KOUMANIA. 



727 



Roumania was erected into a kingdom March 

 26, 1881. The Constitution was elaborated by 

 a Constituent Assembly in 1866. It delegates 

 the legislative power to the Senate, of seventy 

 members, and the Chamber of Deputies, of one 

 hundred and forty-five members. The mem- 

 bers of both Houses are chosen by electoral 

 colleges for each district. Every citizen able 

 to read and write is a voter. The King has a 

 suspensive veto on legislation. 



The King, Carol I, is the son of Prince Ho- 

 henzollern-Sigmaringen, born April 20, 1839. 

 He was elected Prince of Roumania in 1866, 

 after the abdication of Alexander John, who 

 was elected Hospodar npon the union of Mol- 

 davia and Wallachia into the Principality of 

 Roumania in 1861. 



The executive authority is exercised by a 

 council of seven ministers. The Cabinet, as re- 

 constructed in August, 1882, is composed of 

 the following members : President of the 

 Council and Minister of War, Ivan Bratiano; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Demetrius Sturdza ; 

 Minister of the Interior, G. Chitzu ; Minister of 

 Finance, G-. Lecca; Minister of Agriculture, 

 Commerce, and Public Works, Colonel N. Da- 

 bija; Minister of Public Instruction and Religion, 

 Aurelian. 



ABE A AND POPULATION'. The area of Rou- 

 mania, as fixed by the Treaty of Berlin, is about 

 49,979 square miles. By that treaty the Bes- 

 sarabian provinces annexed by the Treaty of 

 Paris to Roumania, embracing 3,270 square 

 miles, and containing about 140,000 inhabitants, 

 were restored to Russia ; and a territory in- 

 cluding the islands of the delta of the Danube, 

 the Sandjak of Tultcha, and a strip south ot 

 the Dobrudja, 5,935 square miles in total ex- 

 tent, and containing about 357,000 inhabitants, 

 were annexed to Roumania. The population 

 of the kingdom is known only by estimates. 

 The official estimate of the total population in 

 1882 was 5,376,000. In Roumania, as it was 

 before the Treaty of Berlin, the estimated pop- 

 ulation of 5,073,000 souls included 772,700 

 strangers, to wit: 400,000 Israelites, 200,000 

 Bohemians, 85,000 Slavs, 39,000 Germans, 29,- 

 500 Hungarians, 8,000 Armenians, 5,000 Greeks, 



2,000 French, 1,000 English, 500 Italians, and 

 2,700 Turks, Poles, Tartars, and others. The 

 106,943 inhabitants of the Dobrudja comprise 

 31,177 Roumanians, 16,493 Turks, 28,715 Bul- 

 garians, and 30,558 of other nationalities. 



The Greek Orthodox is the state religion. 

 The numbers of adherents to this faith are esti- 

 mated at 4,529,000 ; of Roman Catholics, 114,- 

 200; of Protestants, 13,800; of Armenians, 

 8,000 ; of Lipovans, 6,000 ; of Israelites, 400,- 

 000; of Mohammedans, 2,000. This estimate 

 does not include the population of the annexed 

 sandjaks, which increased considerably the 

 numbers of Mussulmans and Lipovans. 



The principal cities are Bucharest, the cap- 

 ital, containing, in 1879, 221,000 inhabitants; 

 Jassy, containing 90,000; Galatz, 80,000 ; Boto- 

 chani, 39,941; Ploesti, 33,000; Braila, 28,272; 

 Berlad, 26,568; Craiova, 22,764; Giurgevo, 

 20,866 ; Focsani, 20,866 ; and Piatra, 20,000. 



FINANCES. The revenues of Roumania are 

 derived principally from a poll-tax of nine lei 

 and other direct taxes, from the tobacco mo- 

 nopoly, and from the profits on the state prop- 

 erty. Following is a summary of the budget 

 for the year ending March 31, 1883, in lei (the 

 lei is equivalent to a franc, the French system 

 of money, weights, and measures having been 

 established in 1876) : 



RECEIPTS. Lei. 



Directtaxes 25,190,000 



Indirect taxes 51,886,000 



Public property 18,481,600 



Of the ministries 17,282,522 



Various receipts 7,317,922 



Tithe for collection of direct taxes 2,519,000 



Total 122,627,044 



EXPENDITURES. Lei. 



Publicdebt 45,458,431 



Council of Ministers 63,560 



Ministry of Finance 13,755,997 



Foreign Affairs 1,550,001 



" Justice 4,276,496 



" Education and Worship 11,331,890 



War. 26,404,838 



" Public Works 8,705,212 



" the Interior 9,705,959 



Contingent fund 1,374,660 



Total 122,627,044 



The public debt stood on April 1, 1882, as 

 follows, the amounts in lei or francs : 



ARMY. The military law of June 11, 1868, again by the law of June 8, 1882. The mili- 

 was modified in 1872, 1874, and 1880, and tary forces are divided into (1) the active army, 



