Top 10 Romania facts

In Romania. Such an occupational surname could have been passed to following generations only in areas dominated by the Orthodox church, where priests are allowed to marry and have children. Popescu is the most common surname in Romania.

Turks. For most of his life, Vlad fought the Ottomans, who considered Wallachia as part of their empire. According to (most likely exaggerated) popular story, in 1462 Mehmed II retreated with his army after being sickened by the sight of 20,000 impaled corpses outside the Vlad's capital of Târgoviște.

Bucharest. At 21:22, on the evening of March 4, 1977, Bucharest was hit by an earthquake measuring a whopping 7.3 on the Richter scale. The city center suffered significant damage and many historic buildings were destroyed. The earthquake killed about 1,578 people in Romania (1,424 in Bucharest), and wounded more than 11,300.

Decebalus, the last king of Dacia. The rock sculpture of Decebalus is a 42.9 m in height carving in rock on a rocky outcrop on the river Danube. It was commissioned by Romanian businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan and it took 10 years, from 1994 to 2004, for twelve sculptors to finish it. The carving was placed opposite an ancient memorial plaque, known as the Tabula Traiana, which commemorates the final defeat of Decebalus by Trajan in 105.

Romania. The Székelys are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania. The origin of the Székelys has been much debated. It is now generally accepted that they are descendants of Hungarians (or of Magyarized Turkic peoples) transplanted to the eastern Carpathian Mountains to guard the frontier, their name meaning simply "frontier guards"

Black Sea. Constanța is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Romania. It was founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Northern Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region of Dobruja.

Romanian. The Roman Empire withdrew from Dacia in AD 271-5, leaving it to the Goths. The history of the language between the 3rd century and the 10th century, when the area came under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, is unknown.

Bucharest. The Dâmbovița is a river in Romania, which passes through Bucharest. The city's folklore refers to the waters of the Dâmbovița as "sweet", "light and clean". However, toward the end of the 18th century, as the population of Bucharest increased, the river ceased to be so clean, hence the need of the aqueducts to bring clean water. The earliest aqueducts with public fountains were built during the rule of Prince Alexander Ypsilantis.

In Romania. Transylvania is often associated with vampires due to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and its film adaptations. Some aspects of Count Dracula fictional character have been inspired by the 15th century prince Vlad III the Impaler.

Chad. The similarity with Chad's flag, which differs only in having a darker shade of blue (indigo rather than cobalt), has caused international discussion. In 2004, Chad asked the United Nations to examine the issue, but then-president of Romania Ion Iliescu announced no change would occur to the flag.