NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES
Topographical and Regional Description
All of the mountains and uplands of the country are part of the Carpathian system. The Carpathian Mountains originate in Czechoslovakia, enter Romania in the north from the Soviet Union, and proceed to curl around the country in a semicircle (see fig. 3). The ranges in the east are referred to as the Moldavian Carpathians; the slightly higher southern ranges are called the Transylvanian Alps; and the more scattered but generally lower ranges in the west are known as the Bihor Massif. A few peaks in the Moldavian Carpathians rise to nearly 7,500 feet, and several in the Transylvanian Alps reach 8,000 feet, but only a few points in the Bihor Massif approach 6,000 feet.
Lowland areas are generally on the periphery of the country—east, south, and west of the mountains. A plateau, higher than the other lowlands but having elevations averaging only about 1,200 feet, occupies an area enclosed by the Carpathian ranges.
Moldavia, in the northeast, constitutes about one-fourth of the country's area. It contains the easternmost ranges of the Carpathians and, between the Siretul and Prut rivers, an area of lower hills and plains. The Moldavian Carpathians have maximum elevations of about 7,500 feet and are the most extensively forested part of the country. The western portion of the mountains contains a range of volcanic origin—the longest of its type in Europe—that is famous for its some 2,000 mineral water springs. Small sections of the hilly country to the northeast also have forests, but most of the lower lands are rolling country, which becomes increasingly flatter in the south. Almost all of the nonforested portions are cultivated.
Figure 3. Topography of Romania.
Walachia, in the south, contains the southern part of the Transylvanian Alps—called the Southern Carpathians by Romanian geographers—and the lowlands that extend between them and the Danube River. West to east it extends from the Iron Gate to Dobruja, which is east of the Danube in the area where the river flows northward for about 100 miles before it again turns to the east for its final passage to the sea. Walachia is divided by the Olt River into Oltenia (Lesser Walachia) in the west and Muntenia (Greater Walachia), of which Bucharest is the approximate center, in the east. Nearly all of the Walachian lowlands, except for the marshes along the Danube River, and the seriously eroded foothills of the mountains are cultivated. Grain, sugar beets, and potatoes are grown in all parts of the flatland; the area around Bucharest produces much of the country's garden vegetables; and southern exposures along the mountains are ideally suited for orchards and vineyards.
The Transylvanian Alps have the highest peaks and the steepest slopes in the country; the highest point, with an elevation of about 8,340 feet above sea level, is 100 miles northwest of Bucharest. Among the alpine features of the range are glacial lakes, upland meadows and pastures, and bare rock along the higher ridges. Portions of the mountains are predominantly limestone with characteristic phenomena, such as caves, waterfalls, and underground streams.