Origins of Romania   In the Middle Ages, the area which is now Romania was divided into three principalities: Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania, the latter an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In the 14th century Wallachia and Moldavia were fighting the threat of the Ottoman Empire. Vlad III (sometimes nicknamed Draculea "the little dragon") defeated the main attack by the Ottoman ruler in 1462. Vlad Ţepeş ("the Impaler"), the mid 15th century ruler of Wallachia.

By the end of the 16th century the Balkan peninsula and most of Hungary had become Ottoman provinces, but Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, while acknowledging Ottoman suzerainty, were in effect self-ruling and independent. The Ottoman empire lasted until the mid 19th century. Click for a larger map

After the 1848 Revolution Moldavia and Wallachia united, but Transylvania remained under Hungarian control, with substantial Hungarian and Saxon German populations alongside the Romanians.

Romania was recognised as an independent country in 1878, and proclaimed a kingdom in 1881.

Recent history: In the 20th century there were complex exchanges of territory:
*  After WW1 – Romania acquired Transylvania from Hungary.
*  The area in the east known as Bessarabia passed to the Soviet Union following the Germany-USSR Pact and is now the Republic of Moldova.
*  Following WW2 Romania became a Communist People's Republic in 1947. Nicolae Ceauşescu took power in 1965, became a feared and detested dictator, overthrown and executed in December 1989.
*  Romania joined the European Union in January 2007.