ABOUT ROMANIA

Geography: 

Romania is a republic in Southeast Europe which borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, and Moldova.  

Petrosani (pronounced Petro-shawn) is a small town in the Transylanian (Southern Carpathian) mountains of Romania. This is where Isaiah’s and Marie’s Houses are located.

Fast Facts:

It was once known as the Bread Basket of Europe because of it's rich agriculture, and particularly wheat. 

Cultural Demographics as of 2011: 90.59% of inhabitants were Romanians, 6.54% Hungarians, 1.82% Roma and 0.35% Germans. 

Religious Demographics as of 2002: 83.3% were Romanian Orthodox, 7.2% Roman Catholic, 3.7% Reformed, 2.2% Pentecostal, 0.9% belonged to another religion and 0.8% Greek-Catholic 

Between 1992-2011, the Petrosani population decreased from 53,290 to 34,311 due to Romania’s joining the EU

Children are among those left behind as individuals or families left them to move to other parts the EU

Modern History:

1940’s: Romania turned to Communism 

1965-1989: Nicolae Ceaucescu rose to power to become one of Eastern Europe’s most notorious dictators.  He demanded the people of Romania to bear as many children as possible, and for the children to be given over to the state in hopes of raising an army for the state.  

1989: Ceaucescu and his wife were shot and killed during the December 1998 Revolution. 

1990: Western reporters from BBC and other reputable news outlets exposed to the world the terrible conditions Romanian children were forced to live under in state run orphanages.  

2004: An EU moratorium was imposed blocking the international adoptions.  

2007: Romania enters the EU, the plight of Romanian orphans is still unresolved, and adoptions are still closed.