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Published by Zoonon June 15, 2009in CIA World Factbook.
Tags: Beach Community, Beach Front, Costa Rica Real Estate, Las Olas, Paradise.
History of Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica, pronounced [re?pu?likaðe?kosta?rika]), is a republic in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east-southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army. Costa Rica is among the safest countries in Latin America and is currently the least impoverished Spanish speaking country in the world, with poverty percentages lower than that of Spain and other developed countries and levels of urbanization that nears those ones of countries such as Finland and Norway. In 2007 the government of Costa Rica said it wants to be the first developing country to become carbon neutral by 2021.
The first European to reach what is now Costa Rica was Christopher Columbus in 1502.[4] In Pre-Columbian times the Indigenous people, in what is now known as Costa Rica, were part of the Intermediate Area located between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions. This has recently been updated to include the influence of the Isthmo-Colombian area.
It was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya Peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl (named after Nitin) cultural influence when the Spanish conquerors (conquistadores) came in the sixteenth century. The central and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences. However, the indigenous people have influenced modern Costa Rican culture to a relatively small degree, as most of these died from diseases such as small pox and mistreatment by the Spaniards.
During Spanish Colonial times, the principal city in Central America was Guatemala City. Costa Rica’s distance from this hub led to difficulty in establishing trade routes and was one of the reasons that Costa Ricans developed in relative isolation and with little oversight from the Spanish Monarchy (”The Crown”). While this isolation allowed the colony to develop free of intervention by The Crown, it also contributed to its failure to share in the prosperity of the Colonies, making Costa Rica the poorest Spanish Colony in Central America.[6] Costa Rica was described as “the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all Americas” by a Spanish governor in 1719.[7]
Another contributing factor to this poverty was lack of indigenous peoples to use for forced labor. While many Spaniards in the other colonies had tribal members to work their land, most of the Costa Rican settlers had to work their own land. For all these reasons, Costa Rica was by and large unappreciated and overlooked by the Crown and left to develop on its own. It is believed that the circumstances during this period led to the formation of many of the idiosyncrasies that Costa Rica has become known for, while at the same time setting the stage for Costa Rica’s development as a more egalitarian society than the rest of its neighbors. Costa Rica became a “rural democracy” with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil and a climate that was milder than that of the lowlands.
Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in 1821 in a joint declaration of independence from Spain. After a brief time in the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide Costa Rica became a state in the Federal Republic of Central America from 1823 to 1839. In 1824 the capital was moved to San José, but due to an intense rivalry with Cartago, violence briefly ensued. Although the newly independent provinces formed a Federation, border disputes broke out among them, adding to the region’s turbulent history and conditions.
Costa Rica’s membership in the newly formed Federal Republic of Central America, now free of Spanish rule, was short lived; in 1838, long after the Central American Federation ceased to function in practice, Costa Rica formally withdrew and proclaimed itself sovereign. The distance from Guatemala City to the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where most of the population lived and still lives, was great. The local population had little allegiance to the government in Guatemala City, in part because of the history of isolation during Colonial times. Costa Rica’s disinterest in participating as a province in a greater Central American government was one of the deciding factors in the break-up of the fledgling federation into independent states, which still exist today. However, all of the Central American nations still celebrate September 15th as their independence day, which pertains to the independence of Central America from Spain.
Most Afro-Costa Ricans, who constitute about 3% of the country’s population, descend from Jamaican immigrants who arrived during the 1880s to work in the construction of railways connecting the urban populations of the Central Plateau to the port of Limón on the Caribbean coast. US convicts and Chinese immigrants also participated in the construction project, conducted by US businessman Minor C. Keith. In exchange for completing the railroad, the Costa Rican government granted Keith large tracts of land and a lease on the train route, which he used to produce bananas and export them to the United States. As a result, bananas came to rival coffee as the principal Costa Rican export, while foreign-owned corporations (including the United Fruit Company) began to hold a major role in the national economy.
Historically, Costa Rica has generally enjoyed greater peace and more consistent political stability compared with many of its fellow Latin American nations. Since the late nineteenth century, however, Costa Rica has experienced two significant periods of violence. In 1917-19, Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a dictator until he was overthrown and forced into exile. Again in 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in the wake of a disputed presidential election. With more than 2,000 dead, the resulting 44-day Costa Rica Civil War was the bloodiest event in Costa Rican history during the twentieth-century. Afterwards, the new, victorious government junta, led by the opposition, abolished the military and oversaw the drafting of a new constitution by a democratically-elected assembly. Having enacted these reforms, the regime finally relinquished its power in 8 November of 1949 to the new democratic government. After the coup d’etat, Figueres became a national hero, winning the country’s first democratic election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, Costa Rica has held 12 presidential elections, the latest being in 2006. All of them have been widely regarded by the international community as peaceful, transparent, and relatively smooth transitions.
Geography
Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, 10° North of the equator and 84° West of the Prime Meridian. It borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 kilometers (802 mi) of coastline (212 km / 132 mi on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km / 631 mi on the Pacific). It is about the size of West Virginia and shares that state’s reputation for excellent whitewater kayaking/rafting opportunities.
On the Río Savegre, just below San Gerardo de Dota in the Talamanca Highlands of Costa Rica.
Two of the country’s most renowned rivers in that regard are the Rio Pacuare and the Rio Reventazon located near the city of Turrialba about two hours east of San Jose. Other notable whitewater areas are the Sarapiqui Valley area, several Pacific coast rivers near Quepos, and the southern Pacific drainage area around San Isidro de General.
Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km / 192 mi of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639 km / 397 mi of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 square kilometers (19,730 sq. mi) plus 589.000 square kilometers of territorial waters.
The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, at 3,810 metres (12,500 ft), and is the fifth highest peak in Central America. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m / 11,257 ft). The largest lake in Costa Rica is Lake Arenal.
Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island stands out because of its distance from continental landmass (24 km² / 9.25 sq mi, 500 km or 300 mi from Puntarenas coast), but Calero Island is the largest island of the country (151.6 km² / 58.5 sq mi).
Costa Rica protects 23% of its national territory within the Protected Areas system. It also possesses the greatest density of species in the world
Politics
Costa Rica is a democratic republic with a strong constitution. Although there are claims that the country has had more than 115 years of uninterrupted democracy, their presidential election history shows otherwise (see List of Presidents of Costa Rica). Nonetheless, the country has had at least fifty-nine years of uninterrupted democracy, making it one of the most stable countries in the region. Costa Rica has been able to successfully avoid the widespread violence that has plagued most of Central America.
Executive responsibilities are vested in a president, who is the country’s center of power. There also are two vice presidents as well as a cabinet designated by the president. The president, vice presidents, and fifty-seven Legislative Assembly delegates are elected for four-year terms. A constitutional amendment approved in 1969 limited presidents and delegates to one term, although delegates were allowed to run again for an Assembly seat after sitting out a term.
In April 2003, the constitutional ban on presidential re-election was reversed, allowing Óscar Arias (Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 1987) to run for President for a second term. In 2006, Óscar Arias was re-elected in a tight and highly contested election, running on a platform of promoting free trade. He took office on May 8, 2006. Autonomous state agencies enjoy considerable operational independence; they include the telecommunications and electrical power monopoly, the nationalized commercial banks, the state insurance monopoly, and the social security agency. Costa Rica has no military by constitution but maintains domestic police forces for internal security. These include the Guardia Civil and the Guardia Rural.
Other current political issues include security, crime, and the limiting of large-scale immigration of people from Nicaragua.
Provinces and cantons
Costa Rica is composed of seven provinces, which in turn are divided into 81 cantons (”cantón” in Spanish, plural “cantones”), each directed by a mayor. Mayors are chosen democratically every four years by each canton’s people. There are no provincial legislatures.
1. Alajuela
2. Cartago
3. Guanacaste
4. Heredia
5. Limón
6. Puntarenas
7. San José
Economy
Costa Rica is one of the top tourist destinations in the world and this is one of the main driving forces in the Costa Rican economy. With a $1.9-billion-a-year tourism industry, Costa Rica stands as the most visited nation in the Central American region, with 1.9 million foreign visitors in 2007, thus reaching a rate of foreign tourists per capita of 0,46, one of the highest in the Caribbean Basin. Most of the tourists come from the U.S. (54%) and the E.U. (14%), which translates into a relatively high expenditure per tourist of $1000 per trip. In 2005, tourism contributed with 8,1% of the country’s GNP and represented 13,3% of direct and indirect employment. Although there is a general slowdown in the world economy, there is no slow down in Costa Rica. The following information just came out from the ministry of tourism.
Tourism in Costa Rica remains
strong despite U.S. economic downturn
“Tourism growth continued to be strong in January 2008, despite fears that an economic slowdown in the United States might put a damper on this year.
Measured by traffic at the Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber Quirós international airports, tourism was up 13.7% over January 2007.
In raw numbers, that’s 145,145 tourists that arrived last month at those airports, a figure Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides described as “getting off on the right foot.” Visitors to Costa Rica in 2007 increased 11.5% over the previous year’s numbers.”
Ecotourism is extremely popular with the many tourists visiting the extensive national parks and protected areas around the country. Costa Rica was a pioneer in this type of tourism and the country is recognized as one of the few with real ecotourism. In terms of Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, in 2007 Costa Rica reached the 41st place in the world ranking, being the first among Latin American countries. Just considering the subindex measuring human, cultural, and natural resources, Costa Rica ranks in the 20th place at a worldwide level.
Since Costa Rica is a top tourist destination it is also becoming one of the hottest real estate markets in the world for a number of reasons. Many Americans find it more comfortable traveling to Costa Rica to spend their time and money. Costa Rica is one of the safest places in the world and has one of the most stable economies in the world. They have no standing army, which was disbanded in 1948 so you can have no dictator come to power and use the armed forces to keep him in power as is the case in many other dictatorial countries.
Further, the dollar has weakened against the Euro so travel to the European countries has become extremely expensive. However, in Costa Rica, the dollar still goes a long way. I just came back from a trip to the coast and was able to find a room in a rustic motel for $15.00 per night. So the many of millions of tourist that come to Costa Rica many are buying condos or building homes for vacation homes. This is causing Costa Rica to be the hottest real estate market in the world according to a recent MSNBC news segment. Billions of real estate dollars are flowing into the country and this is causing another boom in all the other related businesses, construction, hotels, malls, restaurants, office buildings, supermarkets, telecommunications and the numerous other small businesses that are needed to serve growing communities.
Business Community
The central government offers tax exemptions for those who are willing to invest in the country. Several global high tech corporations have already started developing in the area exporting goods including chip manufacturer Intel, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, and consumer products company Procter & Gamble. Trade with South East Asia and Russia has boomed during 2004 and 2005, and the country is expected to obtain full Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) membership by 2007 (the country became an observer in 2004).
For the fiscal year 2005, the country showed a government deficit of 2.1%, internal revenue increased an 18%, and exports increased a 12.8%. Revised economic figures released by the Central Bank indicate that economic growth stood at 5%, nevertheless the country faced high inflation (14%) and a trade deficit of 5.2%.
In recent times electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the prime industries in Costa Rica’s economy. High levels of education among its residents make the country an attractive investing location.
The unit of currency is the colón (CRC), which trades around 503 to the U.S. dollar; currently about 756 to the euro. On October 16, 2006, a new currency exchange system was introduced, allowing the value of the CRC colón to float between two bands as done previously by Chile. The idea is that by doing so the Central Bank will be able to better tackle inflation and discourage the use of US dollars. Since that time, the value of the colón against the dollar has stabilized.
Costa Rica’s location provides easy access to American markets as it has the same time zone as the central part of the United States and direct ocean access to Europe and Asia. A country wide referendum has approved a free trade agreement with the United States.
Foreign affairs
Costa Rica is an active member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations University of Peace are based in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican State is also a member of many other international organizations related to human rights and democracy.
Costa Rica’s main foreign policy objective is to foster human rights and sustainable development as a way to secure stability and growth.
Costa Rica is also a member of the International Criminal Court, without a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).
On June 1, 2007, Costa Rica broke ties with the Republic of China in Taiwan, switching to the People’s Republic of China in mainland China.
Flora and fauna
Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world’s landmass, it contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity. About 23% of Costa Rica is composed of protected forests and reserves.
One national park that is internationally-renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife is the Corcovado National Park.[26][27]
The Clay-colored Robin is Costa Rica’s national bird.
Tortuguero National Park – the name Tortuguero can be translated as “Full of Turtles” – is home to spider, howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys, the three-toed sloth, 320 species of birds (including eight species of parrots), a variety of reptiles, but is mostly recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle and is considered the most important nesting site for this species. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest here.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is home to about 2,000 plant species,[28] including numerous orchids. Over four hundred types of birds can be found here, and over one hundred species of mammals.[29] As a whole, around eight hundred species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica. The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBIO) is allowed to collect royalties on any biological discoveries of medical importance.
Demographics
According to the CIA World Factbook, Costa Rica has a population of 4,133,884 of which 94% are Mestizo or white, 3% black, 1% Amerindian, 1% Chinese and 1% other. The exact amount, however, is not known because the Costa Rican census combines mestizos and whites in one category. The white population is primarily of Spanish ancestry with significant numbers of Costa Ricans of Italian, German, Jewish and Polish descent. In contrast to its neighboring countries’ populations, less mixing of the Spanish settlers and the indigenous populations occurred. Therefore, a vast majority of Costa Ricans are either of Spanish or of mixed mestizo heritage
Just under 3% of the population is of black African descent. The majority of the afro Costa Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers, as well as slaves who were brought during the Atlantic slave trade.
The indigenous or Amerindian population numbers around 1%, or over 41,000 individuals. In the Guanacaste Province a significant portion of the population descends from a bi-racial mix of local Amerindians and Spaniards. There is also an expatriate community of people of all ages from the United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Britain, and other countries, especially in the Central Valley city of Escazú.
Costa Rica hosts many refugees, mainly from Colombia and Nicaragua. As a result, an estimated 10% to 15% of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans, most of whom migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country. There is also a growing number of Peruvian refugees. Moreover, Costa Rica took in many refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s - notably from Chile and Argentina, as well as those from El Salvador who fled from guerrillas and government death squads.
Religion
Christianity is the predominant religion in Costa Rica, and Roman Catholicism is the official state religion as guaranteed by the Constitution of 1949. Some 92% of Costa Ricans are Christian and like many other parts of Latin America, Protestant denominations have been experiencing rapid growth. However, three in four Costa Ricans still adhere to Roman Catholicism.
Due to the recent small but continuous immigration of communities from Asia, the Middle East, and other places, other religions have grown, the most popular being Buddhism (because of an increasing Chinese community of 40,000), and smaller numbers of Jewish, Bahá’í and Hindu adherents.
There is a Jewish synagogue, the B’nei Israel Congregation, in San José, near the La Sabana Metropolitan Park. Several homes in the neighborhood east of La Sabana Metropolitan Park are festooned with the Star of David and other recognizable Jewish symbols.[35]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has seen modest growth in Costa Rica in the last 40 years and has built one of only two temples in Central America in the San Antonio de Belen region of Heredia.
Language
The only official language is Spanish. There are two main accents native to Costa Rica, the standard Costa Rican and the Nicoyan. The Nicoyan accent is very similar to the standard Nicaraguan accent due, in part, to its vicinity. A notable Costa Rican pronunciation difference includes a soft initial and double [r] phoneme that is not trilled as is normal in the Spanish speaking world..
Jamaican immigrants in the 19th Century brought with them a dialect of English that has evolved into the Mekatelyu creole dialect.
Marriage
Because Roman Catholicism is the official state religion, only that church’s marriages are legally recognized by the government. Any persons wishing to wed outside of the Catholic church must hire a lawyer who will perform and then register their civil wedding for them. Legal age for arriage in Costa Rica is 18, the age of consent is 15.
Costa Ricans often refer to themselves as tico (masculine) or tica (feminine). “Tico” comes from the popular local usage of “tico” and “tica” as diminutive suffixes (e.g., “momentico” instead of “momentito”). The phrase “Pura Vida” (literally “Pure Life”) is a ubiquitous motto in Costa Rica. Some youth use mae, a contraction of “maje” (mae means “guy/dude”), to refer to each other, although this might be perceived as insulting to those of an older generation; maje was a synonym for “tonto” (stupid).
Costa Rica boasts a varied history. Costa Rica was the point where the Mesoamerican and South American native cultures met. The northwest of the country, the Nicoya peninsula, was the southernmost point of Nahuatl cultural influence when the Spanish conquerors (conquistadores) came in the sixteenth century. The center and southern portions of the country had Chibcha influences.
The Atlantic coast, meanwhile, was populated with African workers during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Most afro Costa Ricans, however, derive from nineteenth-century Jamaican workers, brought in to work on the construction of railroads between the urban populations of the Central Plateau and the port of Limon on the Caribbean coast. Italian and Chinese immigrants also arrived at this time to work on railroad construction.
Music
Costa Rican popular music genres include: an indigenous calypso scene which is distinct from the more widely-known Trinidadian calypso sound audience that supports nightclubs in cities like San José. American and British rock and roll and pop are popular and common among the youth (especially urban youth) while dance-oriented genres like soca, salsa, merengue, cumbia and Tex-Mex have an appeal as well. Many dances and music of Costa Rica demonstrates an African, pre-Columbian, and Spanish influence. The guitar is a popular instrument especially as an accompaniment to Folk dances.
The literacy rate in Costa Rica is of 96% (CIA World Factbook, February 2007), one of the highest in Latin America. Elementary and high schools are found throughout the country in practically every community. Universal public education is guaranteed in the Constitution. Primary education is obligatory, and both preschool and high school are free. There are both state and private universities.
There are only a few schools in Costa Rica that go beyond the 12th grade. Those schools that finish at 11th grade receive a Costa Rican Bachillerato Diploma accredited by the Costa Rican Ministry of Education.
Victor Vendetti
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An Inside Look at Romania, Land of Dracula & the Gypsies
From the European Heritage Library
This is a rare inside look at the current cultural, ethnic, historical, religious, social, and linguistic dimensions of eastern Romania. It also investigates the issue of Islam in Europe. Click the link at the bottom and top of this article to view the images that go with this article.
Romania
English name: Romania/Rumania
Local name: Romania
Population: 22,276,056
Religion: Orthodox 86.8%, Protestant, 7.5%, Roman Catholic 4.7%, other (mostly Muslim) and unspecified 0.9%
Language: Romanian with Greek and Italian commercial resident minority
Ethnic groups: officially Romanian 89.5%, Hungarian 6.6%, Roma 2.5%, Ukrainian 0.3%, German 0.3%, Russian 0.2%, Turkish 0.2%, other 0.4%
Average fertility/woman: 1.38 per woman
Migration rate: -0.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population [Romanians are leaving]
Per capita average income: $9,100
Unemployment: officially 6.1%
Population below poverty line: officially 25%
Extant populations elsewhere of Romanians: Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary
Source: CIA World Factbook
Romania is one of the more unique nations of Europe, akin to no other. It is a nation with a long and disjointed history compounded by the rule of several world powers both via Jihad and European conquest alike. Its geography gives the region a complicated history with a variety of occupying ethnic groups, empires, and religious. Its original inhabitants were the Iranian-origin Thracian tribes of Thrace, pre-Slavic Bulgaria and Romania, and western Anatolia. The Roman conquest and Slavic invasion displaced this declining previous ethnic minority, but many Romanians and scholars continue to debate to what degree modern Romanians descend from either Slavs, Thracians, or both. It is largely a cultural blend of Slavic and independent, with a Latin-based language, a result of its volatile position between the Slavic, Romanic, and Greek worlds, as well as the center of Roman-ruled Dacia and Latin-speaking crusader empires after the 4th Crusade of the 13th century. It has a rich Orthodox Christian heritage. Its greatest historical heroes are today deemed by the new West as mass murderers of Muslims and Jews alike, including Hitler’s greatest and most loyal ally Ioan Antonescu and the mythified Vlad Dracul “the Impaler”. Its disunified states of Wallachia and Moldavia fell under the brutal rule of the Jihad of Islam by the Ottoman Turks for nearly four centuries, where many were forced to convert or face unlivable conditions or execution en masse. It made the most drastic transitions in the Cold War as a strong and willing Fascist state into a volatile and unstable Communist state under the Warsaw Pact. After the war, the northern part of Romania called Moldova also declared independence due to broken promises of the collapsed Soviet Union for additional rights, which today too is split between Moldova proper and the pro-Russian Transnistria (which is unrecognized). Therefore, due to its complicated and tumultuous history, we were some of the first to enjoy its allegedly growing tourist industry. We landed at Constanta (Constantza), which is often considered quite poor, but is it a precise indicator of the Gypsy situation and the poverty of Romania that cannot profit from the wealthier Hungarian influence in the west (especially Transylvania) or the commercial business of Bucharest.
Romanians in diaspora and in Romania alike often blame the calamity and sluggish hardship of their nation on a race that is hated in every country where it sets foot: the Gypsies. Upon arrival, I was amazed that these racist and degrading claims of this people as criminal, deceptive, and thieving were entirely true. These “Roma” or “Sinti” people, who descend from migrations out of northern India (and thus retain this cultural and, often, religious link in syncretism), settled for centuries along the Black Sea, where they were systematically annihilated throughout the Middle Ages by nearly every nation they lived. The Jewish settlers suffered a similar fate then and, along with them, during what is now called the Holocaust. They are viewed by Romanians as leeches and a bacillus that only drains the native Romanian economy; therefore, many Romanians view the Fascist leaders of the past highly as nonetheless brutal figures who saw a social problem and addressed it without remorse. One Romanian whom I asked why Romania does not address the Roma problem replied with, “How? Sadly, Antonescu and Hitler are dead.” This social characteristic makes Romania quite unique in this era of post-war world liberalism. Today, the Roma (Gypsies) walk the streets on every corner begging for money, many virtually naked (some adults and many children wear only an oversized shirt to cover genetalia, which often fails), pleading to alleviate their hardship and suffering that they have faced ever since they settled. They defecate in the streets. At least 5 of our cruise ship’s passengers were robbed by Gypsies, each losing their entire wallets. They do not wash their clothes nor hair, their clothes and food are taken from public disposal basins, they do not shave, and every one of them seems to be sick with a cough (possibly to inspire sympathy). They sleep on the ground or illegally in homes whose walls have been bombed or collapsed during the number of wars the country has been unable to alleviate. One corner we passed showed us a sick Gypsy woman laying on the ground — conveniently in full public view — coughing with a thick mucous report. Whether or not this is a legitimately oppressed and homeless people or a group of swindling leeches, most Romanians view them as the latter. Some Romanians nonetheless offer them coins from the Lei (which is a virtually useless currency), but most who fell for this alleged “act” tend to be tourists with sympathy. One Romanian told me that she regularly donated to the local Gypsies, all the time chastised by her brother, who later drove her to northern Romania, where she saw huge Gypsy homes that she called “palaces”; she considers this obviously a great lie and swindling of the natives. In one instance, I saw a child with dirty clothes and an unwashed face beg for coins to be greeted with sad tourists’ faces and open purses, only to walk away with a pair of headphones in his ears from an iPod or other listening device. Elsewhere, I saw Romanians actually pretend to hit the Gypsy children or parents, and one even spat at them. Outside of the Christian churches or mosques in Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine, they even stand outside the property with their hands open asking for donations whilst saying “God bless you” and emulating a Christian cross. This is entirely a falsity to inspire Christian philanthropy, as the Gypsies are not a Christian race but rather a syncretism of a unique native religion of India combined with the culture they infiltrate. It was interesting — all during a disastrous lunch of mackerel-type fish pizza (which was called a delicacy) — to see that Gypsy parents literally trained their children before they could even speak to panhandle Romanians and visitors. The same Gypsy-Slavic clash occurs in Bulgaria (see our Inside Bulgaria article).
Elsewhere, Romania’s Constanta seems to have a huge harbor due to the large military of the Axis period, thus Romania’s city seems quite plain and smoggy. Turkish military ships enter the harbor frequently, some with missile launchers oddly. Theft is considered common in Romania, as is corruption, though in reality (or by the belief of the locals), the former is attributed to the Gypsies and Muslims. The Communists are deemed more corrupt than now; the Communist dictator of the Warsaw Pact period mowed down some 7,000 homes and churches for his 12-room mansion apparently. Fascism is held in high regard in Romania, though many dislike it because of the ultimate fate it brought Romania (due to Fascism’s opposition to the Soviets and Americans). Liberal democracy is also considered weak (though generally the best at this time) in Romania because of the fact that it has no ability to quickly alleviate the raft of problems Romania faces due to fears of inequality and lack of freedom.
Some 50% of the buildings outside of the city center are half-finished, demolished, with open ceilings or windows, or generally dilapidated. There are thousands and thousands of birds (especially swallows) flying everywhere (which was actually quite fun instead of irritating). Going through the city though it seemed that most of the parts that were objectionable and impoverished to an imminent degree had very few Romanians, rather Turks or Gypsies. Romania is nonetheless wickedly poor and dilapidated. I calculated that Romania is some 75% Romanian, 10% Gypsy, 14% Turkic, and 1% other even in this “resort city”. Romania was a lovely source to explore social conflict between different races and ethnicities, as well a complex political history in this world of democratic perceived ideal. The food is a combination of Indian, Turkish, Italian, Russian, and in some parts German. Restaurants are in the streets (open-air) generally, a fun characteristic that the Gypsies take advantage of sadly. Most of the people in the streets are either quite young (15-year-olds or so) or elderly. The youths don’t dress promiscuously generally, unlike in (as I saw for the teens) in Ukraine, Russia, and the United States. The cars are old and worn down. The grounds are unpaved; a pedestrian trips constantly as we saw all throughout the day. Drivers are relatively safe in comparison to horrifying Turkey, though in Bucharest traffic is so compacted it is almost nonfunctional. There are police and soldiers everywhere and by nearly every important building with machine guns. There are no Communist memorials in sight; Romania takes pride in its own heritage and history due to all it has endured for centuries. However, there is little trash laying in the streets except near Gypsy homes. There is seldom graffiti either, but some Swastikas and Communist signs can be seen throughout cities. The government seems to be making efforts to fix their country by repairing and constructing previous buildings, as well as large housing tracts and even aquariums. This is difficult due to the fact that Romania must develop its capital of Bucharest first, which ignores the remainder of the nation (which is a huge problem in Greece as well).
Romania’s currency of the past, the Old Lei, was so worthless that the government embraced a similar tactic of Mexico, Italy, and Turkey by slashing several zeroes from its value. The “New Lei” is relatively valuable by comparison to other currencies of poor nations, but Gypsies and local store owners exploit mathematical difficulties as well as the ignorant tourists to charge them double or worse. Almost no English is spoken, though for youth it is compulsory often. There are few shops for visitors because they do not expect any.
The role of religion was also interesting to see here. Romania and Romanian states of the past have always been staunchly Orthodox like their Russian and Ruthenian ancestors, though there is a presence of Catholism in parts due to the influence of their military allies against the groundshaking Jihad of the coming Muslims, including Catholic Hungary (and thus Hungarian Transylvania), Lithuania-Poland, and Germany. The history of influence by the Germans (a Lutheran-majority culture) has also caused Lutheranism to be common as well. There are gorgeous Orthodox churches everywhere that are quite beautiful, adorned atop with gold leaf and massive crosses with the traditional Orthodox diagonal bars. Despite atheistic Communist rule for decades (which Romanians rejected, as they were one of the few Soviet vassals to entirely overthrow the puppet government), Romanians are a religious people with a proud Orthodox heritage. Religion is used here as a binding familial duty as well as a central theme to Romanian cultural and historical heritage, which survived centuries of rule of Catholic Hungary and the Turkic Golden Horde and Ottomans only to emerge as staunchly Orthodox as before. As early as 0700 until 1600, Romanians can be seen flocking to the churches in the city during the week even. There are fewer basins for money donations, a trait that is common in the Catholic world (conveniently in several languages), and they seldom charge for visitors to light candles to celebrate the holy saints of Orthodoxy. The churches are minimalist in that there are none or few chairs for communion by a primal speaker like a priest or metropolitan. At all hours of the day, Orthodox popes await visitors. Entrants are required to wear long pants, whilst women must wear veils or headscarves and cover their shoulders; Orthodoxy is extremely conservative much like Islam. Christians who enter can be seen in public kneeling before a metropolitan, who covers their heads with a tie-like holy wrap from his chest, where the two engage in prayer aloud (yet quietly) for all to see this expression of faith. There are no confessionals like in Catholic religion. Entrants can be seen lighting candles for the saints, and bowing their heads whilst holding their hands against wonderful mosaics of the saints for prayer. Whereas in Islam the body faces holy Makkah (or Mekka), and in Catholicism it faces a large cross at the center, here prayer often faces ancient portraits of saints dating hundreds of years in age. This was a lovely experience, and revealed much about Romania’s unique culture, heritage, and history. Romania has sadly quite a long way to go to return to the former glory when they were a recognizable continental power against the Turks and against the Allies of World War II.
The role of Islam — ever controversial and heated in the Europe that fought against their Jihad for more than 1,200 years across the continent — was also fascinating here in Romania. The Romanians had resisted the threat of Islam for more than a thousand years even before Romania was unified after independence from the Ottomans. The Turkic Kipchaks (Penechegs), the Turkic Avars, and the mighty Sunni Golden Horde had constantly assaulted the region over centuries of Jihad, which caused Hungarian rule over the Romanian states to collapse. From the 15th century onward, the powerful Romanian states of Wallachia and Moldovia were quickly trampled under the boot of the world’s greatest superpower’s Jihad: the Sunni Ottoman Empire. Christian European nations like German Prussia, Hungary, Italian city-states, Transylvania, Balkan states still free of the Jihad, and Russia all joined the collapsing Romanian states to fight against Islam and the Turks. Wallachia’s prince Vlad Dracul became known as “the Impaler” (and Romania’s greatest hero) for his heroic defense of the natives against the Islamic invaders, where he is known to have slaughtered tens and tens of thousands of Muslim settlers, impaling them on stakes where he enjoyed his favorite local wine and delicacies, watching them expire. When the Jihad eventually obliterated central Romania, the state of Moldova offered a loyal and impressive defense before it too became annihilated; all of Romania was ruled by the Islamic Ottoman Empire from the 16th century until the 19th, when it rose up in a war of independence after which Romania was unified.
Due to this long history of brutal Islamic rule (and equally so the brutal massacre of Muslim settlers by the native Christians), one would expect a large Muslim population of Turks and converts alike. Fascinatingly, there are few. Again here, Romanians take pride in their endurance and resilience all whilst being in the very center of so many world empires’ expansionist efforts. Romanian culture is distinctly Christian Slavic and Greek. However, there is surely a large population of Turkish Muslims who settled during the centuries of foreign rule as well as in the massive foreign guest worker programs of the new Turkey in Europe (especially in Germany and Greece). There is a small but extremely faithful Muslim population, with some of them being white Slavs who were forced to convert to avoid execution, persecution, or completely unlivable taxes (the Jizyah) levied on Christian civilians (as the Jews were long dead or gone) who were barely able to survive or eat without them. There are several mosques in Romania (and two in Constanta) that made a deep impression on me. In poor places like Albania and Romania with little measures of defense against terrorism, walking around mosques is rather frightening for a Christian tourist or even native. One mosque was encircled by a series of Turks as well as Gypsies (oddly), from which we promptly steered clear for our safety. The other mosque in the center of town was quite glorious and huge. A huge minaret with a crescent as its centerpiece complimented the large dome of arguably the city’s most appealing building excluding the radiant Orthodox churches. Infidels are allowed to enter (unlike in Albania) if they pay quite a large fee of 5 Euros per entrant. The administrators of this mosque were white converts of the past by majority. Inside, an empty room is beautified by dozens of massive handmade rugs, with the walls decorated with fantastic flowers, vines, and Arabic passages (Surah) from al-Qur’an all the way to the top of the huge building. It was interesting that the only fully maintained and upright buildings in the city were either mosques or Orthodox cathedrals. Shoes must be removed, the legs and shoulders covered, and women must don veils or headscarves if entering the mosque proper. However, in this mosque entrants are able to experience something almost impossible anywhere else in the world: to climb the minaret (the spire pillars around mosques from which the call to prayer is sounded). From there, the entire city can be viewed, intentionally with the mosque towering over the Christian city. Later in the day, a very quiet call to prayer can be heard from the mosque. The Romanians appeared irritated by it, whilst the few ethnic Turks seemed to hurry by the dozens. Plaques in the mosque fervently thank a local Turk for paying for the mosque’s air conditioning system. A rare privilege, I tried to look into the mosque at the praying imams only to be expelled as an infidel by the owner. Islam is rejected here then and now, but the mark of the Jihad is firm in this far reach of the world’s greatest empire for centuries: the Ottomans.
Romania is approaching entry into the EU, which will allow them movement all throughout the remainder of the European Union member states. Europeans of other countries reject this because of the fact that Romanian immigrants generally do not work, bring crime and drugs, and are uneducated when in diaspora. Romania has a long way to go.
From the European Heritage Library
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