 development regions that strive to promote regional economic increase;
• 41 counties;
• 103 municipalities, 320 cities, and 2,859 communes.

 Good to know:

The eight development regions are distinct territorial existences without administrative or legal status. They only represent the structure for accumulating specific statistical information, according to the European laws. There are some discussion to change the structure of how the country operates and run it from a perspective of the development regions and not by counties, but so far no progress was actually made.

Bucharest is Romania's capital city and has its own autonomous department. Among the other major cities, you can choose from Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi, Constanta, Galati, Brasov, and Sibiu. Note that in Romania, each department's capital is also known as a municipality.

Demography and languages in Romania

In 2019, Romania's population consisted of 9,327,244 million, which ranks as the 61st in the world. While 54,4% of the people are living on the urban side, it is a fact that there is a large number of foreigners who are included in these numerical statistics. Most of them are coming from the neighbouring countries, such as Hungary (7,8%), France, Germany, Moldavia, Russia, Bulgaria or Greece. 

Indeed, the primary and most popular language in the country is Romanian. But note that Romania occupies the 20th place in the world for English speaking, which is better than other countries such as France, Spain or Italy. All children study English in schools, and over 95% of Romanian secondary school students study a foreign language, such as German, French or Italian. 

As regards German, there are Transilvanian regions, such as Sibiu, where you will find lots of Saxon minorities. 

Economy of Romania

The Romanian economy relies on industry, services, and agriculture. Most of the local enterprises are working in the petroleum, gas, natural resources, gold and textile fields. Many of the European factories have moved to the East of the continent, especially in Romania. 

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased year-on-year with 4,4%, due to the excellent performance in construction and ICT. 

Moreover, the IT sector is the most profitable one for companies from the US and also Europe and is one of the main pillars of the Romanian economy. 

Other aspects influencing the Romanian economy are given by tourism and car manufacturing factories. 

At this time, two very important car brands are producing automobiles here. One is a worldwide known brand (Ford), and the other one is a local brand that is very popular in Europe due to its quality and very good prices (Dacia). Also, it is not yet decided, but Volkswagen also intends to open one of their newest plants in a Romanian city.

Social life in Romania

Romanians are well-known for their hospitality and generosity. Therefore, the patriarchal family is their fundamental basis as a culture. The members use to help each other, not only as a family but as a community. 

As an expat, you can expect people to be very friendly and close to you, although they are naturally very modest regarding strangers. Romanian people will always give you a hand and will come to chat with you. 

When it comes to going out, you will discover that Romanian people love to party and spend time socialising. So, if you are either interested in a cosy, quiet cafe or a crowded club, you will be able to find many options from which you can choose.

Climate in Romania

Romania has a fairly moderate, continental climate. If you move here, be ready to enjoy the quick, pleasant springtime, a warm or hot summer, the transition fall, and cold winters. 

Regarding the temperatures, the South of the country can often enjoy up to 35°C in the summertime, while in the western mountains, during winter, the temperatures can go down to -25°C. On the other hand, the mountains are a great privilege for winter sports fans. 

 Useful link:

Ministry of Tourism in Romania